blocking "Unknown Caller"

I too find this insanely annoying. Apparently you can block in Verizon, but you have to be treated like a child...

You can pay an additional $4.99 to turn on "Family Base". Then you can apparently do the blocking, (for the extra $60 a year before taxes.)

• Sign in to FamilyBase.
• Select Controls.
• Select Blocked Contacts.
• Select Add Blocks.
• Click the check box next to Block Restricted, Unavailable, and Private Numbers to turn the block on.

https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/caller-id-block-faqs/

You are not talking to Apple. If you had read the Apple Support Communities Terms of Use, you would know that.

This has been discussed many times. There is no way for Apple to design an app to block calls that do not send any Caller ID information, since there would be nothing to identify the call to block. If Verizon has informed you they cannot block it at the network end, there is no way a handset can block it.

Since you use Verizon then you are in the US. Add your number to the Do Not Call list and then you can file complaints with the FCC about the calls.

You might want to ask Verizon why they cannot or will not offer anonymous call rejection on their cellular telephone network, but offer it as a standard service on their land line accounts?

Land line service by most providers in the USA has offered, by default, anonymous call rejection for decades but carriers have steadfastly refused to implement it on their cellular networks. Anonymous call rejection occurs at the providers switches and acts to simply refuse to propagate any call with stripped caller ID ( it is illegal to actually strip all caller ID info).

Carriers could, if they wished to, stop all true anonymous cell phone calls (ones where the caller ID has been stripped, not intentially blocked by the caller, which is different) - they have refused to do so. Put the blame for the problem squarely where it belongs - your cellular service provider.

Greg1234567890123 wrote:

there is no better way to bring it up that I am aware of.

Actually, the best way to bring it up for Apple to see is their feedback page here, http://www.apple.com/feedback That is the place they look.

Greg1234567890123 wrote:

I really think everyone should ask Apple for this feature so that Apple would enable it. I am really sick of the harassment from telemarketers and scammers, and that I am powerless to do anything about it.

You're not powerless. You don't have to answer when those people call. I rarely answer the phone unless the caller is in my contacts. Real people leave voicemail. I can return those calls when I have time to talk.

I don't believe that.

If a caller is "Unknown" and there is no phone number, there should be a feature to block them.

Landlines can block any caller that doesn't display their ID. If the iPhone can't manage to do that, maybe I'll go back to my landline.

Or buy an Android.

When "Unknown" comes up on my call list and there is no phone number or information, I should have a button that I can hit that says BLOCK. No one can convince me that Apple can't do it. They just don't want to for whatever reason.

This is not true. It's actually quite easy to block calls that do not contain called id information. "If called ID=blank, block the call." That could happen at the iOS level or at the carrier. The reason no one does this is that the revenue attributable to telemarketing is significant and those companies spend more money on lobbying the FCC then we do. Telemarketing is a form of advertising, and blocking advertising channels of any kind is anathema to every CRO in the country.

The legal buck stops with the FCC though. They mandated, due to lobbying pressure from companies and organizations that depend on telemarketing, that carriers allow callers to block their Caller ID to place anonymous calls (under the guise of privacy). FCC regulations require carriers to honor the caller's privacy and place the calls. The thought is that you, the receiver, can opt to not answer the calls. However, if you have a sick child or are on call and need to check your phone while driving, is not only annoying, it's dangerous--you cannot receive a second legitimate call while the bogus call is ringing and you have diminished situational awareness while checking your phone.

EchoPeak wrote:

However, if you have a sick child or are on call and need to check your phone while driving, is not only annoying, it's dangerous--you cannot receive a second legitimate call while the bogus call is ringing and you have diminished situational awareness while checking your phone.

No one "needs" to answer a call while driving. The idea that it makes sense to risk your life and the lives of people around you to answer any call is ridiculous. If it's life or death, people will be calling 911, not you. Anything else can wait the five minutes it would take to pull over.

You mention having Verizon. They do indeed have the ability to do this. They offer it for an additional fee through their "family base" service. Quite irritating, really, but it IS possible.