AFSA, Trades Push for Real-time Blocked Call Notification
AFSA joined several trade associations in a reply comment to the Federal Communications Commission focusing on the Commission’s legal obligation under the TRACED Act to establish a real-time notification requirement to inform callers that their calls have been blocked or adversely labeled.
The associations wrote, “A wide range of commenters support establishing a per-call, real-time notification requirement. Real-time notification, as various commenters note, is required to fully implement the TRACED Act’s requirement for transparent and effective redress. Currently, many callers are unaware that their calls are being blocked and instead are presented with false busy signals or their calls simply drop into a ‘black box’ where the caller receives no notification that their calls are being blocked or have been adversely labeled. While callers are trying to ascertain what is happening with their calls, consumers remain unaware that calls from legitimate businesses, often with critical information such as alerts, are being blocked or negatively labeled.”
The letter noted that the Commission had received comments objecting to the requirement to notify callers that their calls were being blocked. However, none of those objections has merit, which the association’s letter explains. For example, all blocking services do not necessarily provide effective redress, notification is not technically infeasible nor would it pose an undue burden, and it would not undermine efforts to combat illegal robocalls by tipping off bad actors.
September 30th, 2020
