New Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules tighten unwanted robocalls and spam texts by allowing consumers to revoke consent to receive messages under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
The FCC clarified the definition of an autodialer machine, or an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS), as any technology with the capacity to dial random or sequential numbers.
“If you’re a company trying to do the right thing, you’re not using dialing technology to call random numbers” but rather programming them to call numbers you had consent to call, said Kristy McAlister Brown, partner in Alston & Bird’s Technology & Telecommunications Litigation Team.
Brown warned the consequences of the FCC’S broad definition will make it risky for companies to use any type of automated technology, even if they are using it in a responsible manner.
The ATDS definition also serves as a gating issue in the application of the TCPA for companies’ exposure to class actions, she said.
The FCC clarified the definition of an autodialer machine, or an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS), as any technology with the capacity to dial random or sequential numbers.
“If you’re a company trying to do the right thing, you’re not using dialing technology to call random numbers” but rather programming them to call numbers you had consent to call, said Kristy McAlister Brown, partner in Alston & Bird’s Technology & Telecommunications Litigation Team.
Brown warned the consequences of the FCC’S broad definition will make it risky for companies to use any type of automated technology, even if they are using it in a responsible manner.
The ATDS definition also serves as a gating issue in the application of the TCPA for companies’ exposure to class actions, she said.