Intelius quits cellphone directory following public outcry

Intelius Inc. said it shelved its cellphone directory service after being battered by a range of officials and executives over privacy concerns. The issue threatened to mushroom into a public-relations nightmare for the firm at the very time it is trying to go public.
“As a company, we have strived to be at the forefront of innovation,” said Liz Murray, a spokesperson for Intelius. “We realize that in this instance we may have been ahead of our time. Wireless carriers attempted to develop a similar product a few years ago and found the market wasn’t ready; it’s clear that the market is still not ready. We always listen carefully to our customers, which is why we recently discontinued our cellphone directory.”
Intelius, an Internet information commerce firm, is based in Bellevue, Wash. In its registration statement for a $143.7 million public offering, Intelius brought to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s attention concerns that had been raised about disclosure of consumers’ personal information.
RCR Wireless News in August reported that Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna wanted legislation to prohibit the marketing of cellphone numbers without consumer consent. McKenna recently released a draft legislation he planned to shop in the state legislature.
Earlier this week, with Intelius’ cellphone directory attracting national media attention, Verizon Wireless threatened to sue the company if it did not stop data mining of wireless telephone numbers.
Meantime, Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) have introduced legislation intended to protect cellphone subscribers from being listed without their approval in a national directory they believe the cellular industry is compiling. CTIA, the national mobile-phone trade group, dropped plans to publish a wireless directory in 2004 in response to criticism by lawmakers and privacy advocates. A subsequent attempt by large wireless carriers, but not Verizon Wireless, to create a wireless directory was recently abandoned.