Cell phone privacy scandal
p2p news / p2pnet: “Her eyes widen as she recognizes what has just been dropped on the conference table in her downtown Ottawa office – detailed lists of the phone calls made from her Montreal home, Eastern Townships’ chalet, and to and from her government-issued BlackBerry cellphone. Her mouth hangs open, and she appears near tears.
” ‘Oh my God,’ she says finally. ‘I didn’t realize this was possible. This is really alarming’.”
‘She’ is Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart and she’s deeply shocked because MacLeans Magazine was able to so easily buy her phone logs online …
… and from an American company.
“Locatecell.com delivered months of long-distance records from her Bell Canada home and cottage accounts,” says MacLeans. “They were also able to access her Telus Mobility cellphone call logs for October – a monthly bill she probably hadn’t even received at the time. And all the Internet requests were turned around in a matter of hours.”
Here’s what Locatecell promises.
- 1 to 4 hours during business days on orders received by 5pm
- Guaranteed to be accurate, and current
- No data returned, No Charge for the Search
- Reverse Cell Phone Number Lookup $65
- Find Name and Address from number. Additional Cell Reverses available including Canadian Cell $85, and International Cell $250.
- Find Current Cell Phone Number $95
And, “Give us the name and any combination of address or SSN and we will send you the working cell phone number,” it says. “Cell Phone Call Record $110.” And, “Give us the cell phone number and we will send you the calls made from the cell phone number,” it states, also offering land-line services.
Here’s what Bell has to say about it:
“Bell wishes to assure its customers that protecting the privacy of customer information is a serious matter for the Company. To this end, Bell has systems and procedures in place that are continually updated to better protect customer information.
In this case, the information was obtained through subterfuge and misrepresentation. Bell, other telecommunications companies and the customers involved were victims of fraudulent and unethical activity. We sincerely regret any embarrassment or inconvenience that has occured [sic].
As soon as the Company was made aware of this incident, it took additional steps to further tighten the safeguards in place to protect customer information. Unfortunately this may cause some inconvenience to customers legitimately requesting their personal information. We ask for their understanding as these procedures are for the protection of their private account information.
This problem has affected others in our industry, both in Canada and the U.S. The Company is continuing to investigate whether there are any legal actions, either criminal or civil, that Bell or others in the industry, or government agencies can take to stop these fraudulent practices and protect consumers.”
Would Ma Bell have responded with such alacrity had the details sold been yours or mine, one wonders?
Meanwhile, “Canada’s privacy commissioner doesn’t seem to be in the mood to let the matter drop,” states MacLeans.
“Last winter, she raised the issue of transborder data brokers with the FCC, and now she says she intends to do so again. And with her own purloined phone records in hand, Stoddart will be going after the phone companies. ‘This data originated in Canada,’ she notes.
“It’s not just a matter of privacy, in the case of her cell records, it’s also government security that has been compromised. ‘It’s a stunning example,’ she says. ‘I think this calls for drastic action’.”
See:-
MacLeans Magazine – You are exposed, November 21, 2005, issue
Bell – Bell Canada statement on the protection of customer information, November 14, 2005
November 15th, 2005 at 9:47 pm
I’d like to see every bit of private information continueously posted for any politician, judge, and corporate executive. Someone needs to post their health information, national identification number, street address, email address, all telephone numbers, bank account numbers, drivers licence numbers, credit card numbers, and any other little bit of information about them.
After that is done, people can call these politicians, judges, and corporate executive and tell them how committed WE are to protecting their privacy, and apologize for any inconvenience that they suffer. We can promise that we will safeguard their information and only give it out to friends, family, and coworkers. I for one would like to see all of these assholes on the receiving end of their lawlessness.