The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was enacted in the early 1990s. That makes sense, because the internet wasn’t fully baked yet and many businesses conducted sales and collected personal information from their customers over the phone.
Later, it was expanded to include faxes, text messages and automated calls. In essence, the TCPA is a set of rules that outline when companies are allowed to call customers, to give customers the right to opt-out of those phone calls, and the right for a customer to ask who and where the caller is.
So, what does this have to do with cookie consent management platform? Let’s take a look!
Cookie Consent Management Platform and the TCPA
When users visit your website, they may fill out a form or make a purchase using their personal information, including their phone number. In order to be TCPA compliant, it’s important to have an easy-to-read cookie banner and privacy policy that allows them to accept or decline calls, texts and faxes from your business.
That way, customers can understand exactly what they’re consenting to. In addition, your business will have that consent and preference on record.
These records are important, because more regulatory bodies are cracking down on businesses who haven’t complied in the past and aren’t complying with future laws. Everyone is scrambling to keep up, and confusion is mounting. Especially for small business owners, any fine or violation will hit hard.
We don’t want that to happen to you! In just the past few months, large companies like Facebook, Twitter, Discord and more have been fined both globally and locally. While they have a robust team of lawyers, it still hasn’t kept them exempt from following the rules.
What are preferences and how do I manage them?
If a customer decides to change their mind about preferences later, it will be easy to do with a cookie management platform. Under many laws, both recent and further back, the right to correct or delete personal information is being enacted.
This totally makes sense. If a user notices that something isn’t correct or decides that they no longer wish to be contacted by a company, they should be able to make those changes without too much trouble.
It also shouldn’t be an inconvenience for a business. Imagine trying to do all of that manually. Impossible! Instead, having a solution that helps you and your customers out is the smart choice to make.
What are cookies & Third-Party Cookies?
Cookies are small pieces of data that are collected from users and customers on your website. They are used to identify individuals and cater to their preferences. For instance, a business may use information from cookies to deliver ads or offer services to a user based on their browsing history, location, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and past purchases.
Up until just a couple of years ago, many businesses were gathering this data without oversight. Most business owners weren’t being purposefully malicious, but there were some that took advantage of all the information that was freely being given. This includes the sharing and sale of cookies (AKA third-party cookies) with other companies who wished to advertise with the same customers. It also did not give users the insight they needed to dictate where their personal information would go.
This became even more concerning after the rise of COVID. Understandably, more people were online because they couldn’t go out. This included even very sensitive data, like healthcare and finances. Large eCommerce companies, financial institutions, and healthcare practitioners were not prepared. Knowing about cookie consent types would have probably helped – but it was still fairly new information for many business owners.
I didn’t know my business wasn’t compliant. Am I in trouble?
You don’t have to be. So long as you are following the rules with the right tools, you’ll be okay. The sooner you act, the better the outcome. Lawmakers, investigators and auditors will be able to see that you enacted every measure possible to stay in compliance as soon as you received the information. This will go a long way toward avoiding larger fines. It’ll also show your end users and customers that you are taking an extra step to help them keep their data private.
Will my business get in trouble if we’re not TCPA compliant?
There’s a strong possibility. If you drive your car past the police going 20 miles above the speed limit, there’s a chance they might be looking down during that exact moment – but it’s not a risk you want to take. It’s the same with compliance. Eventually, non-compliance will catch up with you. The TCPA has massive fines that could stack up fast, especially if your business makes a lot of phone calls or contacts individuals via text or fax.
Some of the fines include:
$500/violation
$1500/willful violation
$43,792/DNC violation
That’s a lot of money! Even if your company is found guilty of all three violations for a single customer, you could lose $45,792 – and that’s a low estimate.
What is the DNC?
The DNC is an abbreviation for the Do Not Call list. It plays a very important role in the TCPA. If a customer or user has placed themselves on the DNC, a company must comply for at least 5 years. That includes text messages, automated calls and faxes. There is a national DNC registry that all businesses must comply with. There are also local DNC lists that must be obeyed within certain regions.
Let’s get you TCPA compliant with a cookie consent management platform!
At Adzapier, we specialize in privacy and ensuring that your customers and your business remain safe. Our privacy experts spend their days researching and discussing changing laws, updating software, and managing it all so you don’t have to. Our cookie consent management platform is the best in the industry – and we’re proud to share it with you.
Here are some of the ways we stand out:
Customizable cookie banner
Preference management
Impeccable records
Specialized packages
Affordable prices
It’s also easy for us to get your company TCPA compliant within about 30 minutes. All you have to do is call one of our privacy experts and they’ll walk you through the whole process. Even better? You’ll get 14 days free to see if our cookie banner works for your website. That’s on us!