The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has put its support behind a request from Capital One seeking a ruling from the Federal Communications Commission that would allow companies to send a confirmation text message to an individual who opts out of receiving messages without being held liable for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
Capital One submitted its request to the FCC for a Declaratory Ruling more than a year ago, noting that some individuals may want to opt out of receiving all messages from a company, but others may only want to opt out of receiving certain kinds of messages while still receiving other types.
A number of associations, including ACA International, have voiced their support for Capital One’s petition, as have a number of consumer advocacy groups, the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform noted in its letter to the FCC.
The current “lack of clarity” about how to properly handle and address opt out requests could lead to more lawsuits being filed by consumers against companies which “may have a chilling effect on legitimate businesses communicating with their customers,” the Chamber said in its letter.
An unclear opt-out message could lead companies to decide to cease all communications with individuals in fear of being sued for violating the TCPA should they seek some form of clarification from the consumer, the Chamber said.
“Provided the opt-out confirmation message does nothing more than confirm the scope of revocation (i.e., does not seek to persuade the customer to change their mind about their decision to opt-out of informational text messages), and if the consumer does not respond, then all future informational text messages will be discontinued,” the Chamber said in the letter. “Under these circumstances, there should be no distinction between this type of communication and the permissible one-time text message confirming a consumer’s request that no further text messages be sent under the TCPA.”
