# Cell phone directory **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 9, 2022, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172 "2022-02-09T20:36:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/1 "2022-02-09T20:36:17Z")
In another thread, the question arose, “should there be cell phone directories?” What do you think? I would think they would be a source for spammers. I get enough of those as it is. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/2 "2022-02-09T22:07:47Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I would think they would be a source for spammers. That’s what I’ve heard, but I’m not sure if it makes sense. How would a directory help them, unless they were looking to target specific names, and I always thought they just randomly call everyone. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/3 "2022-02-09T22:12:34Z")
I like the anonymity of a cell phone compared to a landline. In the old days, you had to pay to have an unlisted number. Your cellphone number comes unlisted by default. If it ain’t broke… ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/4 "2022-02-09T22:17:35Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Your cellphone number comes unlisted by default. I don’t think it’s off-topic to ask: How did that happen? When cell phones were starting, were the telcos concerned for our privacy? Surely they knew how much money they could get by selling the lists. Maybe the gov’t prohibited directories? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/5 "2022-02-09T23:19:37Z")
That is an excellent question. It would seem logical that land lines had directories, and cell phones would, too. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/6 "2022-02-09T23:31:47Z")
My guess: With old fashioned landlines, the local phone company was a monopoly, so it was easy to put together for them to compile a list of every phone number in town. With cell phones, you have multiple providers to choose from, so at best a provider could put together a directory of just their customers, unless they all shared data with some third party who listed all the cell numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/7 "2022-02-10T00:35:15Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > they all shared data with some third party who listed all the cell numbers. Bad for us and our privacy, but it sounds like a great idea for profit-hungry telcos. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/8 "2022-02-10T01:47:33Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I would think they would be a source for spammers. I get enough of those as it is. How would a directory help spammers? All the spammers do is tell a computer to run down a list of every possible phone number, and dial every number on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/9 "2022-02-10T01:49:32Z")
Who would a cell phone directory help? ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/10 "2022-02-10T02:17:39Z")
If I want to talk to a friend, and they either don’t have a landline or I simply prefer calling their cellphone, there is no current way of easily finding their number. The only way would be to bother common friends who also might not have it. There have been times that I call a relative, but the line was disconnected because they switched to whatever, and I don’t have their new number. This was much more common before the phone numbers became portable, I admit. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/11 "2022-02-10T02:38:32Z")
It used to be you could type a phone # in google & get returned some information on a phone #. If it was a cell phone # that you typed in you didn’t get much back but if it was a (business) land line, it would return who was calling you. This was useful, especially if it was a headhunter as I knew what the call was about & whether I’d want to answer it or not. Now it seems that every website that gets returned in your search a) wants to charge you & b) give me way more information - criminal & civil records checks, marriage status, etc. I just want to know who is/did call/ing me…without paying for that. Are there any of those websites anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/12 "2022-02-10T02:47:25Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > How would a directory help spammers? It would certainly help scammers by allowing them to personalize their calls. Hello Mr Bootb. We are calling about your expired car extended warranty. Not so much a threat against the average user, but it would definitely give them an additional advantage with their target audience, mostly elderly who can be more easily confused. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/13 "2022-02-10T13:36:48Z")
If you don’t have my cell phone number, chances are I don’t want you to have my cell phone number. I’d love to shoot a hidden camera video where my contacts are approached by an actor/actress who tries to get my contact to give them my number. The actor/actress will receive $5,000 if successful. Make up whatever story you want, in 99.9% of the cases my contact (aka friend) will refuse to share my number. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/14 "2022-02-10T14:19:09Z")
Telemarketers are actually creating there own cell phone directory. That’s just one of the things they are mining for along with other information on you obtained from every source they can get their hands on. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/15 "2022-02-11T01:28:10Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > My guess: With old fashioned landlines, the local phone company was a monopoly, so it was easy to put together for them to compile a list of every phone number in town. With cell phones, you have multiple providers to choose from, so at best a provider could put together a directory of just their customers, unless they all shared data with some third party who listed all the cell numbers. The neighbor across the street may have a cell phone that he is bringing from Phoenix and my next door neighbor might be from New York, plus the other neighbor from California, and so on. In the old days they all had the same local carrier, at least, so when someone moved away, and disconnected service, the local deleted them from the next edition of the phone book. But they also added newcomers who had connected to their service since the previous listing. Back in the day you might have had one number per nuclear family. Now it’s more like one number per family member. Would you object to your 12 year old’s cell phone number being published? If yes, how does the publisher determine which numbers belong to adults? And what about burner phones that people don’t hold onto? Or own under a fake name? My phone’s a “burner” I guess—Tracfone, no contract—but I’ve had the number almost 20 years. There are possible some workarounds, like social media. TBH while going through old papers I have discovered a few “bad weather calling trees” from work in years past and I’ve held onto them. Should I ever need to make a professional contact with someone from years gone by, who knows? I have no intention of letting my current number go…maybe they’ll still be at the number they gave as well. It’s interesting that a thing we took for granted is now defunct. I remember finding a yellow pages on my front step years ago and thinking, ‘I didn’t much use the last one…we should stop murdering trees to make these things.’ ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/16 "2022-02-14T16:47:11Z")
I do miss the phonebooks sometimes. Luckily Google does a good job for most businesses, but there is basically nothing for personal numbers. I had this crazy dream the other night where people put their phone number on their mailboxes. That would solve some problems but create many more. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/17 "2022-02-14T17:20:37Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I do miss the phonebooks sometimes. Luckily Google does a good job for most businesses, but there is basically nothing for personal numbers. I found a purse with some money, credit cards and a drivers license in it last week, but no phone number. I subscribe to a background check database (Been Verified) and put in the address and it came back with a phone number tied to the name and address. I called to verify that the purse was theirs and met them at their house. There are reverse phone number lookups, but those are hit and miss and aren’t always up to date or tied to an address with a name. If I hadn’t had had the background search tool I would have just taken it to the police. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-directory/959172/18 "2022-02-16T06:28:50Z")
There is something you are all forgetting. In the Before Times, people placing telephone calls paid for those calls (other than local calls usually). The party _receiving_ the call did not pay. Cell phones changed that model, by charging both the caller and the callee for their air time on the call. Thus, cell phone numbers needed to be kept somewhat confidential to limit telemarketing calls, because it was bad enough to be deluged with telemarketing calls at dinnertime, let alone having to pay for them! So they decided to not have directories, and cell phone owners were advised to keep their numbers somewhat confidential.