‘Does your mother know that you attempt to defraud people for a living?’ Spam calls and how to deal with them, plus other letters to the editor for Sept. 26
: We at MediaSmarts appreciate having our work cited. However, current research shows that it is not at all clear that “the bad overwhelmingly outweighs the good” when it comes to digital technology and youth. With a few exceptions, it can have both positive and negative effects – and which effects it has depends on who is using it and how it is used.
That’s why, while legislation and regulation certainly have a role to play, our approach focuses most on encouraging parents to be involved in their children’s media lives, empowering youth to take control of their online experience, and preparing parents and educators to teach them how to mitigate risks and seize the opportunities of our digital world.
Unlike the essay-writer who loves to handle these calls, many people are not able to do that. The elderly, the frail, the confused, the lonely of all ages: These are the people who are sucked in by this cruelty and arrange to send large sums of money to their “grandsons,” give out banking information, rhyme off social insurance numbers or provide other personal identification numbers.
How can anyone laugh at that? Instead of chuckling, perhaps those who find it all so amusing could spend their time coming up with ways to stop this cruelty. Surely they could find other things to laugh about.It is inconceivable to me that telecoms do not have the technological resources to identify and block most of these calls. If the regulators, legislators and police won’t take action, perhaps it is time for a well-placed group of concerned citizens to take legal action against the telecoms.
We have now taken steps to block spam calls, so that form of entertainment is no longer available. But at least we can sleep through the night.Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here:
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