Burner gives iPhone disposable telephone numbers
updated 07:28 am EDT, Thu August 9, 2012
Privacy app adds 'Burn' button to temporary lines
An app that allows users to keep their phone number private has been released for iOS. Burner, [$2, App Store] for iPhone allocates a temporary number for the handset, replacing the cellphone's own for outbound calls and texts. The function protects the user from unwanted phone calls in the future from people they have contacted, in what Ad Hoc Labs calls a "privacy layer for your phone."
The developer is aiming the app at people who need to supply a phone number for a purpose, but feel uncomfortable handing their mobile number out. Suggested cases for its use include dating relative unknowns, advertising on Craigslist, side businesses, and short-term projects. A "Burn" button appearing next to each number on the service instantly destroys it, stopping in-bound SMS messages and giving callers a generic out-of-service message.
The Ad Hoc Labs app has enough credits at first for a short-duration Burner line, lasting either 7 days, 60 texts, or 20 voicecall minutes, whichever happens first. Additional credits can be bought to make burnable numbers last longer, or to add more numbers to the Burner roster. [via Boing Boing]
