NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/comp/privacy/24

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-22 | 5.5 KB

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From: [e-mail] ( Nate Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.privacy,alt.privacy
Subject: Re: Anti-privacy is Anti-Caller ID)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 27 Jan 93 15:51:08 GMT
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In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Terry Parks) writes:
>
>....[misinterpretations of the english language]....

hey - you can disagree with an analogy.  that's no big deal.  :-)

>Hey Rip, wake up! This is done regardless of Caller ID. Except that with
>Caller ID, one can render such information useless. If you want to be
>private, don't call me!

ahah - you think that Step 1 of Caller ID has already been accomplished.
this means you are a clone of Glenn Cooley.  Step 1 has been done in the
areas that already have Caller ID, and the 1-800, 1-900, 1-976 exchanges.

if it were TRUE that all origination numbers were being broadcast to
all destination numbers, THEN the Caller ID box (Step 2) should be
offered FOR FREE.

What evidence do you have that Step 1 already has been done, in areas
that dont have Caller ID yet?  i would like to know, because Step 1, by
itself, is the infringement of privacy that all of us, against Caller ID,
have been objecting too.  We have NO objections to anyone getting Step 2,
the Caller ID service delivered to your home.  if Step 1 has already been
accomplished everywhere, then, yes, i admit to sleeping.  but then why is
there an issue here, as if we can vote No Caller ID?

suppose i get Caller ID.  ok, now i have a list of all the numbers that
are okay - my mom, my brothers, my work site, my kids' school, etc.  i
build up this list with my friends and associates over time.  i have the
Caller ID device keyed into a PC that screens the incoming number against
this list.  anytime i want i add a new number to the list or delete a
number no longer valid.  in this way i avoid having to remember maybe
over a 100 numbers at once - my PC will do this for me.   ok....

now what about the numbers that arent in this list?  do i have my PC
just hang up on them?  what will they be:

telemarketing calls..................you bet, hang up on them
obscene phone calls..................send to number police, hang up
personal harrassment by same jerk....same, you bet, hang up
wrong numbers........................sure, hang up
old friend in town at some motel.....too bad, gee, wouldve been nice
wife with flat tire at payphone......too bad, hmmmm
stranger calling about kid injury....too bad
new friend that has new number.......too bad
friend has UNLISTED number blocked...too bad
doctor/lab report with test result...too bad
and so on....

what are the percentages of these calls?  who knows?  i suspect that the
telemarketing is the highest, then wrong numbers, then those calls all
grouped together that it would have been nice to answer, but we couldnt take
that risk because of the second category, the obscene phone calls, which is
probably the least frequent of them all, or the 3rd category which can be
in isolated cases be very unpleasant.

the amount of telemarking calls will undoubtedly go up with Step 1 -
regardless of whether you get Step 2, the Caller ID box, or not.

if you believe that those first 4 categories outweigh the loss of the
"too bad" categories, then you can arrange a system with the phone
company right now to have them screen your calls for you.  it should
cost you about the same as getting a Caller ID box, i would expect.
you can also get an unlisted number for a slight additional fee.  an
answering machine can be of some use, although not as good.  there
may be a coded prefix or suffix that you give out to "trusted" friends
and relatives.  if they want to get their call through to you, they
must include the secret code.  you can get "double-ring" for these
people - then, if it goes "ringring...ringring..." instead of "ring...
ring..." you know its a trusted individual - this is better than the
Caller ID box, because you dont have to get up and check the box to see
if its a number you will answer.  there are new technologies every day.
those are the technologies that you & i should be supporting, because
there we have some agreement.

however, that does not give you the right to impose Step 1 on everyone
else.  those that think the "too bad" categories will outweigh the first
categories never will get the Caller ID box & PC hangup program.  that's
okay - they can do what they like.  but some of us dont like the notion
that when we call a video store to see if they have such-and-such a movie,
that later on we get 5 telemarketing calls from mail-order video clubs
and junk mail about it.  Blockbuster Video already does something like
this.  Radio Shack tries to get personal info every time you buy something
there, then they send out their flyer at a bulk rate that part of your
29 cents subsidizes.  Caller ID will never be able to screen junk mail.
there is a guy that heats his house with junk mail, though...what a
silly world this is.

shouldnt that Caller ID box be provided to you for free, if Caller ID is
available in your area?  isnt that a Right to Privacy?  they shouldnt
charge you anything for that, right?  so why will they charge you for it?

- nate