eMobile tracking service raises serious privacy and consumer safety concerns

eMobileTracker, a service that offers to release the owner’s name, photograph, location and network provider of any mobile number you enter, is putting the privacy and safety of consumers at risk.

With the emergence of nuisance calls and robocalls as a persistent problem for many consumers across the globe, phone tracking is becoming an increasingly popular online service. This trend has raised a number of serious consumer protection concerns, both for consumers using these services and for the phone owners whose numbers are being tracked.

Without any signup required, eMobileTracker claims to enable users to track the exact whereabouts and telecom provider of any number provided. This is likely to infringe upon the agreement between consumers and their network provider, who are expected to hold data in a secure fashion and prevent services like eMobileTracker from extracting and sharing personal data.

The Terms of Service information on the eMobileTracker website also outlines that they take absolutely no legal responsibility for any negative consequence that could occur as a result of the extraction and procurement of the data, the accuracy or delivery of that data. This is regardless of whether they are partially or entirely at fault.

These gaps in the safeguarding of consumer interests and safety could have far reaching implications. eMobileTracker claims to have the capacity to track mobile numbers in over 230 countries worldwide.

The issue was brought to our attention by the Fiji Consumer Council, and Consumers International will continue to monitor the situation globally. If you have any information about how phone tracking services such as eMobileTracker are operating in your region, please contact fbrookes@consint.org.