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From: gast@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (David Gast)
Newsgroups: alt.privacy,comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: Caller ID problems
Keywords: Caller ID
Message-ID: <1991Apr9.085207.19175@cs.ucla.edu>
Date: 9 Apr 91 08:52:07 GMT
References: <1991Mar29.195940.12006@eng.umd.edu> <1991Mar29.220816.8305@ima.isc.com> <1991Mar30.043415.7314@odin.corp.sgi.com>
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In article <1991Mar30.043415.7314@odin.corp.sgi.com> steres@chaos.asd.sgi.com (Chris Steres) writes:
>Much of the rhetoric advanced as criticism of caller ID seems to hinge on
>the privacy of the caller; while ignoring the issues regarding the privacy
>of the callee.  To protect MY privacy it seems that I should be allowed
>to screen my calls if it is technologically feasible.

Use an answering machine.  It works much better than Caller ID.

>I think (opinion time) that the caller's "right" to privacy is somewhat
>diminished by the fact that they are engaging in an active attempt to
>establish communication; whereas the intended recipient is a mostly passive
>entity, and therefore deserves more consideration for their privacy.

Suppose that you have called a lawyer, a doctor or some other professional
who should not release the name of his/her clients--it may even be a serious
ethical breach to do so.  Now, should that person wait until s/he gets to
the office in morning or would you prefer that s/he call you ASAP and
block Caller ID?

There are many examples were there is a necessity to block CID.

>If you really need to communicate anonymously there are MANY ways to do so
>without using your home or office phone.  A public telephone springs to mind
>as the most obvious example.  Mailing a letter is another one.

I already use public telephones for 800 numbers, but the fact is that I
pay for my phone and I would like to be able to use it.  If I can't use
it to make phone calls, perhaps I should just get rid of it.

Under no circumstances can you make a valid claim that the callee has the
right know *where* the caller is calling from, yet that is what CID does.
It does not tell who is calling, but where the call is coming from.

Anyway, humans deal with faces and names, not numbers.  It is computers that
deal with numbers--perfect from people who want to maintain databases.

>The argument that call in services can register caller ID's to be sold to
>phone solicitors is a non-argument, since with caller ID's I can (hopefully)
>screen out solicitors with the right tool.  I make this claim in light of
>the recent Supreme Court ruling that the White pages listings are not
>copyrightable.

CID will not help much with telemarketers.  They have many phone lines,
most are outgoing only (so they don't even have a phone number), many
are out of state.  Therefore the Supreme Court rulin is not going to
help you much.

david