Telephone Caller Identification (Caller ID)
Electronic and digital information that is generated in the normal course of electronic communication can be valuable in the forensic tracing of the course of events in an accident or crime, and in the identification of a victim or assailant.
Caller identification, or caller ID, permits the receiver of a call to identify the caller's location. Available since the early 1990s, it has enhanced the sense of privacy enjoyed by people in their homes, and has also greatly reduced the number of prank calls, as well as calls made with threatening or criminal intent.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, telephone companies made such technology available. A caller ID box, or a caller ID unit built into a phone, simply reads the computerized information for the incoming call, assuming it is coming from a listed number. Calls from an unlisted number register as "Unknown Caller" or "Private Caller." Available on internal private branch exchange (PBX) telephone systems during the 1980s, caller ID gained use by businesses offering toll-free numbers in 1988. By 2005, over 50% of homes nationwide had caller ID.
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