Clarity is needed for all entities providing informational communications.
12/11/2019 12:30
ACA International filed comments Monday with the Federal Communications Commission in support of a Capital One petition seeking clarity on rules for opt-out text messages and confirmation messages under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
The FCC issued a public notice for comments after Capital One Services LLC (Capital One) filed a petition for declaratory ruling stating, “if the sender of a lawful informational text message transmitted through an automatic telephone dialing system (‘ATDS’) receives a valid opt-out request from the recipient in response to that message, and that informational message was part of a program in which the recipient had previously enrolled that transmits several categories of informational messages, then, pursuant to the Commission’s ruling in Soundbite, the sender may clarify in an opt-out confirmation message to the recipient the scope of the recipient’s opt-out request without violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (‘TCPA’) or related Commission rules.”
In ACA’s comments, Vice President and Senior Counsel of Federal Advocacy Leah Dempsey said clarity is critical for consumers and businesses.
“ACA agrees with Capital One that this clarity is critical for both consumers and businesses, and a lack of clarity in this area harms consumers because they are being robbed of information needed for their financial health and safety,” Dempsey said. “Consumers do, and should, have the control to opt-out of text messages they do not want to receive, but the requirements and the parameters around doing so must be clear.”
While Capital One’s petition focuses on its bank and systems, it is important for the FCC to consider questions in the petition under a broader lens to provide clarity for all entities providing informational communications.
“The issue of needing additional clarity surrounding opt-out requests in the wake of the Soundbite ruling is something that impacts many legitimate businesses, including medical providers, utility companies, financial services industry participants, those delivering packages, as well as the accounts receivable management industry,” Dempsey said. “Accordingly, we ask that the FCC provide the clarity requested in this petition, and that it is made clear that this clarity is needed not only for certain banks but for anyone attempting to discern a consumer’s intent in an opt-out request.”