Lebanon Directory and Licence Plate lookup released on iPhone App
Two new applications have been released to the App Store for iPhones/iTouches. Lebanon Directory and Lebanese Car Plate Directory are applications that are the epitome of privacy breaches.
The Ministry of Interior exclusively controls data regarding license plate numbers, while the Ministry of Telecommunications is responsible for data regarding phone numbers. When such information once held only by the Government and GSM Carriers such as Alpha and MTC Touch, such information is now released to the public. Makes you wonder how such information got published, and you can have access to it by a mere 6.99$ on iTunes.
Anyone using this application, could just type in any Lebanese 8 digit phone number and find out the name of the person who owns the number and their home address.
This should cause concern about privacy protection at every level, it targets the Lebanese people, and their information has become wide public.
Enter any car plate number and select its proper symbol to get its information,”
You’ll get back the car owners home address, their marital status, their spouse name (if available) and their car’s make, model and year.
Terrifying – Makes you wonder how that information got leaked?
Double U, the company behind the apps, holds all the information of the Lebanese people. The release of these databases to a third party is against the law, said Dr. Toni Issa, lawyer and president of the IT Committee for the Beyrouth Bar Association.
There is no way to obtain this information, especially that of the car plate directory, unless if someone from inside this administration copied the database containing the information,” Issa said.
This blog expects a response and explanation from the Lebanese Government.
Update (Nov 17): Apple has refused to remove these applications from the App Store. It’s believed that this data is queried from databases stolen from the Lebanese Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Telecommunications and have been circulating on the Internet since at least 2007.
There is also a Facebook application called Lebtel, which passes itself as a “Lebanese reverse lookup directory” and seems to be using the same data.
Filed under: Activism, Strictly Lebanese | 10 Comments
Tags: App, Application, Double U, iOS, iPhone, Lebanese Car Plate Directory, Lebanon Directory, licence plate, lookup, phone number, privacy, uuapps
Nothing came up on app search
If someone has this information then everyone should have it
and why not make it public if you do not have something to hide then why u should be afraid
but the information to be in the hands of one person and is forbidden to the other people that the thing i do not understand
do they want to control us
so let it be public and stop hiding behind our fingers
if you have something to hide or afraid of someone let the government and security do it’s work by protecting you since anyone who wants for you harm can get this info in a way or another, and is not waiting for this application to get his info from it….
These apps don’t work anymore they seem to be down.
Great Application
As someone living in Lebanon who has registered a car with the relevant authorities, I have doubts that this App has the information it purports to have.
For example my home (or any) address was NOT required to register my car. It was never given to the registration authorities so how could it be in their database? I sincerely doubt that the database pulled the address information from somewhere else.
Secondly the ISF just released the speed camera’s on the highway. If the camera catches you speeding the ISF does not mail a ticket to your house. Why? Because they have no way to know what address the car is registered to. They expect you to log on to the website to see if you have any unpaid tickets, or to pay them when you pay the annual ‘Mechanique’ fees.
I think the developer of this app, UU, is running a scam. I expect the author of this blog to buy the app and test it
just a question, is this application found only in Lebanon or other countries have it? And, the one who made this application had the government approval to publish such thing?
“Corruption with a capital C…..
welcome to F….. up Lebanon…..”
I do not believe it has anything to do with corruption. It’s only indifference.
It’s been a long time that this information has been circulated in public, and anyone who doesn’t have it can just call up the the first officer they know for some info regarding a number, be it a phone number, a license plate number, or an ID number.
Don’t get me wrong, i do believe this app is a breach of privacy and and outrageous mockery of Lebanon’s internal security. What i mean to say is this: What was surprising about this application is not the info in it (everyone has that) but the balls and insolence of the company behind it.
“This blog expects a response and explanation from the Lebanese Government” LOL LOL LOL haha, keep waiting and keep expecting and keep up your spirit! what a joke… this country…. 3an jadd HARAM …
Corruption with a capital C…..
welcome to F….. up Lebanon…..
Government? is there even a government in lebanon? ul be a jirk to even think they would even care if our information was private information were leaked or breached…. and i pray to whomever is out here lsitening that they prove me wrong just once.. yea right!
The gouvernement must remove the App from Apple Store. ASAP!