Students Can Block Caller ID

Harvard has changed its telephone system to allow students to prevent their telephone numbers from appearing on administrators' phones when they place calls.

By dialing "*67" before placing a call, a student can block their number from appearing on an administrator's phone, according to Jack Wise, the manager of the Harvard Student Telephone Office.

The "*67" feature went into operation this past weekend, Wise said.

Before the change, phones with the program Caller ID allowed some administrators to see the number of the person calling. Some students claimed this constituted an invasion of their privacy.

Jol A. Silversmith '94, former director of Civil Liberties Union of Harvard, said he asked Wise to investigate the privacy issue after the Crimson publicized administrators' use of Caller ID in December.

Carey W. Gabay '94, president of the Undergraduate Council, called Harvard's system an "invasion of stu- dent privacy" in December.

But Wise said he was unwilling to block thenumbers of all telephone calls because the policerely on the system in tracing some emergencycalls.

"We wouldn't want a students' room to beburning and the police not able to identify them,"he said.

Wise said he was surprised that New EnglandTelephone, whom he contacted about the issue inDecember, had implemented a solution so quickly.

Wise said he did not know of the solution whenhe instructed that a message, notifying studentsof Harvard's use of phones with Caller ID, beplaced on the January telephone bill. Studentsreceived that bill last week.

The Caller ID program at issue works onlywithin Harvard's private Centrex telephone system.It was designed to be a feature of the system,Wise said.

Telephone companies in states that have CallerID allow their subscribers to block theirtelephone numbers. Massachusetts, however, doesnot have the option of caller identification atthis time.

New England Telephone will offer both Caller IDand blocking to all Massachusetts customers by1995, Wise said. Students will then be able toblock their numbers like other subscribers at thattime.

Silversmith said it is "good that Harvardstudents now have the same standards availableelsewhere. Now, if a student calls Room 13 theyknows that the call is anonymous. Before theydidn't."

"It is good that the administration isconcerned about new technologies and the privacyissues they raise," Silversmith added

But Wise said he was unwilling to block thenumbers of all telephone calls because the policerely on the system in tracing some emergencycalls.

"We wouldn't want a students' room to beburning and the police not able to identify them,"he said.

Wise said he was surprised that New EnglandTelephone, whom he contacted about the issue inDecember, had implemented a solution so quickly.

Wise said he did not know of the solution whenhe instructed that a message, notifying studentsof Harvard's use of phones with Caller ID, beplaced on the January telephone bill. Studentsreceived that bill last week.

The Caller ID program at issue works onlywithin Harvard's private Centrex telephone system.It was designed to be a feature of the system,Wise said.

Telephone companies in states that have CallerID allow their subscribers to block theirtelephone numbers. Massachusetts, however, doesnot have the option of caller identification atthis time.

New England Telephone will offer both Caller IDand blocking to all Massachusetts customers by1995, Wise said. Students will then be able toblock their numbers like other subscribers at thattime.

Silversmith said it is "good that Harvardstudents now have the same standards availableelsewhere. Now, if a student calls Room 13 theyknows that the call is anonymous. Before theydidn't."

"It is good that the administration isconcerned about new technologies and the privacyissues they raise," Silversmith added