WASHINGTON, May 19 (UPI) -- Anyone who thinks their mobile-phone number is the last bastion of privacy in what is now a very public world, think again -- at this very instant, mobile providers are compiling a directory that anyone will be able to access simply by dialing 411. Some are fighting the industry's planned release of the directory, but the industry says that will take the proper steps to safeguard customers' privacy.
Travis Larson, spokesperson for the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA), said that mobile phone users both want and need a directory. "Some people spend more time on the road than in the office and could use a wireless directory," he added.
But U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Penn., is trying to push through a bill on the grounds that people feel otherwise. "Wireless users value the privacy of their wireless numbers and want to control access to their mobile phones. Most wireless phone users prefer to keep their wireless numbers private, and only offer that number to family, close friends, and colleagues they know well and trust," Pitts' Web site indicated.
Lawson countered, "Wireless carriers have a long history of protecting consumer privacy -- we fought almost a decade ago to make it illegal for telemarketers to call wireless phones -- and we understand that consumers consider their wireless phones very private. We would not get in the way of that privacy without their permission," he said.
"This list will not be published in a book, this list will not be published on the Internet, and it will not be sold to third parties," he said.
The issue, first raised late last year, has resurfaced with Pitts' latest efforts to push through the Wireless 411 Privacy Act (H.R. 3558). The bill, introduced late last November, would mandate opting in to the directory for existing customers, opting out for new customers, and no fees for being unlisted. Pitts is trying to schedule a hearing on the matter by this summer, his office said. However, CTIA said wireless providers that plan to contribute to the directory -- AT&T, Alltel, Cingular, Nextel, Sprint and T-Mobile -- already intend to follow the standards Pitts' bill is asking for.
"The cell-phone directory will be opt-in -- that means consumers will have to make an active choice to be listed," Larson said. Those who want to address the issue now will likely have to wait a little longer to do so. "I'm not sure that they [the carriers] have their programs in place yet; in fact, I would venture to guess that they do not. The directory won't be up and running until probably early 2005."
And in a policy shift, participating mobile providers said they will not charge customers for opting out, even if customers have signed contracts that give companies the right to charge. "The wireless carriers have told CTIA that they will not be charging for exclusion, unlike the land-line universe, in which you do pay every month not to be listed," Larson said.
"There are contracts out there in which when you sign up for service you give permission to list your number and which include clauses that suggest payment not to be listed is the choice of the carrier. But all the participating carriers have told CTIA two things: that even if consumers have already given their consent through a contract, that consent will be requested a second time ... and that no one will be charged for exclusion," he said.
As for the likelihood of telemarketers accessing the database, "It's a safe bet to assume that carriers will continue to charge what they charge for each call to 411 -- it could be anywhere from 50 cents to $1 or more," he said. "It's not economically feasible for a telemarketer to develop a list of 10,000 people one call at a time."
As a last buffer against telemarketers, "Telemarketing calls on their home phone, on their business phone, or on their wireless phone, all of those numbers are eligible for the FTC's do-not-call list," Larson said. "The FTC's do-not-call list is a bonus security blanket."
When asked about what influenced the wireless industry's decision to create these particular standards for the directory, Larson said, "The wireless industry is developing this directory in response to our consumers."
The issue is gaining importance, given that more and more people are not only becoming wireless subscribers, but may be giving up their land-line phones altogether.
The number of wireless subscribers has gone up tenfold in the past 10 years, from 16 million subscribers in 1993 to 160 million subscribers in 2003, according to a study by CTIA. The number of U.S. land-line phones has also decreased for the first time in history, a survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project showed. Since 2001, the number of households with land-line phones has stalled at 95 percent, the study said.
The Pew study also said that about 21 percent of all Americans with cell phones have "very" or "somewhat" seriously considered canceling their home telephone line since obtaining a mobile phone.
But one wireless provider is conspicuously absent from the process -- Verizon Wireless, the biggest U.S. wireless provider.
"Customers come to us with an expectation of privacy when it comes to their wireless number and we're choosing to respect that," spokesperson Brenda Raney said when asked why the company is not participating.
"For those customers who want their number listed, they have the option today," of being listed in the regular telephone directory, she said. "If you call Verizon and said you want your phone number listed in the phone book they would list it for a nominal fee," around $1 or $1.50 a month, she said. "So, for those customers who have cut the cord and are now completely wireless, they have that option."
Pitts' press secretary Derek Karchner said that the wireless industry's promises to be a good directory steward are just that -- promises. "We need a law to deal with these concerns."
"Congressman Pitts introduced this bill initially to address what this bill might mean for consumers," Karchner said. " We feel like there's still a need for the legislation at the very least Congressional hearings, something to bring this to the light of day ... most consumers have no idea that this is coming," he said.
Karchner said that Pitts' office found out about the database last September. It was their understanding at the time that the database would be up and running by June 2004, but have since heard that the database would be coming out later than originally scheduled.
"If numbers are going to be in a database they're going to be listed somewhere. They can be printed out, they can manipulated, they can be accessed. CTIA probably wouldn't run it themselves, they'd ask some company to run it for them, so at that point, what standards is that company going to operate under?" Karchner said.
Also, mishaps like security flaws, viruses, or misdirected e-mails could inadvertently give the wrong people access to the numbers, Karchner said.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, a study last year, which Privacy & American Business think tank founder Alan Westin helped to create, showed that 16 percent of respondents wanted people to be able to find their wireless numbers, while 65 percent of respondents said they weren't concerned about it.
