Robocalls are still a plague. We tried out
apps, phone features and the Do Not Call registry to stop them USA TODAY
The Federal Communications Commission is
stepping up the war on robocalls.
A new ruling passed by the FCC on Thursday
lets phone companies block robocalls before they get to your home phone or
mobile device.
Some landline and cellular providers currently
offer call blocking tools, but phone subscribers must opt-in to use them. The
FCC's rule lets service providers block calls as a default.
"If there is one thing in our country
today that unites Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives,
socialists and libertarians, vegetarians and carnivores, Ohio State and
Michigan fans, it is that they are sick and tired of being bombarded by
unwanted robocalls," said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai during the commission's
monthly meeting prior to the 5-0 vote to approve the rule. "My message to
the American people today is simple: We hear you, and we are on your
side."
The FCC's action comes amid increased federal
attention to robocalls. More than 20 U.S. senators have called on the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to reconsider a proposal that could
exponentially increase robocalls. The bureau, in an update
to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, would allow debt collectors to
send unlimited texts and emails to consumers, as well as call them seven times
a week per debt.
Last month, the Senate passed
the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED)
Act, which would make robocalls illegal and require phone companies to adopt
new, in-development anti-robocall technologies called SHAKEN
(Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs) and STIR
(Secure Telephone Identity Revisited) that could help stop unwanted
calls.
The number of robocalls in the U.S. has fallen
slightly since hitting a record 5.23 billion estimated calls in March,
according to YouMail, a company that provides a
service to block such messages. The estimated 4.7 billion robocalls
in May amounted to about 152.9 million each day, YouMail says.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel expressed
some concern that the FCC rules do not prohibit phone companies from charging
subscribers for the robocall blocking features. "I am disappointed that
for all of our efforts to support new blocking technology, we couldn’t muster
up the courage to do what consumers want most: Stop robocalls and do it for
free," she said.
The FCC should monitor whether providers
charge for call blocking features and update the rules if they do so, said
Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. He has added a stipulation to the ruling that
if carriers do charge consumers for the features, new provisions can
prohibit those charges, he said.
The regulations allow for legitimate callers
to register a complaint if they feel robocall technologies have unfairly
blocked their calls, Pai said. He expects phone companies should be able to
have the features operational by the end of the year.
Follow USA TODAY reporter Mike Snider on
Twitter: @MikeSnider.
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