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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 1 / Monday, January 4, 2021 / Proposed Rules section 10a of the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement Act TRACED Act.
Unlawful robocalls plague the American public. Such calls are frequently coupled with misleading or inaccurate telephone numbers displayed as caller ID information, an act known as spoofing. Spoofed calls are often used to facilitate fraudulent or other harmful activities. Congress enacted the PalloneThune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act TRACED Act to aid efforts to curb illegal robocalling. Congress recognized the value of industry cooperation in fighting unlawful spoofed robocalls and took steps to formalize such cooperation.
2. In particular, Congress sought to enhance the ability of private entities to convey concerns about calls and texts that violate robocall or caller ID
spoofing restrictions. Specifically, Congress directed the Commission to establish regulations, no later than June 30, 2021, to create a process that streamlines the ways in which a private entity may voluntarily share with the Commission information relating to a call or text message that violates the law regarding robocalls or spoofing. This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposes and seeks comment on rules to implement this mandate. We propose to establish an online web portal where private entities may submit information about violations of sections 227b and 227e of the Communications Act. Under the proposal, the Commissions Enforcement Bureau would monitor the portal.
3. Definition of Private Entity. We must first determine what constitutes a private entity for purposes of section 10 of the TRACED Act. Given the breadth of the term entity, which typically goes beyond just persons, we propose to define private entity to exclude only governments; in other words, a private entity is anyone an individual, a company, an organization, an association, etc. that is not a public entity. We note that Congress did not define the term private entity in the TRACED Act, but in other laws Congress has defined private entity in a similar manner. We seek comment on our proposed interpretation, and whether there is a basis for a different interpretation of what constitutes a private entity.
4. Streamlined Process. We propose to create a mechanism for private entities to submit information about suspected robocall and spoofing violations directly to the Enforcement Bureau. We propose to create an online portal located on the
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FCC website that the Enforcement Bureau would monitor. We believe that this will streamline the collection of information pertaining to robocall and spoofing violations, in conformance with section 10a of the TRACED Act.
We seek comment on this proposal. We propose that this mechanism will be in addition to, and distinct from, the informal complaint process that the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau manages. We anticipate that private entities will use the portal to submit information about suspected robocall or spoofing violations i.e., tips. Based on our experience, we expect that the portal will be particularly valuable to employees who suspect that their company is violating the law, and third parties who have been disrupted by unlawful spoofers.
Consumers should continue to submit complaints about robocalls and spoofed calls through the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureaus informal consumer complaint process. We seek comment on this proposal. We also seek comment on alternative or additional methods to streamline collection of information from private entities for potential enforcement of robocalling or spoofing violations.
5. We propose that the online form would require certain minimum information, including the name of the private entity, a point of contact, the caller ID information displayed as well as the phone numbers affected by the robocalling incident, the dates and times of the relevant calls or texts, the name of the private entitys service provider, and a description of the problematic calls or texts. We propose to allow private entities to submit additional information. We invite input on this proposal and seek comment on what other information we should require.
6. We further invite comment on whether there are any regulatory or statutory obligations or mandates that we should consider in developing the new streamlined process for collecting information from private entities under the definition we propose. Specifically, are there any laws or regulations that currently deter private entities from sharing data with the Commission regarding robocalls and spoofed calls and texts? What confidentiality assurances, if any, are necessary to ensure that a private entity would not open itself up to potential liability for any such sharing.
7. What other incentives are needed to encourage private entities to share information with the Commission about illegal robocalling or spoofing campaigns in a timely manner? For
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example, should we consider creating a safe harbor for private entities that share information through the web portal, and if so, what should be the scope of any such safe harbor? Would additional safe harbor protections be necessary and appropriate to encourage timely reporting of violations? We invite specific suggestions for safe harbors, including our legal authority to adopt such suggestions.
8. No Impact on Informal Consumer Complaint Process. We note that our actions here would not affect the process by which a consumer submits an informal complaint about a robocall or spoofed call. The Commission receives thousands of informal consumer complaints a month involving unwanted calls, including robocalls and robotexts. The unwanted calls complaint form asks for information such as date and time of the incident, caller ID information displayed, telephone number where the unwanted call was received, information about the consumers telephone service, and a description of the unwanted call. The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau uses this information to inform Commission consumer protection policies as well as for analytical and consumer education purposes. It also forwards these complaints to the Enforcement Bureau, which may use them to pursue enforcement actions. We recognize that consumers might mistakenly file complaints with the new streamlined process rather than the existing consumer complaint process. In such cases, we propose that the Enforcement Bureau will forward such consumer complaints to the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. And to mitigate that impact, we propose that the new portal clearly explain its purpose and intended uses. We seek comment on these proposals.
9. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended RFA, the Commission has prepared an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis IRFA of the possible significant economic impact on small entities by the policies and rules addressed in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Written public comments are requested on the IRFA. Comments must be identified as responses to the IRFA and must be filed by the deadlines for comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The Commission will send a copy of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, including this IRFA, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration SBA. In addition, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and IRFA or summaries
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