Written by Recently, directory enquiry providers have been stirring up quite a bit of controversy. The reason for the controversy is simple: some call centres have begun providing access to mobile phone information as a part of their directory lookup service. Previously, only landlines were included in their results, and customers calling to find a phone number where out of luck if the number they were seeking dialled a mobile phone. Privacy advocates are highly critical of the move, which they see as publicising previously confidential information.
From the perspective of the companies trying to provide comprehensive and up to date information to their customers, including mobile telephone numbers in the UK their databases makes sense. More and more, people are exclusively using mobile phones for all of their phone needs, and they may not ever have a land-line again. Providing mobile phone number lookups gives a company a competitive advantage over rival providers, and may be the difference between staying in business or becoming obsolete.
Many owners of mobile phones are very concerned about maintaining their privacy, and they don’t want to have their phone numbers included in such a service. To allay fears, directory enquiries operators send a text message to mobile phone users asking permission to divulge their information prior to giving out their mobile phone number to a caller.
The Information Commissioners Office, responsible for regulating the dissemination of personal data, has given its approval on the matter. However they warned that if there was any doubt about whether a company had the right to share a pice of information, they should err on the side of privacy and confidentiality.
Some phone companies have listened to their subscribers concerns and emphatically stated that they will not give away or sell information about their customers to directory services companies. Directory enquires providers are not entirely deaf to the complaints either, and some allow owners of mobile phones to explicitly opt-out of having their information divulged at any point.
Most mobile phone owners were probably unaware that their phone numbers were ever excluded from directory enquiries in the first place, and they will not have strong objections to the new state of affairs. Other mobile phone users will be happy to have their number easily available to anyone that wants to contact them. However, for a select few, maintaining the privacy of their personal phone number remains of paramount importance.
