Telecommunications Consumer Protection Act of 1991 - TCPA
Categories: Tech, Regulations
If you thought telemarketing pains-in-the-arse were new, you weren’t around (or forgot about) TCPA, the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Act of 1991...a telemarketing annoyance that dates all the way back to the late '80s.
The TCPA set guidelines for telemarketers with consumer protection in mind, preceding an increase in complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It’s the reason “do not call” lists are a thing. Did you really think telemarketers were just being nice by offering that option? Uh, no. It's only because they have to have it. Some businesses can’t afford to get in trouble with the law.
Besides "do not call" lists, the TCPA also limited what telemarketers were allowed to do as far as auto-calling and messaging you. They’re not allowed to call you using a recording or artificial voice, they can’t call you in the middle of the night, they must identify themselves...you know, all the things that telemarketers totally do today anyway. It even includes info about faxes...the dinosaurs of communication technology.
TCPA was made during the dino-tech age, and is generally disregarded by many telemarketers. You've probably gleaned that much from personal experience. We all know that person who never answers their phone, because most calls are robocalls from telemarketers.
Some of today’s robocall apocalypse is just telemarketers blatantly disobeying TCPA, since enforcement is scant and costs for robocalling are lower than ever. Plus, it’s pretty easy to get away with it, now that VOIP calling is a thing, which hides callers’ identities. It’s so bad that the FCC gets about 500,000 complaints a month...just about robocalls.
