Phone privacy

Silktide finds the phone numbers published on your pages so you can check that none of them expose personal data without consent. A named person's direct line may need their agreement to publish, while a main office number usually doesn't.

Why this matters

A phone number that reaches a specific person - a direct line or a personal mobile - is under privacy laws like the . Publishing it needs a lawful basis, usually the person's consent, and they can ask for it to be removed. General numbers such as a switchboard or sales line identify your organisation rather than a person, so they carry far less risk.

Old personal numbers also linger on forgotten pages long after staff leave, which is both a privacy problem and a bad experience for callers.

How to fix it

This check gathers numbers for you to review; Silktide cannot judge whether publishing a given number is appropriate.

For each number, decide whether it reaches a specific person. Main office and department numbers are usually fine.
For personal numbers, confirm the owner consents to publication, and record that consent. Where practical, publish a shared number instead.
Remove numbers that no longer need to be public, such as those of former staff.
When a number is fine as published, the finding so it isn't raised again.

How Silktide tests this

Examine the content of each page, including tel: links.
Find text that appears to be a phone number.
Skip any elements you have excluded from testing.
Report each number found, with where it appears, for you to review.

Troubleshooting

Something that isn't a phone number is reported

Sequences of digits such as reference codes or product numbers can look like phone numbers. Approve the finding, or format the digits differently so they no longer resemble one.

The same number is reported on many pages

Numbers in headers and footers appear on every page. Fixing the template fixes every page at once.