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Unauthorized publication of unlisted phone number

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aross79

Guest
Is there a law prohibiting a private organization from publishing someone's unlisted and non-published phone number without their permission? I have an unlisted and non-published (can't get it in the phone book, 411 or caller ID) phone number at home that I give out to friends and business associates. Recently a non-profit organization in my city published a phone directory with advertisements (like a local white & yellow pages). My phone number and address were listed. I never gave them permission to publish this information. Is there any basis for a lawsuit here? (I live in New Jersey) Thanks!
 


J

JoBarry

Guest
I don't know about the lawsuit part, but as for your number being published you should check w/your OWN telephone provider to see if they "sold" your information. Confused?? Well I'll just give you an example of what happened in my state of Arizona recently:

The main phone service provider is Qwest. Thanks to reports in the media we found out that Qwest was going to "sell" our customer information to companies who were willing to buy it. Qwest claims they notified their customers with an "insert" in their bill (it must have been pretty tiny because not many people noticed it). Luckily the news media got wind of it and it was made very public. Qwest informed their customers that in order for us to prevent our information from being sold WE had to notify them within 30 days that we did not want it sold. Well, needless to say there was a public outcry and they ended up changing it so that they would only sell our info if we notified them that we DID want it sold. Hopefully no one was stupid enough to do that.

Anyway, check w/your phone service provider to be sure they haven't sold your information. If they have, this may not be the last time you see your number in print.....it will be on A LOT of telemarketer spreadsheets. Joanna.
 
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Icre84u

Guest
I also can't help with the lawsuit part, but have you dialed any "800" numbers lately? Example, to activate or renew a credit card? If so, there is a good chance that the credit company sold or traded your phone number with others. When you dial an 800 number, your own telephone number is electronically sent to the party, even if number is "unlisted" or caller ID is "blocked." Unfortunately, there seems to be very little liability over how numbers are used by downstream users. Banks also have a lot of freedom to sell information.
 

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