Legal Disclaimer
This is not legal advice, but rather information and guidelines on applicable US marketing laws and RollWorks’ services. The guidelines may change over time to reflect updated best practices. You should consult with your own counsel, privacy professionals, and/or internal resources to determine a comprehensive and appropriate solution for your business and marketing activities.
Overview
RollWorks Contact Discovery service allows customers to discover the email and/or phone number information for an individual indicating interest on the customers’ site or an individual who works at a company that is of interest to the RollWorks customer.
What are the legal issues?
Several US marketing laws govern when, how and under what circumstances an individual can be contacted for marketing purposes. In an era where many people use personal cell phones for work (remotely or otherwise), we recommend working with legal counsel or a privacy expert to establish a company policy for how to use contact discovery information obtained from RollWorks.
For example, the The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) prohibits any solicitation calls to consumers whose telephone numbers are registered on the do-not-call list (“DNC list”). An individual may put themselves on a DNC list at any time, so it is a good idea to follow a company policy that consults the DNC list before placing calls to someone you have not met and do not know.
Generally speaking, the TCPA and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules under the TCPA prohibit marketers from sending automated calls, pre-recorded messages, and text messages to cell phones without prior express consent. Further, using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) to store or produce telephone numbers to be called using a random or sequential number generator and to dial such numbers is restricted. In addition, solicitors cannot call a residence before 8 a.m. or after 9 pm, local time.
The FTC provides helpful resources and FAQs on their site.
For email communications, the CAN-SPAM Act outlines requirements for commercial messages and includes a number of requirements such as:
- Unsubscribe: Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future emails from you by providing a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting marketing emails in the future.
- Honor opt-out requests promptly: You must comply with a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days.
- Don’t use false or misleading header information: The “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
- Avoid deceptive subject lines: The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
- Identify your message as an ad: You must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.
- Location Information: Your message must include your valid physical postal address.
Additional Resources
- https://www.fcc.gov/general/telemarketing
- CAN-SPAM | Federal Communications Commission (fcc.gov)
- https://www.fcc.gov/enforcement/areas/unwanted-communications