Earlier this month, New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed new caller ID legislation (S6809B/A.9457A) into law, requiring telemarketers to transmit correct caller identification information.
This means, under local law, that telemarketers making calls into New York State will no longer be able to legally disguise the information that appears on call recipients’ caller IDs. The law, which passed through the state legislature unanimously before being signed by Governor Cuomo, aims to “prohibit telemarketers from transmitting inaccurate, misleading, or false caller identification information to consumers.”
Senator Valesky, one of the original bill’s sponsors, summarized the issue while the bill was being considered: “I have heard from constituents that some telemarketing calls do not show the name or phone number of who is calling. This is especially problematic for consumers who have signed up for the do-not-call registry, since without the name of the telemarketer or the number from which they are calling it is difficult to report violations of the do-not-call law. This bill seeks to remedy that problem.”
This new law has praise from a consumer’s union, endrobocalls.org, that is advocating for legislation that requires phone companies to provide free tools to block robocalls.