CRTC makes Bell AI call blocking permanent, declines to establish regulatory framework

The CRTC has given approval to BCE Inc. to make permanent a call blocking system it has trialled for a year, over the objections of some interveners who cited a concern about the company's use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the scheme. In a Thursday decision, the regulator approved a July request from Bell to make permanent a call blocking system it first applied to test out in 2019, and wrote that it thought that "the significant benefits of Bell Canada et al.’s call-blocking system in protecting Canadians from the harm associated with fraudulent calls, as well as protecting the telecommunications network in general, overwhelmingly outweighs the concerns raised, including in particular the low to non-existent risk of having legitimate calls blocked." The commission is also doing away with a requirement it had put in place during the trial for Bell to file monthly reports, and will instead ask the company to file annual reports. The reporting must detail the total number of calls blocked every month; a breakdown of monthly blocked calls showing calls terminating versus those calls merely transiting Bell's network; the average time between the detection of an anomaly and the blocking of a call; and other information listed in a confidential order. Bell is also required to notify the commission of any changes to its AI system within 60 days of the change, and within a month of Thursday, must notify telecommunications service providers offering voice telecommunications services of the telephone number and email address for TSPs to use to submit complaints or notices of possible false positives. Bell must also report back to TSPs and to the regulator within two business days of having received a complaint of a false positive. In July interventions on Bell's request to make the system permanent, TekSavvy Solutions Inc. asked the regulator to establish a regulatory framework for the use of AI in call blocking. “TekSavvy is concerned about the lack of transparency to customers and that Bell will not notify any of its customers or carriers when any of its voice customers’ incoming or outgoing calls have been impacted or blocked,” TekSavvy wrote in its intervention. “Given these concerns, we urge the commission to consider providing TSPs with a regulatory framework on automated decision-making, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.” In its decision Thursday, the commission declined to establish such a framework. Given "the unique nature of the current application and the fact that the Commission has not received other applications requiring its consideration of the use of AI within a TSP’s telecommunications network, the Commission does not consider there is any need for regulatory framework regarding the use of AI at this time," the CRTC wrote. — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

CRTC makes Bell AI call blocking permanent, declines to establish regulatory framework

News | December 9, 2021

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CRTC makes Bell AI call blocking permanent, declines to establish regulatory framework

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