O2 UK Resolves Mobile Number Exposure Issue

Mobile phone carrier O2 UK has just announced that it has managed to resolve a security issue that might have affected the privacy of its users.

Previous reports suggested that O2 UK’s mobile phone numbers were being exposed to websites as users browsed the Internet.

O2 has just confirmed that things were indeed so, and said that it resolved the issue and that all things should be back in order.

“In between the 10th of January and 1400 Wednesday 25th of January, in addition to the usual trusted partners, there has been the potential for disclosure of customers’ mobile phone numbers to further website owners,” the company explains.

“The only information websites had access to is your mobile number, which could not have been linked to any other identifying information we have about customers,” the carrier also stated. “It was fixed as of 1400 on Wednesday 25th January 2012.”

O2 also notes that it usually offers info on a user’s phone number when specific websites are accessed. A series of carrier’s trusted partners are included on that list.

The carrier explains that there are three main reasons for which it chose to disclose this info with its partners, in addition to the usual set of details that are provided to websites:

“1) to manage age verification, which manages access to adult content, 2) to enable third party content partners to bill for premium content such as downloads or ring tones that the customer has purchased 3) to identify customers using O2 services, such as My O2 and Priority Moments”

The phone number is exposed only when accessing these websites via the carrier’s mobile network.

The issue “affected customers accessing the internet via their mobile phone on 3G or WAP services, but not WIFI, between 10th of January and 1400 on Wednesday the 25th of January,” O2 explains.

However, the carrier will continue delivering users’ phone numbers to partners “who work with us on age verification, premium content billing, such as for downloads, and O2's own services.”