My bank used to call me with random marketing crap, and insisted on telling them my birthday and my mother's name before they can reveal their latest exclusive offer or some other crap. They were always dumbfounded when I retorted that it is them who need to prove that they're really calling from my bank first.
When a random call asks me to confirm some information, I always reply that I'm not going to share any personal information because I have no idea who they are. Half the time, they just hang up, the other half of the time they launch into the sales pitch.
I have this happen all the time in healthcare. I had someone from a specialist office call me and immediately ask me for my date of birth. Their surprise when I said no was incredible. But I agree with you, if THEY are the ones calling, they need to prove their identity.
I've got one that their phone robot says it's a message from my doctor's office, does not identify the office. Almost dismissed it as garbage, then realized it could be related to an upcoming appointment. And it's not even really right--unspecified doctor of mine would be my PCP, not the specialist.
Unfortunately, the medical world is caught between a rock and a hard place in this case. Can't give any info to anybody but the patient--which means they can't identify themselves when they call as the practice name directly reveals their specialty, or the doctor (google will reveal their area of practice.) And the office that's doing this is an area where some patients would want it confidential.
I think maybe it could be resolved by having the medical world go to a correct horse battery staple model--on first contact you're given a set of random words that will be used as an identifier for future contacts. Each patient gets different words so all anyone else can infer is that it's a medical provider.
I much prefer the places that go with don't leave a message/leave a brief message/leave a detailed message. No need to add security to situations that don't need it.
My bank eventually understood this, which is why currently you can check in the app whether on their end they're seeing that you're talking with their sales rep and which one specifically.
Between '06 and '19 I was a client of bank that proudly bear the title of "pioneer of online banking" here and tbh, they actually were. You won't met anybody in Poland who wouldn't have contact with that brand one way or another.
I opted-out for all marketing purposes once they allowed to do so but yet, I was getting random calls from bank and 3rd parties. One day I called them because I had login issues on Windows Phone. I did mention to consultant that I was getting these calls and in return lady hit me with quite a revelation: they had a single opt-out that was only available if you called them.
