The FCC announced today all carriers and phone companies must adopt the STIR/SHAKEN protocol by June 30th, 2021. The regulatory requirement is designed to combat robocalls, specifically those that try to hide their phone numbers by allowing carriers to authenticate caller IDs, and letting people know they should pick up the phone rather than ignore a spoofed robocall.

The FCC has been slow to mandate any kind of anti-robocalling technology. Today’s approval only comes after Congress voted last year to require STIR/SHAKEN to be implemented and for the FCC to oversee it. Before then, FCC chairman Ajit Pai had attempted to encourage phone service providers to voluntarily implement the protocols. Many had begun to do so, but implementation had been slow, despite the frustrating uptick in robocalls in recent years.

The agency says the widespread adoption of STIR/SHAKEN will reduce the effectiveness of illegal spoofing, help law enforcement agencies identify bad actors and, most importantly, allow carriers to identify spammers before they ever call your phone. The FCC estimates fraudulent call schemes cost Americans approximately $10 billion every year. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai started pushing carriers to adopt the protocol in 2018.

While the regulatory requirement to support STIR/SHAKEN is a step in the right direction, it won't magically solve the scourage of robocalls overnight. It's not enough for carriers to merely implement the protocol on their own. They must also test that their implementation works with other networks. In other words, it's not something your wireless provider can just turn on. Moreover, as a consumer, you also need a device that can display the "Caller Verified" notification when someone calls you. While most modern smartphones support the feature out of the box, other handsets will need to be updated.
Even at the end of June 2021, the system won’t be foolproof. Phone providers only have to apply the technology to the IP-based portions of their networks (so phone systems that still rely on older tech are exempted), and the FCC is working to extend the deadline for smaller phone companies by a year.

Once the technology is in place, phone providers still have to integrate their authentication systems with each other. The TRACED Act, passed by Congress, requires phone providers to work toward that integration, but there aren’t really deadlines on how quickly it has to happen.

Still, the June 2021 deadline means that things are finally moving. STIR/SHAKEN very likely won’t have fixed the robocall problem by then, but it should hopefully be in a position to soon put in a dent in it.

Google’s Covid-19 information website, at google.com/covid19

One week ago, President Donald Trump held a press conference wherein he claimed Google would be building a screening website for the coronavirus that would direct people to testing sites. As we learned in the following days, that wasn’t true. Google’s sister company Verily did launch such a site, but only for the Bay Area and reportedly it only offered tests to a very small number of people. Google, however, did say it would launch some sort of website and after a small delay, it’s here.

Alongside the website and potentially more importantly, Google will start providing more enhanced information cards for people who search for terms related to the coronavirus. There will be information tabs for symptoms, prevention, global statics, and locally relevant information. It will look a bit like this:

Google

The website is at google.com/covid19. It does have useful resources, including a card that mimics what you see above. Google’s post announcing the site says that you will be able to find “state-based information, safety and prevention tips, search trends related to COVID-19, and further resources for individuals, educators and businesses.” Google emphasizes that it’s pulling information from “authoritative” sources like the WHO and the CDC.

It’s only available in English right now, but a Google spokesperson tells The Verge that Spanish language support is soon to follow. The site was also designed with accessibility in mind, including with the larger fonts that Google usually uses.

The website has videos in ASL, a global map showing confirmed cases by country, and plenty of information about Google’s other relief efforts — plus some feel-good YouTube videos.

Reading through that description, however, you’ll notice that it doesn’t include what Trump originally claimed it would. The nearest thing to finding a test is a drop-down menu that provides links to local websites — for example, choosing California provides a link to the California Department of Public Health.

Right now, the CDC has a “self-checker” chatbot that Microsoft helped build, but the WSJ quoted an executive from a healthcare provider who put in a realistic context: “It’s just something consumers need now to help with anxiety.”

In other words, lots of big tech companies are making efforts to provide coronavirus-related support, but none of them are able to solve some of the biggest problems in the pandemic: access to testing and the impending crisis in our healthcare infrastructure.

At some point in the future, Google may actually provide a questionnaire and information about local drive-thru testing locations. But a spokesperson says that the company won’t do so until there’s authoritative and trustworthy information on those sites. That could be a long time coming, unfortunately.

via theverge

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Fed cuts interest rate to near-zero, moves to prop up mortgage market

Mortgage rates are fall again after the Federal Reserve’s latest dramatic policy moves to combat the economic impact from the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

In the most drastic actions since the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve Sunday afternoon announced it cuts interest rate to near-zero, moves to prop up mortgage market, and said it will begin buying $200 billion of mortgage-backed bonds, a move that will stabilize and likely lower mortgage rates, which moved sharply higher last week.

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Mortgage rates had fallen to a record low two weeks ago, an investors in mortgage-backed bonds to back off. That, in turn, caused mortgage rates to jump more than 50 basis points in one day and hit their January high by the end of last week. 

Powell said that he expects economic activity to be weak in the second quarter, and that the Fed is “willing to be patient” and hold interest rates at zero until “we’re confident the economy has weathered recent events.”

Alan Rosenbaum, CEO of mortgage lender GuardHill Financial, said the interest rate cut and the injection of liquidity were good signs that the Fed was ready to help support the economy.

Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images

The travel restriction applies to foreign nationals who have been in 26 European countries with open borders agreements, in the last 14 days.
Those exempt from these restrictions, such as U.S. citizens, will be directed to limited airports where screening can take place.

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 12, 2020