WEB WATCH
Online Phone Directories: Convenience At A Price - The Internet is undoubtedly a great time and money-saver for consumers. In particular, it has made the need to pay for directory assistance services like 4-1-1 nearly obsolete. Unfortunately, with that convenience has come much loss of privacy. Today, powerful search programs crawl the internet “sniffing” for information about consumers and entering that data into massive databases. Many consumers will be surprised at just how easily their personal information can be gathered. For example, one popular phone directory site, WhitePages.com, returns a lot more than just names and phone numbers. Searches performed by TRAC on the site sometimes provided the names of each household member of the person searched, their approximate ages, and the address and telephone number of their employers. If an individual has an unusual first or last name (as opposed to Smith or Jones, for example), the site was often able to identify consumers’ residential and business listings going back many years. The variety of search methods offered by WhitePages.com makes it possible to easily create a fairly detailed profile of where someone lives, works, and the name of their spouse and children. Obviously, this could be very valuable information to marketers, spammers, and others.
All is not lost for consumers, however. Concerned individuals can remove their information from WhitePages.com two different ways. The easiest way to remove listings is online. First, enter your first and last name into the appropriate fields on the WhitePages.com; enter your state of residence; check the “include surrounding area” box, and click “search.” Each of the resulting listings must be removed individually by clicking “listing details” and then clicking the “Is this you? Remove your listing,” link at the bottom of the listing under the “WhitePages.com Privacy Options” header. Consumers can also call WhitePages.com’s headquarters at (206) 973-5100 and ask a customer service representative to remove their listing. When TRAC called, the representative asked for the name and the number we wanted removed from the site. The process was simple, and the Washington, DC listing was removed within 24 hours. The drawback, however, was that the residential and business listings for the same person in another state was not removed. This means that individuals who call WhitePages.com need to identify each of their residential listings to ensure that all of their records are removed from the website. Also, the WhitePages.com representative told us that an individual’s listing would be reposted if they moved or changed phone numbers. Finally, WhitePages.com is just one of dozens of directories online that store this kind of information. Consumers who are serious about keeping their personal information off the Internet should get in the habit of checking these sites on a regular basis and getting personal information removed. WhitePages.com lists a few of the major search directories on their privacy page, so that’s a good place to begin.
More AT&T Long Distance Rate Increases on the Way - AT&T subscribers may have a few less dollars to spend on Valentine’s Day goodies this year after they open their February bills. This week, the company announced a bevy of rate increases that will take effect February 1. The Unlimited Plan, Unlimited Weekends Plan, and Unlimited Sundays Plan will all increase their monthly service charge by $2.00 to $30.99, $18.95, and $13.95 per month, respectively. The 150 Monthly Minutes Plan and 30 Monthly Minutes Plan will both increase by $1.00 to $12.95 and $5.00 per month, respectively. Local and long distance bundled plans rates will also be increasing in eight states: Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont, and Washington. Plans affected in these states are the One Rate Local, One Rate State, One Rate USA, or One Rate Advantage plans. Most customers should have received a notice, likely as an insert in their monthly bill, notifying them of the increase. Additional details of these rate increases are available online by clicking here.
Verizon Wireless Raising Text-Messaging Rates - Apparently, consumers aren’t getting the message that they’re supposed to be signing up for bundled text-messaging plans. Verizon Wireless recently announced that their pay-as-you go text-messaging rates for postpaid wireless users will jump from 15¢ to 20¢ per message (sent or received) starting in March. The move comes on the heels of an earlier increase by Sprint-Nextel. Over the past year, the cost of pay-as-you-go text messaging has risen steadily across most major carriers as the companies have sought to encourage subscribers to purchase monthly text-messaging bundles costing anywhere from $5-$20 per month. Despite the price hike, it still may make sense for light-usage texters to stick with Verizon Wireless’ pay-per-text plan. At the current 15¢ rate, users can send or receive up to 66 messages per month and still save money versus buying Verizon Wireless’ cheapest monthly texting bundle ($10 for 500 messages). At the higher 20¢ rate, users will only be able to send up 49 messages per month and still save money versus the $10 bundle. Customers looking for the cheapest pay-as-you-go text messaging will find that Alltel, T-Mobile, and AT&T Mobility have yet to jump on the price hike bandwagon and still charge 15¢ per text.
INTERESTING LINKS
FCC Main Page: http://www.fcc.gov
FCC Complaint Form - http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm
List of State Regulatory Commissions: http://www.naruc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=15
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