How to Fight Back Against Robocalls

By stephen of Kristensen, LLP posted in Robocalls on Friday, October 30, 2020.

Your phone number may feel as though every company and every organization on the planet has access to it, and the consequences of that fact must simply be suffered through and dealt with, with no real solution in sight. In 2020, we are almost too accustomed to the complete lack of privacy that we receive due to our information being bought and sold like a commodity that means nothing – especially with the ease and convenience offered by social media and the internet. That isn’t true at all, however – your personal information is your personal information. It belongs to you, and you absolutely have rights as to what can and cannot be done with it, and what invasions of privacy you do not need to stand for. It’s normal to feel frustrated, but you don’t need to feel helpless – here’s how you can fight back against robocalls.

 

A robocall is defined as a computerized autodialer being used to deliver a prerecorded message – most of us have received one. The script is usually the same: you get a call from a number you may not recognize, answer, and immediately find yourself assaulted with a message that you have no interest in. In many cases, these calls are not being placed legally, which means you have a right to defend yourself against them. It doesn’t matter whether you consider them a minor annoyance, an anxiety-inducing stressor, or anything in the middle – you have a right to privacy, and a right to not be harassed by intrusive and questionable marketing and sales tactics.

 

Federal laws and state laws in California both offer you protection from robocalls, which means there are rules that telemarketers need to follow – though they often don’t. Under federal law, telemarketers may not do the following:

 

• Solicit to residences using an artificial voice or prerecorded message
• Call a cellphone using automated telephone equipment
• Call a cellphone using an artificial or prerecorded voice
• Fail to maintain a ‘do not call’ list of individuals who have previously asked to not be contacted
• Fail to honor the national Do Not Call Registry

 

Under California law, robocalls are completely banned unless there is a pre-existing relationship between the individuals making and receiving the phone call. The following regulations also apply:

 

• A real person must come onto the line first, before an artificial voice or prerecorded message, to identify the nature of the call and organization
• The person answering the phone must consent to the recording being played
• The robocaller must disconnect once the prerecorded message is complete, or the person answering the call has disconnected.

 

These conditions must all be met by telemarketers placing phone calls, otherwise they are violating your personal rights and misusing your personal information.

 

Again, many of us take for granted the fact that we do have a right to privacy, and our information belongs to us. Instead of dealing with the violating and intrusive nature of illegal robocalls, please contact our office so we can help you fight back. We’ll work with you to seek justice against the responsible organizations, so you can be compensated for the damages caused by their actions, and enjoy your right to personal privacy and your personal information.