TekSavvy wants regulatory framework before Bell permanently implements AI call blocking

TekSavvy Solutions Inc. is recommending that the CRTC put in place a framework for regulating artificial intelligence, the use of automated decision-making, and machine learning before potentially allowing BCE Inc. to permanently implement its AI call blocking system, stating its business and customers could be negatively impacted without one. “TekSavvy is concerned about the lack of transparency to customers and that Bell will not notify any of its customers or carriers when any of its voice customers' incoming or outgoing calls have been impacted or blocked,” TekSavvy wrote in its intervention, signed by Andy Kaplan-Myrth, its vice-president of Regulatory and Carrier Affairs. The intervention was filed in response to Bell’s request to permanently implement its new system for blocking known fraudulent calls which would leverage AI to analyze telecommunications traffic to flag possible scam activity which would then be subject to review and blocked at the network level. “Given these concerns, we urge the commission to consider providing TSPs with a regulatory framework on automated decision-making, artificial intelligence, and machine learning,” the intervention went on. TekSavvy said Bell’s system should be approved temporarily and suggested the commission look to the government’s recently issued Directive on Automated Decision-Making and Artificial Intelligence Impact Assessment (“AIA”) tool which aims to improve automated decision systems used in service delivery. The company also noted that Bell wrote in its application that its call blocking methodology should be approved with “some minor added flexibility” without defining what that term means. “It is unclear what will happen if Bell changes any of the parameters around its current call blocking efforts, whether those changes will impact reseller TSP customers and if notification will be provided,” Teksavvy wrote, adding that developing a regulatory framework would involve a process with more public consultation. Telus Communications, on the other hand, “generally” approved of Bell’s application, noting to the CRTC that Bell “is taking all reasonable measures” to ensure that calls are fraudulent before blocking them, and its system is “beneficial to the public”. Bell first applied to the CRTC to test out the call blocking system in July 2019. The details of the blocking mechanism were not made public to avoid alerting “bad actors” to its detection mechanisms, according to the original filing. The CRTC approved the 90-day trial for the call blocking scheme in July 2020 despite objections out of concern for net neutrality, competition, and Bell collecting metadata on calls that merely transit its network. Bell said the results of the first month of the trial, July 15 to Aug. 15, were very encouraging, blocking over 66 million fraudulent calls, without an identified false positive (non-fraudulent calls that have been blocked as fraudulent). In October 2020, the CRTC granted Bell’s request for an indefinite extension of the scheme until the commission rules on whether or not to make it permanent. “Unless the number of false positives starts to trend upwards, Telus sees no reason why Bell should not be permitted to continue to apply this process,” the company wrote in its intervention, signed by Stephen Schmidt, vice-president of Telecom Policy and Chief Regulatory Legal Counsel for Telus. However, Telus did suggest to the commission an amendment to Bell’s proposed process for investigating and reporting complaints regarding false positives. “It should not be assumed that Bell will always be as successful or that other parties implementing blocking will be as successful,” Telus wrote to the commission. Telus’ specific concerns with Bell’s current method for dealing with false positives, and its proposed changes, were not made public due to a CRTC directive, issued in April, that Bell allow other parties to look at the call blocking mechanism provided they sign an NDA. As a result, abridged copies of the interventions were provided for the public record, with Bell and the CRTC receiving full confidential versions. Bell was also directed to publicly file abridged versions of its monthly trial reports in April and to make public answers to certain questions regarding its call blocking system. Fenwick McKelvey, director of Algorithmic Media Observatory at Concordia University, along with Reza Rajabiun, research fellow, wrote in an intervention, that the “public record of this proceeding remains incomplete” and “inconsistent” with established processes at the CRTC and best practices in administrative law. “The public record is limited such that any decision would entirely relying on these confidential submissions. No decision could be made, justified or defended with the public record at present,” they wrote in their intervention. McKelvey and Rajabiun, in a previous submission during this process, requested that Bell provide a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) and Algorithmic Impact Assessment (AIA) of its system on the public record, which they wrote to the CRTC is common practice prior to the adoption of an algorithmic or “privacy invasive” tool in the early stage of adoption. “Indeed, the objective of impact assessments is to identify potential harms before they manifest, rather than after,” they wrote. They noted that Bell confirmed it completed a PIA, but there was “no evidence of the standard or nature of the assessment, nor do we have evidence that the commission could determine if the assessment was sufficient” and as a result, requested that the CRTC suspend the approval process until a PIA and AIA are put on public record. - Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Hannah Daley at hdaley@thewirereport.ca

TekSavvy wants regulatory framework before Bell permanently implements AI call blocking

News | July 14, 2021

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TekSavvy wants regulatory framework before Bell permanently implements AI call blocking

News | July 14, 2021

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