New mobile phone directory grounded due to technical issues

Posted on 13 Jul 2009 at 12:33

118 800, the controversial new directory of mobile phone numbers, was taken offline late Friday because of "technical glitches" and, as of 12:30pm Monday, the service was still down, with the site claiming that "we'll be back as soon as possible with the new improved service."

"The high number of queries 118 800 has received since launching have highlighted some technical glitches in the system," the notice read.

"To ensure 118 800 provides faultless customer service the decision has been made to temporarily suspend the service allowing for technical work to be completed."

Ever since its launch last week, the service has been in a cloud of controversy. Many are upset because their mobile phone numbers have been entered into the directory without their consent.

The Information Commissioner has warned Connectivity, the company behind 118 800, that it shouldn't be publish numbers of 'customers' who may be unhappy with their details being made public. That's likely to be most of us, then, since the BT telephone directory has shrunk massively over the years in order to avoid the increasing numbers of unauthorised marketing calls.

Connectivity, the company behind the service, is believed to have acquired more than 15 million mobile phone numbers from list brokers, market researchers and other businesses that harvest personal data. It claims that all requests to be made ex-directory on the service will be processed, despite the technical issues, but surely the company should be running an 'opt-in' rather than an 'opt-out' scheme?

118 800 - remove yourself when normal service resumes

Author: Tim Smalley

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