Private eyes aren’t watching you

Alicia Robinson

Cellular phone customers may soon rejoice to have a bit more privacy.

Under a bill co-written by 70th District Assemblyman John Campbell,

their phone numbers must be kept private unless they give permission

for companies to include them in a directory.

The Assembly passed the bill Thursday, and it is now awaiting the

governor’s signature. It would require cellphone service providers to

get written consent from customers before adding numbers to any

directory or database, and customers can’t be charged for opting out.

“For many people, their cellphone is the last number they want

people to know because it’s with them all the time,” Campbell said.

“All this bill did is say, ask.”

While some cellphone users think the bill is a great idea, much of

the cellphone industry believes legislation is unnecessary and forces

it to do something it was going to do on its own.

The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Assn., a national

trade organization representing all six national wireless-service

providers, opposes the bill and will urge the governor to veto it,

association spokesman Steve Carlson said.

“There are folks who voted for the bill, I think, under mistaken

assumptions as to what our plans are in terms of implementing such a

directory,” Carlson said. “The idea of a directory came about as a

result of requests from customers.”

The cellular number directory, which is still in development,

would be similar to 411 service, and numbers would not be published

or sold, he said. Cellular companies already planned to get

customers’ permission to list their numbers because they don’t want

to anger customers and lose business, he said.

Campbell doesn’t buy that argument, however.

“We found that some companies had a listing authorization in their

standard contract ... but yet no one I talked to was aware of that

because people don’t read those big, long contracts when you get your

cellphone,” he said.

If customers’ numbers weren’t protected they might be charged for

receiving telemarketing calls, depending on their service plan,

Campbell said.

Some local cellphone users welcomed the news of legislative

protection of their cellular privacy.

“I think that’s a good idea,” said Amanda Anderson, a teacher who

lives in Newport Beach. “Most people have cellphones because they

want a personal, private number and very few people give it out.”

She said she gets enough unwanted calls on her land line and gives

her cell number to only family and friends.

Self-employed businessman Lenny Davis, of Newport Beach, said

cellular numbers should be unlisted unless people give their

permission.

“I use it for everything, and I travel a lot,” he said. “Really,

my phone is my office, and I don’t want everybody knowing [the

number].”

But Lee Wilder, a retired Irvine resident, thinks cellphone

directories could be handled the way phone directories have been done

in the past, with phone users included unless they pay to be kept

out.

“That seemed to work pretty well,” he said.

He has a cellphone, he said, but “I mainly keep it for

emergencies.”