LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Monday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to fight back against the scourge of illegal robocalls by moving up the deadline for smaller telephone companies to implement caller ID technology.
Attorney General Nessel joined a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general in submitting comments to the FCC.
“This caller ID technology will be an essential and useful tool in helping consumers feel confident about who is on the other end of the line when they answer a call,” Nessel said. “I am urging the FCC to accelerate the deadline to implement this technology and help us minimize these illegal robocalls.”
Under the TRACED Act, which became law in 2019, phone companies are required to implement STIR/SHAKEN technology on their networks. This caller ID authentication technology helps ensure that telephone calls are originating from verified numbers, not spoofed sources.
Large companies were required to implement the technology by June 2021, and smaller phone companies were given an extension until June 2023.
However, Nessel says that some of the same smaller phone companies that are benefitting from this extension are also responsible for originating or facilitating high volumes of illegal robocalls that spam Americans and lead to financial or personal data loss.
And without the STIR/SHAKEN technology in place, Nessel says these smaller companies are failing to take a necessary step to minimize the continued onslaught of illegally spoofed robocalls that harm residents.
The coalition of attorneys general are asking the FCC to require these companies to implement the STIR/SHAKEN technology as soon as possible and no later than June 30, 2022.
Attorney General Nessel joined another bipartisan coalition earlier this year to ensure state attorneys general could continue to fight these calls through the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
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