Truecaller launches Facebook app that lets you look up phone numbers

Truecaller users can now access Truecaller even easier to access via its Facebook app without having to install the app on their phones. With the Facebook app one can enter phone numbers and get the user’s name easily. The app also has the concept of “True” score that depends on the number of friends one has who use Truecaller.

The app has become immensely popular in India especially with the surge of telemarketing calls and it now tells users whether an incoming call is a telemarketing call, which is marked as spam. Truecaller is a reverse number lookup directory that has been crowdsourced by using the phonebook of people who download the app.

However, Truecaller has also raised privacy related concerns as many users don’t realize their contact details are now a part of a global directory without their consent as their details were taken from someone else’s phonebook. Users now also have the option of name lookup where they can decide their level of privacy and select whether they want to share their contact details on a case-by-case basis. The app sends them a request every time someone asks for their contact details.

Truecaller was also in the news recently when its website was hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army but the company maintains no information was lost in the process.