Law / United States / 
Washington
Unsolicited Telefacsimile Messages Act
In force since .
A telephone contact rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
What it requires
- Do not initiate an unsolicited fax that promotes goods or services for purchase to a recipient with whom you have no prior contractual or business relationship.NIST Privacy FrameworkCT.PO-P1
- Do not send a fax to a recipient, even one with a prior relationship, once they have sent you a written or fax message clearly stating they do not want to receive further faxes from you.NIST Privacy FrameworkCT.PO-P3
- Do not send an unsolicited fax to a recipient you knew or reasonably should have known is a government entity, even one with which you have a prior contractual or business relationship.NIST Privacy FrameworkCT.PO-P1
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
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.
- CT.PO-P3Policies, processes, and procedures for enabling individuals’ data processing preferences and requests are established and in place.
- FINOS AIGF
- AIR-PREV-005System Acceptance Testing
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
RCW 80.04.390 makes a gross misdemeanor of a violation by any person of any provision of Title 80 RCW, which contains this section; where no statute prescribes the punishment for a gross misdemeanor, RCW 9.92.020 sets it at up to 364 days in the county jail, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.
Penalty structure
The section declares a violation an unfair or deceptive act for the purpose of applying the Consumer Protection Act, chapter 19.86 RCW, and RCW 19.86.140 sets a civil penalty of not more than $7,500 for each violation of RCW 19.86.020, recoverable by the attorney general; an enhanced penalty of $5,000 applies to unlawful acts that target or impact specific individuals or communities based on demographic characteristics. This is separate from the injured person's own recovery.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per violation unit
- Violation
- Per violation amount
- 7,500
Statutory damages
Damages to the recipient of an unsolicited fax sent in violation of this section are $500 or actual damages, whichever is greater; the section makes the practice a per se unfair or deceptive act under the Consumer Protection Act, chapter 19.86 RCW.
- As of
- Currency
- USD
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Private civil action as an unfair or deceptive act under the Consumer Protection Act, chapter 19.86 RCW
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- Does a fax sent through an internet fax service or from an email-to-fax gateway fall within 'telefacsimile message', defined in RCW 80.36.540(1) as 'the transmittal of electronic signals over telephone lines for conversion into written text'?
- Is the $500 in RCW 80.36.540(5) recovered for each telefacsimile message sent in violation of the section, or once for each recipient?
What this law does
RCW 80.36.540 bars initiating an unsolicited telefacsimile message, the transmittal of electronic signals over telephone lines for conversion into written text, that promotes goods or services for purchase, unless the recipient has a prior contractual or business relationship with the sender.
That exception does not apply where the sender knew or should have known the recipient is a government entity, and sending is unlawful regardless of any prior relationship once the recipient has sent the initiator a written or fax message clearly indicating it does not want to receive further faxes. The prohibition is a per se unfair or deceptive act under the Consumer Protection Act, chapter 19.86 RCW, and damages to the recipient are $500 or actual damages, whichever is greater.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app sends faxes.
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