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Is Cell Phone Information a Public Record

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  • 12-02-2017, 12:55 PM
    curiousandskeptical
    Is Cell Phone Information a Public Record
    My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: PA

    I just googled myself and see that my cell phone number comes up under my name. How can I get this information taken down from private internet sites?
  • 12-02-2017, 02:04 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Is Cell Phone Information a Public Record
    Your cell phone records, as held by the carrier, are not public records. They can keep them private or disclose them in a manner consistent with their policies and the law.

    You have no inherent privacy right in your phone number -- it's similar to your street address. If somebody posts it online you can ask them to take it down; if they're inviting people to harass you and posting your information for that purpose you can see if the webhost will take it down as a violation of its terms of service; but if they're merely saying "Joe Schmoe's phone number is 555-5555", you have no legal remedy.
  • 12-02-2017, 02:13 PM
    flyingron
    Re: Is Cell Phone Information a Public Record
    There are really two levels of phone number protection. The traditinal land line phones show up in a telco directory unless specifically requested (sometimes for a fee) by the subsriber. Cell phones don't tend to appear in traditional directories. However this isn't to say that numbers to name and billing addresses aren't publicly disclosed. I pay a little bit extra for a online database access that gets me number<->name/address mappings for most cellphone. It also crossreferences other databases to put together associations.

    Nothing illegal here.
  • 12-04-2017, 07:36 PM
    curiousandskeptical
    Re: Is Cell Phone Information a Public Record
    I understand. I still don't like it, maybe I can change my number and get a pre-paid. I guess that is my only recourse. Thanks for letting me vent.
  • 12-04-2017, 08:43 PM
    L-1
    Re: Is Cell Phone Information a Public Record
    Quote:

    Quoting curiousandskeptical
    View Post
    I understand. I still don't like it, maybe I can change my number and get a pre-paid. I guess that is my only recourse. Thanks for letting me vent.

    Doing that is probably not going to help. From time to time you will give address and telephone number information to others in the course of personal business (auto repair, warranty registration cards, online purchases, etc.) In turn, they will sell that data to businesses who make their money selling personal information about people. For example - I live in Town A, I own rental property 40 miles away in Town B, and my elderly mother lives 55 miles away in Town C. Periodically, I will order merchandise online for my mother (Amazon, eBay) and have it shipped to her at her home. I gave her phone number for them to contact if there is a problem with the delivery. Amazon, eBay and third party processors collect name, address and phone data, and sell it to others who combine it with property owner's and other lists. Since then, my mother has been receiving calls asking if my rental property in Town B needs repair. When I look myself up on some of those data collection websites, some show me living with my mother, others show me married to her because my name is associated with her address by shiping things there.

    So, no matter how many times you change your number, have it unlisted, or buy a burner, the minute you give it to the wrong person or company, it will be up for sale on the intertnet in a day or two.
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