Britons Suffer From Number Amnesia

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - April 11th 2007

Two thirds of Brits fail to back up mobile phone contacts despite soaring mobile phone crime figures

Britons are suffering from phone number amnesia with almost three quarters of the population (69 per cent) unable to remember just five numbers stored on their mobile phone , according to research by mobile phone backup service provider, ZYB (zyb.com).

Mobile phones are involved in 40 per cent of robberies within the UK with a handset being stolen every 12 seconds (the equivalent of more than 2.5 million per year) , however almost two thirds of the population (59 per cent) do not have their mobile phone numbers backed-up in any way, whether that means writing them down, saving them to a computer or storing them online.

The inability to remember numbers or backup personal information is causing millions of people the inconvenience of losing important information, including the phone numbers of friends, family and colleagues, with the average Brit storing more than 80 numbers in their phone’s contact list.

“One of the problems with living in such a ‘high-tech’ society is that our brains become lazy,” comments leading health psychologist, David Moxon . “Cognitive functions such as mathematical and memory processing are frequent casualties in the over-reliant world of calculators, computers and mobile phones.”

The good news is that ZYB today announced that it is launching its free service within the UK which allows subscribers to securely store their mobile phone data online. The service enables users to enhance the usability of their phones by allowing them to share and manage data via the internet. ZYB also provides an easy way for users to transfer data from one phone to another when they get a new handset.

“The majority of us only memorise a small fraction of the numbers we store on our phone,” says Tommy Ahlers, CEO and co-founder of ZYB. “With this in mind, it’s no wonder people dread losing their mobile handset more than any other electronic device. ZYB puts an end to this worry”.

Anyone can use ZYB’s mobile phone backup service. All you need to do to store your mobile data online is to save your contacts to your phone (rather than to your SIM card), sign up on zyb.com and then follow the simple step by step guide. ZYB is free and works on most mobile phones and across all mobile networks in the UK.


About ZYB
ZYB is a fast growing mobile phone back-up service provider, already securely storing mobile phone data for more than 100.000 users worldwide. ZYB mobile phone backup is free and globally accessible and works independently of mobile network operators. ZYB is backed by venture capital firm Nordic Venture Partners and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.

*Notes to Editors
The YouGov research was carried out on behalf of ZYB. The total sample size was 2,353 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 27-29 march 2007 and the survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).