Your cellphone number is going public! And in other news, the sky is falling

Every year, about this time, we all see the same emails and social network posts. They tend to culminate around or right before the beginning of the new year.

Your cellphone number is going public next (month, year, whatever)!

Make sure you get your cellphone number in the National Do-Not-Call Registry.

Deep breath. It will be okay. I promise.

First, let me assure you, as a professional who works for a major cellphone carrier - your cellphone number is not and will not be made public ...at least not by the doings of the carrier. I'm not saying your cellphone number won't make it into the hands of telemarketers or cold-call lists. That's a different matter. More on that below.

Before I get to the real issue, let me also say that adding your cellphone number to the National DNC registry is never a bad idea. I highly recommend you DO add all numbers to the NDNC registry, including home, business and cell. You can learn more about the NDNC registry and how to respond to unsolicited calls from their site: 

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0108-national-do-not-call-registry

Let's get to the heart of the matter. 

Are you a "cord cutter?" Cord-cutters are people who have eliminated home land-line phone service in their homes in lieu of using a cellphone. Most of the people I know are cord-cutters, including me. I see no reason to pay for POTS (plain old telephone service) in the home, especially since e-911 service mandates and technology improvements have removed that last safety hurdle. Almost everyone has a cellphone so why pay for an extra line of service that's rarely if ever used?

What most people don't think about when they decide to "cut the cord" is what then becomes their "home" telephone number?

Our society still revolves around "home" phone numbers in contact data bases. We see them all the time, student registration, doctor's office, dentist, employer, post office, shipping a package with FedEx, credit card, bank, 401k plan, social networks, job applications... the list of businesses and sites that ask for your home phone number is endless. Many business have "adopted" their customer contact entries to accommodate a cellphone field. And in some cases it makes sense, like emergency contact for your child's school. But few, if any, have eliminated the "home phone" box on the form. 

What happens when you no longer have a home phone at home? 

The problem is not with carriers releasing cellphone numbers to the public. They don't need to. Most if you do it on your own, and you don't even realize that you're doing it. 

Most people wind up giving away their cellphone number to businesses and service providers. Major mistake! Don't be so naive as to think that businesses, even small local businesses, won't sell or market your contact information. It's called being in business. Businesses survive with customers. Large contact clearing houses pay handsomely for new customer contact numbers. This is especially true when it's accompanied with other details and data about who you are, what you like, where you shop, what you buy, where you live, how many kids you have, your age, race, faith, gender, employer, if you like the color blue...on and on. 

Once you list a cellphone on any form, record, application or online site, it's as good as making it public record. You're giving permission for whomever owns that form...or whomever they sell it to... to call you. On your cellphone. As they see fit. Really.

If you're a cord-cutter, but don't like the idea of giving away your cellphone number, I urge you to get a virtual phone number. You can use a virtual number as your "home" contact number in any situation. You can also use a virtual number as a "dummy" cellphone number (think: that pesky dude at the office/bar/club keeps hitting on you). That said, I also urge you to understand how to use it for actual human contact.

There are several virtual phone providers out there. I personally recommend using Google Voice. It's free with a Gmail account. You can make calls with Google Voice from your office or cellphone. Callers will see your GV number on caller ID so they are none the wiser. You can also use GV to manage voice mail, and personal greetings. The best thing about GV is how they allow you to filter callers. Anonymous caller? No problem! Create an automatic filter to drop those calls. Calls from mom, dad, kids or the boss? They can all be added to a group that is automatically forwarded to any actual phone number of your choosing. Or all of them at once. You can even use GV to send and receive SMS (text) messages. See the beauty? 

One of my favorite features of GV is the ability to customize personal greetings. For example, you can create a greeting for mom or grandma that's eloquent and well-spoken...makes them feel all warm-n-fuzzy. Create a special "professional" greeting for unknown callers or businesses, which is especially handy if you're in the hunt for a job. And of course, you want that super-awesome greeting for your besties; "What up bitches?!"

