PENNSYLVANIA — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has tightened regulations on telemarketing communications, responding to a coalition of Attorneys General led by Pennsylvania’s own Michelle Henry. The new rule amendment requires businesses to obtain individual written consent from consumers before sending robotexts or initiating robocalls.
Previously, lead generation businesses could mislead consumers into consenting to communications from a single company, only to be bombarded with calls and texts from multiple industry competitors. Now, the FCC mandates “one-to-one consent,” preventing lead generators from obtaining consent on behalf of numerous businesses or sellers.
A widespread practice in lead generation involves offering consumers a quote for goods or services online, such as insurance products, and requiring them to agree to receive calls or texts from the lead generator’s marketing partners to get the quote. This could involve thousands of different businesses offering various goods or services, usually identified on a separate webpage accessible via a hyperlink.
Taking effect on December 13, 2023, these new FCC rules aim to protect consumers from scam communications by addressing major vulnerabilities in America’s defenses against robotexts. The rules permit the FCC to “red flag” certain numbers, requiring mobile carriers to block texts from those numbers. They also affirm that Do-Not-Call list protections apply to text messaging, making it illegal to send marketing texts to numbers on the registry.
Moreover, the FCC is encouraging providers to make email-to-text messages an opt-in service, limiting the effectiveness of a significant source of unwanted and illegal text messages. The new rules clarify that comparison shopping websites and lead generators must obtain consumer consent to receive robocalls and robotexts from each seller individually, rather than having a single consent apply to multiple telemarketers at once.
In addition to these rules, the FCC is considering further measures against robotexts, including additional blocking requirements for likely scam text-generating numbers and further comment on text message authentication. The FCC is also proposing making email-to-text services opt-in, rather than simply encouraging it.
These changes mark a significant step toward protecting consumers from unwanted and illegal robocalls and robotexts, providing much-needed relief from intrusive and unsolicited communications.
A copy of the AG’s letter can be found here: here, and an Addenda to Reply Comments here.
A copy of the FCC’s press release on the new one-to-one consent rule can be found here.
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