The legality of spook technology
A company offering "spook technology" opened up in the UK on 9th June. Within one week it had closed down again.
At the start of June, a company opened up a service in the UK called SpookCall which would allow subscribers to make calls to people via their computers, (which is far from new), but would also allow them to fake the Caller ID information so that you could make the call appear to come from any number you wished. In addition, the service included real-time voice changing technology so you could sound like someone completely different, even a member of the opposite sex if you so wished, and keep a recording of your call, all for a mere £5 for 10 minutes of call time, paid in advance.
It is hard to think of a legitimate use for this sort of technology. Its website sported the slogan "be anyone you want to be" and was full of glowing testimonials but few were endearing. People related how they had perpetrated "hilarious" practical jokes on others such as convincing them they had won the lottery, how they had trapped cheating partners by phoning them using the third party's phone number, and persistent telesales people who found their real numbers were being blacklisted by the companies they called.
SpookCall had taken legal advice and insisted its service was legal under UK law but, naturally, there was an outcry against such a service with worries that it could be used for voicemail hacking, fraud and identity theft. MPs asked Ofcom to investigate it further, and Ofcom wrote to the company for clarification. In a surprisingly quick resolution of the matter, SpookCall decided to withdraw its service from the UK market and the website it had set up has, for now at least, reverted to a generic domain parking page.
Whether that is the end of such services remains to be seen, but we shouldn't judge SpookCall too harshly. It didn't invent the spoofing technology and it was quite open about the service it offered. The technology to disguise the caller ID is already out there and already being used by crooks and conmen operating lottery scams and credit card fishing expeditions. Always remember, the caller ID display on your phone is a convenience, not a security measure.
18th June 2008
This article comes from the SKILLZONE email newsletter, published monthly since January 2008, and covering topics related to technology and the internet. All articles and artwork in the SKILLZONE newsletter are orignal content.