FCC Proposals Threaten US 'Phone Research

In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is due to vote on June 18th on new proposals which the Marketing Research Association (MRA) says 'could seriously harm survey, opinion and marketing research conducted by phone'.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler (D) has outlined a proposal with five main strands:

1. authorize call-blocking technology (which may or may not differentiate between robocalls and calls using an autodialer)
2. broaden the definition of an autodialer in a way that could bring in many calls made by research companies
3. require express written prior consent for autodialer calls to cell phones
4. penalize calls to cell phones that have been reassigned to new users, allowing just one call to ascertain this fact (apparently regardless of whether the fact is conveyed during the call), and
5. potentially extend the telemarketing opt out rules to non-telemarketing calls using autodialers.

MRA's Howard Fienberg says many of the problems come from the vague terminology used, Chairman Wheeler 'like most policymakers and activists' playing 'fast and loose with his terms' - he uses the phrases 'unwanted calls', 'telemarketing calls' and 'robocalls' interchangeably, as well as saying 'robocall' when referring to a call made with an autodialer.

The TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act), passed in 1991, restricts most telephone research calls to cell phones by requiring express prior consent to use automatic telephone dialing systems (ATDS), commonly known as autodialers. Litigation under the Act grew by 560% between 2010 and 2014, the MRA says, and furthermore trial lawyers have discovered that 'survey, opinion and marketing research can be a lucrative target for TCPA class action suits'. Six TCPA class actions have already been launched against research companies this year, and the new rules will provide 'an even bigger boon to such frivolous legal assaults'.

The new rule would require express written prior consent in order to autodial a cell phone - currently the consent rule only applies to telemarketing calls, whereas Wheeler proposes to clarify the definition of an autodialer to 'include any technology with the potential to dial random or sequential numbers'.

In conclusion, the MRA says that 'Many of the 'unwanted calls' consumers might complain about, and which Wheeler references throughout his blog, are already illegal' - they are mostly robocall scams whose perpetrators have often been forced overseas. 'Instead of helping to hunt down these bad actors and put them out of business, the FCC Chairman proposes rules that might lead to the indiscriminate blocking out of most telephone calls from good actors. The FCC Chairman's new rules need to be rethought or rejected. Survey, opinion and marketing research calls need to be excluded from these changes, and preferably from the TCPA restrictions on autodialed calls to cell phones as a whole. We'll continue to advocate that case and keep the research profession informed'.


Feinberg (pictured), based in Washington, DC, is MRA's lobbyist for the survey and opinion research profession in the United States, focusing primarily on consumer/data privacy and data security issues at the state and federal level; has more than 12 years of public policy experience including time as senior legislative staffer for two Representatives; and more than four years with a science policy think tank. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the American League of Lobbyists.

Web site: www.marketingresearch.org .