Are Prepaid Cell Phone Onwers Actually Anonymous?

During the past decade the world anonymity has became extremely popular. Several years ago people were unaware that they should reveal only the information they really have to in order to protect their identities. However, while the modern technology have developed significantly, a lot of new issues to remember have appeared. Most of the privacy concerning things are associated with the Internet and ever growing social networking pages where people are very eager to share their personal information with strangers. However, more and more people decide to cut down on the amount of shared data. Once they notice that they can do something to improve their so called anonymity in the internet, they will also try to look further to find other means to achieve this.

I know quite a lot of people who use no contract sim cards, because they think that thanks to this, nobody will be able to learn their name, address or any other personal information, just by using their phone number. They believe that if there's no personal information associated with the number in the carrier's database, nobody will be able to find it using for example a cell phone lookup. Unfortunately, they're not right, buying a prepaid cell phone will not make you any more anonymous if you decide to use the phone number just like any other. This means that you will be for example shopping online using your personal information and the prepaid cell phone number or you will take part in some online sweep-stake where you have to provide your cell phone number. If you use the number in this way, you can be sure that your data will be collected and aggregated into a cell phone directory with all your personal information in it.

However, there is a easy way to prevent such situation - you just have to read the terms of service before you enter your personal details. If you notice that you agree to resell your data, you shouldn't agree, since you can be sure that after some time the information you entered will be bought by some cell phone directory and everybody who pay a few bucks will be able to find your name and address just knowing your cell phone number which was meant to be totally anonymous.

Although this is very boring and takes a lot of time to even skim read the terms and conditions as well as privacy policy, you should always sacrifice your time to do this in order to know what exactly is going on. Don't forget that it's the same contract as if it was printed and signed.

They Have 750 Billion Records On You. Have You Even Heard Of Them?

Acxiom official website

With its headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas Acxiom is one of the biggest companies you may have never heard of. In this article I will briefly explain you why it's definitely worth for you to learn a little bit more about this company. I'll deliberately omit some useless facts about number of employees, annual turnover and so on. It's enough for you to know that these are huge figures with no doubt.

To start off I will mention that Acxiom is a data aggregation business. The euphemism means that their main purpose is to obtain as much data as possible from as many people as they can. Since the the company operates in 60 countries around the world, they collect and compile data about their residents. One thing is that these people have given away their sensitive personal information usually without getting anything in exchange, but the other is that some of them were unaware that the their data will be aggregated into Acxiom database. Just think if you have ever done any of these things:

• bought a magazine subscription
• registered an account for any electronic services
• filled in an online survey
• took part in some prize giveaway(i.e. Free iPad Giveaway)
• given away your details in any other way and neglected to read privacy policy

An example of online prize giveaway

In case you have, the probability of some data aggregation company possessing your data is extremely high. Acxiom and other similar companies cooperate closely to merge information collected from third party companies. Other methods involve buying large amounts of data from credit card issuers, retail banking companies, car manufacturers, brokerage firms, insurance and real estate companies, online retailers as well as pharmacies. They work with around 60-70% of the biggest companies in these industries. Just try to think of one single piece of information they may not know have. They know your name, address, previous address, marriage status, cell phone, things you prefer, drugs you take, financial situation(credit history, earnings), your car preferences as well as VINs. Using their software they can easily associate you with your family members in their databases.

Since it's the money that rule the world, it will be no difficult to think of potential use of such sensitive data. Each day they serve 350 millions customers around the world with their databases. Some of the customers need background checks, some of them need to reverse cell phone numbers but most of their customers demand highly targeted contact information which Acxiom surely can provide. They can quickly find millions of people who could be potentially interested in buying shiny tyres to their Chevrolet who live in Kentucky.

How To Opt Out From Such Databases?
In theory the procedure is fairly simple, you just have to fill in a simple questionnaire and send them to a data aggregation company. It is nothing surprising that such firms try to discourage consumers from opting out and it is proven by experts.
Opting out from Acxiom
If you want to opt out from all the data brokers, you should visit Privacy Alerts who created a full list of opt out forms.

How To Avoid Giving Out Your Personal Information?
The first and the most important thing in here is a Privacy Policy of the company which demands personal information from you. You don't have to read the whole Privacy Policy document carefully, just skim read and try to find a similar clause:

We may sell, brand or share your personal information that you supply to us with other 3rd party businesses [...]
Source: http://www.surveypanelgroup.com/privacy.php *
This is not an Acxiom operated website.

If you find something like this, you can be sure that your personal information will be sold to 3rd parties. However, if you can't find anything like this, I strongly advice you to read the Privacy Policy again, but this time do it thoroughly. I know this no fun, but as long as your privacy is concerned you should be very careful.

Sources:
-http://ivebeenmugged.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/05/acxiom.html

Tips On How to Block a Cell Phone Number

Recently, cellphones have become a fundamental piece of our everyday life. It is a recognized truth these days, that it's difficult for us all to support actually for a day without using these cell phones. With growing use of mobile phones, difficulties relating to privacy may also be on a rise. Because of the cellular phones featuring a caller identification these days, it's tough to contact someone devoid of unveiling your own individuality. Blocking phone number will assure that your phone number is not shown on the caller id of the person you call up.

Block Mobile Phone Number

From time to time, all of us choose covering our personality. The issues in this might be numerous, starting from taking part in a bogus against your friend to making a business call with out disclosing your personal telephone number to the other individual. In these kinds of circumstances, we're not able to help but wonder how pleasurable it would be in case we may discover how to block a telephone number? It may appear as a technically difficult undertaking, yet blocking cell phone number happens to be easy and even more importantly there's no need to be very well competent with all the technicalities on the problem. You need to simply call the consumer care of your current carrier, and ask these to block your cellular phone number from featuring in the persons caller identification.

Tips On How To Block a Telephone Number Entirely?

'Line block' would be the most straightforward measure to block mobile phone number for good. You can call up the customer care of your mobile phone network, and also say to them that you would like to get the line block facility. The client care agent asks you a couple of questions, for instance your own street address or perhaps date of birth, to verify your identity. Then your company is going to do the needful to block your cellular phone number. On accomplishing this your cellular phone number will never be shown around the devices caller identification. Imagine you are obtaining the actual facility regarding line stop, nevertheless , you want the person on the other side to learn that you will be phoning just for just one certain phone, you'll be able to dial *82 just before phone dialing the number you are phoning. The negative effects of this facility, although, is the fact that many users block phone calls from cellular phone users obtaining the line block facility.

How to Block a Phone Number Temporarily?

Sometimes blocking cellular number briefly is much more effortless compared to blocking it entirely. Blocking the telephone number for the short term means your cellphone will never show up on the devices caller identification to the specific phone. So as to block phone numbers in the short term, you have to call *67 before the phone number you are phoning. The service, however, hasn't the reviews facility wherein you may come to understand whether the service worked well. And therefore, it is suggested that you just try using this kind of facility either on your own home telephone or your friends cellular prior to deciding to apply it.

Knowing how to block a cellular phone number is a big help, specially when considering privacy issues. Other than all of the carriers, also a number of cell phone producers supply the service within their selection. Bear in mind blocking your own cellular phone number fails, with regards to emergency numbers or phone searching for by the the police agencies. And therefore, you should make sure that you block phone number only for some legitimate purpose. If intended for falsified means, your cell phones can be simply tracked and you may inevitably be in deep difficulties.