Module 9: Telecommunications & Marketing Flashcards
Discuss two general types of regulation for telecommunications and marketing about privacy issues
Will need to come back to this one
Name the main two federal agencies involved in the regulation of telecommunications
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have coordinated closely in their telecommunications requirements
Define “telemarketing” as it is relevant to federal regulation
Telemarketing is defined as “a plan, program, or campaign . . . to induce the purchase of goods or services or a charitable contribution” involving more than one interstate telephone call
List the types of entities subject to federal telemarketing rules
Compliance with telemarketing laws and rules is required by:
- Telemarketers - entities that initiate or receive telephone calls to or from consumers
- Sellers - entities that provide or arrange to provide the goods and services being offered
Explain the main requirements of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR)
The Telemarking Sales Rule (TSR) provides detailed rules about many aspects of how telemarketing calls can be made, including:
- Call only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.
- Screen and scrub names against the national Do Not Call Registry
- Display caller ID information
- Identify themselves and what they are selling
- Comply with special rules for automated dialers
Define the purpose of the U.S. National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry
The U.S. National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry provides a means for U.S. residents to register residential and wireless phone numbers that they do NOT wish to be called for telemarketing purposes
Discuss the 2019 initiative intended to address the problem of robocalls
In 2019, state attorneys general and telephone companies announced an initiative to fight robocalls calls to address the estimated 4.7 billion robocalls per month that Americas receive.
12 of the U.S.’s largest telephone companies pledged to all 50 state AGs (plus DC) to implement call-blocking technologies and make anti-robocall tools available for free.
These technologies include:
- SHAKEN: Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs AND
- STIR: Secure Telephone Identity Revisited
Describe the federal law that prohibits unsolicited commercial fax transmissions
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), in addition to regulating telemarketing and Internet-to-phone short message service (SMS) marketing, prohibits unsolicited commercial fax transmissions
List the federal law that regulates unsolicited commercial electronic mail
The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM)
Explain whether the federal law that regulates unsolicited commercial electronic mail preempts all state laws
CAN-SPAM preempts most state laws that restrict email communications, although state spam laws are not superseded by CAN-SPAM to the extent such laws prohibit false or deceptive activity
Describe the main restriction related to mobile service commercial messages (MSCMs) – texts
The FCC’s rules cover messages sent using SMS technology, but do not cover phone-to-phone messages
List the section of the Telecommunications Act that relates to privacy of customer information
Section 222 of the act governs the privacy of customer information provided to and obtained by telecommunications carriers
Define the acronym CPNI from the Telecommunications Act
Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) is information collected by telecommunications carriers related to their subscribers, including:
- Subscription information
- Services used
- Network and billing information
- Phone features and capabilities
- Call log data such as time, date, destination and duration of calls
NOTE: Certain PI - such as name, telephone number and address - is not considered CPNI
Explain which entities are subject to the regulations related to CPNI
The CPNI requirements apply to telecommunications carriers and voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) providers interconnected with telephone service
Historically, they did not apply to broadband Internet service providers (ISPs)
- In 2016, the FCC issued a regulation to regulate privacy for customers of broadband ISPs
- This regulation was repealed under the Trump administration
- Today, ISPs are subject to the general CPNI requirements of Section 222
Describe the requirements for a privacy notice under the Cable Communications Policy Act
At the time of entering into an agreement to provide cable services, and then annually, cable service providers must give subscribers a privacy notice that “clearly and conspicuously” informs subscribers of:
- the nature of the PI collected
- how such information will be used
- the retention period of such information
- the manner by which a subscriber can access and correct such information
