Date: Tue, 08 Aug 95 11:38:33 EST
Errors-To: Comp-privacy Error Handler <owner-comp-privacy@uwm.edu>
From: Computer Privacy Digest Moderator <comp-privacy@uwm.edu>
To: Comp-privacy@uwm.edu
Subject: Computer Privacy Digest V7#011
Computer Privacy Digest Tue, 08 Aug 95 Volume 7 : Issue: 011
Today's Topics: Moderator: Leonard P. Levine
Phone Won't Stop Ringing? -- Here's What You Do
Re: Caller ID Blockers
Re: Caller ID Blockers
Re: Information Collection at Sears
Info on CPD [unchanged since 08/01/95]
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From: "David D. Levine" <davidl@SSD.intel.com>
Date: 04 Aug 95 10:43:01 -0700
Subject: Phone Won't Stop Ringing? -- Here's What You Do
------- Forwarded Message
Date: 02 Aug 95 23:32:13 -0500
From: mt@aleve.media.mit.edu (Michael Travers)
Subject: Subgenius Digest V6 #151
Phone Won't Stop Ringing? -- Here's What You Do.
Leola Starling of Ribrock, Tenn., had a serious telephone problem. But
unlike most people she did something about it.
The brand-new $10 million Ribrock Plaza Motel opened nearby and had
acquired almost the same telephone number as Leola.
From the moment the motel opened, Leola was besieged by calls not for
her. Since she had the same phone number for years, she felt that she
had a case to persuade the motel management to change its number.
Naturally, the management refused, claiming that it could not change its
stationery.
The phone company was not helpful, either. A number was a number, and
just because a customer was getting someone else's calls 24 hours a day
didn't make it responsible. After her pleas fell on deaf ears, Leola
decided to take matters into her own hands.
At 9 o'clock the phone rang. Someone from Memphis was calling the motel
and asked for a room for the following Tuesday. Leoloa said, "No
problem. How many nights?"
A few hours later Dallas checked in. A secretary wanted a suite with
two bedrooms for a week. Emboldened, Leola said the Presidential Suite
on the 10th floor was available for $600 a night. The secretary said
that she would take it and asked if the hotel wanted a deposit. "No,
that won't be necessary," Leola said. "We trust you."
The next day was a busy one for Leola. In the morning, she booked an
electric appliance manufacturers' convention for Memorial Day weekend, a
college prom and a reunion of the 82nd Airborne veterans from World War
II.
She turned on her answering machine during lunchtime so that she could
watch the O.J. Simpson trial, but her biggest challenge came in the
afternoon when a mother called to book the ballroom for her daughter's
wedding in June.
Leola assured the woman that it would be no problem and asked if she
would be providing the flowers or did she want the hotel to take care of
it. The mother said that she would prefer the hotel to handle the
floral arrangements. Then the question of valet parking came up. Once
again Leola was helpful. "There's no charge for valet parking, but we
always recommend that the client tips the drivers."
Within a few months, the Ribrock Plaza Motel was a disaster area.
People kept showing up for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and Sweet Sixteen
parties and were all told there were no such events.
Leola had her final revenge when she read in the local paper that the
motel might go bankrupt. Her phone rang, and an executive from Marriott
said, "We're prepared to offer you $200,000 for the motel."
Leola replied. "We'll take it, but only if you change the telephone
number."
------- End of Forwarded Message
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From: glr@ripco.com (Glen Roberts)
Date: 05 Aug 1995 14:34:08 GMT
Subject: Re: Caller ID Blockers
Organization: Ripco Internet BBS, Chicago
Athena Consulting (athena@communique.net) wrote: I am very new to
this CALLER ID concept. I just moved to LA from California where
they do not allow the masses to have CID. I have seen a device you
can purchase from specialty catalogs for like $40 that claims to
stop your name and number from being read. Does anyone know if
these work or not? Thanks!
They work great... but you can do the same by dialing *67. All the box
does is dial *67 when you pick up the line...
Won't do a thing when you call 800#'s.
--
--------------------------------------
Glen L. Roberts, Editor, Full Disclosure
Host Full Disclosure Live (WWCR 5065 khz - Sundays 8pm eastern)
(WOYL AM-1340, Oil City, PA)
Tech Talk Network: Telstar 302 (T2), Ch 21, 5.8 audio
http://pages.ripco.com:8080/~glr/glr.html
-------------------------------------
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From: jmolini@inetcom.net
Date: 05 Aug 1995 20:07:52 GMT
Subject: Re: Caller ID Blockers
Organization: kpmg
trisha.pena@nashville.com (Trisha Pena) writes: If you have an
unpublished phone number, you can do the same thing by pressing *67
before you dial a number. It hides your number for that call only
so you have to remember to do it everytime or add it as a "pre" in
an autodialer.
Is there any reason why you don't just call the phone company and have
your number removed from the system entirely. I did this in Houston.
To have your number permanently removed from all CallerID systems you
call the phone company who will give you the number for the national
business office. Call them and they send you a form. Fill out and
sign the form and your number will be made anonymous.
The only downside of this is that some phone companies sell an option
to CallerID called Anonymous Call blocking. This means that you must
dial the operator and pay a special fee to call people that have this
option enabled. It only happened to us for a couple of people, so our
anonymous number turned out to be fairly valuable and only periodically
problematic.
I wouldn't count on special prefixes working to block caller ID from
your end unless my phone company was willing to put it in writing. It
may also not stop 800 numbers that record calling numbers.
--
Jim Molini | Those who make peacefule revolution
| impossible, make violent revolution
| inevitable. J. F. Kennedy, 1962
------------------------------
From: donath@hweng.syr.ge.com
Date: 07 Aug 95 09:31:53 EDT
Subject: Re: Information Collection at Sears
Organization: Lockheed Martin Corp, Valley Forge PA
In response to the recent postings about retailers collecting
information from their customers, I offer my own experience. I
went to Sears to buy an appliance costing several hundred dollars.
The clerk asked for my phone number. I refused. He entered
555-1212. He then asked for my address. I refused. He would not
sell me the item unless I gave my address. I was paying by
non-Sears credit card. I went to another retailer and was asked
for the same information. I refused. They shrugged and sold me
what I wanted anyway.
One thing I've wondered about at Sears is signing for a charge card.
When signing, they electronically capture the signature by using a
stylist and signing on a special tablet. How secure are these
signatures?
--
Kurt Donath
donath@hweng.syr.ge.com
------------------------------
From: "Prof. L. P. Levine" <levine@blatz.cs.uwm.edu>
Date: 29 Dec 1994 10:50:22 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Info on CPD [unchanged since 08/01/95]
Organization: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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---------------------------------+-----------------------------------------
Leonard P. Levine | Moderator of: Computer Privacy Digest
Professor of Computer Science | and comp.society.privacy
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | Post: comp-privacy@uwm.edu
Box 784, Milwaukee WI 53201 | Information: comp-privacy-request@uwm.edu
| Gopher: gopher.cs.uwm.edu
levine@cs.uwm.edu | Mosaic: gopher://gopher.cs.uwm.edu
---------------------------------+-----------------------------------------
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End of Computer Privacy Digest V7 #011
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