United StatesTelephone Consumer Protection Act, Autodialer and Artificial or Prerecorded Voice Calls
47 U.S.C. 227(b); 47 CFR 64.1200(a)
In force since .
A telephone contact rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Consent
What it requires
- Obtain the called party's prior express consent before initiating any call or text to a wireless number using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice, and before delivering a prerecorded-voice message to a residential line, unless the call is for an emergency purpose.
- Treat a call that uses an artificial intelligence technology to generate a human voice, including voice cloning, as a call using an artificial or prerecorded voice: obtain the called party's prior express consent before initiating it, absent an emergency purpose or exemption, and provide the identification and disclosure information the rules require for the entity responsible for initiating the call.
- For a telemarketing robocall or robotext (one that includes or introduces an advertisement or constitutes telemarketing), obtain the recipient's prior express written consent, in a signed writing naming the seller and the telephone number to be called, before sending it; a non-marketing, informational autodialed call or text needs only prior express consent, not a signed writing.
- Let a called party revoke consent at any time by any reasonable method, including replying STOP to a text or using an automated opt-out mechanism on a call, and stop further robocalls and robotexts to that number within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days of the request; from , a caller that designates an exclusive revocation method must disclose that method clearly and conspicuously on each call or text.
- Expect a private lawsuit for the greater of actual monetary loss or $500 per violation, which a court may treble to as much as $1,500 per violation for a willful or knowing violation.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text. Also read by: Federal Communications Commission, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (guidance, recorded ); Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021) (recorded ).
In the frameworks
- NIST Privacy Framework
- CT.PO-P1Policies, processes, and procedures for authorizing data processing (e.g., organizational decisions, individual consent), revoking authorizations, and maintaining authorizations are established and in place.
Our reading of where this law's duties sit in each framework. It never says that running a control meets the law. How we read a framework against the law
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
Section 501 of the Communications Act punishes a person who willfully and knowingly does an act this chapter prohibits, which includes the prohibitions in section 227(b), by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both; a person previously convicted who is convicted again faces a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than two years, or both.
Penalty structure
Forfeiture ceiling for a person who is not a broadcast licensee or common carrier, 47 U.S.C. 503(b)(2)(D) as adjusted for inflation in 47 CFR 1.80 (2025): $25,132 per violation or each day of a continuing violation, $188,491 for a continuing violation; the statute's base figures are $10,000 and $75,000. A common carrier faces the 503(b)(2)(B) tier, $251,322 per violation and $2,513,215 in all. Section 227(b)(4)(B) adds up to $12,266 where the violation is intentional. The private recovery under 227(b)(3) or 227(c)(5) is separate.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Fixed cap
- 188,491
- Per violation unit
- Violation
- Per violation amount
- 25,132
Statutory damages
$500 per violation is the statutory floor when actual monetary loss is less; a court may treble the award, up to $1,500 per violation, on a finding that the defendant acted willfully or knowingly.
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per person minimum
- 500
- Per person reckless
- 1,500
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Private civil suit in state court under section 227(b)(3); the Federal Communications Commission also has forfeiture authority over a violation of this subsection
Settledness
The Commission's declaratory ruling released confirms that the restrictions on an artificial or prerecorded voice encompass current artificial intelligence technologies that generate human voices, including voice cloning, so a caller must have the called party's prior express consent before making a call that uses one, absent an emergency purpose or exemption.
- As of
- Case link
- https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-511_p86b.pdf
- Guidance link
- https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-confirms-tcpa-applies-ai-technologies-generate-human-voices
- Case citation
- Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021)
- Guidance body
- Federal Communications Commission, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau
- Open questions
- Does a system that dials from a list of numbers it did not itself generate using a random or sequential number generator ever meet the automatic telephone dialing system definition Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid construed, when a person selects or triggers each individual send?
- Does the prior express written consent requirement of 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(2) bind a caller outside the Fifth Circuit, where that court read the statute to permit "either written or oral consent for any auto-dialed or pre-recorded call"?
What this law does
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibits a call or text using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice to a wireless number without the called party's prior express consent, and a prerecorded-voice call to a residential line without that consent. The Federal Communications Commission's implementing rule requires the seller to have obtained the recipient's prior express written consent before a telemarketing robocall or robotext is sent.
The Commission's declaratory ruling released confirms that the statute's restrictions on an artificial or prerecorded voice encompass current artificial intelligence technologies that generate human voices. A caller that uses such a technology must obtain the called party's prior express consent to initiate the call, absent an emergency purpose or exemption.
The Fifth Circuit has held that, contrary to the Commission's regulation, the statute permits either written or oral consent for any autodialed or prerecorded call. A called party may revoke that consent at any time by any reasonable method. The caller must honor the revocation within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days.
The Commission has waived enforcement of the part of this revocation rule that would apply a revocation made about one type of message to all of a caller's future messages, through . A Commission rule published and effective lets a caller designate an automated opt-out mechanism, a reply using a standardized word such as stop, or a website or telephone number as the exclusive means to revoke consent.
The caller must disclose the designated method clearly and conspicuously on the call or in the text. That rule also lets a caller treat a revocation made in response to an informational call or text as applying only to the specific category of informational calls and texts to which it was directed. A revocation made in response to a call or text that contains an advertisement or constitutes telemarketing revokes consent to all such future calls and texts from that caller.
The rule supersedes the waiver from its effective date. Section 227(b)(3) gives a person harmed by a violation a private right of action in state court for the greater of actual monetary loss or $500 in damages per violation, trebled at the court's discretion for a willful or knowing violation.
How courts have read itPremium data
Our analysis of this law draws on 53 court rulings.
What each ruling held, what it means for an app, and whether it still stands are premium data, in the Plus, Pro and Enterprise plans.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app places automated calls or sends automated texts.
Back to the example · Lint your app
Page updated .