The widely used caller identification app, Truecaller, is under investigation in South Africa over allegations of false blacklisting of phone numbers and potential violations of the country’s data privacy law.

The Information Regulator confirmed it has received multiple complaints about the app, which allows users to identify incoming calls and block spam. Some businesses allege that Truecaller has incorrectly flagged their numbers as spam, hindering their ability to reach customers, and then charged them $590 per month for 5,000 calls to have their numbers whitelisted.

The regulator’s probe will examine how Truecaller collects and uses personal information, particularly its practice of accessing entire contact lists from users’ phones — including numbers belonging to people who have never signed up for the service. This could breach the Protection of Personal Information Act, which requires consent and legal justification before processing personal data.

Although no enforcement action has been taken yet, possible penalties include fines of up to R10 million ($564,000), mandatory changes to data collection practices, or restrictions on processing South Africans’ data. In recent years, similar POPIA enforcement has targeted the Department of Justice and the Department of Basic Education.

Truecaller remains a popular tool for blocking spam calls, but any clampdown could affect its core features and impact both everyday users and businesses relying on phone outreach. Privacy advocates, however, say the investigation could improve protections for individuals whose data was added without their consent.

The case may also signal a shift in South Africa’s stance toward global tech companies, potentially setting a precedent for other privacy disputes, including the regulator’s ongoing concerns over WhatsApp’s data practices.