WP: Online Data Gets Personal: Cell Phone Records for Sale

[DeepModem Mom]

Online Data Gets Personal: Cell Phone Records for Sale
By Jonathan Krim
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 8, 2005; D01


They're not just after your credit card or Social Security numbers.

Fueled by the ease of online commerce, snoops are on the trail of other personal information, too. One of the hottest markets: records of phone calls, especially from cell phones.

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....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/07/AR2005070701862_pf.html

[htuttle]

1. I thought you used to need a court order to get a pen register trace?

http://www.tscm.com/USC18_205.html
http://www.cdt.org/security/000404amending.shtml

[Occulus]

2. Not in the "Ownership Society" n/t

[mbperrin]

3. Anybody wanna give me $165 for MY last hundred calls?

Please?

Seriously, though, why am I not even slightly surprised?

[htuttle]

4. Let's pool our funds and buy Matt Drudge's call history

...or Rush Limbaugh's or Brit Hume's call histories.

It would be interesting to see how often they communicate with WhiteHouse staff.

[Mister K]

7. If you have his phone number, I'm in.

[Supersedeas]

5. laissez faire economics

[high density]

6. Well I'm glad my bank doesn't give out my info the highest bidder

But they may soon enough if they can find a way to generate fee revenue from it. ("For only $10/month we won't give your address to robbers and thieves!")

[Toucano]

8. You got it.

I've no doubt it's coming.