Part ofrobocalls →

FEDERALhearing transcript

High Impact

Senate Hearing: Efforts to Stop Illegal Robocalls

Original title: STILL RINGING OFF THE HOOK: AN UPDATE ON EFFORTS TO COMBAT ROBOCALLS

January 1, 2019

robocalls consumer protection telecommunications fraud prevention technology privacy

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The Frame

What this does

The hearing addresses the ongoing failure of the national Do Not Call registry to prevent an estimated 2.4 billion unwanted monthly calls, which expose residents to potential fraud and privacy intrusions.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Consumers

Residents are the primary targets of unwanted robocalls and potential fraud.

Telecommunications companies

These companies are involved in the Robocall Strike Force to develop network-level call-blocking technologies.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2019.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

The Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing to examine why the national Do Not Call registry is failing to stop the billions of unwanted s Americans receive monthly. The committee discussed how modern internet-based calling technology allows scammers to bypass traditional protections and explored potential solutions involving new call-blocking tools and increased law enforcement.

Key Facts

Americans receive an estimated 2.4 billion unwanted robocalls every month.
The national Do Not Call registry was established 14 years prior to the 2017 hearing.
Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology allows scammers to make high-volume, low-cost international calls.
Scammers use 'spoofing' technology to disguise their true identity on caller ID systems.
The Robocall Strike Force is a collaborative effort between telecommunications and technology companies to identify and block robocall traffic at the network level.
The hearing focused on three primary areas: consumer education, law enforcement, and call-blocking technology.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I still get robocalls if I am on the Do Not Call registry?

Modern technology, specifically , allows scammers to route calls from anywhere in the world at low cost, bypassing the protections originally designed for traditional phone systems.

What is 'spoofing'?

is a technique used by scammers to manipulate the number displayed on your caller ID to hide their true identity and make it more likely that you will answer the phone.

Why It Matters

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Shift from Regulation to Technology

The hearing marks a transition in strategy from relying on the Do Not Call registry (a regulatory tool) to emphasizing network-level call-blocking technology (a technical tool) to combat fraud.

Special Committee on Aging Robocall Strike Force

Connected Entities

personLois Greisman“Associate Director, Division of Marketing Practices, FTC”Map →

organizationSpecial Committee on Aging“Senate committee conducting the hearing”Map →

personKevin Rupy“Vice President, Law and Public Policy, USTelecom”Map →

personRobert P. Casey, Jr.“Ranking Member of the Special Committee on Aging”Map →

personSusan M. Collins“Chairman of the Special Committee on Aging”Map →

personJosh Shapiro“Attorney General of Pennsylvania”Map →

personGenie Barton“President, BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance75
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy20
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz15
Current news / social attention level

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