Statement on Committee Passage of TRACED Act
On April 3, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation passed S. 151, the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act, by voice vote.
AFSA shares committee members’ concerns regarding the proliferation of unwanted, fraudulent calls and supports the committee’s efforts to address these calls. We understand that the intent of the legislation is to target bad actors – spoofers, scammers, fraudsters, etc.
However, AFSA is concerned that, as currently drafted, the TRACED Act will lead to an increase in unnecessary litigation against financial institutions as they attempt contact their customers. With no statutory exemption for legitimate businesses, there is every likelihood that the massive increase in litigation under the TCPA would expand with the TRACED Act. In addition, while the bill includes a safe harbor for telecommunications providers who misidentify legitimate calls for the purposes of blocking them, there is no meaningful recourse for legitimate businesses whose calls get blocked.
AFSA urges the Senate to include an exception in the TRACED Act itself that properly recognizes the distinction between fraudulent calls and legitimate business communications.
April 4th, 2019 by Dan Bucherer
