OK. I just wanted to get this out before someone else does, and I’m left standing here saying “doh”. Many of you may have heard of this service called ChaCha.com. They say that it’s like having a smart friend that you can call anytime for answers to random questions. You simply call or text in your questions and you will get a response within minutes. It seems to be a quality service. I haven’t heard too many complaints yet, and I actually know a few people that work for ChaCha; they seem to enjoy it.

(The big hairy butt lurking around the corner) I strongly feel that your privacy will be compromised in the future if you choose to use this service. With mobile advertising gaining popularity, your mobile phone number along with other personal information will become extremely valuable. As mobile marketing matures, more dollar signs will be placed on your number.

I know what you’re thinking. ChaCha has a privacy policy that says they won’t share my personal information. That’s right, but that will not deter companies from contacting ChaCha and offering to pay big money for their number list. Let’s consider email marketing for a moment. Wouldn’t you say that you could buy an email list from any company at any time? I would. Every company has a privacy policy that most likely states that they will not share your private information with a third party, but I think we all know that’s BS. Why else would your inbox keep getting blown up?

I don’t want to totally discredit ChaCha, but I honestly feel that the main motive is to harvest your mobile phone number for its implied future value. You might think I’m being paranoid, but consider yourself warned. Swim at your own risk.