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align="right" src="http://www.engadgetmobile.com/media/2006/05/9923.jpg" alt="" />Were you aware that your phone
records are available to just about anyone willing to fork over $100 beans in exchange for a month’s worth of
activity? Yeah, in what has become a booming Internet business aimed primary at Private Dicks, your phone records
(including lists of incoming and outgoing calls) are being made available via dozens of web-based brokers who openly
advertise their ability to obtain your data with the help of company insiders or via a little deception — in violation
of law. See, the 1996 Telecommunication Act which deregulated the phone and media industries, also states that
consumers’ phone records are private property and can only be publicly disclosed with our approval. As such, the
FTC has now taken action and like
href="http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/01/24/t-mobile-files-suit-against-purveyors-of-cellphone-records/">Cingular,
T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon before them, are going after these bastages in a variety of sting operations
and costly litigation meant to oust and ultimately shut ‘em down. The five sites targetted by the FTC in their
lawsuit include 77 Investigations, Accusearch, Check Em Out, Information Search, and Integrity Security &
Investigations Services with the latter accused of selling personal financial info and credit card deets to boot. Sure,
these US-based companies will just reopen off-shore but still, we’ve got your back on this one FTC.
The same folks who brought us fire-proof plastic, air guitar clothing, and wireless air hockey apparently delivered a lot more of the WiFi
