Archives: Phones & Cell Phones

According to a July 8, 2005, Washington Post article, "Online Data Gets Personal: Cell Phone Records for Sale," buying someone's cell phone records is becoming more common.

The article explains how the process works, "A tool long used by law enforcement and private investigators to help locate criminals or debt-skippers, phone records are a part of the sea of personal data routinely bought and sold online in an Internet-driven, I-can-find-out-anything-about-you world. Legal experts say many of the methods for acquiring such information are illegal, but they receive scant attention from authorities.

Think your mate is cheating? For $110, Locatecell.com will provide you with the outgoing calls from his or her cell phone for the last billing cycle, up to 100 calls. All you need to supply is the name, address and the number for the phone you want to trace. Order online, and get results within hours.

Carlos F. Anderson, a licensed private investigator in Florida, offers a similar service for $165, for all major telephone carriers.

'This report provides all the calls with dates, times, and duration on the billing statement,' according to Anderson's Web site, which adds, 'Incoming Calls and Call Location are provided if available.'

Learning who someone talked to on the phone cannot enable the kind of financial fraud made easier when a Social Security or credit card number is purloined. Instead, privacy advocates say, the intrusion is more personal."

The article goes on to explain that some privacy groups are filing complaints,  "At the very least, 'there need to be audit trails to detect employee access to this personal information and a data retention schedule that mandates deletion of records' after a certain period of time, said Chris Jay Hoofnagle, West Coast director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

The center filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission yesterday against one data broker, Intelligent e-Commerce Inc. of Encinitas, Calif., saying it misrepresented its right to obtain the information. The firm, which operates the Web site http://www.bestpeoplesearch.com , advertises a variety of personal data for sale, including cell phone records.

The company, which says on its Web site that it uses a licensed private investigator to get the information, said through its lawyer that it seeks to comply with all local, state and federal laws. Attorney Larry Slade said he does not know how the company acquires the phone records.

Phone companies view all these tactics as illegal, even if they are used to help track down criminal activity. Instead, carriers say, they require court orders before releasing customer records."

Have you been a victim of cell phone data theft? Share your story with HearUsNow.org.