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Cell Phone Records for Sale
tabdelgawad writes "The Washington Post has a good writeup on how 'data brokers' use various techniques to obtain cell phone records of individuals then offer them for sale to anyone who will pay. The data is obtained by either bribing phone company employees, or 'pretexting', or accessing unregistered customer accounts online. Although phone companies are the only source of this information (unlike, say SSNs which are available from many sources), one Cingular spokesman was quoted as saying that this is 'an infinitesimally small problem'."
This is basically a candied way of saying "there's only a few ways they can do it, so don't worry about it."
Wrong. Compromise is as easy as one... that's right, one point of failure.
It's still a vulnerability.
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It is a tiny problem for them, because it hasn't started to cost them money. They could give half a crap if my info was sold to anyone, it doesn't effect them at all.
There is quite a bit that could be done with this data, from it you can build social webs, For example Bob bought a brand new *foo* Brad is his friend, so perhap we can intrest Brad in a loan to also purchase a *foo*.
I am sure there are dozens of other things that could be found from this info.
I say make the company who releases my personal information pay me a hefty chunk of change, and it will stop being a tiny problem for them.
I used to have a cool sig, back when I cared
Is the cell phone company guilty for releasing your call history? What was on your cell phone history for last month? Did you call your psychiatrist to reschedule? Did you call an aborition clinic? Did you call your mistress? And do you want anyone knowing this information.
What I can't figure out is, how does a firm keep updating the call history?
Or should the laws punish the people who steal the data? For example, if a private investigator obtains your phone history, should that PI go to jail?
The new world of no privacy anywhere is getting ridiculous. Between having all your private information made public, having cell phones with cameras, websites with upskirt photos, and maps that image your house from space, there is nothing personal anymore. What is next, video cameras in toilet stalls to make sure thieft is not happening?
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
Disposable mobile phones that aren't attached to anyone's personal information sound like they'd be superb for terrorists. I hate acting like the alarmist, hypersensitive newsmedia, but it's true. A communications device which cannot be traced back to a person and can also be used as a very handy little detonator...
So what? Who gives a damn what is useful to terrorists? I don't - spazzing out over what terrorists could do is the most batshit crazy thing you could do. While you're banning things left and right, making a mockery of the USA, all those bad guys are running around totally unfettered. I'd rather have one city a month bombed, just like london, than deal with the TSA and the homeland security bullshit.
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"