On Fri, 12 Jul 1996, David Mazieres wrote:
They said no problem, but... They said nothing I can do will block it when I call 800 numbers. "The people with 800 numbers have special software, and there is nothing you can do to block your identity when calling them. Not even *67."
Wow. Maybe I'm not paranoid enough, but I never expected this. I can never again call an 800 number anonymously to get information about something unless I go out to a pay phone. What an incredible inconvenience, and how truly depressing.
I know 800 number owners probably used to be able to get lists of calling phone numbers on their phone bills, but this is less disturbing as it would take significant effort to match up the lists after the fact. I just want to be able to call up companies and say, for instance, "If I buy your product, can it do X?" as opposed to, for instance, "I'm stuck with your product, can it do X?". People are often more helpful in the former case. Now, though, they'll know exactly who I am before they even say hello.
This is nothing new. 800, 900 and some other similiar numbers have been able to subscribe to a service called Automatic Number Identification (ANI) for many years now. While it is related to Caller ID, it doesn't operate with necessarily the same restrictions/options. Many companies use ANI in addition with special software to actually look at where you are calling from and either pull up your records, transfer you to a region specific extension, etc. I've heard rumors that some carriers pull their ANI information from CID thereby enabling you to block it just like you would the normal signal. Other methods of remaining anonymous can be achieved by going through long distance companies that don't pass on ANI information or paying companies who offer you ANI blocking dial-throughs. ________________________________ [ Bruce M. - Feist Systems, Inc. ] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "Official estimates show that more than 120 countries have or are developing [information warfare] capabilities." -GAO/AIMD-96-84