Detect PHONE_NUMBER

[1ogcotu]

A telephone number is an important piece of PII due to its ability to locate, identify, and contact an individual. Due to the nature of the telephone number and its frequency in day to day life it may be overlooked as PII. However, it should be taken into consideration as a critical PII because essentially from the day it is assigned it similarly acts as a SSN in the way that it can stay with one person throughout their entire life. A compromised phone number can lead to compromised data and allow for malicious activities such as identity theft, fraud, and vishing. All of these malicious acts can be exploited simply by gaining someone's phone number and using the data associated with the number as well as what's on the device. Phone numbers are ultimately an important PII because of their unique identifier ability, the data it holds and the geo-location potential it provides.

See here for more info on Phone Numbers as PII

Will detect phone number in following format "(+country code) (000) (000)-(0000)"

I'll use (800) 555‑0175 as the test case because it's within the range of numbers designed for examples in fiction. (Range: 800) 555‑0100 through (800) 555‑0199)

[claesmk]

Looks good

[oeoloyede]

Would changing the number but keeping the same phone be an effective way to prevent your information from being exploited?

[rebekahrobin]

Hi, this is a great response it shows your diligent research! I️ didn't even think about how your phone number also compromises your general location and stays with you for a very long time. Only comment would be could you further explain your range and how that encompasses all possible telephone options.