India To Use Blockchain Technology to Stop Telemarketing Spam

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) intends to utilize blockchain technology to prevent unsolicited telemarketing calls, Business Standard reports last week.

Trai claims that the innovation will empower regulators to precisely track ‘pesky’ telemarketing spammers, who frequently utilize unregistered 10-digit telephone numbers to avoid tracking.

Trai Chairman RS Sharma said that Trai is most likely the first organization to execute blockchain as a RegTech (regulatory technology) “on such a large scale. In shedding more light on his position, the chairman said, “Blockchain will ensure two things — non-repudiation and confidentiality. Only those authorized will be able to access details of a subscriber and only when they need to deliver service… [in cases where consent] is misused… the subscriber will be able to revoke consent whenever they desire through a Trai app.”

As indicated by Sharma, 30 billion business messages are regularly sent out in India, of which numerous are unwanted. To date, 230 million subscribers have allegedly enrolled for Trai’s “Do not disturb” registry which started in 2010. However, the country has so far failed to take action against telemarketers.

Blockchain technology can be utilized as a digital record that tracks the “entire communication between entries involved.” Even in those situations where a spammer utilizes a 10-digit number, telecom clients can report the communication and the data can quickly be matched utilizing the blockchain.

Trai’s Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations 2018 draft will remain open for public discussion until June 11. The regulation strikingly suggest that consent to commercial communication ought to be “reviewed periodically” to guarantee that it is not mishandled. Business Standard also reports that the regulations are expected to be enacted by July.

A year ago, Cointelegraph gave a report on a blockchain-based RegTech initiative intended for enhancing consent management and compliance in the digital identity circle. Another Cointelegraph opinion piece has also considered how private data stored on the blockchain will collaborate with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws, which became effective in the EU a week ago.