If you've already given away your cellphone number to any business or service, then don't be surprised if you get robocalls or cold calls. There's not a lot you can do about it, other than add them to a "SPAM" contact in your phone. Most cellphone carriers give their customers the DIY tools online to create 'block' lists so make sure you use them.

Adding your cellphone number to the NDNC registry will not prevent businesses from calling with whom you've already given permission to your cellphone (and by 'permission' I really mean 'knowledge of'). But it should help prevent future distribution of your contact info to unrelated businesses. And it certainly doesn't hurt.


Cheers to a little more privacy!

Instead of "saving" Thanksgiving, let's all give thanks.

There's lots of noise being made this year about all the retail stores who are opening on Thanksgiving Day and how they must be evil. There has been no shortage of news stories and social network pages stood up to "honor" or "protect" this day of giving thanks. Examples here and here.

On the outset it seems businesses are degrading the spirit of the holiday. They are "forcing" employees to work on a day when they should be with family. I'm sure, for those employees who are scheduled to work on the holiday, it stinks. I get it, and I wish they didn't have to work. We all want a day off. We all want to enjoy our time away from the J.O.B. After all, the reason why we work is to enjoy time away from work.

For years the American public has shown no mercy to the employees who have to work on Labor Day, Memorial Day and Independence Day weekends, just so the rest of us 'haves' get to enjoy our cookouts, picnics, boating and camping trips, first and last days at the pool, racing events and baseball games. There are myriad other lesser holidays that seem to have no polarizing impact to our moral compass. So what gives? Why now? Why Thanksgiving Day?

How many of the same people clamoring to keep Thanksgiving Day family-sacred, are the same who feel that our capitalistic society and commercial interests should be defended by the Constitution? Business owners deserve to make an honest earning, right? Sure, I guess, unless it's on Thanksgiving Day.

The streets may run red when the first retail store opens on -GASP!- Christmas Day! Okay, they won't run red, but I'd bet plenty of green there will be public outcry. That is until they realize the local stop-n-rob is closed and can't gas up.

It's easy for us for many of us to shake our head at retailers who are sentencing their staff to hard holiday labor. What about the plight of the employee? If they are working that day it's probably because they need that job. They need the paycheck. They are counting on every dollar they can scrape together. Make hay while the sun shines, right? If you don't understand the need to work a holiday, I recommend this quick essay on the matter. Please read here.

I will also offer up the idea that for many, Thanksgiving Day may be the only extra day off they have to get some shopping finalized. The few regular days off are likely spent on tasks around the home, helping with school, kids and myriad duties. What a blessing it will be for them to have other family nearby to occupy the kids so that mom and dad can go get some holiday shopping done.

I don't begrudge anyone who chooses not to shop on Thanksgiving Day. You have every right to relax at home and not get caught up on the shopping madness that will ensue. However, if you are one of those folks who supports any of those boycott petitions, I ask you this:

• Will you gas up the family truckster on your way to Uncle Frank's? 
• Are you counting on grabbing a McMuffin that morning?
• Are you going to watch your beloved Dallas Cowboys or Detroit Lions get mashed amidst the witty banter of turducken-laden sportscasters?
• Are you flying anywhere? If so, who's piloting the plane? And who's loading your bags?
• Will you peruse Facebook, send a tweet or check in on FourSquare at Grandma's Rancharosa?
• Will you send a text or make a call?

I hope you aren't relying on my buddy Dennis, an emergency first responder, to come dowse your annual turkey fryer failure. And I really, really hope you don't have to call my friend, Officer Dorothy G., to break up the belligerent scuffle between Cousin Eddy and drunk Uncle Morty. If you do then I guess you will likely meet my friend, Doc Henry at the ER, along with his staff of hospital administrators and nurses. As for many other friends and coworkers here at Sprint, we're gonna work around the clock to ensure you can surf Amazon and use your iPhone to check in on Facebook. Like any of those hard working, retail employees, I wish they all could be home with their family, too. But we chose the professions we chose, and sometimes that means working the days we wish we didn't.

