Smartphone app battles harassing debt collectors, unknown numbers
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While most look at cell phones as a window to the world, they also allow practically anyone to reach back through.
“It’s your phone, you bought it, moreover you pay for it each month. Why can’t you have control over your phone?” says Jeff Stalnaker, one of the creators of PrivacyStar, a phone app that provides a number of privacy features.
Some are fairly predictable: voice-activated shopping, reverse lookup, and a blocking service that goes beyond voice calls.
“First started out, we only blocked phone calls and we got the request, ‘hey, what about all the text messages I’m getting from these people?’ We block those, as well,” says Stalnaker.
There’s another feature that will be of particular interest to consumers.
It's the first app News 14 Carolina's heard of that can automatically help enforce your consumer rights. When you get calls from harassing debt collectors who you don't owe money to and when telemarketers ignore your repeated requests to be put on the do not call list, PrivacyStar can instantly file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission with the touch of a button.
“We filed 250,000 complains in the last 12 months,” says Stalnaker.
Companies that generate enough complaints and get caught doing illegal telemarketing or unfair debt collection face serious fines and closings.
FTC follows up your phone complaint the way they do an online version. The difference is between pushing a button on your phone or spending 20 minutes online filling out forms.
PrivacyStar is a for-profit business. The app is free for a week and then costs $3 per month.
The company believes the service is resonating with millions of customers who used it to block 124 million calls, look up 66 million unknown numbers, and file 200,000 complaints with the FTC.