Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories

Burner mobile app goes beyond prank calls

Prank calls — which in 2013 are all but rooted out with caller ID — may get new life with a new app called Burner. But the software may have legitimate privacy uses as well.

Prank calls — which in 2013 are all but rooted out with caller ID — may get new life with a new app called Burner. The app allows users to create disposable phone numbers so that it’s harder to track who’s calling you. The idea may sound familiar to fans of HBO’s show The Wire, where criminals used burner cellphones to trip up police. But the software may have legitimate privacy uses as well.

Lindsey Turrentine is editor-in-chief of reviews for CNET joins Marketplace’s Ben Johnson to explain the app and its purpose beyond pranks.

 

 

Related Topics

Latest Episodes

View All Shows
  • Marketplace
    7 hours ago
    25:19
  • Make Me Smart
    13 hours ago
    19:00
  • Marketplace Morning Report
    16 hours ago
    6:55
  • Marketplace Tech
    20 hours ago
    8:33
  • This Is Uncomfortable
    3 days ago
    56:05
  • Million Bazillion
    24 days ago
    32:45