Truecaller won't block or identify spam calls for South African users unless it is their default caller ID app.
Truecaller users in South Africa should be aware that the app will not block or identify spam calls if it isn’t set as the default caller ID application.
The platform has also fixed a bug where users who hadn’t enabled Truecaller as the default caller ID app got locked in a permissions screen when they opened the app.
MyBroadband asked Truecaller about the bug, and the platform quickly provided feedback and corrected the issue.
Upon opening the app without it being set as the default caller ID app, some users saw a permissions page with a button labelled “Fix this now”. There was no way to bypass this screen.
Tapping “Fix this now” would open a page where users could set various permissions for Truecaller, but again, there was no way of exiting the screen without closing Truecaller and relaunching it.
However, Truecaller has addressed the issue by adding an “X” in the top-right corner of the page that users can use to bypass it.
A spokesperson told MyBroadband that, for Truecaller to identify and block spam calls, it must be set as the default caller ID app.
“This is the same logic as a messaging app. One needs to be set as the default that handles SMS, whether it is Truecaller, the native installed app, or any additional third-party app,” they said.
They also explained that the “Fix it now” page that users may see appears when mandatory permissions were not granted at the time of installation.
“If the permission to ‘draw over other apps’ was not granted, Truecaller will not be able to show a caller ID over the incoming call screen,” they said.
“Another permission that may have been denied at the time of installation could be ‘contacts access’. This refers to local contacts access permission on-device only.”
The spokesperson said the ‘contacts access’ permission was a big source of confusion for many users, as they assumed it meant uploading their contacts to Truecaller.
Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Werksmans Attorneys regulatory head
The “contacts access” permission has been a point of contention in South Africa after allegations that it violates the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) by uploading contacts to its databases.
However, Truecaller said it was a common misconception and emphasised that granting contacts access permission didn’t mean the contacts were being uploaded.
“Contacts access is required to check whether the phone number on an incoming call is already saved in contacts or not,” the spokesperson told MyBroadband.
“If saved, Truecaller does not participate. It only shows the name that is saved locally on the device. If the number is not saved, then it needs to do a search and display a result.”
Truecaller’s remarks on the matter came after legal experts, including Werksmans Attorneys’ regulatory practice head, Ahmore Burger-Smidt, warned that the platform could be in breach of POPIA.
However, that was not based on how Truecaller works today, but on the functionality it offered in the past, where it did allow users to upload their contacts to unlock more features.
Burger-Smidt said POPIA stipulates that personal information cannot be transferred out of South Africa unless the firm responsible has binding corporate rules or agreements that comply with the law.
She said it was also possible that non-users were unaware that their data was being uploaded and that Truecaller was using it.
Burger-Smidt explained that Truecaller’s terms and conditions shifted responsibility onto users by requiring them to obtain consent before providing data.
Despite this, she said Truecaller remained the entity determining the mandate and process for collecting personal information.
She added that, under POPIA, Truecaller is the “responsible party” and cannot be absolved of its responsibilities because it collected information from a user.
Burger-Smidt noted that the platform allows non-users to unlist their numbers, but added that many of these people may be unaware that their data was collected in the first place.
“To this end, Truecaller should notify, by SMS or email, each person who is added to its database,” Burger-Smidt argued.
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