Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!henry.jpl.nasa.gov!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!gryphon!vector!telecom-gateway From: johnl@esegue.segue.boston.ma.us (John R. Levine) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: CLI or CND: What Is Actually Displayed? Message-ID: Date: 19 Nov 89 17:15:29 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Reply-To: johnl@esegue.segue.boston.ma.us Organization: Segue Software, Cambridge MA Lines: 22 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 523, message 4 of 10 In article our moderator writes: >[Moderator's Note: But you see, names are not unique to their users. >Telephone numbers are. ... Unless, of course, the phone happens to be shared by several people on a hall. Or someone's calling from a friend's house, or calling one client from a second client's office. Or calling from a 5,000 line PBX which always gives the main number as the calling number. Or using a payphone. Or, if the caller's more serious, tapping someone else's line in an unlocked phone closet in order to masquerade as them. Caller ID doesn't conclusively identify the caller any more than getting a car's license number conclusively identifies the driver. It's a strong hint, but hardly the iron-clad identifier that some people wish it were. Think of it like the signature on electronic mail, not too hard to fake out if you really want to. John R. Levine, Segue Software, POB 349, Cambridge MA 02238, +1 617 864 9650 johnl@esegue.segue.boston.ma.us, {ima|lotus|spdcc}!esegue!johnl "Now, we are all jelly doughnuts."