Private info needs better protection

A colleague of mine returned home last Thursday from a four-day trip overseas. He turned on his cell phone when the passengers were told to get ready to disembark.

Before he could even make a call home, his cell phone was jammed with about 80 messages. More than half of them junk, from people or small firms selling apartments at "best prices", private lessons to help his children get into college, and other services.

All of us who frequently receive these messages have stopped asking how salespeople get hold of our cell phone numbers.