Robocalls have always been annoying; in recent years, they’ve become a political issue. And rightly so: They’ve scammed people out of millions of dollars and increased in volume from 2.9 billion to 4.1 billion between January and June 2018. The numbers are only growing: According to the Robocall Index, 15.3 billion robocalls were placed in the U.S. in the first three months of 2019, a pace that will break last year’s record total of 47.8 billion. Ethan Garr, the cofounder and chief product officer at robocall-blocker RoboKiller says the average American gets an estimated 22 unwanted telemarketing calls (including robocalls) a month. “I mean some people will tell you they see five, six a day,” he says. The consumer demand to fight robocalls is growing as politicians and telephone corporations bring increased attention to the issue. In turn, the technologies that can block robocallers are more capable than ever, using features like audio fingerprinting and an ever-growing database of “bad actor” phone numbers. Yet the problem is getting worse. In part, that’s because the software companies that enable robocalling are in most cases obeying the law.
Amid all of the federal threats to illegal robocallers (which includes everything from jail time to massive fines, though enforcement remains a challenge), robocall software remains incredibly easy to find and use. Call-Em-All, Sigma Voice, 123RoboCall, and RoboTalker are among the many automated calling products that specify that they’re to be used within the rules set by federal and state governments; some also include advice on how their users can stay legal. The software itself is technically not illegal, even though what their users do with it may be.
There is still some fuzziness regarding which kinds of automated calls are legal and which are not. In 2015, the Federal Communications Commission effectively created the robocall law by expanding the reach of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Robocalls are classified as incoming phone calls that are prerecorded, meaning when someone answers the phone they’re greeted by a recorded message and not an actual person. Sometimes these calls are permissible, like when schools call parents about pick-up schedules, or medical offices send reminders to staff and patients, or utility companies inform residents about construction or shutdown notices. But unless a consumer gives permission to be robocalled, it’s most likely illegal. Unfortunately, that permission is often unknowingly granted when companies use confusing and long terms of service or other agreements. Many don’t realize that by signing such tedious documents that they could be releasing their numbers to robocallers, effectively allowing themselves to be spammed. “The basic idea is robocallers need consent to robocall, especially to cell phones, with few exceptions,” says Alex Quilici, the CEO of YouMail, another robocall-blocking technology company.
Also helping these services skate by is that the political war on robocalling isn’t that much of a threat. “[Politicians] put out legislation that’s pretty ineffective, but at least they can say, when they come up for reelection, ‘Hey, I’m in this fight. I’m trying to solve this problem,’” Garr says. While there are success stories (namely, the FTC taking down four major robocalling groups last month), between differing state regulations and calls originating overseas, it’s been incredibly difficult for authorities to find and punish robocallers. While the FCC has fined robocallers $208 million, it has collected a measly $6,790. “[There are] no real criminal penalties and no one pays the fines,” Quilici says. The government has only civil enforcement responsibilities, Garr points out, which means that “nobody goes to jail for making robocalls, unless they’re committing fraud, in which case the Department of Justice can pick it up and actually prosecute.” There is an irony to the fact that politicians have taken up the cause against robocalling, as political and campaign calls remain among the types of robocalls that are allowed. Legislators can use robocalling software to their own benefit, which in effect enables the illegal phone spam the federal government is battling.
Despite the few legitimate uses for automated mass text and call software, the features many software companies offer imply more questionable usage. “I mean they’re sitting here saying this is for legal uses only, but then look at the things that they’re promoting in terms of volume,” Garr says. “No human beings, no campaign or anything would need the kind of volume and speed that some of them are promoting.” And if illegal telemarketers are caught using the software, the providers have an easy out. “They just hold up their hands and say, ‘We just made software, these are the people who used it,’” Garr says.
In addition to robocall software, phone number spoofing and blocking software can also aid illegal spammers. Similarly, both of these tools are not illegal, and have their benefits to well-meaning users. Garr points out that his stepfather, a vet, uses it to return late-night calls so that his personal number is protected. As with robocalling services though, it’s also used maliciously to fool users into thinking a phone call is local when it is not.
The overarching issue is that consumers’ problem with robocall services has less to do with the law and more to do with the barrage of unwanted calls. “The problem is not legal versus illegal,” Garr says. “It’s just the constant harassment, right?” Sure, he says, many robocalls consumers are illegal, but even if they aren’t—if the recipient signed some complicated terms of service agreeing to phone contact or is on the receiving end of constant automated campaign calls—it’s still digital harassment. We’ve reached the point where no one even wants to answer their phones anymore. One common recourse is to use the do not call registry; others may try robocaller-blocking apps, or to exhaustively track down the origin of their robocalls and attempt legal action on their own.
That’s good news for companies like RoboKiller and Quilici’s YouMail. “Robocall blocking is a cat-and-mouse game with some highly motivated mice,” Quilici says. He says the technology to challenge the mass spammers will need to constantly improve in order to keep up. Eventually, he thinks some sort of equilibrium will be reached, and robocalling won’t be quite the scourge it is today. “I suspect it turns out like viruses or email spam,” he says. In other words, a minor, painful nuisance, aided by software but also contained by it.
