Modernizing the Ability of Consumers To Control Robocalls
Key claim: The FCC is asking the public whether companies should have to honor “stop calling or texting me” requests faster, support two-way texting, let people revoke consent for all affiliated companies at once, and treat affiliates more clearly under robocall rules.
Abstract
(Proposed Rule · Federal Communications Commission) In this document, the Commission seeks comment on measures to ensure that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) rules that govern robocalls continue to evolve with changes in technology and industry practices. Specifically, we seek comment on reducing the timeframe callers must honor revocation requests, requirements for two- way texting functionality, requiring a revoke all method, and the treatment of affiliates.
Why this matters
Consent revocation is the main lever ordinary consumers have against robocalls and robotexts under the TCPA, and the current rules leave companies up to 30 days to honor a stop request and treat affiliates as separate callers. If the FCC adopts these changes, ‘stop’ would have to work faster, by text as well as voice, and across a corporate family at once — a meaningful shift in day-to-day call volume for consumers and in compliance workflows for carriers and marketers.