The commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau issued guidelines for operation of the database designed to help callers determine if they are reaching the correct party.
4/28/2020 8:20
After seeking comments from stakeholders, the Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau issued an overview of responses users of the reassigned numbers database can expect when submitting a consumer’s number.
The database, one of the FCC’s measures to prevent unwanted calls to consumers, provides callers the opportunity to determine if they are reaching the correct consumer by entering their number and the last known date the consumer had that number.
While the database is not expected to be finalized for many months, the overview of responses provides a glimpse into how it will work.
According to a public notice from the FCC, the reassigned numbers database will contain reassigned number information from each provider that obtains North American Numbering Plan U.S. geographic numbers and toll-free numbers.
Two of the three terms database users may receive as responses do not fall under the safe harbor, included in the final reassigned numbers database rules approved by the FCC, that protects callers from liability for any calls to reassigned numbers caused by errors in the database.
According to the public notice, definitions of reassigned numbers database responses include: Yes, No, and No Data.
“Once the database is established, callers will enter a query for a phone number using the last date the caller is reasonably certain the consumer had the number (either by getting the consumer’s consent to call on that date or having actually called and reached the consumer on that date),” according to the FCC.
The meaning of the responses database users will receive, according to the public notice, are as follows:
- The database will return a value of “yes” if the queried number is contained in the database and the date provided in the query is the same as or before the permanent disconnect date for that number in the database (i.e., the number has been permanently disconnected on or after the date that the caller enters into its query). Callers will not be eligible for the safe harbor described in the commission’s rules for calling any number for which the database returns a value of “yes.”
- The database will return a value of “no” if the queried number is in the database and the date the caller provides in its query is after the permanent disconnect date contained in the database, or if the number is not in the database and the date the caller provides is on or after the date all providers are required to report disconnected numbers to the database (i.e., the number has not been permanently disconnected after the date the caller enters into its query). Callers may be eligible for the safe harbor described in the commission’s rules for calling a number for which the database returns a value of “no.”
- The database will return a value of “no data” if the queried number and a permanent disconnect date are not contained in the database and the date provided in the query is before the date all providers are required to report disconnected numbers to the database (i.e., the database does not contain either the date or number data queried by the caller). Callers will not be eligible for the safe harbor described in the commission’s rules for calling any number for which the database returns a value of “no data.”
“We find that these definitions give the database responses their common-sense meanings, where ‘yes’ means the number has been disconnected subsequent to the caller having received prior express consent to call the number, ‘no’ means the number has not been disconnected (and would have been in the database if it had been disconnected), and ‘no data’ means the database does not contain the relevant data to determine whether the number has been disconnected during the time of the query,” the FCC summarizes in its public notice.
ACA filed comments in February outlining several areas the FCC should review before finalizing the database, stating, “Despite the Commission’s recent actions to operationalize a new reassigned numbers database, callers continue to face the prospect of class-wide TCPA litigation exposure based on a single call to a reassigned number. Nothing in the Technical Requirements Document will resolve these concerns, and the Reassigned Numbers Database, after facing multiple implementation delays already, is still nowhere near completion.”
Meanwhile, the FCC is seeking comments on a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on mandating adoption of STIR/SHAKEN by voice service providers by May 15, 2020. Reply comments are due May 29, 2020. ACA International previously submitted comments to the FCC on STIR/SHAKEN in July 2019 and will respond to the latest proposal on behalf of the industry and members.
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