not so long ago practically everyone's name and phone number was available publicly for free in any phone box

Not to mention that these "phone books" also included everyone's address, and married couples were usually listed together.

Yeah, you could get an unlisted number but you were charged for it and almost no one did because it was also how people you wanted to get in touch with you found you a lot of the time. Not that data breaches aren't bad but a lot of the breached info has been pretty routinely available for a very long time. (And, as you say, cell phone numbers are probably less routinely available than landlines were.)

I don't go out of my way to publish my cell or address but a lot of people have them.

My old man was a doctor and the local phone company at the time (GTE) automatically made our home number unlisted. Presumably this was done for other “critical” professions who might receive many home calls that should be directed at their place of work.

Being unlisted was sometimes devastating to a 1980s kid’s social life… I missed out on multiple birthday parties and other invitations. My sisters probably lost out on some dating opportunities.

people always trot this out, but it was very possible to have your information unlisted so it was not printed in the book. you could also use a different name. an old coworker selected to have his name listed as David King so that when found in the book it would show up as King David.

having an unlisted number wasn't uncommon. for privacy minded people, it was a simple phone call to make it unlisted, and most just did it at time of getting the number.

nonetheless, pre-opting, your information was there, so anyone with a phonebook from before you made that decision would have your information. if an organisation had an interest in invading people's privacy it would not be complex to simply keep a copy of every edition of the phonebook

Not the same and you could opt out as well. The discrepancy in potential to access more private information about a person is very large.

so what you could opt-out? your info was/is still in any phonebook from before you opted out. any well-prepared organisation, which these modern data-collection firms are, would have no problem whatsoever keeping every edition of the phonebook for this purpose.

yeah the discrepancy is that its harder now. phonebooks were essentially free and had people's addresses in them

You could pretty easily opt out of that, at least in many places, although you might need to pay a small fee.

If you have used Twitter or Facebook long enough while keeping the account, public your information is.

Or Yahoo, AT&T, T-Mobile, Equifax, Capital One, Chase, eBay, Home Depot, Marriott, most health networks...

Thanks yoda