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by duskwuff 1737 days ago
> So put it in a spam folder.

1) Neither the SMS protocol nor any phone I've ever seen has any mechanism to file messages in "folders".

2) Processing SMS messages and delivering them to subscribers has a cost. Doing so for high-volume junk messages would place a significant burden on carriers.

3) Most carriers used to charge subscribers for receiving SMS messages. Some still do! Charging subscribers to receive spam SMS messages would be, quite rightly, called out as inappropriate.

4 comments

I would add 4) feature phones and SIM cards have extremely low SMS storage capacities, around 100 or so max.
> 1) Neither the SMS protocol nor any phone I've ever seen has any mechanism to file messages in "folders".

My phone (ROG Phone 3 w/ Android 11) automatically flags spammy texts into a "Spam & Blocked" folder, I assumed this was a stock Android feature - is it not?

1 and 2: true (to a degree, phones sort messages by sender which is a folder), but if a SMS already reached the provider they have the data. No need to send spam to the client. Instead display the SMS on some webinterface the customer can access. Or email it.
Then put it behind a config setting.

Or let me view it through some other means.

I'm not opposed to spam filtration as a user default, but doing so silently without any indication of what is being filtered or ability to verify it is working is not acceptable for such a vital messaging system.