While Facebook, geotagged apps and smartphone payments move us toward a digital future marked in large part by dissipating anonymity, an iOS app launched Wednesday does just the opposite.
It's called Burner and it gives your iPhone a temporary additional number you can use without casual acquaintances, abrasive associates or unwanted eavesdroppers being able to get a line on your actual line. You can use it to call or text, share contact info on social media and set specific notifications settings separate from your actual regular number.
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"Burner is for anyone who has more than one life -- or who simply values their privacy," Greg Cohn, founder & CEO of Burner's parent company Ad Hoc Labs, said in a press release. "People are using their mobile phones all the time, and using SMS more and more for day-to-day tasks. Protecting your privacy is harder than ever."
The app's name comes from the prepaid, disposable cellphones most recently made popular by detective-dodging drug dealers in HBO's hit series The Wire. But Ad Hoc doesn't necessarily endorse criminal activity or designs on becoming a secret agent -- the company calls Burner "ideal for dating, buying and selling online, posting via social media, and many more use cases."
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The Burner app costs $1.99 [iTunes link] and that includes one temporary number to get you started with...whatever it is you want to do. You can then keep your burner line -- which does default to your native area code -- active for as long as needed, or create a new number by purchasing credits ($1.99 is good for seven days of anonymity).
Once you do ditch -- or burn -- your new number, it's gone forever and people who try to reach you will be greeted with a simple out-of-service message.
"Phone numbers are part of an old network that is getting dumber, in relative terms, by the day," Cohn said. "You give out your number, and it's all or nothing; it's out there forever. And in the era of Facebook and social networking, we know the phone can be a lot smarter. Burner is the first piece of this vision."
Does Burner sound like a useful app for you? What would you use it for? Share your ideas in the comments.
Thumbnail image courtesy iStockphoto, webphotographeer
This story originally published on Mashable here.