cell phone world

April 5, 2006: Buy Your Cell Phone Records Online

That's right. According to the Washington Post, certain web sites now provide cell phone records for sale on the internet. For a fee, these sites will give you a list of outgoing calls - all you need to do is provide the name, address, and cell phone number. ("Online Data Gets Personal: Cell Phone Records for Sale" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/07/AR2005070701862_pf.html)

The implications of this are simply enormous. And very scary.

Time Magazine reported that Wesley Clark, a 2004 presidential candidate, was one victim - a blogger paid a fee to retrieve the last 100 calls made from his cell phone. These days, Clark is now a supporter of laws to outlaw cell phone records from being sold to third parties. ("The Spy in Your Pocket" http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1174705,00.html) One large question is: How are web sites (and private investation firms) getting these cell phone records?

It's not entirely the fault of the Verizons, or the Cingulars, or the Tmobiles. Rather, it's more about private investigators using available information (such as a social security number) to masquerade as the victim - whether by phone or by registering on the carriers' web sites. Also, it is possible that these web sites are using someone working "on the inside" for the carriers and have access to internal phone records.

Unfortunately, none of the web sites in question that are selling these records will reveal their secrets. Until some form of concrete legislation is passed, these practices will continue.

Browse All Articles:

Cell Phone World Home Page