After seeing Bell’s AI call-blocking methodology, ISCC still unhappy

The Canadian chapter of the Internet Society is not satisfied with what it learned from BCE Inc.'s plans to use artificial intelligence in a 90 day trial of a new call blocking technology. The telecom had offered to let it and other intervenors in on their methodology, provided they sign a non-disclosure agreement. In a filing with the CRTC dated Feb. 21, ISCC director Matthew Gamble said that ISCC had a look at the confidential information Bell showed it, and upon reviewing the material, "we find no additional information to address our major concerns with this application – notably the issues of network neutrality and competition raised by ourselves and other interveners in this proceeding." Back in October the Internet Society -- along with the Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) -- had asked the CRTC to deny Bell's request to test out its AI call-blocking technology on grounds that it feared the technology would block calls not originating or terminating, but merely transiting, its network. The ISCC also worried in its submission that Bell would be collecting data from the calls. “Bell states this data today will only be used for the purpose of training the call blocking system, however, there is nothing stopping Bell from using this data in the future for other purposes, such as profiling customers to targeted marketing campaigns,” the Internet Society's October submission read. Bell then offered in an Oct. 25 letter to the CRTC to reveal its methods for using AI to block calls to any of the intervenors willing to sign an NDA. Bell said in the Oct. 25 letter that intervenors have “raised objections based upon factual inaccuracies, or worse, sheer speculation.” Iristel Inc., which had also objected to Bell's call-blocking trial in October, said that the offer to share the information didn't go far enough. The offer is “a step forward but doesn’t change anything because they shouldn’t be touching transit wholesale traffic between carriers where they are the middle man,” Iristel CEO Samer Bishay wrote in an email to The Wire Report at the time. The CRTC allowed Bell to go ahead with the secret-reveal in January. "None of the additional materials we received provided any justification for this requirement and we continue to question why Bell believes that it is necessary to extend this trial and this technology beyond calls which terminate to its own customers," the Internet Society wrote in its February reply. Rogers Communications Inc., for its part, wrote in a Feb. 21 filing with the regulator that it "strongly supports this collaborative approach" among telecoms companies "to disrupt unwanted mass calling." "Going forward," Rogers wrote in its submission, "all call blocking rules and related guidelines should be kept fully confidential to keep them out of the hands of fraudsters." "Proceeding-wise, the Commission must develop a mechanism to issue redacted rulings to further protect carriers and Canadians." This would prevent, the company continues, "blocking methods and algorithms from falling into the wrong hands." — With reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

After seeing Bell’s AI call-blocking methodology, ISCC still unhappy

News | March 4, 2020

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After seeing Bell’s AI call-blocking methodology, ISCC still unhappy

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