Text Messages And Dnc: What's The Deal?

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) restricts certain autodialled calls and pre-recorded or artificial voice calls to wireless numbers. Text messages are considered “calls” under the TCPA and are therefore subject to the same restrictions as voice calls. The TCPA also provides authority for the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry, which allows consumers to opt out of receiving unsolicited sales calls. The DNC list has recently been expanded to include text messages, requiring businesses to obtain prior consent from recipients for marketing communications. This means that businesses must ensure they have explicit, documented, and verifiable consent from recipients before sending commercial text messages to phone numbers listed on the DNC Registry.

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Compliance with DNC rules for text messages

Compliance with Do Not Call (DNC) rules for text messages is essential for businesses and individuals to avoid legal issues and maintain ethical practices. Here are some key guidelines to ensure compliance:

Scrubbing the DNC List: Before sending any marketing or promotional text messages, it is crucial to scrub your contact list against the National DNC Registry. This involves checking the DNC list to ensure that the phone numbers you intend to contact are not registered on the list. Tools like DNCScrub® can assist in this process.

Obtaining Prior Consent: Explicit consent from the recipient is required before sending text messages to numbers on the DNC list. This consent must be documented and verifiable, and specific to the sender. It is not enough to simply have the recipient's phone number; you must obtain their clear permission to send marketing or promotional messages via text.

Providing an Opt-Out Mechanism: It is important to provide a clear and easy opt-out option in every message, whether it is for commercial or transactional purposes. This can be as simple as including "Stop," "Remove," or "No" as options for the recipient to reply to indicate their desire to opt out of future messages.

Honoring Opt-Out Requests: Businesses must honor opt-out requests promptly. If a recipient chooses to opt out of receiving future messages, you must respect their decision and refrain from sending further communications. You may send one final text to confirm their opt-out request.

Timing of Messages: To be considerate of recipients' time and preferences, send messages between 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM, recipient's time.

Disclosure of Data and Message Rates: It is important to disclose that data and message rates may apply. This ensures transparency and allows recipients to make informed choices about receiving text messages.

By following these guidelines, businesses and individuals can ensure compliance with DNC rules for text messages, protect consumer rights, and maintain positive relationships with their audience.

Consumer consent

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) restricts certain auto-dialled calls to wireless telephone numbers without the prior express consent of the called party. The TCPA applies to text messages, and texters must obtain the consumer's prior express invitation or permission before sending a marketing text to a wireless number in the existing National Do-Not-Call (DNC) Registry. This applies even if the text message is not sent via autodialer.

The DNC list is a registry managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that allows consumers to opt out of receiving unsolicited sales calls and messages. The registry's scope has been expanded to include SMS messages, aiming to protect consumers from unwanted text messages in the same way it has been used to manage phone calls.

To ensure compliance with messaging laws, it is essential to follow key components such as scrubbing contact lists against the National Do Not Call Registry, providing an opt-out mechanism for consumers, and obtaining proper consent for marketing communications. Using tools like DNCScrub® can help maintain compliance with legal requirements.

Businesses are required to honour opt-out requests from consumers who no longer wish to receive future communications, such as marketing or promotional messages. A clear opt-out option must be provided in every message, whether commercial or transactional, to protect consumer rights and prevent unwanted messages. Recipients may revoke their consent at any time using any reasonable method.

Prior express written consent is required for autodialled texts that include or introduce an advertisement, except in certain limited circumstances. This includes text messages from messaging apps and Internet-to-phone text messaging where the technology meets the statutory definition of an autodialer. The fact that a consumer's wireless number is in the contact list of another person's wireless phone does not demonstrate consent to receive robotexts.

Scrubbing the DNC list

The National Do Not Call Registry is a list of consumers who have registered their preference not to receive telemarketing calls and text messages. Individuals can sign up for this list for free and take action if they continue to receive unsolicited communications. By law, businesses are required to respect the DNC list and refrain from sending marketing messages to these registered numbers without prior express consent.

DNC scrubbing is the process of removing DNC-listed numbers from your contact lists. This step is crucial to maintaining compliance and avoiding costly violations. There are tools available, such as DNCScrub® and EVS7's DNC Scrubber, that can automate this process. These tools allow you to upload your contact lists and automatically identify and remove any numbers registered on the DNC list.

