Privacy in the 21st century is more important than ever and now, thanks to an innovative service, it's possible to protect your mobile phone number.

Entrepreneurs, Sunny Rai, from Redditch and Kam Thind, from West Bromwich, have developed Number Cloak, a free service, which enables users to instantly hide their mobile or landline number, through its unique website. By providing a temporary, secondary number, which diverts to a set phone, Number Cloak hides the user's real number, without the caller being aware.

The service is especially useful when meeting new people when out and about, or for those giving out contact details through online dating sites, social network sites or when dealing with companies who pass on personal details.

Number Cloak was created, when Sunny and Kam realised there were limited safe ways to give out personal details when meeting new people, after Kam's friend Jasmyn (24) had a bad experience with an online dating site. She felt worried when she was bombarded with calls from unknown individuals, after providing her mobile number.

Jasmyn explained that she had expected some calls, but not the amount she actually received, and from people she had not been in contact with for long.

"I decided to try online dating, but I was a bit naïve and provided my phone number publicly on the site. I received some abusive and offensive messages and calls, which really scared me. I ended up cancelling my phone contract and changing my phone number. It put we right off online dating and made me nervous about who I give my number out to", said Jasmyn.

Number Cloak was designed to create greater awareness about the vulnerabilities involved in giving out phone numbers, whilst providing people with the means of keeping themselves safe. The real number behind a Number Cloak cannot be traced, so users can rest assured that their numbers are protected until they choose to provide their new friend with their real number.

A Number Cloak is quick and easy to set up online, with no lengthy registration process. Users need only provide an email address and their real mobile or landline number, to enable their new, secondary number to be diverted. Each email address can be registered for ten secondary numbers, any of which can be disconnected within seconds, preventing unwanted callers from getting through.

Sunny said: "Our aim is for Number Cloak to be a commonly owned and used asset in everyday life, when the situation is appropriate. We envision that one day, everybody will have a permanent or ever-changing secondary number in his or her phone book, saved as Number Cloak."

There is no billing or charge for receiving calls to a Number Cloak; the service is funded entirely by callers, who are charged 50p per minute from a BT landline, but other networks vary.