Ashby calls for Update to Truth in Caller ID Act; Businesses shouldn’t be able to mislead consumers with fake area codes

St. Louis, MO, July, 2024 — Blake Ashby, the Better Party's candidate for MO's 1st Congressional District, called for an update of the Truth in Caller ID Act to require commercial calls to include accurate origination information.  
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“Almost every week, I receive a call that starts with a small lie,” noted Ashby.  “The caller ID shows 314, but when I answer the person isn’t in St. Louis, or often even in the United States.”  Congress passed the Truth in Caller ID act in 2009, but its vagueness still allows commercial companies to provide misleading call origination information to increase the chances of consumers picking up the phones.  Ashby believes we need to change the law to specify that all commercial calls must provide accurate call origination information, including if the call originates from outside the U.S.

“An important role of our government is as the Guarantor of Claims” said Ashby.  “Our ongoing discussion on the role has caused our government to stop doing the things it needs to do to maintain a civil society and ensure a functioning economy.”  Ashby noted that people hoped for big changes to improve our society, but more often positive change is the cumulative impact of hundreds or thousands of smaller improvements like this.

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