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Glossary · Compliance

What is Truth in Caller ID Act?

Reviewed by Sujan ThapaliyaLast updated

Definition

The Truth in Caller ID Act makes it unlawful to transmit misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value. Penalties reach tens of thousands of dollars per violation.
The three STIR/SHAKEN attestation levels, which underpin how truth in caller id act behaves in practice: A asserts both that the carrier knows the customer and that the customer may use the calling number, B asserts the customer only, and C asserts neither. A shared number pool can reach B at best, which is why number ownership keeps recurring in these definitions.
Attestation is the backdrop to most caller-ID and deliverability terms, truth in caller id act included.

In practice

How truth in caller id act actually works

Intent is the hinge. Displaying a number you own and that reaches you is lawful even when it is chosen for local presence; displaying a number that is not yours in order to get an answer is not.

The practical test is simple: if someone calls the number back, do they reach you? If not, you are on the wrong side of it.

Enforcement has broadened beyond the originating caller. Providers that knowingly carry spoofed traffic have been pursued too, which is why carriers now refuse or downgrade traffic they cannot attribute. For a legitimate business the practical consequence is that identity is no longer optional: unattributable calls are treated as suspect by default.

Worked example

Presenting one of your own numbers that rings back to your team is lawful. Presenting a number matched digit-by-digit to the person you are calling, which reaches nobody, is the pattern the Act was written for.

Truth in Caller ID Act: common questions

Is caller ID spoofing illegal?
It is illegal when done with intent to defraud, cause harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value. Displaying a number your business owns and answers is not spoofing in that sense; displaying a number you have no relationship with, to mislead, is.
Can I display a client's number when calling on their behalf?
Only with their documented authorisation and where the number reaches them. Even then it weakens attestation, because your provider cannot assert entitlement to a number issued to somebody else.
What are the penalties?
The FCC can impose substantial forfeitures per violation, and enforcement has been directed at both originating callers and the providers that carried the traffic knowingly. The reputational consequence — carrier blocking — usually arrives before the penalty does.

Sources

  1. Combating Spoofed Robocalls with Caller ID Authentication — Federal Communications CommissionThe STIR/SHAKEN framework, the attestation levels carriers sign calls with, and the mandate requiring providers to authenticate caller ID.
  2. 47 U.S.C. § 227 — Restrictions on the use of telephone equipment — Cornell Legal Information InstituteThe Telephone Consumer Protection Act itself — the consent requirements, calling-hours limits, and private right of action.
  3. ITU-T Recommendation E.164 — The international public telecommunication numbering plan — International Telecommunication UnionThe international number format, the 15-digit maximum, and how country codes and national numbers compose.

See truth in caller id act in the product

Branded caller ID puts your business name on the recipient's screen instead of a bare number. In North America it works through CNAM, the caller-name record attached to a number, combined with STIR/SHAKEN signing that lets the terminating carrier trust the call is really from you.

Explore branded caller idGet early access