FCC

In a much-awaited decision, the U.S. Supreme Court (Supreme Court) has ruled that in civil enforcement proceedings under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), whether brought by the Government or in private civil suits, the Federal district courts (District Courts) are not bound by the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) interpretation of the TCPA. Rather, the

In case you missed it, below are recent posts from Privacy World covering the latest developments on data privacy, security and innovation. Please reach out to the authors if you are interested in additional information.

State Privacy Enforcement Updates: CPPA Extracts Civil Penalties in Landmark Case; State Regulators Form Consortium for Privacy Enforcement Collaboration |

In February of last year, Privacy World reported on the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC” or “Commission”) clarification and codification of its Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) consent rules (“Revocation Order”). Among other things, the agency confirmed that consent to receive autodialed calls and texts could be revoked by “any reasonable means” and included specific examples of such of such methods.Continue Reading FCC Approved Limited, One Year Waiver of Key Element of New TCPA Consent Revocation Rules

In case you missed it, below are recent posts from Privacy World covering the latest developments on data privacy, security and innovation. Please reach out to the authors if you are interested in additional information.

FCC Seeks Comment on Quiet Hours and Marketing Messages | Privacy World

New Class Action Threat: TCPA Quiet Hours and

We recently published a blog about a slew of class action complaints alleging that marketing text messages cannot be sent between the hours of 9:00 pm and 8:00 am (“Quiet Hours”) unless the recipient provides prior express invitation or permission to receive such messages during Quiet Hours (“Quiet Hour Claims”). As noted, based on the plain language of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), we disagree with this argument because marketing text messages already require prior express written consent from the called party. The Ecommerce Innovation Alliance (EIA) and others filed a petition for declaratory ruling (“Petition”) with the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) to address this application of Quiet Hours to marketing messages.Continue Reading FCC Seeks Comment on Quiet Hours and Marketing Messages

Actual spam calls have become a pervasive annoyance. On the other hand, text messages delivering information about exclusive sales and discounts are surely not if you have signed up for such messages.  But what about if those coveted discount code text messages are received late at night or early in the morning? That’s the question being raised in a flurry of class action complaints filed by the same Florida-based law firm.  

Key Takeaways

While these claims are sorted out, we recommend that businesses who send marketing messages ensure that such marketing messages are sent between the hours of 8:00 am and 9:00 pm based on the call recipient’s location. How do you determine the call recipient’s location for cell phones? A defensible position is using the call recipient’s area code to determine the caller’s location, although this is not a fool-proof method as people travel to different time zones with their cell phones. However, using the area code to assess location gives the business a defensible position, for now, as the plaintiffs in these recent class actions claim that they live in the area associated with their telephone’s area code. That defense may still be subject to challenge, though. In the alternative, businesses could obtain prior express written consent to receive marketing messages throughout the day, although from the plain reading of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), this should not be required.Continue Reading New Class Action Threat: TCPA Quiet Hours and Marketing Messages

In case you missed it, below are recent posts from Privacy World covering the latest developments on data privacy, security and innovation. Please reach out to the authors if you are interested in additional information.

Join SPB’s Alan Friel and Lydia de la Torre at the California Lawyers Association Privacy Law Section’s 2025 Annual Privacy

In December 2023, Privacy World reported on an order from the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) designed in part to close the “lead generator loophole” in the agency’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) consent rules. Now, just over a year later, on January 24, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (“11th Circuit” or “Court”) resoundingly rejected the FCC’s closure efforts, finding that the agency exceeded its statutory authority under the TCPA.Continue Reading Circuit Court Employs Loper Bright to Knock Out the FCC’s TCPA One-to-One Consent Rule