Maybe you will choose to shop on Thanksgiving Day. Maybe not. Regardless, we will all encounter hard working people on Thanksgiving Day. Among so many blessings we can count, we should be thankful for those people who work on our day off. Make sure give them all a heart-felt 'Thank You' so that we may drive, fly, eat, drink, get well, feel safe and, maybe, even shop on that thankful day.

Be well. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Why do we pay so much for so little?

Why do we, US citizens, pay more for broadband than most (if not all) other 1st world countries? Maybe more important to ask: 

• What are the impacts to our society? 
• What are we doing about it?

A recent article published by the BBC News revealed the cost of broadband is highest in the US of all industrialized nations. They elude to some reasons for the cost differences but leave room to draw other conclusions.

"The price of basic broadband, TV and phone packages - or bundles as they are known - is much higher in American cities than elsewhere, suggests the New America Foundation think tank, which compared hundreds of available packages worldwide."

"This research echoes the findings of another report earlier in the summer by the OECD, which compared countries in terms of their broadband-only prices. Across all 10 download speeds and capacities, it consistently ranked the US near the bottom."

The BBC published their article along with similar articles which are bringing to light the disparity on US broadband cost and access. 

The New America Foundation just released their second annual report on broadband pricing studies. The study is highlighted by Gigaom in their recent publish; "More proof that without competition U.S. broadband costs more and delivers less."

"The report, now in its second year, attempts to compare U.S. broadband offerings to the rest of the world. It found that once again, that based on speed U.S. broadband is more expensive than many other cities."

This got me thinking about their studies and rationale. I can't say I find fault in the conclusions.

"Americans pay so much because they don't have a choice," says Susan Crawford, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama on science, technology and innovation policy."

No one wants big government. No one. However, a Capitalistic society left to its own devices will cannibalize itself. We need regulation, which requires government oversight.

The problem is we don't treat broadband access like a utility. Ergo, it's not regulated like a utility. It's not price or service regulated. There's no guarantee of service. There's no fair or competitive pricing. It's every cable company for themselves, which leads to price gouging and anti-competitive market conditions. The cable companies win. We lose.

"We deregulated high-speed internet access 10 years ago and since then we've seen enormous consolidation and monopolies, so left to their own devices, companies that supply internet access will charge high prices, because they face neither competition nor oversight."

We need to start treating broadband access like a utility; regulating and ensuring everyone has fair and high quality access, citizens, business and government. If we don't then there's sure to be implications that drive societal shifts. Of greatest importance, there will be the (further) degradation of and to our youth and education.

"The 2008 banking crisis demonstrated what happens when we allow banks to act out of pure self interest. The communications crisis in America is less visible but also destructive of America's ability to function on the global stage."

It's already hard enough to compete on a global scale for jobs and industry. Why are we crippling our youth and "cutting them off" at the laptop? Aren't we better than that? Our lack of broadband regulation is creating a digital society of "haves" and "have nots."

"For Susan Crawford, author of Captive Audience, higher prices have created a digital divide which excludes poor Americans from quality internet access. And there are economic implications too."

"Like electricity, she says, internet access should be available equally to all at reasonable prices so that every other sector of US industry and society can flourish."

Eventually, everyone loses.

"The 2008 banking crisis demonstrated what happens when we allow banks to act out of pure self interest. The communications crisis in America is less visible but also destructive of America's ability to function on the global stage."

There are plenty of examples of US cities and municipalities that have dabbled in providing broadband as a public service. Most of these cities are showing glowing reviews and display positively how their community is benefiting. 

The New America Foundation study points out there are a couple of US communities that are in the top running for "best bang for your buck" in terms of broadband. Those communities have all embraced broadband-as-a-utility mindset or embraced alternative broadband providers to their citizens to increase competition and drive down cost.

"Chattanooga, Tennessee and Hong Kong continue to offer world-leading gigabit speeds, but Seoul and Lafayette, Louisiana also joined the speed leaders, along with Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, which were not included in the 2012 report."

Businesses benefit and citizens benefit, which means local government benefits. 

