The TRACED Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act is a piece of legislation that President Donald Trump signed into law on December 30, 2019.¹ The act grants the FCC Federal Communications Comission and law enforcement more tools and authority to prosecute scammers and enact deterring measures against telephone scam to protect consumers. The TRACED Act is a much needed update to its legislative precursor TCPA Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. While safeguarding customers by restricting telemarketers and automated phone equipment, technology behind telecommunications scams has drastically evolved, requiring new and more comprehensive legislature. The goal of the TRACED Act is to support effective enforcement against unwanted, and often illegal, robocalls.

The major provisions of the TRACED Act:

Many provisions in the Traced Act call for a collaborative and multifaceted effort to address the complex and deep rooted problem of fraudulent telephone scams. In order to measure efficacy, the FCC is also required to provide reports to Congress regarding the status of particular provisions.

STIR/SHAKEN

As provisioned by the TRACED act, the FCC will oversee the implementation and maintenance of the call authentication framework STIR/SHAKEN. STIR/SHAKEN are two separate initiatives that work to verify the identity of an inbound call, in efforts to deter illegal call spoofing. STIR, Secure Telephony Identity Revisited, and SHAKEN, Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs are mandated in North America. These tools not only prevent illegal caller ID spoofing, but also help identify the original source of the illegal call. However, this does not mean you are safe spam! STIR/SHAKEN guidelines have yet to be fully implemented in North America. The FCC has granted extensions up until June 2023 for carriers with fewer than 100,000 subscribers.² Additionally, numbers can only be verified if the device is compatible, and both carriers have adopted the guidelines. This poses a large loophole for international robocalls that are able to avoid US authentication standards and law enforcement.

As provisioned by the TRACED act, the FCC will oversee the implementation and maintenance of the call authentication framework STIR/SHAKEN. STIR/SHAKEN are two separate initiatives that work to verify the identity of an inbound call, in efforts to deter illegal call spoofing.STIR,SecureTelephonyIdentityRevisited, andSHAKEN,Signature-basedHandling ofAsserted information using toKENsare mandated in North America. These tools not only prevent illegal caller ID spoofing, but also help identify the original source of the illegal call. However, this does not mean you are safe from spam! STIR/SHAKEN guidelines have yet to be fully implemented in North America. The FCC has granted extensions up until June 2023 for carriers with fewer than 100,000 subscribers.² Additionally, numbers can only be verified if the device is compatible, and both carriers have adopted the guidelines. This poses a large loophole for international robocalls that are able to avoid US authentication standards and law enforcement.

Call Blocking

Call blocking is a tool utilized by phone companies to stop illegal and what they deem are unwanted calls from reaching consumers phones. The issue with this of course, is that call blocking may unintentionally filter out legal and legitimate calls. With the TRACED Act, the FCC is responsible to ensure that recipients are notified when calls are blocked. Additionally, call blocking technology must be accessible and transparent for both callers and call recipients with effective redress when wanted calls are blocked inadvertently. When a carrier implements SIPSTACK's Risk Rating Score they are able to customize a threshold for calls to pass through, preventing the filtration of important calls.

Reassigned Numbers Database

The TRACED Act mandated the that service providers create and maintain a RND Reassigned Numbers Database, designed to prevent a consumer from receiving calls intended to the previous owner of the phone number., This up-to-date resource tracks permanent disconnections, phone number changes, and numbers that have been previously owned. It is to be referred to by callers to determine whether a telephone number has been reassigned to minimize unwanted calls.

The TRACED Act mandated the that service providers create and maintain a RND Reassigned Numbers Database, designed to prevent a consumer from receiving calls intended to the previous owner of the phone number. This up-to-date resource tracks permanent disconnections, phone number changes, and numbers that have been previously owned. It is to be referred to by callers to determine whether a telephone number has been reassigned to minimize unwanted calls.

Conclusion

Reading and interpreting the TRACED Act, and ensuring your company meets all of the regulations is no easy feat. SIPSTACK's safety measures go above and beyond the TRACED Act so you can focus on your business while we take care of your telecommunication safety. At SIPSTACK we take an active role in ensuring we are building a secure connected tomorrow. Contact us today to learn how you can protect yourself from spam.

References

^{1 https://www.fcc.gov/TRACEDAct
2 https://www.fcc.gov/call-authentication}