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Look Up Unknown Phone Numbers Using Facebook Reset Password

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Re: Look Up Unknown Phone Numbers Using Facebook Reset Password

#61

Post by kristopolous »

aembleton wrote: post #60
kristopolous wrote: post #59

Y'all know we used to publish everybody's phone number in a book along with their address and then distribute copies to every household, right? We did it for many decades and it was fine. Every pay phone, which was a phone anyone with a couple coins could make anonymous calls from, had this giant book right there for your reference. Everyone knows this, right? If you didn't know someone's number you could look it up…

Could I easily look up a name for a given phone number with this book? Or did I have to go through the whole book to find a match?

Of course. It was called the greypages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_telephone_directory

In old movies you sometimes see people ask the operator to do a reverse search as well so I assume it wasn't a big deal.

Re: Look Up Unknown Phone Numbers Using Facebook Reset Password

#62

Post by Rygian »

kristopolous wrote: post #59

Y'all know we used to publish everybody's phone number in a book along with their address and then distribute copies to every household, right? We did it for many decades and it was fine. Every pay phone, which was a phone anyone with a couple coins could make anonymous calls from, had this giant book right there for your reference. Everyone knows this, right? If you didn't know someone's number you could look it up…

I get it that the right to privacy has not been such a priority in the past, especially outside Europe, but there's nothing wrong in trying to strengthen it.

What was maybe fine a couple decades ago is no longer fine in a world where anyone from any jurisdiction in the world can abuse your privacy for fun and profit.

Re: Look Up Unknown Phone Numbers Using Facebook Reset Password

#63

Post by Hamuko »

kristopolous wrote: post #59

Y'all know we used to publish everybody's phone number in a book along with their address and then distribute copies to every household, right? We did it for many decades and it was fine. Every pay phone, which was a phone anyone with a couple coins could make anonymous calls from, had this giant book right there for your reference. Everyone knows this, right? If you didn't know someone's number you could look it up…

>Y'all know we used to publish everybody's phone number in a book along with their address and then distribute copies to every household, right?

And we didn't use to tie second-factor authentication into SMS messages to your phone number.

Re: Look Up Unknown Phone Numbers Using Facebook Reset Password

#64

Post by kristopolous »

Rygian wrote: post #62
kristopolous wrote: post #59

Y'all know we used to publish everybody's phone number in a book along with their address and then distribute copies to every household, right? We did it for many decades and it was fine. Every pay phone, which was a phone anyone with a couple coins could make anonymous calls from, had this giant book right there for your reference. Everyone knows this, right? If you didn't know someone's number you could look it up…

I get it that the right to privacy has not been such a priority in the past, especially outside Europe, but there's nothing wrong in trying to strengthen it. What was maybe fine a couple decades ago is no longer fine in a world where anyone from any jurisdiction in the world can abuse your privacy for fun and profit.

30 years ago things were far more ripe for fraud and abuse. Things couldn't be verified in the slightest.

In the 1800s a famous fraudster invented an entirely fictitious country and then sold fraudulent land grants and bonds for it - really, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_MacGregor

There's a reason why the most famous confidence tricks have names that go back hundreds of years (eg, spanish prisoner) and there's fun named people like Soapy Smith that mastered things like mock auctions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soapy_Smith or "Kid Dropper" named after his love of the "drop swindle" scam: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Kaplan

Charles Ponzi did his stuff 100 years ago and he just lifted it from earlier con artists like Adele Spitzeder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adele_Spitzeder

The idea that we need to "lockdown" things because we live in unprecedented times relies on someone not really reading any history. Things are relatively pretty safe these days.

Re: Look Up Unknown Phone Numbers Using Facebook Reset Password

#65

Post by cik »

kristopolous wrote: post #59

Y'all know we used to publish everybody's phone number in a book along with their address and then distribute copies to every household, right? We did it for many decades and it was fine. Every pay phone, which was a phone anyone with a couple coins could make anonymous calls from, had this giant book right there for your reference. Everyone knows this, right? If you didn't know someone's number you could look it up…

Part of the issue is the meaning of privacy now. Decades were spent fighting for the right to not receive, or to receive targeted phone calls.

We're now (at least my cohort) in a world where no one, ever answers the phone. Either you're in my phone book, or I'm never answering the phone. It's rather liberating.

Re: Look Up Unknown Phone Numbers Using Facebook Reset Password

#66

Post by talonx »

kristopolous wrote: post #59

Y'all know we used to publish everybody's phone number in a book along with their address and then distribute copies to every household, right? We did it for many decades and it was fine. Every pay phone, which was a phone anyone with a couple coins could make anonymous calls from, had this giant book right there for your reference. Everyone knows this, right? If you didn't know someone's number you could look it up…

While this is factually correct, what you are missing is the point that most people have mobile phones these days, and their phone numbers are tied to a ton of other accounts and services. These include second factor auths (using text or voice calls) for other websites, bank accounts, social security ids (I'm not talking about the US), insurance policies - the list goes on. You would not want your number to be available to the general public - because that makes you vulnerable to social engineering attacks.

Re: Look Up Unknown Phone Numbers Using Facebook Reset Password

#68

Post by dheera »

thatguy0900 wrote: post #24
dheera wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't post my real phone number on Facebook, and I don't know why anyone would.

If anyone with you as a contact uses Facebook then Facebook probably knows it anyway

Most people I know don't have me as a phone contact either, typically just e-mail and Facebook or WeChat, but not phone.

I don't use phone calls much, and I block all unscheduled calls anyway.

Re: Look Up Unknown Phone Numbers Using Facebook Reset Password

#69

Post by debaserab2 »

kristopolous wrote: post #64
Rygian wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get it that the right to privacy has not been such a priority in the past, especially outside Europe, but there's nothing wrong in trying to strengthen it. What was maybe fine a couple decades ago is no longer fine in a world where anyone from any jurisdiction in the world can abuse your privacy for fun and profit.

30 years ago things were far more ripe for fraud and abuse. Things couldn't be verified in the slightest. In the 1800s a famous fraudster invented an entirely fictitious country and then sold fraudulent land grants and bonds for it - really, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_MacGregor There's a reason why the most famous confidence tricks have names that go back hundreds of years (eg, spanish prisoner) and there's…

The fact that these risks existed a century ago is a poor argument for suggesting they shouldn't be taken seriously in the present.

We live in an era where things can be done instantly online with sufficient information. A sophisticated conman from the 1800's can now execute fraud in seconds instead of plotting for weeks, and they can do so in an automated fashion. The risk isn't anywhere near the same.

A white pages phone book hooked up to pay phone is bound to the region in which it is distributed. A bug on a website that links phone number to full name is exposed on a global scale. Not to mention, a landline number is not anything like a mobile phone number, which is a unique identifier to tons of PII.

Re: Look Up Unknown Phone Numbers Using Facebook Reset Password

#70

Post by kristopolous »

cik wrote: post #65
kristopolous wrote: post #59

Y'all know we used to publish everybody's phone number in a book along with their address and then distribute copies to every household, right? We did it for many decades and it was fine. Every pay phone, which was a phone anyone with a couple coins could make anonymous calls from, had this giant book right there for your reference. Everyone knows this, right? If you didn't know someone's number you could look it up…

Part of the issue is the meaning of privacy now. Decades were spent fighting for the right to not receive, or to receive targeted phone calls. We're now (at least my cohort) in a world where no one, ever answers the phone. Either you're in my phone book, or I'm never answering the phone. It's rather liberating.

That's only because calling is the new fax. Would you ignore an SMS from an unknown number? Let's say the content was "Hey, how've you been? It's been a while!"
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