Wireless Directory Raise Concerns About Privacy

After last year's campaigns against spammers and telemarketers, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are poised to tackle the next privacy frontier: the nation's 150 million wireless phones. As a group of carriers quietly works to create the first wireless white pages, legislation is in the works to protect consumers concerned about the privacy issues of those numbers going public. Privacy advocates say the proposed protections are not strong enough.

The Wireless 411 Consumer Privacy Act was introduced in both the House and the Senate before the holiday recess. The bill would require existing customers who want to be listed in a national database of numbers to "opt in," or specifically say they want to be listed, while new wireless subscribers would have to "opt out," that is, choose not to be listed.

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