By scrubbing your contact lists, you can minimize the risk of legal consequences and protect your business's reputation. It is important to note that consent is key, and even if a number is not on the DNC list, individuals must provide explicit consent to receive marketing communications. This consent can be revoked at any time, and businesses must respect opt-out requests.

In summary, scrubbing the DNC list is a critical step in maintaining compliance with text message regulations. By utilizing DNC scrubbing tools, businesses can ensure they are respecting consumer preferences and avoiding legal and reputational pitfalls associated with unsolicited communications.

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TCPA compliance for SMS

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was enacted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1991 to regulate telemarketing practices in the USA. While the TCPA text does not mention SMS or text messaging, subsequent court decisions and FCC rulemaking extended the TCPA’s calling regulations to text messages. Text messages sent to cell phones using any automatic telephone dialling system are subject to the TCPA. The TCPA restricts autodialled calls and pre-recorded or artificial voice calls to wireless numbers, emergency numbers, and any service for which the recipient is charged for the call.

The TCPA sets out guidelines for businesses regarding sending marketing messages to their customers. Businesses must obtain the express written consent of their customers. This means that businesses must ask permission from their customers explicitly in written form before adding them to their subscribers' list. The TCPA states that this consent must be documented. There are several ways to obtain consent, including asking customers if they want to opt into receiving marketing messages and providing an online or paper form for customers to submit their mobile phone numbers.

To ensure compliance, businesses must follow key components such as scrubbing contact lists against the National Do Not Call Registry, providing an opt-out mechanism for consumers, and obtaining proper consent for marketing communications. Using tools like DNCScrub® can help maintain compliance with legal requirements. Businesses are required to honour opt-out requests and must provide a clear opt-out option in every message, whether it is for commercial or transactional purposes.

The TCPA also provides guidelines for the timing of messages, prohibiting telephone solicitation (including text messages) anytime before 8 am and after 9 pm in the recipient's time zone, known as "quiet hours". However, certain states have more restrictive timing requirements, such as sending messages only between 9 am and 9 pm, recipient's time.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

The TCPA penalizes businesses for non-compliance, with fines ranging from $500 per text message to $1,500 per willful violation. Plaintiffs can demand up to three times the penalty amount, and violations can add up quickly. For example, texting everyone on a business's list without express consent could result in hefty fines. In addition to financial penalties, businesses can also be blacklisted from sending marketing messages to customers and suffer damage to their reputation, posing a risk to their operations and customer base.

DNC list and telemarketing

The DNC list, or Do Not Call list, is a registry managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that allows consumers to opt out of receiving unsolicited sales calls and messages. The DNC list was initially created to apply to telemarketing calls, but its scope has since been expanded to include text messages. This expansion aims to protect consumers from unwanted text messages in the same way the DNC list has been used to manage phone calls.

The DNC list is jointly administered by the FCC and the FTC. The FCC's new regulations make it clear that any commercial text messages sent to a phone number listed on the DNC registry are subject to strict compliance measures, unless prior consent has been given by the recipient. This consent must be documented and verifiable, ensuring that the recipient has agreed to receive messages from the sender. The onus is on the sender to prove they obtained consent.

To ensure compliance, it is essential to scrub contact lists against the DNC registry, provide an opt-out mechanism for consumers, and obtain proper consent for marketing communications. Using tools like DNCScrub® can help maintain compliance with legal requirements. It is illegal to use a CRM to contact or call a cell number without prior authorization.

The FCC's new regulations also require mobile phone carriers to block all texts coming from a number after its Enforcement Bureau issues a notification that the number is generating illegal traffic. This blocking requirement will apply to the terminating mobile wireless provider only and will not require the blocking of "substantially similar" traffic.

In addition to the DNC list, there are other regulations that apply to telemarketing and text messaging. For example, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) restricts certain autodialed calls and pre-recorded or artificial voice calls to wireless numbers. The TCPA also covers text messages, and the FCC's corresponding rules restrict the use of automatic telephone dialing systems that deliver robotexts. The FCC's Enforcement Bureau rigorously enforces the TCPA and its corresponding rules.

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