Privacy protection in network-based phonebooks

Phonebook systems and associated methods are disclosed that provide a mechanism for protecting private information of a contact from being published in a network-based phonebook. A typical network-based phonebook service allows subscribers to set up network-based phonebooks, where each phonebook includes one or more contacts and associated contact information. Before contact information for a contact is included in a network-based phonebook for a subscriber, a phonebook system identifies privacy criteria for the contact. The privacy criteria may be predefined by the contact, predefined by the service provider, or predefined by another entity. The phonebook system then processes the privacy criteria to identify the contact information for the contact that is authorized to be included in the network-based phonebook. The processing system may then include the authorized contact information in the network-based phonebook, and block the unauthorized contact information from being included in the network-based phonebook.