FCC should move forward with call-blocking notification standards

Achieving a balance between facilitating legitimate calls while preventing illegal calls is necessary to restore trust in our communications network, CUNA wrote to a Senate subcommittee Tuesday for its hearing on robocalls. CUNA shares Congress’s goal of restoring trust in the communications network but notes the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TPCA) has had little effect.

“Recognizing the limitations of the TCPA to deter bad actors, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has turned to technological solutions such as automated calling number authentication (STIR/SHAKEN), call blocking regime, and caller traceback,” the letter reads. We applaud the Commission’s recent successes in using these tools to identify and shut down some of the worst abusers. These tools are still evolving and, while aiding in identifying the worst actors, also result in legitimate calls being blocked or mislabeled.

CUNA notes the TRACED Act, signed into law in 2019, directs the FCC to ensure “transparent and effective redress for companies whose calls are mishandled,” and CUNA has sought to work with the FCC to achieve the “admittedly difficult” balancing act of stopping bad calls without blocking good ones.

"We urge the FCC to move forward with the adoption of call blocking notification standards so that testing and implementation of this technology can begin,” the letter reads.