FCC Chairman wants to ban caller ID spoofing for text messages

"We must attack this problem with every tool we have," Chairman Pai said. "With these new rules, we'll close the loopholes that hamstring law enforcement when they try to pursue international scammers and scammers using text messaging." While the Truth in Caller ID Act prohibits spoofing caller ID information, it did not originally extend to text messages or international calls. If adopted, the new rules would expand the legislation and give the FCC more authority to fight those spoofing tactics.
Under Chairman Pai, the FCC has made fighting robocalls and caller ID spoofing one of its top priorities. Last month, the FCC voted to allow carriers to block robocalls by default. The FCC isn't alone. In a recent crackdown, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed 94 actions against organizations responsible for more than one billion illegal calls, and an anti-robocall bill is working its way through Congress.
Still, the problem is widespread. A recent study found that robocall complaints grew by 165 percent between 2014 and 2017. They peaked around 4.5 million in 2017, and while those numbers have come down slightly, robocalls are still all too common. It's clear there's no one perfect solution. But there is, at least, a widespread effort to crack down on the scams, regardless of where they come from or how they're delivered.

Read More
Location: USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AT&T phones now show when calls come from verified numbers

Image
The approach is free of charge, although it does cave some caveats beyond the initially limited device support. The implementation is still young, and many calls that haven't been labeled may still be authentic. You'll see that label more often as more carriers implement the underlying technology (SHAKEN/STIR). This doesn't guaranteed that someone calling from a real number is above-board, either. It could still be a robocaller, a scammer or a telemarketer. This is a start, though, and AT&T is promising more phone support in 2020. Ultimately, this is more about discouraging call spam than anything. If all goes well, it could force robocallers to either use authentic numbers (and increase the chances of being blocked) or lose the interest of increasingly wary targets. Read More
Read more

Some robocall blockers sent private data without permission

Image
Some companies have responded. Truecaller told TechCrunch that it fixed data transmissions through an app update, while the TrapCall team changed its privacy policy after Hastings got in touch with Apple. Hiya said it didn't transmit personal info, but was "strengthening our privacy even further" by ensuring that it didn't send device data without your permission. The data collection is frequently meant to monetize info, and that was (or for some, still is) part of the problem -- the companies were profiting from privacy violations at the same time as they were protecting against intrusions into your life. Hastings also chastised Apple, accusing it of failing to review privacy policies and catch misuses like those from Hiya and Truecaller. This doesn't mean that you should necessarily avoid robocall blockers (US carriers will increasingly do it themselves), but it could be important to review the policy before you trust the app with your call screening. Rea...
Read more

President Trump signs anti-robocall TRACED Act into law

Image
There are also self-review measures. Both the FCC and the Justice Department have to create a working group that will study enforcement of certain robocall bans, and report to Congress. Likewise, the FCC will have to examine its policies on number resources to see if it can reduce access to spammers. This isn't likely to completely stop the deluge of robocalls. Perpetrators that are willing to use real numbers (including hijacked ones) or find clever software tricks might still get through, and some may be willing to take risks knowing that the payoff from successful scams could be high. And remember, this only applies to illegal calls. "Rachel from cardholder services" might not bug you, but your cable provider will with your permission. This is more about creating a barrier that could deter 'casual' spam calls. Read More
Read more