Safety First, Right?
Imagine someone sharing your contact information with someone else; your phone number, address, email, and so on. And here’s the kicker, you never gave them permission to give out your contact information.
Never give out someone else’s information without obtaining their permission first. Respect the boundaries of others. I think that should be a given, but apparently some people need a reminder. In this digital age, contact information, unfortunately feels readily available on the internet, but we should never just give someone else’s information away because someone asked.
One day, while out and about running errands, I ran into a young lady that I attended school with. We started talking and catching up, and at some point, she asked if I still talked to another girl that we went to school with. Let’s call her Tasha. I mentioned that I still talk to Tasha from time to time, and she then asked me for Tasha’s phone number. I told her that I do not give out anyone’s number or contact information, but that I could take her number, and pass it along to Tasha, who would then contact her if she wanted.
Becoming visibly upset and annoyed, she asked me why I couldn’t just give her Tasha’s number, especially since we all went to school together. I explained to her again, that I do not give out anyone’s contact information without their permission, just as I would expect people to do for me. Still annoyed, she proceeded to give me her phone number to pass along. When we parted ways, it made me think. Are people really so ridiculous that they think you should just give them access to someone else automatically? What if the other person does not want them getting in touch with them?
First of all, I do not know what may or may not have transpired between them since we were in school. Perhaps they had a falling out that I was not aware of, or some kind of bad blood, and maybe her intentions were not pure. You never know. Either way, I will never simply give out someone else’s contact information without their consent. God forbid that something is going on that I am not aware of, and you track this person down based on information that I provided to you, and something happens. I would never want that on my conscious.
I expect that anyone who has my contact information would do the same. I let people know to not give out my phone number, and so on, and if they do without my permission, any trust that I had would be irrevocably broken, and our relationship would never be the same. You could have potentially exposed me to harassment, a scam, or so forth. With the way the world is today, you never know.
Sharing the information of another without their permission is a violation of their privacy, and it completely disregards their right to control how others connect with them. While you may have good intentions in providing the information as a way of connecting the two people, you do not know what the requesters intentions are, regardless of what they tell you.
Just remember to always ask first, as a simple courtesy goes a long way. And respect their response if they say no. Do not try to pressure them into giving permission for you to share their information.
