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Fri 16 Dec, 2005 05:29 pm
Why Do They Want My Phone Number?
By MICHAEL S. JAMES, ABC
12/16/05
On the checkout line this holiday season, make sure you have everything on your gift list, your cash or credit card ready -- and, oh yeah, get set for one more thing.
"Can I have your phone number, please?"
"I hate that," said Larry Ponemon, a former corporate auditor who founded the Ponemon Institute, a Michigan-based think tank that studies privacy, data protection and information-security policy.
Hate it or not, more stores are asking for phone numbers or other personal information, and that has some privacy experts concerned.
"The various data companies are trying to acclimate people to invasions of privacy. It started with the zip code and now it's moved on to phone numbers," said Chris Hoofnagle of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in San Francisco. "I'm willing to bet that retailers' market research is showing a willingness of customers to share the telephone number, and that's why it's happening."
Privacy advocates advise against revealing such information, because it can be the key to accessing more sensitive information about you.
"I think a lot of stores, to be fair, they're not abusing your privacy," said Ponemon, who once audited an unspecified chain store's use of customer data and found it ethical. "But some stores are thinking there's money in your data."
Because a phone number often can be used to look up a customer's address, stores say it helps them send special offers through the mail or tailor those offers to a customer's prior purchases. Many stores have signs explaining such a policy near checkout counters. Such signs commonly add that the stores don't share their customer information with third parties.
Susan McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for Toys R Us Inc., said its stores had asked for phone numbers for several years. She believes most customers have no problem voluntarily giving their numbers at the register -- though it's "no problem at all" if they decline.
"The retailer sends the database company the full list of phone numbers and receives back the same list, but enhanced with demographic information."
-Chris Hoofnagle, Electronic Privacy Information Center
"It's so we can send you offers, coupons, et cetera, and we don't sell it to third parties," she said. "I'd say the majority of people like getting coupons."
'Hub of Customer Identification' But phone numbers can be used to organize much more than just who gets the best coupons, and that's what worries the privacy experts.
"The telephone number is really becoming the hub of customer identification," said Hoofnagle, in San Francisco. "Consumers do not understand that giving out the phone number allows the business to buy more information about the consumer through a system known as enhancement."
Companies that specialize in enhancement can generate things like marketing profiles, credit reports or background checks on individuals. Two database companies, Acxiom and Experian, did not return calls from ABCNews.com seeking comment. A spokesman for a third, ChoicePoint, said that the company's data collection did not extend to retail stores, and that it did not index data via phone number.
"Telephone numbers are an element of the information used by ChoicePoint to verify a person's identity," spokesman Chuck Jones said. "However, none of ChoicePoint's products begin the verification process with a telephone number."
But if a store sought to gather data starting with a phone number, Hoofnagle explained how it might occur.
"The retailer sends the database company the full list of phone numbers and receives back the same list, but enhanced with demographic information -- addresses, information about interests and hobbies, information about whether there's children in the home, et cetera," Hoofnagle said.
The additional personal information may have been culled from other sources, Hoofnagle said, possibly including product registration forms, corporate customer support lines, or surveys voluntarily filled out by individuals.
It's also conceivable that the information could have been gathered from purchases in stores or online. Ponemon, for one, is not reassured by stores' stated promises to keep such information private.
"Policies change," he said. "Even if they have a policy and they mean to the best of intentions that they don't share, it's hard to hold businesses to account."
He cited the case of Toysmart.com, which had a policy of not sharing customer information. The company moved to sell its customer database when it went bankrupt, but was taken to court over the matter and eventually agreed with the Federal Trade Commission not to sell the information.
Power of Data Experts worry about what happens when a store manages to circulate its customer data.
"We don't have very good privacy protection in law in this country, so there aren't very many clues in the marketplace as to what's being done with the information, where does it end up ultimately, how does it flow," said Beth Givens of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego.
"It's very difficult for people to know how a certain decision about them was arrived at and whether their personal information played a part," she said. "So much of this information flow is invisible to people. How do you know how the insurance company came to the decision to increase your rates?"
Hoofnagle said there might be another drawback to providing a phone number at checkout: It could open a person up to telemarketing -- even if they are on the federal "do not call" registry. According to Hoofnagle, giving a phone number while making a purchase may establish a business relationship, and companies can call individuals on the "do not call" list with whom they have prior business relationships.
"Not only that, you can also get an e-mail address" through data enhancement, Hoofnagle added. "So getting the phone number opens you up not just to getting phone calls, but to spam."
Some experts don't consider giving up a zip code at the cash register quite as risky. Givens said it "doesn't really say much about you," and she understands that it's useful for stores to know where their customers come from.
Hoofnagle is less blasé.
"In a lot of America, a name is unique in a zip code," he said. "Not only that, a date of birth is almost always unique. Data that seems innocuous can get more information when aggregated."
It's unclear whether Americans really care about whether or not their personal data is being aggregated. But Givens points to the popularity of the federal "do not call" registry as evidence that they care about the possible end result of aggregation.
However, she worries reluctance to reveal personal information may be eroding among a key demographic.
"It's hard for me to speak about identity theft to young people and get them to understand it," Givens said.
"I think there's a life-experience issue there with young people. But more so, young people grow up with Internet access. They're more immersed in an information-rich environment.