Win, win, win.

Some argue that US broadband companies are reinvesting (some of their mega-) profits to further the technologies at a pace that public or regulated utilities cannot. In their argument, the US "wins" because we force private companies to develop better, faster and cheaper methodologies for broadband service. So far I'm not seeing the proof in that pudding. Take a quick look at South Korea and you will see not only faster in-home broadband, but also access to faster wireless data for their masses.

What are they doing that we're not? Why aren't we doing it?

Edit: ...this just in...

Boston startup scene hurt by poor connectivity options 

More proof that without competition U.S. broadband costs more and delivers less

Wha??

credit: BBC UK News, Gigaom, New America Foundation

You're not the customer, you're the product.

A colleague brought to my attention today a short blog on how to get the most out of cheap cell service. The blog is posted on a respected and popular tech journalist site, so their opinion carries considerable weight.

The gist of the blog was that a "savvy" consumer could stretch an otherwise-limited cellphone contract by using free apps and exploiting contract features that were unintended. Namely, using free VoIP apps to make voice calls that circumvent the limited calling minutes of the cheap plan by using "unlimited" data.

But are they really counting on the "customer" being savvy, or just cheap? Or lazy?

The article highlights the use of free apps like Talk-A-Tone. Talk-A-Tone is essentially an overlay app that taps into other VoIP services like Google Voice. The interface of Talk-A-Tone allows the user to create an account and pull in contacts from a variety of sources like Google and Facebook. That way the user has one common address book. Sounds good, right?

Not so fast.

The author of the blog probably feels pretty smug offering readers a way to loop-hole a limited but cheap cellphone plan. But what's really being sold here?

You. You're being sold. And so am I.

Facebook is selling you, too. So is Google. And so is Apple. So is Talk-A-Tone, and other similar "free" app developers.

Don't believe for a moment that app, device and system developers are somehow charitable organizations and don't require food, housing or hipster messenger bags. Quite the contrary. They get paid, for sure. Just not by you.

Ask a cow, hog or chicken how much they pay to stay in the barn. While you're at it ask how much they pay for feed. They don't pay because they aren't the customer. They're the product being sold.

Not to pick on anyone but for the sake of ease I'll highlight some of the verbiage clearly and openly available in Talk-A-Tone's privacy policy:

• “We receive and store any information you enter on our Website, send to us through the Service or via email or SMS, or provide to us in any other way.” - They gather, store and analyze every number, every call, every contact, every email and every text message to their benefit.

• “Personal Information collected may include your full name, email address, mobile phone number, and any other information necessary for us to provide our services.” - Ditto. Ever wonder how those "Know who's calling you" apps work?

• “Company automatically receives and records information on our server logs from your browser including your IP address, browser and OS information, cookie data (if applicable), and the page or resource you requested.” - They track your internet activity. All of it. Always.

• “…our service automatically collects usage information…”  - Ditto

• “As part of this use of information, we may provide aggregate information to our partners”  - And they share all the data they collect as they see fit.

• “We share this type of statistical data so that our partners also understand how often people use the Service or Website” - See what I mean?

• “Each iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad has a Unique Device Identifier (UDID)” 
• “We may collect device UDID” - Why is this bad? Read here. 

• “Ads appearing through the Service may be delivered to users by our advertising partners, who may check UDID.”  - Ditto: bad, bad news for you. And if that isn't bad enough...

• “UDID allow the ad provider to recognize your device each time they send you an advertisement to compile information about you.” - Wha??

• “Personal Information about our customers is an integral part of our business.“ - Right, because we are the product, not the customer.

• “We anticipate that we may become affiliated with a variety of businesses and work closely with them.” - Fasten your seat belts...

• “In some cases, we may choose to buy or sell assets. In these types of transactions, customer information is typically one of the business assets that are transferred.” - BAM! They sell all that data they've collected on you, all your activity, all your browsing, contacts, contact information and history...to whomever offers them money, for any reason they deem worthy.

