In a current CNN story on legislation against e-mail spam, a California state senator is quoted as saying, “Californians are very privacy conscious. About half have unlisted phone numbers. That far exceeds the number of unlisted numbers in any other state.”
What is it about Californians that make them so privacy conscious? What are they hiding? They can’t be all celebrities.
No, most are hiding from the law.
[sub]imthjckaz, former californian, on the lamb[/sub]
I was always listed in California (14 years).
I can totally understand those who were not listed. Because the state is so large, and because so many people move there from elsewhere, I would get calls constantly from drunk friends from all over the USA and Europe trying to locate old buddies, credit card companies just checking to see if you were the one they were looking for, and once the police called and informed me that my wife’s car was finally located (I’m Gay, have never been married, and have never lost a car.)
Add to that a huge telemarketing network that loved my wealthy area code and would call every night between 5 and 9 PM and offer me everything from time shares in Hawaii to great new long distance plans.
The reasons I didn’t have an unlisted number were because it galled me to PAY to NOT have my number listed, it also seemed kind of sinister not to have a listed number and most importantly, I had a lot of flakey friends who would not have my number handy and would call 411 to get the number.
BTW, to make matters worse, I have a “famous” and a common name that made me object of little girl slumber party prank phone calls.
I don’t know why, other than we are kind of…well, paranoid. We want people to mind their own cotton-pickin’ business, and we think that you can’t be too careful. At least that is how I was raised.
Since my move to Hooterville (Midwestern town) I am amazed at how easily some of the people here are willing to give up their privacy. They don’t mind who sees their Social Security #, seem less concerned about things that would be a big privacy no-no back in California.
My immediate thought is that it’s not a privacy issue so much as it’s part of the proverbial laid back attitude. Like DMark I don’t really want to be bothered by any Tom, Dick or Harriet that can open a phone book. If my friends want to get ahold of me, well, they’ve already got my phone number, right? Having an unlisted number just makes things a little quieter around the house.
Now that I think about it, why would anyone want to have a listed number?
My number’s listed, but under a different name. That way, if someone needs to find my number I’ll generally have told them how to look it up, but telemarketing companies doing the old-school phone book trick are easy to spot. Plus anyone I don’t want to find me, won’t know how to (mostly).
As a native Midwesterner who has lived on the West Coast, I have to agree. I’ve always had an unlisted number myself, and around here (i.e., Ohio) I’m considered paranoid. But if I need any reminders, I just look at my paents. They get 2-3 telemarketer calls a day. My mother thinks nothing of giving out her e-mail address online, or filling out cards with her phone number at every raffle she sees. Hell, a few times she even did this with my information, thinking I’d appreciate the gesture! sigh
California has a lot of people with a lot of money, and I’ll bet that draws the telemarketers, the con men, and the bullshit artists like flies to honey. I don’t blame anyone there for having an unlisted number. It’s probably the only way you can be left the hell alone.
Well, if I wanted to talk to you, I’d have called you!
Okay, maybe that’s just me, I’m weird about the phone, growing up in the middle of nowhere without one. I just find unsolicited phone calls stressmaking (I mean, it could be anybody I’d have to deal with, ready or not) so I cut down on them by being unlisted.
That and being a teacher; no waaaay do I want my students knowing my number.
We have the Russian attitude-if you knew us you’d know our #.
How do we know that figure is accurate? I personally doubt it.
I tried to him, but the # was unlisted.
47.3% of statistics are made up on the spot.
Another expat Californian checking in…
The figure also comes from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a program administered by the University of San Diego Center for Public Interest Law.
While I realize that there are many general reasons why people throughout the U.S. have unlisted telephone numbers (e.g., “I don’t like telemarketers” is true everywhere), I am trying to understand what in particular makes Californians have the highest percentage of unlisted telephone numbers in the nation.
After reading quite a few Google hits and getting blurry eyed, I can summerize what I think I found. (I’d cite a specific article, but couldn’t find one that supplied all the info).
Big cities, especially in California, lead the list of “unlisted” phones. Marketing groups who do surveys suggest that it is in large part due to the mobility of our society today. If you move, then you are considered an “unlisted” number until you appear in the next published phone book.
So, the idea that half of the people in California have an “unlisted number” because of privacy concerns is crap. It may be 20-30%, but no way is it 50%.
I will include one source http://www.worldopinion.com/newsstand.taf?f=a&id=1248 . It is a marketing survey using 1997 stats, but backed up by decent logic. In 1997, cities with the largest unlisted rates, Houston was 25th, Miami 24th, Jersey City 16th. Starting to get the picture? Just how privacy concious are people in Jersey City? Or how poor and transient?
I’ve lived in California all my life and have never had a listed number.
It’s mostly because I was raised by hyperparanoid parents. My friends were never allowed to come by unannounced, the phone was not to ring after 10, so on and so on. They really valued their privacy. It just became kind of ingrained in me after awhile. When I moved out I didn’t even consider having a listed number.
I’m glad to, because my work number is listed and I get about 1-2 automated calls a day from companies trying to sell stuff. I can only assume that I’d be getting the same at home if I was listed.