Washington AG looking to quash sale of cellphone numbers

Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna said he wants legislation to prohibit the marketing of mobile phone telephone numbers without consumer consent, responding to privacy concerns raised by the new cellphone directory business launched by Bellevue-based information commerce firm Intelius Inc.
“I have my staff working on options on amending the current state law,” McKenna told RCR Wireless News in a phone interview.
Washington law currently bans wireless and wireline telecom carriers from disclosing telephone numbers absent explicit consent of subscribers themselves, but is silent on third parties doing so. “There’s a big gap in current law in protecting wireless subscribers,” McKenna said.
McKenna said his office is not aware that Intelius is breaking any laws. At the same time, he said the state could intervene if consumers complain about privacy or service quality. There are anecdotal reports of Intelius cellphone directory eliciting inaccurate information for the $15 search fee. The service offers to look up wireless phone numbers by name and trace phone numbers to their owners.
Media reports quote Intelius, led by former Nortel Networks Ltd. and InfoSpace executives, as saying it gathers mobile phone numbers from marketing companies and public sources in which consumers previously agreed to hand over such information. The service advertised on the company’s Web site offers “phone number, address, phone type, carrier & more for cell phones, unlisted & un-published numbers, internet (VOIP), and other phone types. Phone Lookup also includes the option to confirm current and historical addresses and phone connections within the report.”
Intelius could not be immediately reached for comment.
If the Washington state legislature were to approve the kind of measure contemplated by McKenna, and it were signed into law next year, Intelius likely would be barred from marketing its mobile phone number directory in the way it does today.
The mobile phone industry attempted to create mobile phone directory several years ago, but the effort failed because of congressional privacy concerns and other factors.
“No wireless carrier is working with this company and therefore every consumer should be extremely wary of this service,” said cellphone industry association CTIA in a statement. “As we’ve proven, the data this firm is selling can’t be trusted. However, the fact that they continue to acquire, market and sell wireless phone numbers is a very serious issue that deserves the attention of state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission.”
When CTIA President Steve Largent plugged in his mobile phone number-one he’s had for several years-it came up with a Maryland man’s name.
Federal regulators and Congress appeared initially reluctant to take on-in the Intelius context-a privacy issue they’ve made a high priority in the past.
“We’re not going to comment on Intelius’ business practices,” said Jackie Dizdul, an FTC spokeswoman.
“Privacy rights of consumers are one of the FCC’s top priorities,” said an FCC spokesperson. “The FCC requires carriers to use customer passwords to protect against inadvertent disclosure of their phone records.”
The offices of two congressional privacy champions-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and House telecom subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-Mass.)-did not provide comment on the issue.