When it comes to free apps and services - Remember, if you're not paying, you're not the customer. You're the product!

I highly encourage you to read the privacy policies of all the sites, services and apps that you use and interact with. Make educated decisions on what apps to install and what services to utilize. Always check privacy and security controls and adjust them to their minimum exposure. Make sure you recheck often as site, service, network and app authors can and DO change policies at any time.

Smartphone apps - Modern day checkbooks

Admit it, you hate them. We all hate them. You know...that guy...that lady...those people who write checks to pay for things. They're always in line. In front of you. They hold up everything, while they write out their archaic little IOU...on paper...with a pen. Sheesh! Get with the times people!

Haven’t they heard of the 21st century? We've leapfrogged past the whole ‘paper or plastic’ payment era and right up to paying with apps on smartphones. And it’s all so much faster, right? Right?! Well…

Our smartphones have become modern day checkbooks. Remember checkbooks? Those over-sized wallets we used to carry? Right… We used them to haul around books of blank IOUs, and we stuffed them to the hilt with miscellany like receipts, reward cards and coupons. Coupons…oh, yeah, those printed bits of tattered paper we spent hours cutting from other printed paper in order to save 10 cents here or 50 cents there. Ugh.

Reward card apps like Key Ring are used to digitally store and access the myriad rewards and membership cards we all are forced to carry. We need these “tokens of good faith” at every grocery store, warehouse club, gas station, restaurant and gym. But why do they make it so much work for we consumers to be customers? Most of us carry a driver’s license and some kind of credit or debit card, which is almost always enough “ID” for gov’t process. So why isn't it good enough for retailers to keep track of and reward me? Why do I have to carry yet another card or fob or thingy?

Apps like Snip Snap will allow you to take pictures of, store, and catalog your coupons digitally on your smartphone. Plus you can download digital copies of other coupons you may not have or may have overlooked. It’s a great concept, but my question to retailers is this: Why use coupons at all? If you’re trying to promote your products or grow your customer loyalty, why not just discount your item price for a week or two? Coupons are a two-fold insult to all consumers, even those who don’t use coupons. Here’s why. 

(climbing on my soapbox...)

Coupons have trained us like Pavlov’s dogs to drool, not at the sound of the bell, but at the thought of saving 50 cents. We spend hours scanning through papers, magazines and online sites, in order to cut, tear out, and in many cases PRINT, scraps of paper. We then pack them around to stores, where we scan them (hopefully) for a few cents off here and there. Using coupons is a giant time-suck that benefits the retailer, not the consumer. Those scraps of paper wind up in the trashcan and then the landfill, which is another fail.

The super-double-whammy comes from the growing “black market” for coupons. This market exists because retailers insist on luring new or continued business with scraps of paper that are intrinsically easy to reproduce. It costs retailers too much money to produce complex coupons that are counterfeit proof resistant and support the back-end infrastructure to secure them. This, in turn, has created coupon fraud police task forces and prosecution teams. Everyone loses with coupons when you get down to the tight federal budgets forced to allocate what little funds they have to dealing with coupon counterfeit abuse. Those funds and personnel could be better used for fighting real crime or putting teachers in classrooms.

And then there’s the multitude of payment apps like Google Wallet or retailer specific payment apps like those used at Starbucks. All of which require a special POS (I mean ‘Point Of Sale’, aka register) equipment…which is often “POS” in its own right, even when it works.

Which brings me back to my original point.

How many times have you been stuck behind someone in line who insists on using an app to look up and scan their rewards card? Scan…scan…scan… And then they have to open another app to look up all their coupons one at a time; opening, searching, scanning, opening, searching, scanning, opening…oh wait, Josh just commented on my Facebook status! Back to my coupon app. Opening, searching, scanning… And lastly, they insist on paying for their purchase with yet another app, and another scan, …wait, scan…scan…scan…scan….beep, there it finally took!

I love my smartphone. I love apps. I love shopping. But I’m not sure they’re all designed to work together. Not yet anyway. The system can be better. It has to be better. Or we might as well go back to writing checks.