With the rapid advancement of technology, many of us feel that our right to privacy is being threatened. Unlisted phones numbers were at first introduced just for this reason, to protect our privacy. Unlisted numbers made it very hard to discover information about you without paying a lot of money for private investigation services. These days you can find directory assistance services even for phone numbers that are unlisted.

Reverse cell phone lookup has only added further discomfort to our already growing discomfort regarding our privacy. These days the only thing you have to do is to type in the number in one of many free internet reverse phone lookup services and provided that the number in question is not unlisted, you will have the persons name, address and many other personal information right before you.

So how can you protect yourself?

1. Always, always have all your phone numbers unlisted. Provide your phone number only on a need to know basis, to your family and close friends.

Even if someone wants to pay for that information, it will be very hard to obtain your personal information in this way, if your phones are unlisted.

This should be your first line of defense, and in case that your number is already listed ask your service provider to change it, and then have it unlisted.

2. Use caller ID blocking system. Most cell phone models have that function ready for use, so why not use it if you have to call someone not on your friends list.

When calling friends however it is always good to let them see who is it that is calling them. You can always dial *67 before actual phone number, that will prevent your number from showing up.

The person you are calling will see just blank space with a message unknown or private being displayed instead of your number.

3. Government laws. Government has many regulations and laws in place that protect your private information. OK, so maybe these laws are not perfect, but they do limit the amount of information that can be gathered about you without your approval. Actually in this case reverse cell phone lookup is safer then most other information gathering services. For example, information from your drivers license or social security card can be far more dangerous and easier to use if someone would want to steal your identity.