A Rant about the new "National Mobile Directory" 118 800

jammy_c

jammy_c

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Have you heard about this? :eek:

apparently a company has been set up that will provide a mobile phone directory service for members of the uk public.

you text them, give them a name and location of a random person, and Bob's your uncle!

Is this not against trading standards, the data protection act, and maybe even human rights? and it seems like a fantastic ploy to get people to text their own number into the service. I’m sure a few hundred thousand people will do it, and they’ll be laughing because they can sell the numbers for big money to companies and cold-callers.

They recon they can provide 15million numbers? Out of, what, 61million people? That’s pretty poor. If it is just contract phones then they must get the numbers from the mobile networks. I don’t think so, they can't do that. apparently it's from market research companies.


you can "Unsubscribe" at a cost, by texting the letter "E" to 118800, and they will apparently take you off thier database.



By you texting them, it confirms that your number is currently “active”. That’s what email scams do. They know you won’t buy anything, they just want you to reply to tell them to naff off and leave you alone, then, bingo! they can sell your email address under the guarantee that it’s active.

I’d check to see if my number is already recorded in their database before I’d do anything about it.
Ooh, that’s strange. Their site has been "launched" but is currently “Unavailable” ( http://www.118800.co.uk) but you can text to find out if they have you on their system, which will cost you £1, +69p connection charge, +14p/min, and I bet they won’t have your number (until you text them to find out, that is).

I’m sure plenty of parents will be happy that their young children might be on the database for anyone to call and text. Shocking!



Why don’t BT, mobile providers or the world’s biggest directory enquiries company do it? Because it’s unethical, that’s why.

Sorry. Rant over. I just think that’s disgusting.:shake:


Maybe I'm blowing it out of proportion. What do you think??? :shrug:

 
I think you're absolutely right, which is why I use a pre-pay SIM both hre and in Germany...

If you knew what the security services can do with a mobile phone you'd be shocked...
Like they're never fully off unless you remove the battery and SIM from the handset... or that a program can be sent to the handset (without it making any noise or other indication that it's been recieved) that will turn it into a microphone, allowing those with the right equipment to listen to anything being said near that handset...even if that handset appears to be switched off...
 
scary stuff! :eek: i can't say i'm suprised. I was aware that they can be used for tracking position of anyone carrying a phone, even if it's off.
It's good that tech like that can be used for anti-terrorist operations, but makes you wonder what else they use it for, and who else has access to that sort of gear.
Anyone in the world has free access to satellite imagery and aerial shots from things like google earth, etc. Imagine what the military and secret services have nowadays :thinking:
 
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They claim the moral high ground by not actually giving out the number, they just connect you to it and then skim off a healthy profit from the call charges you pay.

Arkady said:
or that a program can be sent to the handset (without it making any noise or other indication that it's been recieved) that will turn it into a microphone, allowing those with the right equipment to listen to anything being said near that handset...even if that handset appears to be switched off...
Click to expand...

Have you got a source for this? It sounds a little bit too Hollywood to me.
 
They claim the moral high ground by not actually giving out the number, they just connect you to it and then skim off a healthy profit from the call charges you pay.
Click to expand...
Fair enough if they don't actually give out the number. but i'd still object to my number being on their database. if I want someone to call me then they'll already have my number.
I don't have children, but if i did and they were just old enough for a phone then i'd certainly be concerned.
 
There was a whole load of coverage of this a few weeks ago.
The numbers they have did not come from the modile companies as they refused to release them citing data protection. 118800 tried to take them to court to force them to, but decided it was a losing battle and gave up.
The database of numbers they have seems to largely be made up of numbers gleaned from the large number of marketing information lists which seem to be readily available (for a price) these days.
I'll try and dig out the reports.

Edit:
More info at:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/12/connectivity_legal_threats/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/09/connectivity_ico/
 
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Jim.R said:
They claim the moral high ground by not actually giving out the number, they just connect you to it and then skim off a healthy profit from the call charges you pay.



Have you got a source for this? It sounds a little bit too Hollywood to me.
Click to expand...

Yes I have but for obvious reasons not for discussion here. PM sent...
 
jammy_c said:
Why don’t BT, mobile providers or the world’s biggest directory enquiries company do it? Because it’s unethical, that’s why.
Click to expand...

BT ethical? Think again, they sell ex-directory numbers, and don't even get me started on mobile companies!
 
jammy_c said:
Fair enough if they don't actually give out the number. but i'd still object to my number being on their database. if I want someone to call me then they'll already have my number.
I don't have children, but if i did and they were just old enough for a phone then i'd certainly be concerned.
Click to expand...

There's a new phone for kiddies, aged "4 and up" on the market now....
 
BT ethical? Think again, they sell ex-directory numbers, and don't even get me started on mobile companies!
Click to expand...
:lol: What I meant was they can't afford that level of negative PR as such a massive organisation. I know they're all crooks.
 
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