A concern about identity

[Pandora]

Ooma quality is great, the cost is so reasonable as to be almost unbelievable.

I'm tempted to move my primary phone line over, but am concerned about issues of identity and phone number ownership.

What happens if someone steals my Ooma device, and the PC I run Ooma from? Do they become me?

It appears Ooma permits the user name, email, and address to be edited.

Currently AT&T knows my real address, and deals with me as a real person.

If I move my number to Ooma, there no longer seems to be any concern about my real name, real address, even real email. I become a virtual person owning my number.


How is theft of an Ooma device and or Ooma account handled? Can someone who has had their device or account stolen, reclaim their phone number? How would it work? With AT&T, CDV, even other VOIP solutions, it seems theft of an entire number is more difficult.

With Ooma, steal the device, or worse, steal the device and account password and your phone identity is gone forever.

[scoutconnor]

you'd be fine, just call ooma and they can move your number to another hub. The pc has NOTHING to do with the setup, you could run the entire system without a PC

[Soundjudgment]

"" If I move my number to Ooma, there no longer seems to be any concern about my real name, real address, even real email. I become a virtual person owning my number. ""

Op:

They CAN become you (so to speak) until you report the incident. I hope that the Ooma group is smart enough to take down your information AFTER you prove to them something that uniquely identifies you. Otherwise ANYone can steal the Ooma Hub, and reset the account if given access. You cannot LOCK your Ooma Hub to any specific IP Address or ISP provider. ANY move would still allow the Hub to work, and that means any thief could set up the 'stolen' Hub at their own location.

You are correct. The mobility of the Ooma service does make things portable and proving identity that much harder. ONLY your password to your account (and any accompanied Security Question) makes it your account and no one elses. Don't compromise it for any reason, as you won't compromise your Email Password(s) or Banking information.

[koehn]

With Ooma, steal the device, or worse, steal the device and account password and your phone identity is gone forever.

Kind of like... a mobile phone? Except that the Ooma (like any VOIP device) requires an internet connection. And you don't typically carry it around with you.

Your identity isn't gone forever, it's gone until you have Ooma disable the device. And your identity is equally gone when somebody spoofs your caller ID.

[tommies]

...
You are correct. The mobility of the Ooma service does make things portable and proving identity that much harder. ONLY your password to your account (and any accompanied Security Question) makes it your account and no one elses. Don't compromise it for any reason, as you won't compromise your Email Password(s) or Banking information.

Yes, and OOMA only allows password with max of 10 characters. I normally use passwords between 10-30 characters, the longest is for banking, etc. I'm currently looking for a fingerprint reader, after which I'm going to use much longer passwords.

However, longer password only effectively with a secure pc. If your pc was compromised/hacked, all is lost.