Is there a web site in the UK where I can type in a telephone number
and it will give me the name and address of the 'owner'? I know it
would be easier just to phone the number, but I want the information
before I do so.
Many thanks
gb

Hi gerryb!

I work for one of the largest mobile telephone companies in the UK
and, unfortunately, I can confirm that a reverse look-up is against
the Data Protection Act.

However, all is not lost, there is a way to obtain this information.
I recently received an email from the Internet company, 192.com [
http://www.192.com ], who are based in the UK and produce a CD-ROM
which contains the same licensed data from the OSIS database that all
the telecom companies such as BT, Vodafone and many others use.
It is perfectly legal to use the data contained on the CD for your own
personal means as long as you agree to the Data Protection Act terms
(this includes reverse look-up).

The page with the "Pro" version of their UK info disk which enables
you to perform this search:
[ http://www.192.com/products.cfm?icdaction=details&item_id=27 ]

So why can't you find this service on a British web site for free?
The answer is very simple - the telecom companies pay BT to look after
the OSIS database and also pay a certain amount for a license to use
the information for their own means.
By making companies pay to use the information, it can be properly
controlled and authorized and our personal details remain safe.
What you are doing by paying for a CD-ROM is effectively "licensing"
the data to yourself - it is for this simple reason that you will not
find a UK web site with this capability, it would be extremely illegal
and any site doing this would be shut down very quickly indeed.
However, the situation is different in the USA where they have
slightly more relaxed laws about this, a good example would be White
Pages [ http://www.whitepages.com ].


Useful reading:

The OSIS story
[ http://www.admar.co.uk/osisstory.htm ]

OFTEL's Directory Information
[ http://www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/1995_98/consumer/dqchap.htm ]


If you require any more information, please don't hesitate to ask.

Good luck with your enquiries,
errol-ga

I believe that the Data Protection Act prohibits getting this
information for private phone numbers. If the number you are trying to
research is a business number, you might have more luck, but most
services seem to believe that even business address are protected from
reverse look-up.

See:

http://users.powernet.co.uk/hack/junk/hungup.html

The Info disk series hasn't included search from number for the last few years.
It's not hard or expensive to get the info though.

try http://droog.net