To think no caller id should be illegal

[Pgqio]

I don't get many but because of a difficult situation I'm in just now causing severe anxiety if I get a no id call it puts me through the roof.

Their only purpose is malignant, anyone else think it should be illegal to make them?

I don't know why NHS don't show the number, how can you call back?
If they want a call back, they'd have to leave a call back number on the voicemail.

A lot of companies have the same phone number on the caller ID, regardless of the actual number calling you, so calling back the caller ID number would just get you a generic line anyway. At least, that's how it is here.

Lots of companies, especially things like NHS, councils, social care, mental health etc, use hidden numbers for privacy reasons as much as anything else. I work in student support and often ring students to check wellbeing. Imagine I ring and they're out but their mum/partner/housemate sees the number or uses redial and then knows that they're accessing mental health support? It would potentially be very invasive of their privacy.

YABU op, although I do understand why.

It’s also a confidentiality thing with hospitals.

A lot of phones are so smart they can throw up on screen a name of who they suggest it might be calling

So a hospital or clinic calling from their usual number might also have the suggested name on the screen (this exactly happened to me today) which then could cause a risk of breaking confidentiality. Perhaps it is something they don’t want other people to know about and a withheld no works well for this reason

Also what happens in NHS is that unless you have a sophisticated and usually costly phone system which dials out only using the main switchboard no, then individual extension numbers are dialling out to patients who WILL then use that bloody number forever and ever for all their calls and harrass you with it!

Illegal? Seriously? The callers will identify themselves if you choose to answer. How the hell do you think people survived pre-caller id?? I honestly don't know why most people need to know who is calling before they answer it. Anxiety? Fair enough, don't answer. But I don't want every person I call at work to have my number. If I don't want to talk to someone, I just hang up.

Maybe illegal was the wrong word. What I'm trying to get across is when you have crippling anxiety if a withheld numbers comes up you're terrified to answer it, then when you don't you get in a state wondering who called, it's lose-lose. Maybe people who haven't had anxiety might not understand the power of irrational thought. I realise it's my issue in the grand scheme of things.

True that, User.

I wouldn't leave a message on a voicemail unless it had been customised and I had been given consent by the person I was calling as a lot of the stuff I call about is of a confidential nature. I also withhold my number as I use my personal phone as my work mobile is a) as old as the hills and is pretty useless and b) often has no signal.

I actually have terrible anxiety and I don't answer blocked numbers. I assume if it's important they'll leave a message.

Voice mail is standard on most people's phone plans, and there are a ton of reasons why it might be withheld.
It would make more sense for you to get help with your anxiety around calls.

I have horrible horrible anxiety. I don't assume things that make me anxious should be banned- I try and work thru ways that let me deal with the anxiety. Firstly you need to understand that sometimes switchboards automatically make numbers 'withheld'. They aren't withheld, the switchboard just can't 'read' them. Nhs Calls come through a switchboard.

I don't know why NHS don't show the number, how can you call back?

Imagine phoning a patient & they don’t answer but, due to confidentiality, you can’t leave a message.

Imagine as a patient doing 1471 or seeing missed call from the dr at 10pm at night when you finally check your phone.......that would be one very sleepless night!

They definitely shouldn't be made illegal. I choose who I give my number to - if I don't want someone/a company to have my number then I want to be able to withhold it.

YABU

their purpose is not always malicious (in fact most of that spam calls I get display a number!)

If you don’t like them, don’t answer then. Anyone genuine will leave a message or contact you in another way.

You can also set up a block on withheld numbers, on a landline at least

My GP and DDs school both call from unknown numbers, so it's not always malicious!

Oh god, I would hate that. My kids school name flashes in big and bright when they call my mobile so I know it's one of the very few numbers I ALWAYS answer when I see them.

I don't know why NHS don't show the number, how can you call back?

Because the calls come through a switchboard. And also because we may be ringing about something confidential that you don't want anyone else in the house to know about, which also why we are not supposed to leave messages.

Police, hospitals, schools and social services have all called me in the past few years with withheld numbers.

All quite important, and nothing malicious about any of them.

The scam artists pretending to be from BT don't hide their number - now they should be illegal because they are malicious.

Ignore the call. I usually ignore it, check if they left a vm.
Unless it is school hours, DDs teacher would use no caller id, I am sure it is necessary to protect herself from parents on a rant.

Of course not, what do you think happened before caller display was invented? We managed for decades to be able to pick up the phone without knowing who was calling.

No way do I want randoms knowing my phone number do you really think all calls with no number are malicious?

Op here, my anxiety is clouding my judgment I guess. Just for reassurance do many of you get these on a regular basis? I actually don't get that many "no caller id" but get a lot of "Cityname 01235" type calls which I ignore.
For some reason I find "No caller id" sinister.

Nope. I'm glad of it - I don't answer them unless I'm expecting a call-back from the GP or similar. Lets me know when to ignore my phone! Same with numbers that show their location - I know not to bother if they show the location as Nigeria!

I used to work for a public sector organisation which had no caller id on all its calls. I often used to get messages to call people back only to discover that their phone blocked all calls with a withheld number. Fine, except most of them then rang back complaining that nobody had called them back!

Never had malicious call from witheld number.
However, I don't answer anything from Huddersfield and Croydon.
I have NOT been in any accident 🙄

My doctor and the hospital have no caller ID, how is that 'malignant'? It's protecting my privacy