Now that we can receive phone calls to our cell number on the Mac... I have noticed that after visiting certain web pages, I get an unsolicited phone call from the provider of that web page.
How do I shield my cel phone# from web pages I visit? I would still like to be able to iMessage on my Mac.
thank you
Sounds to me like you registered with a web site, voluntarily providing your phone number, and these 'affiliated' sites are reading that fact from a cookie on your system, then placing the call to the number you registered with them.
I can't see any other way they could a: get your phone number, and b: trigger a call immediately after visiting a web site.
What I've learned is that HTTP headers can leak some of this info. Has been a "thing" for a few years.
Interview here. http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/it-security/why-are-websites-getting-your-mobil e-phone-number/
I've corrected, and now using his MNO privacy checker... looks good.
http://www.mulliner.org/pc.cgi
Thanks for your quick responses...
A website cannot obtain your phone number just by loading the website, not unless you provided it in the past. Release of that information can occur in various ways. It is certainly possible for a website to determine you loaded it in the past, in which case you might want to delete the data associated with that website. Refer to "Manage Website Data" in Safari Help.
Determine if there is a way to delete that phone number from the website. If you can't find any obvious way to do that, contact the service responsible, or just block it in your iPhone and / or Messages.
I don't understand how merely loading a web page can result in an unsolicited phone call, and that has nothing to do with iMessages.
If you are getting unsolicited phone calls and the caller is disregarding requests to cease harassing you, block the number in iPhone's Settings > Phone. You can do that same with the Messages app: Preferences > Accounts > Blocked.
Indeed, it is a mystery. It seems a nascent website feature. They are not repeat calls. Call starts off with recorded message, "you recently visited one of our affiliated web sites and we'd like to ask you a..." then I hung up.
hmmmmmmmmm.... perhaps, but it would have to be from something like my encoded credit card site. Which would shock me. I'm quite strict with such info, hence my perplexity and reason for posting to the community here.
thanks for your ideas.
unsolicited phone calls when visiting web pages
