A proposed wireless 411 directory for cell-phone numbers should include only the names of consumers who want to be listed, representatives of the industry and consumer groups told Congress on Tuesday.
But the witnesses before the Senate Commerce Committee split over whether privacy protections in the first national database of cell-phone numbers should be voluntary or must be spelled out in a federal law similar to the Wireless Privacy Act, introduced by Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).
Executives of wireless companies said the federal government shouldn’t try to regulate the new, potentially profitable service, which is desired by millions of cell-phone users, including those who no longer have land-line phones.
The AARP, privacy advocates and representatives of phone users countered that the main concern of the vast majority of cell-phone users is to make sure that neither they nor their children are listed on the service. They said a listing could cost them usage minutes for a flood of incoming calls from firms or people who are strange, scary or annoying.
For this complete story, please visit Mobile-Phone Directory Debated in Congress.
