Government, Private Sector Interests to Highlight Anti-Robocall Work in Senate Aging Hearing

Federal, state and private sector stakeholders are expected to point to existing efforts to combat robocalls during a Wednesday Senate Aging Committee hearing, lobbyists told us and witnesses said in prepared testimony. The hearing is to begin at 9 a.m. in 562 Dirksen. Meanwhile, Senate Commerce Committee members urged the FCC Tuesday to continue work to create a database for reassigned numbers to help curb unwanted robocalls. The agency has been exploring creation of the database as part of its NPRM and notice of inquiry targeting “spoofed” robocalls (see 1703230035 and 1709270067).

USTelecom Vice President-Law and Policy Kevin Rupy's written testimony highlighted the Industry Robocall Strike Force, including development of the Secure Telephone Identity Revisited Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs call authentication standard. Rupy noted work USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group did to “identify the origin of these calls at their source.” The group's goal is “to identify the source of the worst of these illegal calls, and further enable enforcement actions by federal agencies,” Rupy said. Industry efforts, recent FCC enforcement actions and the commission's robocall spoofing NPRM show commitment “from a broad range of stakeholders that will be necessary to effectively mitigate and defeat these scammers,” Rupy said.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is expected to highlight the state's Do Not Call registry's effect on robocalls and will note his concerns that Congress' authorization to have the IRS contract out some of its debt collection work to third-party entities increased the prevalence of IRS impersonation scams, two communications sector lobbyists said. FTC Consumer Protection Bureau Marketing Practices Division Associate Director Lois Greisman is expected to cite the agency's recent initiative to publicize phone numbers identified as being used for robocalls when consumers report the numbers for Do Not Call or robocall violations, the lobbyists said. Spokesmen for the FTC and Shapiro's office declined to release written testimony before the hearing. Better Business Bureau Institute for Marketplace Trust President Genie Barton is also set to testify and didn't comment.

Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., urged FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Tuesday to continue to pursue the reassigned number database. “Not only are these calls and texts to reassigned numbers a nuisance to consumers, but they also create liabilities for calling parties because more than one call or text to a reassigned number may be a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act,” the senators said in a letter. “Many of our constituents complain about receiving these intrusive and unsolicited calls and texts that violate the rights of privacy and control created by the TCPA. We have also heard from hospitals, small businesses, and other stakeholders in our states who exercise care in their efforts to contact their patients, customers, or employees, but who nonetheless could face liability under the TCPA because they are alleged to have called reassigned numbers.”