RING RING RING
Are you ready to do something about those student loans? Did you know the warranty on your car may expire, but you can extend it if you act now? We have a wonderful health insurance plan for you…
Once upon a time there was a thing: the Do Not Call registry. It’s still there, and you can register your phone… but it’s a constant battle to keep up with technology. It was a big deal when caller ID started to become widely available. It let people start screening their calls among other things.
Now smart phones show you the number of who is calling automatically — but it’s not always useful. I’m getting the robocalls described above. They appear to be local numbers, so I’m tempted to answer thinking it might be someone local who is trying to contact me. It can happen when I’m trying to talk to someone I actually want to talk to — there’s that beep in the background saying someone else wants to talk to me. I ignore it.
Too often that local call isn’t — and when I try to call back, it either doesn't work or I’m told it’s a number that isn’t in service. Our wonderful phone companies appear to be letting the people behind these calls spoof their systems. But it’s not their problem, is it?
You can supposedly report these calls — within certain limits. If you don’t mind writing down all the details and submitting them, that is.
The number on my phone was apparently in use before — I keep getting text messages intended for the previous owner. I also keep getting alerts from Trusted ID that something has changed on my credit record. I don’t respond.
And of course, there’s the deal that my phone is essentially a tracking device. Those helpful apps store info on me, the better to know where I am, what I’m looking at, what I might buy — and to make money selling that info. Some of this stuff has ways to turn it off, but those ways are not obvious. Plus, sometimes it’s not the phone company that you’re dealing with…
There’s no such thing as a free lunch; the conveniences that come with the phone carry a price. It’s nice to be able to make a 911 call when they can find your location even if you don’t know where you are. It’s nice to be able to get automatic alerts of emergency situations like flash floods or wild fires. But somewhere along the way, all these other things crept in while we weren’t looking.
It would be nice if the people making phone operating systems would add in the ability to mark a call you did not want and automatically save it for reporting. It would be nice if you had one place to go to, to switch off all location reporting.
If you are trying to call me and I don’t recognize your number, I won’t answer. If you really need to talk to me, leave me a message so I can know that a live person was trying to contact me, and why.
So, what do you do to cope with this? Are you thinking of going Neo-Luddite? Leave a comment with your stories, tales of woe, sage counsel, and strategies.