That's not really a privacy issue, though. That's marketing issue. That is, we let marketers destroy phones as a medium of communication. The answer to that isn't to legislate hiding your phone number. The answer to that should be to legislate this type of marketing away.
Advertising is cancer, and I'm constantly surprised by the ends to which people go to justify its continued existence.
US until very recently wasn't even trying. EU is, and our phones are quite usable. Things could be improved - I wish there was a way to get rid of the few marketers that find their ways to skirt the regulatory boundary. It doesn't seem impossible to achieve.
Advertising is cancer, and I'm constantly surprised by the ends to which people go to justify its continued existence.