The Washington state Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation to limit robocalls and empower residents and the state’s attorney general to sue companies over unwanted calls.
In February, the House also unanimously voted for HB 1051, which now goes to the governor for his signature.
The legislation is part of a broader effort initiated last year by state Attorney General Bob Ferguson to battle the often annoying calls and to aid victims targeted by scams.
Robocallers made an estimated 616 million calls into Washington in 2021, and about 260 million of those were efforts to dupe people out of money or personal information, according to the anti-scam call company YouMail.
“We have the technology to prevent these fraudulent robocalls and we should use it,” said Rep. Mari Leavitt, a Democrat from University Place and lead sponsor of the legislation, in a statement.
However, Kush Parikh, president of Seattle-based tech company Hiya, was skeptical that the new law would do much good.
“The act is a step in the right direction for protecting Washington consumers from the impacts and potential costs of spam and fraud — but alone it is not enough. Just making a call illegal won’t necessarily prevent it,” Parikh said by email.
Hiya spun out of Whitepages in 2016 and offers a suite of services to reduce spam calls and help brands protect their identities and improve their reach via calls.
“Scammers are really good at circumventing regulation and scam protections,” Parikh said.
Washington’s “Robocall Scam Protection Act” makes it illegal to:
- make a robocall to someone on the national Do Not Call Registry;
- intentionally disguise a caller’s identity, such making a number appear local on the caller ID;
- knowingly facilitate illegal robocalls through your network if you are a telecommunications service provider.
Editor’s note: Story was updated to include comments from Parikh.
Previously: Washington lawmakers consider rules restricting robocalls and holding telecoms accountable
