The scourge of robocalls may be coming to an end, thanks to a new task force comprised of over 30 top tech companies, including Apple.
The U.S. government has enlisted the help of Apple, AT&T, Alphabet, Verizon, Comcast and others to crack down on unsolicited, automated, prerecorded phone calls that have become the most frequent complaint the U.S. Federal Communications Commission receives from citizens.
As part of the newly formed “Robocall Strike Force,” Apple and other members held their first meeting with the FCC this Friday and with AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson chairing the group.
“This is going to require more than individual company initiatives and one-off blocking apps,” Stephenson told Reuters. “Robocallers are a formidable adversary, notoriously hard to stop.”
FCC president Tom Wheeler said the issue of robocalls still plagues citizens largely due to industry inaction. Phone providers in the U.S. are not required to offer robocall blocking services, however, the FCC has recommend companies add them.
The strike force is set to reply to the FCC on October 19 with concrete plans to accelerate the elimination of robocalls. Other companies in the strike force include Samsung, Microsoft, Nokia, Blackberry, Qualcomm, T-Mobile and LG.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
One response to “Apple joins government task force to kill robocalls”
“The scourge of robocalls may be coming to an end”, because of a task force? Get serious.
First, this task force will have what – 50-60 people on it? 30 tech companies, probably some trade associations, and various government people. And these 50-60 people (who will be adding this task force work to their full-time jobs) are going to come up with a consensus on “the answer” in two months? Yeah, right. They’ll basically just be endorsing what the FCC has already come up with (some of which is mentioned in the Reuters article).
Second, robocallers are like spam senders. As long as the business remains profitable, they’ll find ways around whatever changes get made. Whack a mole.
I’m not going to hold my breath…