Anonymous phone calls (was: What is the EFF doing exactl

[jbugden at smtplink.alis.ca]

Audit trails may now be in place, in which case the cost of anonymity is
increased to the cost of the lowest denomination card. Think OTP.

However, in both Britian and France I have seen defective phones that allowed LD
calls but did not deduct the call amount from the card. Obviously, the effect
was free LD and these phones were perpetually busy.

If audit trails were in place, this problem should have been noticed quickly.

As I said, things may have changed for newer systems.

James

----------
From:   Flying insect killer <kadafi at netcom.com>
Sent:   Friday, September 06, 1996 1:20 PM
To:     jimbell at pacifier.com
Cc:     James Bugden; pstira at escape.com; cypherpunks at toad.com
Subject:        Re: Anonymous phone calls (was: What is the EFF doing exactl


On Fri, 6 Sep 1996, jim bell wrote:

> At 10:08 AM 9/6/96 EST, jbugden at smtplink.alis.ca wrote:
> >There is another spin possible on the reasons for replacement of pay phones
with
> >credit card phones. In Canada all new credit card phones are also able to
take
> >phone cards (which are anonymous).
> 
> Don't be too sure about the "anonymity" of these cards.  You don't have to 
> give your name when you buy or use them, but assuming a large number of 
> phone calls (to, from different locations) can be associated together after 
> the fact, your name can probably be fairly easily obtained.
> Jim Bell
> jimbell at pacifier.com

And phone companys that offers phone cards keep track of every call that 
goes thru each card number.