Think Twice Before Giving Out Your Cellphone Digits, The Window To An Individual’s Life

It’s worth it to think twice before giving someone your cellphone number when they ask. Nowadays, your digits are more than just a few numbers with which people can reach you for a chat or send a text to. An individual’s cell number is used to link to increasingly more private information by an array of companies, including social networks and lenders, as The New York Times shares. Your digits can be used for tracking a person’s searches online to determine interests and can even link to television watching habits.

Edward M, Stroz, a former high-tech crime agent for the FBI states that It has become “kind of a key into the room of your life and information about you.” Even more unsettling is the fact that a cell number is not like a Social Security number, which is required to be kept private by companies. A cell number is not a regulated bit of information and many of us are more than willing to share our digits without a second thought, whether when online or after meeting someone who is barely known.

Learn More About Cell Phone Security Risks! https://t.co/P6l2OMDdBs pic.twitter.com/Dbq09VXK4N

— Secured Comm (@SecuredComm) September 17, 2016

The Times share that statistic in regard to those using cell phones versus landlines.

“Nearly half of all American households have given up their landlines and have only wireless phone service — a figure that has risen more than 10 percentage points in just three years. Among people ages 25 to 29, the share of homes that have only wireless phone service stands at 73 percent, according to government statistics.”

Many have admitted that they will never opt for a landline, such as Taylor Gallanter, a 23-year-old from San Francisco. She shares that she has had the same number on her phone for 8 years now. Gallanter does state that she is careful not to share her number unless it is absolutely required, and uses her email address as her contact information instead.

“With just your cellphone number and name, I know they can get all sorts of information about you,” Ms. Gallanter said.

Investigators have even relayed that a cellphone number can be even more useful than a Social Security number because it is tied to many databases and is also connected to a device that is usually with a person owning it at all times, as Austin Berglas, a former FBI agent notes.

“The point is the cellphone number can be a gateway to all sorts of other information,” said Robert Schoshinski, the assistant director for privacy and identity protection at the Federal Trade Commission. “People should think about it.”

Similarly, the Social Security number was only ever supposed to be a manner to keep records of an individual’s work history and was never meant to be used for identification purposes. The cell number is now taking on more purposes and some are worrisome.

“That Social Security numbers are so broadly used and often so poorly protected is a major cause of the current epidemic of identity theft,” said Alessandro Acquisti, a computer scientist and privacy expert at Carnegie Mellon University.

The Social Security number is now a quick identifier and is found in all sorts of databases of a number of corporations and governmental departments. There have been benefits to this, yet consequences have also resulted. Losses in the United States due to stolen identities used in crimes such as loan fraud and credit card fraud reached $15 billion this past year.

Worries are now connected to the cell phone due to the risks that come with sharing digits for various purposes. Yet, as the Times shares ” if a cellphone number and the intimate computer behind it open a door to new risks, technology, as is so often the case, can also be employed to combat those risks.”

[Feature Image by Sean Gallup/Getty Images]