From: peterk@polari.online.com
Subject: Re: Caller ID
Organization: Seattle Online Public Access Unix (206) 328-4944
Distribution: pnw
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 17:30:00 GMT

In article <1992Aug26.231809.19945@beaver.cs.washington.edu> 
dbj@cs.washington.edu (Dave Johnson) writes:

>I removed the arguments, but wanted to add some info to the
>discussion.  US WEST is currently running a trial of caller-id
>(I think in Idaho) where not only the calling number is displayed,
>but also the name listed as the owner of the account.
	{stuff deleted} 
>The version of caller-ID currently being requested by US WEST 
>provides Per-Line Blocking, Per-Call Blocking, Call Trace, 
>Selective Call Forwarding, Priority Call (special ring on
>designated calls), Call Rejection (rejecting designated calls),
>Continuous Redial, and Last Call Return. > 

Two points. (1) A natural by-product of all progress seems to be that
some clever folks will create needless complexity in our lives, and
then sell us services to manage the complexity. Lawyers and insurance
companies have been doing it for years ;-) Caller ID is just another
example. 

If a person really wants to screen calls, an answering machine works
just fine. I find that it stops most sales calls--they hang up before
the outgoing message finishes. If someone is being harrassed, the phone
company should make it possible to get the harrasser's phone number and
report it to the police. But I resent an everyday means for anybody to
get my phone number, especially when the phone co. forces me to pay to
block it, AND subjects me to further inconvenience if I choose to block
it, because others may then choose not to talk to me. 

The latter is especially insidious. It takes people who want to stop
telemarketers from getting their number, or who want to call a public
agency for information without calling attention to themselves, and
lumps them in the same category as drug dealers and vengeful spouse
abusers. It's the old "if you have nothing to hide, why should you
object to this?" game.

I can see it now: some companies or public agencies refuse to do
business, render service or give information unless you unblock your
number. They're not using it to *sell* you anything--they're merely
informing you of important, exciting things that can save you money.
Sure. Or can you imagine the IRS tying in their audit process to phone
requests for tax information? The possibilities for abuse are chilling.

(2) Yes, there are other ways for telemarketers to "getcha if ya don't
watch out." ;-)  However, I don't want to make it any easier for them
than it already is. When I get an account with the phone company, I
don't think this is an implicit authorization for them to sell every
scrap of information about me to anyone who crosses their palm with a
coin. Computerization and data transfer have made privacy a tenuous
thing already. Caller ID is simply a further erosion.

Here's what I do now, without caller ID. When I don't want calls, I
shut off the bell to my phone and turn on the answering machine. I've
sent my number to the National Direct Marketing Association in New York
(sorry, I don't have the address handy, but it's been published in the
paper several times). I've told them that I do not wish any phone
solicitations. That eliminates most of the sales calls, particularly
from out of town. 

Any telemarketer who does call me gets a firm no, and a request to take
me off their list. Further pitches are greeted with a click and a dial
tone. And whenever I call a business or an 800 number, I specifically
ask that they do not put me on any telephone list, or sell my
address/phone to any outside source. That works most of the time.

I don't stop junk mail, because I would rather sort and recycle it than
lose out on some of the nice catalogs I get, or prevent someone I want
to do business with from sending me info about software upgrades, etc.
Mail can be read whenever I choose, and thrown out the instant I
choose. A phone call is a real-time event. If a telemarketer calls me
during dinner, or at 7:30 Saturday morning, my privacy and life have
been disrupted. 

-- 
--Peter (Peter A. Klein)
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