Dive Brief:
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The Federal Communications Commission Thursday approved a proposal to allow consumers to block robocalls and texts and restrict businesses and telemarketing companies from making them.
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The measure would make it easier for consumers to end calls by simply telling businesses “no” and boosts blocking technology, with some exceptions allowing businesses to alert consumers about potential fraud.
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The proposal comes as PayPal and eBay have inserted provisions in their new post-split user agreement that allows them to robocall and text customers for marketing, debt collection, and other purposes.
Dive Insight:
Robocalls and robo-texts, in most consumers’ minds, are just another form of spam, and the FCC appears to agree. Any effort to limit them, therefore, is usually widely appreciated. But there’s only so much the FCC can do about the nuisance, which some underhanded companies simply ignore.
Still, perhaps eBay and PayPal customers will end up with better ways to block robocalls than the inadequate opt-out methods the companies have offered so far.
