No, it's not the same. In the US you would usually have your land-line and address listed in the phone book by default, and you could pay a very nominal fee to

No, it's not the same. In the US you would usually have your land-line and address listed in the phone book by default, and you could pay a very nominal fee to have it be 'unlisted'. Your mobile number would never be listed at all. As an American living in Europe, I was surprised to see all land-line and mobile numbers published in our local directory (I'm in Britain) which even included a reverse look-up index so you could scan tables of numbers and see the corresponding names! That disappeared a few years back but most of the numbers are still listed if you know the person's name. I'm all for privacy but I think the fear of having your number posted is overrated unless you have an actual reason (stalker, abusive ex, etc...) in which case a free and easy way to totally opt-out should exist. I've had my phone numbers and email address publicly posted for years and while I get the occasional weirdo, it's totally worth it for the random interesting calls from strangers.