Americans might be able to ring in the new year with a lot less ringing.
Congress is close to passing a bill that would limit the persistent, annoying robocalls that have our phones buzzing with unwanted solicitations. The legislation would not put an end to those occasions when a computerized voice tells us about a great deal on a time share or warns that our auto warranty is expiring; but it would be an improvement.
Most important, it reflects a bipartisan compromise in Washington, D.C., the kind that is all too often lacking in the halls of Congress.
In keeping with lawmakers’ affinity for acronyms, the bill is dubbed the TRACED Act — Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence. Even better than the catchy name is what it would do.
The bill would require phone companies to block robocalls without passing the costs along to consumers and would require most companies to ensure that calls are coming from authentic numbers rather than aliases. “It’s not a silver bullet,” Kush Parikh of caller-identification company Hiya told The Hill. “It’s a big step in the right direction.”
Leaps and bounds are probably needed, but any relief is welcome. A recent study from Hiya estimates that 54.6 billion robocalls were placed in the United States from January to November of this year. That marked a 108 percent increase from 2018, which saw a 46 percent increase from the previous year.
If the issue of unwanted phone calls, um, rings a bell, it is because we are reminded of the Do Not Call Registry approved by Congress in 2003 and the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act signed in 2007. Since then, scammers and legitimate companies alike have developed workarounds that make it look as though calls are coming from local numbers, spoofing the caller ID technology.
Those calls that thank you for spending a night at that big-name hotel chain aren’t really coming from the 360 area code, but callers want you to believe they are. The same goes for calls informing you that you owe money and you better pay up. The reason for the deception is that, according to an AARP survey, 60 percent of Washington adults say they will answer a call from a local number, even if it is unfamiliar.
While most unsolicited calls are merely aggravating, some are more nefarious. Various scams will warn about unpaid tax bills or use other ploys to try and pry loose personal information. As Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has said, “They want to put you in that state of fear to make you do something in hindsight that you know that you shouldn’t have done. That’s why we really want to educate folks. Slow down the process, talk to a trusted friend, do your research before you turn over your hard-earned money.”
Meanwhile, experts warn, the glut of robocalls is threatening to overwhelm the nation’s communications systems.
The legislation will not put an end to unwanted phone calls; it would still allow marketers who use their real numbers and real identities to harass customers en masse. A provision in the House bill that would have ended that practice fell victim to compromise between the chambers.
So, while the bill is not perfect, it still represents an improvement that will benefit the public. As Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, said in supporting the House version of the bill, “It’s time we put a stop to these illegal robocalls, placed consumers back in charge, and punished the fraudsters.”
That could help make for a pleasantly quiet 2020.
