Moderation Pipeline

All submitted reports pass through a structured moderation pipeline that includes automated screening, post-publication review, and ongoing monitoring.

Stage 1: Automated Pre-Screening

An automated moderation system reviews each submission for spam content, profanity, personal identifying information (names, addresses, government ID numbers), hate speech, duplicate content, and guideline violations. Reports that pass automated screening are published promptly. Reports flagged as potentially problematic are held for human review.

Stage 2: Human Review

Reports may be reviewed by a human moderator, particularly where automated systems flag potential concerns or where disputes arise. Human moderators assess reports for guideline compliance and content quality. If a human moderator disagrees with the automated system's assessment, the human decision takes precedence.

Stage 3: Ongoing Monitoring

Published reports remain subject to review. Reports may be removed or corrected at any time if they are found to violate community guidelines, contain personal identifying information, or become the subject of a legitimate dispute.

For details on automated systems used in moderation, see the AI Transparency Statement.

False Positive Handling

A false positive occurs when a phone number receives negative reports despite being used for legitimate purposes. This can happen when:

A reporter misidentifies the nature of a call
A number has been spoofed by a third party
A number was previously assigned to a different entity
An organisation's outbound calls are unfamiliar to recipients

Reverseau addresses false positives through:

Mixed classification display — numbers with both positive and negative reports show the full distribution, allowing users to assess context
Report volume context — report counts are displayed so users can gauge classification confidence
Dispute process — affected parties can request review through the corrections process (described below)

Corrections & Disputes

If any information on Reverseau is inaccurate, outdated, or the result of a number reallocation, affected parties can request correction or removal through the contact page. Requests are evaluated based on:

Evidence provided (e.g., business registration, carrier reallocation notice)
Accuracy of the reported information
Relevance and context of the reported information within the dataset
Compliance with community guidelines

Correction requests are typically responded to within 30 days. Reports found to be inaccurate or in violation of guidelines are corrected or removed. Where appropriate, contextual notes may be added to clarify reallocation or updated usage information. See the Privacy Policy for the full data rights process.

Data Refresh Frequency

Community reports — processed and published in near-real-time, subject to the moderation pipeline
Aggregate classifications — recalculated as new reports are received for a number
AI-assisted summaries — regenerated periodically as report volume changes
ACMA allocation data — refreshed periodically as public records are updated
Aggregation pages (state, prefix, service type) — updated as underlying records change

Data Retention

Reports are retained as part of the historical public database unless removal is requested or legally required. Historical reports remain accessible because phone scam operations may reuse numbers over extended periods, and cumulative data provides greater contextual value than recent data alone.

Retention does not imply endorsement of any specific claim within an individual report.

Data retention policies are documented in the Privacy Policy.

Abuse Detection Safeguards

The platform maintains safeguards against deliberate misuse of the reporting system, including:

Rate limiting on report submissions
De-duplication logic to prevent coordinated false reporting
Automated pattern detection for suspicious submission activity — designed to identify potential misuse of the reporting system, not to assess the legitimacy of the reported phone number itself
Human moderator escalation for numbers receiving sudden spikes in reports

Platform Limitations

Reverseau acknowledges the following system-level limitations:

Moderation cannot guarantee the factual accuracy of every report
Automated screening may miss edge cases requiring human judgment
Community data reflects self-selected reporters, not a random sample
Historical data may not reflect current number usage after reallocation

Reverseau does not provide legal determinations regarding fraud, misconduct, or criminal activity, and does not conduct investigative findings. The platform provides structured aggregation of community-reported data.

These limitations are documented in detail on the Data Limitations page.

Contact

Enquiries regarding methodology, moderation, data integrity, or corrections may be submitted via the contact page.

Transparency & Data Integrity