Minister of Communications (Likud) Moshe Kahlon has instructed his staff to seek a way to eliminate blocked telephone numbers, explaining the time has come that callers must be compelled to identify themselves, either by number of at least a company logo is a call comes from a business.

According to a Kalkalist report, the minister was responding to MK (Ra’am – Ta’al) Masud Ganaim, who stated too often, calls received from municipal and/or government agencies are blocked and recipients are unable to determine the identity of the caller before answering the call. He asked the minister why a hospital or government agency is not identified on a phone’s screen as the call arrives and why they are always ‘blocked numbers’.

Kahlon agrees with the MK, pointing out that while it may be advantageous to identify sectors and organizations on caller ID, it may not be possible for each citizen since it may also be a question in compromising one’s privacy, leading him to believe sector identification may enjoy more support.

The minister added that implementation of such a plan, logistically and technically, is a complicated matter, but he is confident that a solution can be found.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)