I know we’ve already discussed in class the practice of text-blasting during elections. Working for a politician, I’ve made myself somehow familiar with the technology.
These past weeks, I’ve been meeting with some groups who are offering the service. They’ve sent us proposals claiming that they have millions of unique active numbers to whom our messages would be sent. Because the equipment for this service is no longer novel and is not that expensive anymore, what these groups are actually offering is their corresponding database. What they are selling are actually our numbers!
This is what really bugs me. How did these people come up with their database of target numbers? Where do they get their lists?
It would be one thing to actually survey the market and ask subscribers for their numbers, and another to acquire all these millions of numbers wholesale. I don’t want to be pointing fingers, but when a group actually takes hold of all these numbers, the only source I could think of are our TelCos.
For this reason, we are now crafting a bill that will require such service providers to disclose their sources of the numbers, and thereafter, to provide evidence that they have been authorized by the owners of the numbers to utilize them in their proprietorship. These people must remember that our individual mobile numbers are our property and cannot be disposed off by others. These people are making money off us and at the expense of our privacy.
BLAST YOU!
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