Court restrains cell phone records sales

On Jan. 30, Nixon obtained a temporary restraining order against the online company that has operated under several names but is known most prominently as Locatecell.com. The court orders prevent the defendants from attempting to obtain, offering for sale or selling any information from any cellular or land-line telephone service provider regarding any of that provider’s Missouri customers.

The defendants – Data Find Solutions Inc. and principal owner James Kester of Knoxville, Tenn.; and 1st Source Information Specialists Inc. of Tamarac, Fla., and its directors Kenneth W. Gorman and Steven Schwartz of Jensen Beach, Fla. – also cannot take orders from Missourians seeking telephone records, according to a news release from Nixon’s office.

The defendants also are prohibited from using the name or identity of any cellular or land-line telephone service provider employee for any purpose; contacting any cellular or land-line phone service provider for any purpose other than access to the defendants’ own information; and operating the Web site www.locatecell.com or any other Web site that offers for sale or sells any Missouri customer information of any cellular or land-line telephone service information currently in their possession to any third parties.

Continued investigation

“We continue to investigate other Web sites that are selling private cell phone records after obtaining them through what we believe are illegal means,” Nixon said in the release.

“Our aggressive actions … should serve as a warning to other Internet businesses that advertise and sell such services in Missouri: We are on to you, and we won’t allow this type of invasion of privacy in our state.”

According to the Locatecell.com Web site, individuals could, for a fee, enter a cellular number and get the name and the address of the user. For a higher fee, the site said it could provide a list of calls made from a cell phone number.

In his suit, Nixon alleged that the defendants did not have authorization from the phone service providers to access the customer information and records advertised on the site.

Nixon has asked the court to issue a permanent injunction that would include penalties paid to the state.

This story originally appeared in SBJ’s Feb. 16 free e-news Daily Update. Click here to register.[[In-content Ad]]