Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!ginosko!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: gnu@toad.com (John Gilmore) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Caller ID at American Express -- How Do THEY Know Your Phone #? Message-ID: Date: 22 Oct 89 23:22:50 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Lines: 18 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 469, message 5 of 11 ben@sybase.com said: > I should test this by calling in on > my unlisted number sometime, and see if the response is any different > from when I call from my other, listed number, the one that appears on > their records. Why would your phone number appear on the records of a credit card company? Or is that just one more blank on the application form that you filled in without thinking? It's certainly none of their business... [Moderator's Note: None of their business you say? Maybe they never have to call *you* to get you to pay your bills, but it is a common enough thing. Credit is not a lawful entitlement or a right -- it is a privilege you are given. In exchange for the credit grantor considering you worthy of credit and a minimal financial risk, you agree to provide a phone number and other information. You provide what the creditor wants; the creditor provides what you want. Why do you assume the creditor has bad motives with your phone number? PT]