Using caller ID on a smartphone lets a user conceal their number when calling other subscribers. In a discussion with the agency, Valery Stepanov, head of the Information Security Competence Center at the T1 Group, described the feature as something many people rely on to protect privacy.
Yet the expert pointed out that the service offered by several mobile operators in Russia does not always work perfectly and cannot guarantee complete anonymity. Some anti-detection apps also fall short of delivering a guaranteed outcome, especially when privacy is a high priority.
“Global concealment isn’t feasible because the caller’s identity is tied to the SIM card, which is conveyed to the IMSI routing system. As a result, even if the outgoing call appears to hide the number, the call records and metadata may still reveal who is calling,” Stepanov explained.
He added that attempting to hide a number solely to dodge spam databases has limited value since spam and marketing data are gathered from many different sources. A more practical privacy strategy is to use a separate SIM card for personal and business communications, effectively isolating different streams of calls and reducing cross-contamination of contact data.
Previously, it was noted that by 2023, data-leak incidents in the Russian Federation could nearly double, underscoring why many users in North America and Europe also seek clearer privacy controls and better ways to manage personal information across mobile networks. The broader takeaway is to approach number masking as just one part of a broader privacy plan, rather than a sole solution.