[roddylindsay]

"Because voice calls are classified as a Title II telecommunications service (vs. Title I services like text messages and broadband), carriers can’t and don’t listen in. Specifically, the classification means they can’t filter or block calls based on suspicious content (or, hypothetically, AI audio watermarks)."

This is the catch-22 of privacy: it's great that AT&T can't snoop on my calls, but that means malicious robocall attacks can only be detected and prevents using signals other than content, which makes it tremendously more challenging.

[wizofaus]

I wouldn't think the problem was that hard to solve if there were tighter guidelines around how phone numbers were allocated and a simple reliable method of reporting fraud to a central agency. Though I'm not sure we know the real reason scams/unsolicited marketing now seem to make up the majority of all phone calls - it certainly wasn't the case 20 years ago.

[58028641]

Can’t the classification be implemented on device?

[roddylindsay]

A landline phone obviously wouldn't have such capabilities. As far as smartphones, I doubt Apple / Google would build classifiers into their default phone applications for obvious privacy reasons.

[candiddevmike]

Maybe the NSA can block them for you