It's just natural for them to spend most of their time dealing, in one way or another, with their personal information."
it's funny, most people don't know any postal code but there own, so when ever i go to a local store (near windsor, ontario) that asks for one, i give them one of two, one from toronto and one from vancouver (i here them all the time on cbc radio), i often wonder how that screws up the market researchers
I don't know. Maybe I'm just incredibly mentally healthy -- not a hint of paranoia. I don't mind giving my phone number to anyone who asks for it. I also don't understand why peole remove their name and address labels from magazines they subscribe to before giving those magazines to someone else. I'm not hiding from anyone, for Pete's sake. I do have an unpublished phone number, but that's only because it helps cut down on telemarketing and crank calls. That same unpublished number is clearly printed on my business cards. I generally keep my phone ringer turned off and just check my voice mail from time to time to see if anyone wants me to call them. Postal code? Yeah, I don't know too many outside my own (and sometimes I forget my own!) but why would I not give it out? Again, I'm not hiding from anyone, haven't gone to ground.
no paranoia on my part i just like to mess with the research
Well, you're not required to give a phone number. They are not required to accept your check.
I give my work phone on some applications. I've had my phone number on my check for decades. If it has caused me trouble I don't know about it.
Back in the olden days, if one bounced a check, the phone number let a store call you to make good on it, in theory anyway. Now if one bounces, let us forfend, banks make penalty fee hay while the sun shines, that is, during the period it takes to get their notice in the mail. Thus I follow my account online. I don't bank online, not having had any kind of routine paycheck for a long time. My take home pay has been derivative of jobs getting finished, and clients paying up, or gallery sales. No automatic deductions for moi.
should I give stores my telephone number
Well, if they really want it, they can check the phone book. But I hate giving out personal information that isn't absolutely necessary. Most stores just shrug and go on to the next step of the transaction, but I ran into one local lamp store which refused to take my check unless I gave my phone number.
I'm not quick-witted enough to fling out any old phone number when asked, and I'm sure I look guilty if I don't give out mine.
But what do people do who have unlisted numbers?
I'm definitely a minimalist when it comes to giving out personal info in any circumstances
I always ask them why they need it. They usually say, it's just store policy. I say it's my policy not to give out my phone number. I've never been required to give it to make a purchase.
Hmmm.
At my old studio we subscribed to Telecheck which, if I recall correctly, required us to have both a phone number and driver's licences number on the check before they would guarantee it.
When people walk out the door with a product, having written a check, the seller is really SOL if the check turns out to be bad.
I would never take a check that didn't have every single piece of required information on it to guarantee payment, either from the client or from Telecheck.
As a small business owner - just a few bad checks a month could make a huge dent in my ability to pay my bills and myself.
What Roger said -- you don't have to give them your phone number and they are under no obligation to accept your check without it.
Bounced cheques? (checks?)......eh?
Don't you have cheque guarantee cards? Or "chip and pin" cards?
CG cards, as long as the store verifies that the signature on the cheque matches that on the card, guarantees that the bank will honour the cheque up to a certain agreed limit. This amount is usually displayed on the card. The card is swiped, to verify that it is still functional, the signature verified and transaction completed. If there are not enough funds to cover the cheque, the bank will take it up with their customer, and not the store.
Chip and pin is a new, and safer way of paying by cheque (new to the UK anyway, ....France ha had this system for some time.
Customer hands cheque to cashier, along with chip and pin card. Cashier swipes card and hands customer a hand held device (bit like a calculator).
Customer discreetly enters four digit pin number. Bank guarantees to honour cheque, if the correct pin is entered, up to certain limit. In the UK, this limit of guarantee is usualy around £250, so if the store accepts a cheque for over the agreed limit, they are taking the full risk of losing out if the cheque bounces.
I never give ANY personal details out. Having seen how easily these personal details can be assembled by various agencies of the law, I am very jittery about this sort of thing, just in case my details were being retrieved by less scrupulous people.
Identity cloning over in the UK is very big business, and paper shredders for the home are becoming a virtual necessity, for when people want to dispose of out dated personal stuff.
Oh no. You don't mean you use your real name on your checks, do you?
No, certainly not.
I use an alias for all cheque transactions, and usually go under the name of Gladys Applethwaite.
I usually go by scribblescribbleLoascribble Elscribblelpus.
In all seriousness, I haven't issued a cheque in years.
I pay for everything by "switch" or visa, and only use cash for important purchases in the Pub.
Actually, now that you mention it, Lordy, who uses checks at a store any more? I pay my monthly rent by check, as well as bills that I pay by writing a check and putting in the mail (post?). Other than that, failing to have a cash on hand, I always use a credit or a debit card. Never carry a chckbook with me.
Frankly, BBB, one is NOT required to give his phone number on a check. I told the clerks at the grocery store that since I have been getting strange telephone calls, I didn't want to put my number on the checks. Driver license is enough, and the fact that I have never had a check bounce at the particular place where I shop should be enough.
I should say that I never use checks at retail stores. I am often asked for my phone number when using a credit card. That's when I get a little huffy.
I don't use checks in stores either - usually I use a credit card in order to get frequent flyer miles.
There are a few stores that ask for my phone number. I usually give it as then I get those great promotional flyers. One store in particular will send you a certain percentage off - it depends on how much you shop there - the more you shop there, the higher percentage off. They use your phone number to track it and to get your address. As besides annoying phone calls (which I can weed out with caller id), there is nothing else they can get with my phone number.
My husband on the other hand will never give out the phone number. He simply says he prefers not to. Never had a problem when he says no.
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