In recent years, two issues have emerged concerning the collection of public health information: the increasing popularity of mobile cellular telephones (cell phones), and the increasing interest of governments in protecting the privacy and confidentiality of their citizens’ health information. These issues have widespread, longlasting, and potentially adverse effects on certain aspects of public health research and practice.

Public health researchers and practitioners have increasingly relied on the use of computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) to collect public health information. The use of such telephone surveys is a cost effective method with which to access large samples quickly. However, the popularity of cell phones is emerging as a potential problem in CATI survey design because people in households with cell phones and no conventional landline telephone would …