For years, the telecommunications industry has been trying to curb robocalls, the frustrating and potentially dangerous spam calls that try to scam anyone who picks up the phone. But even after significant milestones in defense—including thethat cryptographically authenticate the source of calls—you're probably still getting spammy calls that drive you nuts.
“I think it’s not going well at all!” Warner tells WIRED. “And people understandably wonder why the carriers don’t just block spam calls. But if you're AT&T or Verizon or T-Mobile or whoever, it’s not in your purview to decide which conversations people are allowed to have. I don’t think people want to be in that surveillance state where carriers are in a position of deciding what is an acceptable conversation for Americans to have.
“As providers have gotten more aggressive blocking or labeling suspicious calls, they've taken on more risk that they'll mis-block or mislabel a legitimate call,” he says. “Maybe it really was a call from the bank or the pharmacy. There is some delicate balancing that providers have to do, and some are more aggressive than others.”
jimlanenova I don't completely buy the premise of this piece. It's not in the phone providers' financial interest to block calls. When a spoofed number makes dozens of calls and hour, I can guarantee it's not legit.