What is Caller Name Presentation (CNAP)?

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In today's edition of our Current Affairs, we will discuss Caller Name Presentation (CNAP). The topic's relevance to the UPSC CSE syllabus is mentioned below.

For Prelims: Indian Polity and Governance

Caller Name Presentation (CNAP), Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI), Telecom operators

For Mains: GS Paper II- Government Policies and Interventions in Various Sectors

About Caller Name Presentation (CNAP), Four proposed methods to roll out the CNAP feature, Concerns of Telecom operators

Context

Recently Telecom operators have said that a proposal, called Caller Name Presentation (CNAP), by the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) of India to display callers’ names, could have privacy implications.

Probable Question

Recently proposed Caller Name Presentation (CNAP), by the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) of India is an infringement of Right to Privacy under Article 21. Comment. (150 words, 10 marks )

Background

• At present no telecom operators provide any unifying solutions regarding caller identity. 
• Truecaller is among the most famous applications which offer a similar service. However, all of them are third-party apps and depend on crowd-sourced data. 

About Caller Name Presentation (CNAP)

• Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) of India proposed the introduction of CNAP in November 2022.
• Objective: 
  • Caller Identity: The feature will allow users to know the identity of the person calling them. 
  • Informed choice: Receivers of a call can make an informed choice about those calls. 
  • Curb harassment and spam: A feature like this could potentially help in curbing harassment and other spam calls.
• Four proposed Models to roll out the CNAP feature:
  • First model: Telecom operators of a dialer extract their data from the database and present it to the receiving telco’s user. However, telcos will have to upgrade their current “network nodes” to enable this model, TRAI said.
  • Second model: This is similar to the first one except that in this case, the operator through which the call is made will permit the receiving operator to access its CNAP database.
  • Third model: TRAI has envisaged a third party operating a centralized database. In this case, the receiving operator would be responsible to delve into the centralized database to retrieve and present the caller’s data.
  • Fourth model: This would require that each telco retain a copy of a synchronized central database operated by a third party.

Also Read: National Data Governance Framework Policy (NDGF)

Concerns of Telecom Operators

• Inaccuracy: Several people purchase SIM cards using forged identity cards, thus the identity of the actual user of a mobile number may not be the same as the subscriber.
• Privacy and technical issues: If the handset manufacturers and Operating System (OS) providers have control over the data obtained through the CNAP facility, this could result in the breach of subscriber data privacy.
• Social and criminal issues: CNAP can lead to increased social media stalking. 
• Time-division multiplexing (TDM): TDM-based interconnection between telcos does not support CNAP. 
• No standards: Further, there are no standards for CNAP over 2G/3G networks and hence, there is no ready solution available for it. The smart feature phones working on 4G networks also do not support this feature.
• Handsets: Another major challenge is with regard to handsets as not all handsets are capable of supporting CNAP functionalities. 

Way Forward

• Optional: The feature should be optional.
• Consent of customers: It is imperative that the consent of the customer is taken before activating CNAP service on his/her device.
• Limited to telemarketer/ commercial users: CNAP should be considered only for a telemarketer/ commercial users / Application to person (A2P) callers in the initial phase.

Additional information: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) It was established in 1997 by an Act of Parliament, called the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997.It aims to regulate telecom services, including fixation/revision of tariffs for telecom services which were earlier vested in the Central Government.

Frequently Asked Questions

News Source: The Indian Express

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-sci-tech/telcos-oppoe-trai-proposal-caller-names-on-phones-explained-8393265/

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