Telephone subscribers who have unlisted telephone numbers are up in arms at the fact that EasyInfo`s new online telephone directory features their numbers and addresses.
The storm erupted this morning, when callers to a Johannesburg radio station said they had found their unlisted telephone numbers on the new directory, which went live at the weekend.
People with unlisted numbers streamed to the site to check whether their own numbers were listed, while scores of other people rushed to see if the rumours were true. The site slowed down considerably during the day, as EasyInfo`s Web traffic swelled to record numbers. EasyInfo said that as of 11am today, it had received over 100 000 site impressions.
EasyInfo, which operates under the proprietorship of Interface <it. media>, says it has no way of determining which numbers in its database should be unlisted, and that it has teams of agents in place to field calls and remove listings as requested. During the course of the morning, EasyInfo had around 500 user requests from as far as Canada to have their personal details removed.
The new residential telephone and address directory is a joint project by EasyInfo and Umfowize Publishers, owners of the Personal Pages. The Personal Pages data is compiled using "multiple industry databases", says EasyInfo.
The EasyPeople directory, containing over 2.5 million listings, is intended to represent "a major milestone for searchable Internet directories, especially for non-telecoms companies," and is supposed to complement EasyInfo`s comprehensive business listings and other electronic directory content.
A company spokesman says an official statement will be issued on the unlisted number issue within the next day.
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