United States. ePrivacy / marketing. Act
TCPATelephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (47 U.S.C. § 227)
In force
Partly verified
Medium confidence.Not re-verified against a primary source in this session (search budget exhausted); details from established knowledge.
§1Summary
- Synopsis
Restricts telemarketing calls, autodialled and prerecorded/artificial-voice calls and texts to mobiles, and unsolicited faxes. Requires prior express (written, for marketing) consent and honours Do Not Call lists.
- Key themes
- Unique features
Private right of action with statutory damages per call drives large class actions; FCC confirmed in 2024 that AI-generated voices are 'artificial'.
- SaaS relevance
SaaS offering SMS/voice campaigns, or using SMS for marketing, must manage consent capture and opt-outs.
§2Obligations
- Extraterritorial
- Limited
- Breach notification
- None
- DPO
- No
- Cross-border transfers
- None
- Maximum penalty
- $500 per call/text, trebled to $1,500 if wilful (private action)
§3Dates
- Key dates
- Adopted
- In force
- FCC rules 47 C.F.R. 64.1200; National Do Not Call Registry 2003; FCC 'one-to-one consent' rule vacated by 11th Cir. in January 2025; McLaughlin Chiropractic (US Sup. Ct. 2025) ended binding deference to FCC interpretations.
§4Text and authority
- Text
- Authoritative text uscode.house.gov
- Authority
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC); state AGs; private litigants
§5Where it applies
- Domestic law of
- United States
- Also applies in
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Guam
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Puerto Rico
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- US Virgin Islands
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
§6Sources and verification
- Sources consulted
- Verification
Medium confidence.
Partly verified
Medium confidence.Not re-verified against a primary source in this session (search budget exhausted); details from established knowledge.