Notification needed for FCC call blocking

In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), CUNA and other organizations expressed concerns that legitimate calls are continuing to be blocked by voice service providers (VSP) under the STIR/SHAKEN caller identification framework meant to target illegal robocalls.

“However, for this redress mechanism to meaningfully protect consumers and be effective as Congress intended, the caller must know that its calls are being blocked,” the letter reads. “Consequently, we urge the Commission to require the blocking entity to notify callers immediately that it is blocking their calls. Without a notification requirement, no call-blocking service can be performed with ‘transparency . . . for . . . callers,’ as the TRACED Act requires.”

The letter included recommendations to protect consumers against illegal calls, such as:

• VSPs should remove an erroneous block within 24 hours of the provider’s learning of the block;

 

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