TRACED Act
The Pallone-Thune TRACED Act, signed in 2019, strengthened US robocall enforcement and required voice providers to deploy caller ID authentication. It is the law that made STIR/SHAKEN mandatory rather than voluntary.
By Graham Thomson · Updated August 2, 2026
Definition
Definition
TRACED stands for Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence. The statute did three main things: it extended the window regulators have to pursue violations and raised the penalties available, it directed the FCC to require caller ID authentication across the voice network, and it established the Robocall Mitigation Database, in which providers must file a plan describing how they prevent illegal traffic from originating on their network.
The authentication mandate is the part callers feel. Before TRACED, a receiving carrier had no cryptographic way to know whether the number displayed on an incoming call was legitimately in use by the caller. Afterward, originating providers sign calls with an attestation level indicating how much they know about the customer and their right to use that number. Providers that do not file a mitigation plan can find their traffic refused by other carriers, which turned compliance into a commercial necessity rather than a regulatory nicety.
For a small business, the effect is indirect but real. You do not file anything or interact with the framework yourself — your voice provider does. What you inherit is the attestation level your provider can assign to your calls, and that inheritance is one of the inputs downstream carriers weigh when deciding whether to label an incoming call.
When this matters
It matters when you are choosing a phone provider and when outbound answer rates matter to revenue. Providers differ in the attestation they can give you, and that difference is not usually advertised. It matters very little for a business that only receives calls.
How VeraDial relates
How this fits with VeraDial
Attestation arrives with the number
VeraDial numbers carry STIR/SHAKEN attestation on outbound voice calls, so calls you place are signed rather than anonymous to the terminating carrier. Labeling decisions still belong to the receiving carrier's analytics, which weigh behaviour alongside authentication.
Sources
References used for this definition
- FCC TRACED Act implementation
Official implementation page covering authentication mandates and robocall mitigation requirements.
- FCC call authentication and STIR/SHAKEN
Regulator overview of the caller ID authentication framework the Act required.
FAQ
Does the TRACED Act require anything from my business?
Not directly. Its obligations fall on voice service providers, who must implement authentication and file robocall mitigation plans. What reaches you is the consequence — the attestation level your provider assigns to your outbound calls.
What is the Robocall Mitigation Database?
A public FCC filing where voice providers describe the steps they take to keep illegal robocall traffic off their networks. Carriers are expected to refuse traffic from providers that have not filed, which is what gives the requirement practical force.
How is the TRACED Act different from the TCPA?
The TCPA, from 1991, defines what businesses may and may not do when contacting consumers — consent, do-not-call, identification. The TRACED Act, from 2019, does not rewrite those duties; it strengthens enforcement of them and mandates the technical authentication layer that makes call origin verifiable.
Did it stop robocalls?
It made the anonymous, spoofed variety substantially harder to sustain, because signed calls carry a traceable origin. It did not eliminate unwanted calling, and it introduced a side effect legitimate businesses feel: carrier analytics are now aggressive enough that real business numbers get labeled too.
Hear Vera in action.
Play a short sample call, follow the transcript, and move into a personalized live demo when you're ready.