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It is unfortunate that the cellular companies have allowed their core product (voice calls) to be so devalued that they need to be forced to solve this problem
by brk 4y ago
It is unfortunate that the cellular companies have allowed their core product (voice calls) to be so devalued that they need to be forced to solve this problem instead of just doing it naturally.
The carriers are clearly customer-hostile, as this is really a very solvable problem. Instead, we now are moving to alternate mechanisms to manage audio calls (eg: Signal, Whatsapp, Facebook, etc.). My wide-open Verizon cell-phone number is my least preferred method of contact by far, due to the fact that I cannot trust that unknown numbers are high-value incoming calls.
- dylan604 4y agoto the point, I used to refer to the device as a mobile phone or cell phone. now, because I so rarely use the "phone" app, it is just now my "device". 99% of the time my phone app gives me notifications is SPAM LIKELY reaching out to me, but won't take the hint that we broke up years ago and I have zero interest in touching base and catching up. however, if anyone of my known contacts actually uses the phone app to reach me, i know it must be significant to not use a text/chat app like 99.9% of our typical interactions take place. times have changed for phone calls, but the lack of Anti-Spam from these providers only hastened the change away from their core service
- ryandrake 4y agoImagine if nobody knew what a phone was, and then the device manufacturers suddenly introduced the phone app: it would outrage and annoy people! Here is an app that allows any rando person in the world to cause your device to wake up, interrupt whatever you are doing, display a notification, play a sound, vibrate, and if you push the green button, that rando person (identifiable by a spoofable string of numbers) can hear and talk to you! It would not be well received in 2022 where privacy and digital well-being is increasingly important to people. Yet for historical reasons, it’s pre-installed on every phone.
- dylan604 4y agoHow is that any different than a notification from any messaging, social media, or any app really with notifications turned on? They all know that the human brain is very susceptible to these notifications. At least with the old school phone, you could leave the receiver off hook to send the callers a busy signal or just unplugged.
- mullingitover 4y agoI feel like the legacy POTS system does more harm to society than good. Step back and imagine the web without SSL. Think of the sheer scale of fraud and abuse that would run rampant. That's the service phone carriers are operating right now.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago>My wide-open Verizon cell-phone number is my least preferred method of contact by far, due to the fact that I cannot trust that unknown numbers are high-value incoming calls. I thought it was a legal requirement for phone network operators to leave phone numbers accessible to all, and hence their inability to effectively fight spam. Otherwise, what would stop the situation from becoming like email, where email is more likely to be delivered if sent from a big player and less likely from a small player.
- cr1895 4y agoWhat does “accessible to all” mean in this context? Why do I in Europe get almost zero spam calls or text while in the US it seems like a plague?
- katbyte 4y agoIn Canada and while I do get some it’s fairly rare. Maybe 1 a month.
- Ensorceled 4y agoI get 4-5 a week on Bell, my SO gets 1-2 a day on Rogers.
- katbyte 4y agoHave you signed up for the national do not call list?
- Ensorceled 4y agoYes, of course I have. But the “CRA”, Duct Cleaners, and the women who speaks only Chinese all ignore that list.
- katbyte 4y ago
- krisoft 4y ago> It is unfortunate that the cellular companies have allowed their core product (voice calls) to be so devalued that they need to be forced to solve this problem instead of just doing it naturally. And they did this while loudly complaining that they don't want to become a mere dumb pipe! That is the true twist.
- hancholo 4y agoIt kind of goes both ways, politicians "allowing" themselves to be lobbied by big telecom.
- fullshark 4y agoHow did they allow this? I think text is just an alternative that most people prefer for large number of use cases.
- munk-a 4y agoIt's also unfortunate that robocalling isn't bannable across the board because politicians want to continue to have the ability to spam call constituents. It's really unfortunate that all sorts of automatic calls need to continue being permitted just so we can have the delightful luxury of getting spam fundraising calls from politicians. This has real world consequences, last year a lost hiker ended up declining calls from search and rescue[1] since they assumed they were spam. There is a really easy and extremely effective solution to this problem - charge calls on both ends. Make the caller pay a few cents for every call placed instead of placing the full charge on the receiver. 1. https://www.npr.org/2021/10/26/1049252333/lost-hiker-mount-elbert-colorado-ignored-rescuers-phone-calls https://www.npr.org/2021/10/26/1049252333/lost-hiker-mount-e...
- brk 4y agoYes, there are lots of solutions if there is a genuine attempt to solve the problem and not just dance around it. Political calls and texts should absolutely be blockable by users if they so choose. Cost-based calling may not be practical, IMO. I look at the amount of junk mail I get from the USPS and I am not sure a "sender pays" approach would result in a meaningful reduction with a cost structure that didn't also impact regular users. A rate-limiting approach on call origination could work, but in the end I still think that a simple that gives the users control to block unwanted calls/texts, coupled with an origination source validation would solve most of the problem. There is nothing preventing us from capturing and passing accurate call origination data.
- godelski 4y agoJust an FYI, FTC has a signup for junk mail just like they do for phone calls. I just do the prescreen one and the only junk I get now is for previous tenants. Unfortunately I don't know how to solve that one. https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-stop-junk-mail https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-stop-junk-mail
- thewebcount 4y agoUgh. That's an awful solution. In order to not be spammed and have your privacy invaded, you have to submit information about yourself to the bad actors in the first place. Plus you have to pay them for the privilege of not harassing you, and on top of it, they only stop for 10 years and then you have to do it all over again. It's fucking ridiculous. This is not a real solution.
- alberth 4y ago> The carriers are clearly customer-hostile It’s actually not the carriers. The carriers actual try to actively block spam. It’s actual the Twilio’s of the world that originate the bulk of the spam.
- LadyCailin 4y agoThe carriers could absolutely implement authenticated caller id as a very first start. Then, you can at least trust the caller ID and screen/block effectively.
- alberth 4y agoDo you mean like Shaken/Stir? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/STIR/SHAKEN https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/STIR/SHAKEN
- MiddleEndian 4y agoOK so I am on T-Mobile, I use an Android device. Is there a way I can automatically display the true origin for all phone calls and texts? I would like to block any calls from VOIPs, international origins, or non-SHAKEN/STIR providers.
- bashinator 4y agoIt's not at all surprising to me that corporations are happy to redirect people from utilities to products as core means of communicating.