Have you considered how often your phone number has been shared? Most of us give out our cell phone numbers all the time – to friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and even big, monolithic, impersonal companies. We may even print them on business cards or list them on public forums.

A cell phone is no longer just a way to contact someone to engage in conversation. It is now the quickest way to reach a large portion of the world’s population, and it is used for much more than voice conversations. Think about all the uses of a typical smart phone:

  • Text and other instant messaging,
  • Social media,
  • Photo and video creation and storage,
  • Location services,
  • Games, and
  • Many other modern conveniences.

These devices have ingrained themselves into our culture, seemingly anatomically connected to the human hand. For many people, a check of their screen time statistics is often a sobering experience. In some cases, many have contemplated ways to break up with their phone. 

Mobile Devices and Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

It is true that the phone has made our lives easier, but it has also raised our vulnerability to cybercrime. When we consider the information that we can learn from a phone number, it is easy to accept that a phone number has been classified among the other data that comprises Personally Identifiable Information (PII). This makes a phone number a target for bad actors.

One way that we make ourselves vulnerable is by listing an item for sale or requesting to buy an item from an online marketplace.Oftentimes, many of the respondents will request your cell phone number so you can communicate further about the item. At first, this seems innocent enough; using the selling sites’ messaging programs can be a bit cumbersome. However, in some cases, (Read more...)