I can see all the evil things we can do with this. *evil laughter*

Nu Digi

I'd advise those excited about this site to read the following from their dodgy sounding privacy policy....

We may sell, rent or share information about user habits in aggregate only:
We will never do so in a manner that could even remotely be individually identifiable.

For example, we could collect and share information like "what is most frequently dialed area code in New York City?" but we would NOT share information like "what are the most dialed phone numbers?"

You can choose to opt-out and never be called again:
If you receive an unsolicited call, please accept our apologies. You may easily opt-out of all future calls by pushing '9' on your touch tone phone. If you have accidently opted out, please contact us via the contact form.

delorean

Boy, this is the month for scams like this! We need a new name for these sketchy sites that appear to be offering services but are just scamming your contact info from you.

Phish farming?

Lifehacker has trumpeted at least five of them in the last month.

That_Bastid

You have got to be kidding. Did you actually read the privacy policy? It's one of the more sane privacy policies I have seen for a for-profit site.

If that privacy policy bothers you, what do you think of the lifehacker privacy policy? After all, it not only mentions aggregate data, but also third party cookies and advertisements. (Their privacy policy is also reasonable, but if you think the phonemyphone policy is unreasonable...)

detoys

I successfully used [www.wheresmycellphone.com] this weekend. They don't keep your number, seems they only collect your IP address.

poko

woah... when did Google Maps STOP doing the call-my-phone thing?

lame. :(

thirdopticaltool

It would be really immature to use this for prank calls. I don't care.

M e d i a d d i c t

@delorean:

Hi I'm David, one of the creators of this site. This privacy policy is actually based on the EFF-award winning privacy policy of [www.billmonk.com.]

We keep the numbers to prevent people from dialing a phone number too often. And I fail to see how our privacy policy is "dodgy". Feel free to read it for yourself here: [www.phonemyphone.com]

BTW: we're a little slow because of all the traffic lifehacker is sending us. Thanks Adam!

arooni

@detoys: Agreed - reading their privacy policy it looks like they've actually put some effort into convincing you that they won't use personally identifiable data. I think it's a little heavy-handed to call it a scam, but then again, if you dislike the privacy policy, it's always your prerogative not to use the service! But good on ya for reading the privacy policy and encouraging others to do so!

phoenix

Now I can prank call the other people in meetings without looking up from my computer.
*insert evil giggle here*

Bob Brown

I called myself at home... roommates heard the "This is a message from www.phonemyphone.com..." blah blah and they were confused since they saw me laughing and since telemarketers don't call that late. I had a good laugh :D

MaxGhost

If I find myself in the situation to need to call myself, I'll stick to using [www.wheresmycellphone.com]

And for you mooks looking to use these things for prank reasons, use [www.prankdialer.com]

Amstrad

@amstrad:

Fair enough... but keep in mind you can't schedule calls and you can't set number of redials. This means when you're actually needing to find your phone you have to sit at your computer and fill out the webform a bunch of times rather than just heading over to phonemyphone and having the service call you 10 times in a row. I think phonemyphone makes it MUCH easier to find your misplaced cell phone. So do about 87,000 other people who have called since March of last year.

arooni

i am glad i am behind 7 proxies

skilled1

Can't you just call your number with any other phone?

bms

Can we give this a "silly" tag?

Zaslowe

I just hop on google chat or AIM or something & ask someone to call me..

ShabazOSU

Phonemyphone + TOR = FTW

buck09

@arooni: I hope you're making ever effort to disable the use of your service for stalking. I work in the field of domestic violence and we see batterers using cellphones to stalk their victims ALL THE TIME.

This is not a safe service.

feministy

@feministy:

@feministy

Thanks for the question. We do 3 things to prevent illicit use of phonemyphone:

1) You can't call any number after 10PM - 6AM PST (calls in th middle of the night)
2) Recipients of calls can easily opt out of calls permanently by pressing 9 when they receive a call (a message that plays when you pick up clearly tells you this)
3) You are currently limited to 3 calls/day/IP address.

When you say 'This is not a safe service', I'd love to know what evidence you have behind your opinion.

arooni

@ShabazOSU: Not all of us are lucky enough to have "friends"

Some of us have alienated them all by using services like this to constantly prank call them. ;-)

Bob Brown

An easier way to do this is to use AIM. Simply send a message to your phone number (prefacing it with '+' and your country code) and you'll receive a text message of the instant message)

bryanzera

I got a question on a cell phone service I am looking to offer via my website clubpath.com ([www.clubpath.com]).
I promote nightclubs and bars in the city of Toronto.

What does everyone think of a mobile site that allows you to access detailed event information, line buy pass codes, and photo or video uploads features. I think it would be a great feature.

Am I crazy or does this make sense. Just concerned of the phone capabilites of most people, however i think video phones are becoming the norm.

Aceboogie

The only "phone line" in my home is my cell phone. When my cell is lost at 3am, I'm unlikely to find an awake friend to call it. Skype to the rescue! I simply added myself as a contact, and skype myself. No extra privacy policy to wade through, no time restrictions, no website to sign up for...

serah