TCPA — Telephone Consumer Protection Act
What is TCPA?
The TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) is the US federal law restricting unsolicited calls, texts, and faxes made using an automatic dialing system or a prerecorded voice, generally requiring prior express written consent before a business can send marketing messages or calls to a consumer. TCPA violations carry statutory damages per message or call, which is why messaging and dialer platforms build consent tracking, opt-out (STOP) handling, and abandonment-rate limits directly into their sending logic.
More detail
Consent requirements under the TCPA are stricter for marketing content than for purely informational or transactional messages, and consent for one purpose generally doesn't automatically cover an unrelated later use.
Because TCPA damages are assessed per violation and can be pursued as a class action, a single flawed consent or opt-out process can create outsized legal exposure relative to the messages actually sent.
Frequently asked
- Does the TCPA apply to all business calls and texts?
- It applies most strictly to marketing calls and texts sent using an automatic dialing system or prerecorded voice; purely transactional or informational messages generally face a lower consent bar, though platforms typically apply consent and opt-out controls broadly regardless.
- Why are TCPA violations considered high-risk for a business?
- The law provides statutory damages per violation and allows class-action claims, so a single systemic consent or opt-out failure affecting many recipients can multiply into significant liability, well beyond what any individual message would suggest.
See also
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