29 ms·

I think a lot of that comes from the fact that phone numbers being private at all is not a universal consideration. My town still, every year, sends me a paper

I think a lot of that comes from the fact that phone numbers being private at all is not a universal consideration. My town still, every year, sends me a paper book full of every resident's address and landline telephone.

_jal 5y ago
And here's where how something is used makes all the difference. I have zero issues with my neighbors having my phone number. If I lived in a smallish place, extending that would be fine. I have huge issues with spammers and con artists having it. A locally distributed physical book works great for the first and, at the very least, makes the second work for it. Online databases are basically made to order for the second, and are far more extensive than needed for the first. It is just another example where adding automation and cheap storage actively makes a situation worse.
- Kiro 5y ago
  In my country the same physical book has been available online for decades.