United StatesTelephone Consumer Protection Act, Autodialer and Artificial or Prerecorded Voice Calls
47 U.S.C. 227(b); 47 CFR 64.1200(a)
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What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
In force since .
A telephone contact rule binding public and private bodies.
As of .
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.
- 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.
- 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.
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionYes
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 February 2024 declaratory ruling holds that a call or text using an artificial voice generated by AI technology is an artificial voice within the meaning of section 227(b), so the consent duty above reaches an AI voice agent the same as a recording.
- 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?
What it reaches
Obligation class
Consent
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
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.
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 .
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.
When LexLint raises it
automated_outreach
Read the law
US Code
official text (uscode.house.gov), with the Federal Communications Commission's implementing rule at 47 CFR 64.1200(a) on the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.