For several years, the government has set up an online service, Bloctel, to fight against cold calling. This service allows French people to register on a list of opposition to unwanted calls. Only telemarketing companies that have purchased the right to view this list can call the numbers on the list without fear of reprisal, including a fine for the company and the caller. The government service does not permanently block unwanted calls, but rather forces companies to pay for the right to call. Registration for the Bloctel service is valid for a period of 3 years from the date of registration.
The telephone operator Orange launched in 2019 an application for filtering calls, called “Orange Telephone”. Available on Android and IOS platforms, this application is accessible to all smartphone users, not just Orange customers. It helps filter malicious and unwanted calls based on user reports and settings customized by each user. The application works on the principle of a database, in which each user can write down a telephone number, which will then be instantly classified as unwanted numbers.
Once installed, the “Orange Telephone” application alerts you to any suspicious incoming calls. Thanks to a constantly updated database thanks to the millions of users of the application, it is able to indicate upon receipt of the call the type of call in question. In addition to this feature, the application allows rejecting the call and even redirecting it to another number. Application alerts can be integrated into the basic “Orange Telephone” application present on the smartphone, which results in a red cross that appears on the screen during a call.
As mentioned earlier, there are several tools to block unwanted calls. The most common is the one offered by the French government, Bloctel, but there is also the Belgian tool “Do Not Call Me” (DNCM), which works in a similar way. In order to stand out from these government services, the operator Orange highlights an important point: the protection of personal data. Unlike Bloctel, Orange Telephone does not store user information.
