i have heard that you can find the name of the person by using the phone number. is this true?

here's the deal...i have a pager and i constantly get paged to a number that is a recording that instructs me to "enter mailbox #"
obviously this is a message service but that is all i can access, no other menu. i've called the paging company but they blow me off and i figured that eventually whomever would stop paging when they realize that no one is getting the messages...this has been going on for over a year now so, so much for that theory.

so how (can?) i look up the name of the message company by using the number that i am always getting paged to?

please help me obi wan...you're my only hope.

You could try this or that.

May the force be with you.

Dan, if it's a number within the south east states that BellSouth (the new AT&T) covers send it to me and I see if I can look up the nbr in our business records. But I only have access to nbrs in FL, GA, NC, SC, AL, KY, TN, MS, and LA

You could call your pager company and have the unwanted phone number blocked.

When I was living in Georgia as a BellSouth customer, some of the local white pages actually published reverse directories.

What are the applicable privacy laws?

There are no privacy laws regarding published phone nbrs. They can be pulled by any data collecting company and sold to solicators or are avail on internet sites powered my Infospace, Amacai, Acxiom.

Does it matter if the customer requests a 'private' number that blocks outgoing caller ID info? What if you request not to be listed in the phone book? Don't the big phone companies offer their customers privacy options to control 3rd-party sharing of customer data? Don't they have to?

No, they dont have to offer privacy.

They cannot publish it. They can sell it, but only for nonprofit use. Nonprofits can (and often do) resell those lists, sometimes back to those they buy from. Then, your "unlisted number" is available to whoever wants it.



As far as continuing to get the calls. If your pager company will not block it, file a harassment report with your local police. They can look up the number. If you are actually in Atlanta... nothing is likely happen with the cops. In smaller towns, you can go talk to them and get them to do something... even if is just giving you the contact info to solve the problem yourself.

Dan, put your pager number on the government's Do Not Call registry. Then when you continue to get paged from that number you can file a violation.