Microsoft and Tech Mahindra have reportedly partnered up to stop annoying spam calls with the help of blockchain technology.
There are few things as irritating as receiving spam. You can simply trash it if it’s an email or even regular mail. However, phone calls are different. You could be at work, watching a movie, or just enjoying your life when you’re suddenly confronted by the incessant ringing of annoyance.
This might be a thing of the past if you’re living in India. According to The Next Web, one of the country’s leading IT solutions provider, Tech Mahindra, will be collaborating with Microsoft to try and prevent these spam calls in the country.
A Combination of Blockchain and Cloud-Based Technology
Even though specific details are not available yet, reports state that both cloud- and blockchain-based technology will be used. In addition, the new project will be built on the Microsoft Azure Platform.
The National Technology Officer of Microsoft India, Prashant Shukla, explained:
The intersection of Cloud and Blockchain will ensure a new way of monitoring and enforcing compliance throughout the ecosystem. With a Microsoft Azure Blockchain-powered solution, we will ensure that we mitigate loopholes used by fraudsters and spammers to reach end users.
A key part of the initiative is ensuring that user consent, or lack thereof, is recognized. The plan is for this transparency to be available to all stakeholders in one place. Users will be able to customize their marketing preferences which will then be made available to parties such as telecom operators, legal authorities, telemarketers and the users themselves.
A statement from Tech Mahindra explained:
…[The] solution will be a shared, secured ledger of UCCs [unsolicited commercial communication] distributed across a network of computers. [This] will ensure a transparent and verifiable system to help companies mitigate UCC on their networks.
Unsolicited Calls Can Be Expensive for Operators
India has been hard at work combating this issue. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India previously requested that operators use blockchain technology to record which telemarketers have access to phone number databases as well to record permission given by the public to receive these calls.
This type of record-keeping is essential, especially if users change their mind and decide that they don’t want to be contacted. There’s nothing worse than telling a marketer not to call you only to have them call you back a few days later.
In addition, having all of this information documented will ensure that companies that do not adhere to regulations will suffer the consequences, in this case, a fine of over $7,000.
Do you think that blockchain technology will make a difference in decreasing the number of spam calls in India? Let us know in the comments below!
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