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Why You Should Not Give Your Cell Number Online
More often than not, you are asked for a mobile phone number when you are signing up for websites and newsletters online. You are usually given a field in the signup process where your cell number is required. Most sites don’t tell you why they want your information or how it will be used. You can usually leave this field blank, but it is becoming a required piece of information in most companies and sites today.
Why is it a Requirement?
According to number-finder.co.uk, the main reason websites ask for your phone number is so that they can start doing 2-step verification when you forget your password and want to reset it, or when you sign in from a device in a location that seems suspicious. It is, however, illegal for any business to make your phone number a mandatory requirement when paying for an order.
One prime reason why it might be required for you to provide your cell number is that more people are switching to cell usage over landlines, which means that cold call marketing doesn’t work nearly as well. According to federal law, it is now illegal to call cell numbers using an autodialer, which means that marketers need your number to contact you.
What Can be Done With Your Cell Number?
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has a special registry called the Do Not Call registry. Any phone number on the registry can’t be dialed by a telemarketer. This is true even if your number is on the registry. While they can’t call using an autodialer, they can ask a human to call you and try to sell you products.
Business phones can’t be placed on the Do Not Call registry. If you provide your business phone number to the company you made a purchase at, they are legally able to call you for as long as they want to. If your home phone is your business phone, such as when you work from home, you’re opening your personal life up to telemarketing calls to your business number. However, these calls can only try to sell you a product relevant to the business to which your number is registered.
Text messages are exempt from the registry. If you give your phone number to a company, they can send you as many texts as they want as often as they want as long as the texts are relevant and not fraudulent in any way. The texts can’t be sent to you by a machine unless you are informed and consent to this, though.
The Bottom Line
If you give your phone number to a business or online, you’re in trouble. They can bother you for as long as they want over text, and can call you too. Take measures today to protect yourself from harassment by telemarketers!
About the Author bradr
I love writing about video games almost as much as I love playing them. Beginning with the original NES, I have been playing video games my entire life. My favorite franchises include The Legend of Zelda, Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy, Pokemon, Doom, and Fire Emblem
