Brazil Publishes Measures to Force Call Authentication and Allow Prison Phone Blocking

Overview

• The government published a provisional measure and a presidential decree on Tuesday that take immediate legal effect to curb phone fraud, abusive telemarketing and clandestine prison communications.
• The Medida Provisória mandates a three-stage call-authentication chain: the originating carrier must authenticate, transit operators must preserve that authentication, and the terminating carrier must block unauthenticated calls subject to Anatel exceptions.
• The MP creates a centralized numbering database under Anatel that will record number holders and, for companies, display company name, CNPJ and logo to call recipients to reduce spoofing.
• The MP sets quantitative triggers for temporary blocking of abusive calling: 1,000 calls per line in a day or 10,000 calls across a user's lines combined with at least 85% short calls will allow a 15-day origination block; Anatel has 60 days to regulate and some blocking rules start in 30 days.
• The prison decree establishes a national program to identify illicit devices using IMEI data submitted by state penitentiary administrations via a digital platform to be delivered within 180 days and authorizes coordinated perimeter signal-control measures with Anatel, raising questions about technical scope and oversight.