Samsung teams up with Whitepages for caller identification service

The agreement that will provide Galaxy S7 users with an experience that helps to identify unknown callers and also protects them against the increased threat of phone spam and scams. The new service will be available for Galaxy S7 users in 16 countries across North America, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, providing an overall better phone experience that includes Caller Identification, Spam and Scam Detection and Nearby Business Search.

The issue of caller identification has come to the fore in recent years as phone scam and text spam has significantly increased due to a lack of filtering at the carrier level and a rise in automated VoiP /OTT platforms that have driven the cost of communication down to fractions of a cent. Of the 300 MM incoming calls that Whitepages scans per month in the US, more than 15 MM are classified as unwanted. In addition, in December 2015 a Whitepages report has revealed a 35 percent growth in spam and scam calls in 2015, as compared to 2014.

The new Whitepages caller identification and spam and scam detection features will be available when the Galaxy S7 launches in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with additional countries to come.