Metroliner telephone article 4090

Unpublished does not mean no one can find-see-or otherwise obtain your phone number. There are many, many ways of gaining non pubished information, as the recent Congressional hearing on information brokers brought to light.

For instance a business can use software that shows your phone number when you contact them by phone, even if it is unpublished. While the information is supposed to be used for "tracking and customer identification" purposes, once it is in their system, it is accessible and can easily be given out.

Under laws, unless you explicity opt out of a companies privacy program, they are legally allowed to sell or give your personal information to subsidiaries, affiliates and other parts of said company for certian uses.

Finally credit reports contain phone numbers, and while it is supposed to be difficult to obtain them, we all know it is not impossible.

dialing service, acountability,

It never ceases to amaze me that a phone bill of only $30 or so dollars as almost $20 or more of taxes, fees and surcharges.

We have "untimed-unlimited" service from Verizon, a hold over from when I first opened my phone account with New York Telephone (a slimline princess telephone in aqua, installed in my bedroom so my parents could get me off their phone, paid for out of my babysitting pocket money), thus can make calls and talk for along as we want for a set amout, but still the bills do not go down.

Well there is hope, Congress did finally do away with the surcharge meant to pay for the Spanish-American war last year. *LOL*

was I here.

One of our phone lines had horrible static several months back. Contacted "Verizon" repair and after going through the motions and agreeing that the problem was not our equipment, they sent someone out. First time tech could find "nothing wrong" with the wiring inside and would check the connection from the street, then left. Still the static remained. Next tech ran a check from the central office that he claimed corrected the problem, but it didn't. The third time was the charm as the tech found the problem was caused by a wire being corroded by and sitting in water where the lines enter our home under the sidewalk.

Guess the only thing I miss about the "old" Bell system is that character "Ernestine", played by Miss. Lily Tomlin. "One ringy-dingy", "Sir, do you realise you are talking to Ma Bell?"

Candide