THIS is just a friendly warning to those who, like me, are rather protective of their privacy, and in particular our personal phone numbers.
A new directory inquiries service for mobile phone numbers, 118800, has been launched in the UK. Here’s how it works: you dial 118800 from your mobile and give the name and address of the person you want to contact. The service will try to connect you to the person you want to contact, but they won’t give you the other person’s number. You’re charged a 69p connection charge plus 14p per minute during the call. Alternatively you can log onto the 118800 website and key in the details of the person you want to contact. Again the service won’t give you their number (you’d have to go to the News of the World for that — ba-boom! I’m here all week, try the veal…), but they will send a text mesage to him or her with your contact details so that they can call you. This service costs £1.00.
I only mentioned this because I’ve already used the ex-directory service to opt out and you may want to as well. Everyone who needs to call me on my mobile already has the number.
I’m sure it’s going to prove a useful service for some, but I doubt if many of us consented to having our mobiles on such a database (at least, not explicitly).
Tom Harris: always with the useful advice.
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Thursday 9 July 2009 at 4:01 pm
I suspect a large part of their revenues will be intentionally derived from people removing themselves from the database at a quid a time. It seems rather difficult to check whether or not you are actually on the database in the first place.
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 4:05 pm
But I don’t think they have my number at the moment, which means that if I “opt-out” they’ll get it, and just store it as an Ex-directory.
Rather, I will wait and see. If someone tries to use this service to get hold of me, then (and only then) will I opt out.
Really, it is not that bad, as they do not give your details out and so it is similar to the existing phone directory of landlines.
I think this time, the scare-mongering is a tad OTT.
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 4:06 pm
Thanks Tom, I have now removed myself.
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 4:10 pm
@Scott Speight – Oh, come on! It’s hardly scare-mongering. I did say it will be a useful service to many and that if you don’t want included, you don’t have to be. Where’s the scare in that? Or the mongering, even?
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 4:12 pm
Just another example of teh big brotherz in action, Tom…
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 4:18 pm
Title should have been ‘Labour MP stands up for own Privacy’. There was me thinking there was a Labour MP who was concerned about government intervention in peoples lives. What a disappointment!
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 4:20 pm
It doesn’t cost anything to opt out and it’s quick to do. Like Tom, I only want to be wrung by people I give the number to.
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 4:48 pm
@Brian Hall – oh, shut up.
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 4:58 pm
I only meant in that this particular “invasion of privacy” if you will, that it is not that bad, privacy is kept (as long as the database doesn’t get hacked) and that there is a very similar directory that has been going for a long time. The scare was that privacy is being invaded. Sorry about the mongering. I s’pose there isn’t that there
My bad…
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 5:30 pm
I am shocked that Labour has allowed this to happen. It just proves thay have no concern whatsoever about our privacy.
Have the firm made a donation to the labour party. ?
I would not be at all suprised
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 5:54 pm
I have opted out too and so has Mrs Weasel. I would like to know, however, on what legal basis, given the data protection act, did my service provider transmit my number and other details to this company?
BTW going ex-directory has not stopped those miserable auto-diallers plagueing my landline – it’s always a firm in Glasgow, trying to sell me home improvements. Despite asking dozens of times to be taken off their data base, and joining the TPS, they still call me.
I would love to get my own back but I cannot come up with a suitable plan…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D63EKLUWU20
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 6:05 pm
Read the headline. Looking for the April Fool tag before I read the article.
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 6:18 pm
Shame we couldn’t opt out of the DVLA flogging our data to dodgy parking companies and anyone else who will cough up a few quid to find out where we live. Are they flogging the DNA database yet? I read somewhere that private companies have been let loose on it for “experimental reasons” or some such rubbish.
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 6:23 pm
This was on ‘You And Yours’ about a month ago. I have a Pay As You Go mobile, so no-one but family has my number (*I* barely have my number).
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 6:38 pm
And their website is now saying service unavailable.
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 8:57 pm
It appears there’s quite the backlash against this service, and rightly so. I think it’s downright disgraceful that such a company could get hold of so many mobile phone numbers in the manner they had.
I informed several of my colleagues who were outraged by the thought their numbers could end up in the hands of anyone, and then relieved they could remove their number from the directory.
Such a service should be opt-in, not opt-out.
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 9:13 pm
Like Wrinkled Weasel, every time I’ve tried to use any kind of privacy service like the TPS it hasn’t worked, so I can’t see what reason there is to think that this will work.
Having said that, the service you are talking about sounds like one I might be tempted to use since I’m always accidentally deleting people’s numbers.
Thursday 9 July 2009 at 11:20 pm
Tom Harris: always with the useful advice.
That’s appalling racism you know – Yiddish taking of the St Michael.
Bog off the lot of you.
Already.
Friday 10 July 2009 at 4:13 pm
service to go ex directory is still unavailable, convenient or crashed because so may of us do not want to be part of this?
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