Law / United States / 
Florida
Florida Telemarketing Act
In force.
A telephone contact rule binding private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Licensing, Prohibition, Disclosure
What it requires
- Obtain a Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services license before doing business in this state as a commercial telephone seller or salesperson, on a written application accompanied by a bond, letter of credit, or certificate of deposit and a $1,500 fee, and do not employ or be affiliated with an unlicensed salesperson or commercial telephone seller.NIST Privacy FrameworkGV.PO-P5
- Do not place a commercial telephone solicitation phone call, including one made through automated dialing or a recorded message, before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. local time in the called person's time zone.no control in the NIST Privacy Framework
- Do not make more than three commercial telephone solicitation phone calls to a person over a 24-hour period on the same subject matter or issue, from any number.no control in the NIST Privacy Framework
- Do not intentionally prevent transmission of your name or telephone number to the party called when your equipment can create and transmit it, and do not use technology that displays a different caller identification number than the one the call actually originates from to conceal your identity.NIST Privacy FrameworkCM.AW-P1
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
In the frameworks
- NIST Privacy Framework
- GV.PO-P5Legal, regulatory, and contractual requirements regarding privacy are understood and managed.
- CM.AW-P1Mechanisms (e.g., notices, internal or public reports) for communicating data processing purposes, practices, associated privacy risks, and options for enabling individuals’ data processing preferences and requests are established and in place.
- FINOS AIGF
- AIR-DET-021Agent Decision Audit and Explainability
Our reading of where this law's duties sit in each framework, and in the NIST Privacy Framework, line by line beside each duty above. 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
Soliciting without a license, employing an unlicensed salesperson, soliciting while unlicensed, or falsifying a license application is a third-degree felony, as is otherwise violating any provision of the Act; a second or subsequent conviction under the Act is a second-degree felony. Using caller-identification-spoofing technology on a commercial telephone solicitation call is instead its own second-degree misdemeanor.
Penalty structure
Section 501.619 sets the civil penalty in the Class III category under Fla. Stat. § 570.971 for each violation, and section 570.971(1)(c) states that a Class III fine may not exceed $10,000 for each violation. The amount may be waived where the person has made full restitution or paid actual damages.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per violation unit
- Violation
- Per violation amount
- 10,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (licensing, administrative fines, civil penalties, license denial, suspension, or revocation); a criminal prosecuting agency on the Department's referral; a private civil action under Fla. Stat. § 501.625.
Settledness
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services states on its Do Not Call page that calls and texts are permitted from 8 a.m. through 9 p.m., local time, while section 501.616(6)(a) of the Act bars a commercial telephone solicitation call after 8 p.m.
- As of
- Open questions
- Does the limit in section 501.616(6)(a) on a commercial telephone solicitation call "after 8 p.m. local time in the called person’s time zone" govern a call placed between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., given that the Department's Do Not Call page states that calls and texts are permitted from 8 a.m. through 9 p.m., local time?
What this law does
The Florida Telemarketing Act requires a commercial telephone seller and its salespersons to hold a Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services license, on a written application accompanied by a bond, letter of credit, or certificate of deposit and a $1,500 fee. It bars a commercial telephone seller or salesperson from placing a commercial telephone solicitation call before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. local time in the called person's time zone.
It also bars a commercial telephone seller or salesperson from making more than three such calls to one person on the same subject within a 24-hour period, and from displaying a false caller identification number to conceal the caller's identity, calling-conduct duties chapter 2021-185 added effective alongside the parallel rewrite of Fla. Stat. § 501.059 above.
A person injured by a violation may sue for actual and punitive damages, costs, and attorney's fees, and the Department may separately impose a civil penalty, an administrative fine, or license denial, suspension, or revocation; soliciting or employing a salesperson without a license, and otherwise violating any provision of the Act, are each a third-degree felony (a second-degree felony on a repeat conviction), while using caller-identification-spoofing technology on a commercial telephone solicitation call carries its own, narrower second-degree misdemeanor. The sections this entry groups came into force on different days.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app places automated calls.
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