The Do Not Call List, established by the US Federal Trade Commission in 2003, prohibits telemarketers from calling people who do not wish to be called. The list is intended to comply with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which arose from complaints of harassment by telemarketers. Registering on the list is simple, but some businesses are exempt, and companies you already transact with can still call you. Legitimate surveys and political calls are also exempt. Canada enacted similar legislation in 2004.
The Do Not Call List is the result of US federal legislation that prohibits telemarketers from calling people they designate who do not wish to be called. The Do Not Call List or Registry was established by the US Federal Trade Commission in 2003 and is intended to comply with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which was signed into law in 1991.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) arose out of numerous complaints from private citizens regarding harassment by telemarketers. Even when telemarketers were polite, taking calls from people trying to sell things was often a nuisance. However, the TCPA was often difficult to enforce, because you had to get a call from a telemarketer asking them not to call you. Clearly more had to be done to establish legal grounds for prosecuting telemarketers who continued to call disinterested private citizens.
By creating a national call-unavailable list and log, people can now state unequivocally that they do not want to be called by lawyers. A person can demonstrate that they do not want to be called from their recording, and any telemarketer or salesman calling a private home has one month to take it off any call list. If a name is not removed and calls from the same business continue, citizens can file a report on the offending company. This process is made easier with Caller ID, which helps connect phone numbers to registered businesses.
Registering on the Do Do Call List is a very simple procedure. Just visit the offline call log and enter phone numbers, including cell phones, and an email address. Then you will receive an email with a link, which you click to confirm the phone numbers from the Do Not Call list. It takes about a minute to register. By law, telemarketers aren’t supposed to call cell phones anyway, but it doesn’t hurt to add a cell phone number, just in case.
Some people cannot register for the Do Not Call list. Lines of business are exempt from Do Not Call legislation. If at any time you allow companies to contact you, you may still receive abusive calls even if your name appears in the Do Not Call list. There are also some companies that can call you despite your Do Not Call list.
While the Do Not Call list protects against unwanted sales calls, companies you are already transacting business with can call you. For example, your cable company might call and offer you a package, or the companies that own the newspapers you subscribe to might call to renew a subscription. Businesses you owe money to can always contact you, unless you file for bankruptcy, even if your name appears in the Do Not Call list.
Those conducting legitimate surveys are allowed to contact people on your Do Not Call list. Political calls also remain exempt. Some survey companies may not be as legitimate as they appear. If a survey company asks your permission to conduct a follow-up call and you agree, they can call and try to sell you something. This was the case with the Dove Foundation, which conducts an ostensibly legitimate survey and follow-up sales call. In some states, legislation prevents groups like the Dove Foundation from doing this.
In 2004, Canada enacted legislation similar to that of the United States, establishing a no call log. In both countries, the log with the list can help prevent privacy intrusions and result in fewer unwanted calls. You can also tell a telemarketer or person conducting a survey to remove your name from a call list. This request should be honored even if you are not registered in the Do Not Call list.
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