overview
US regime
elsewhere
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overseas
This page considers overseas Do Not Call Registries.
It covers -
introduction
As noted in the preceding page, experience overseas offers
some pointers for development of an effective Australian
regime. Restrictions
are not in place in India (the origin of much cold calling
to Australia), in Japan, in Nigeria and in many other
jurisdictions.
UK
In the UK the Telecommunications (Data Protection
& Privacy) Regulations 1999 - reflecting the
1997 EU Privacy Directive - underpin the Telephone Preference
Service (TPS), Corporate Telephone Preference Service
(CTPS) and Facsimile Preference Service (FPS) schemes.
Those schemes are opt-out: individuals and organisations
must indicate that a landline/mobile number is not to
be called. The UK regime does not cover sequential automated
dialling.
The TPS is available to
- individual
subscribers at their residential addresses
- sole
traders
-
partnerships (except in Scotland).
Mobile
phone numbers can also be registered with the TPS. (The
service informs consumers that it cannot prevent receipt
of SMS.)
In December 2006 the national Information Commissioner,
a government agency, indicated that legal action was being
taken under the Privacy & Electronic Communications
Regulations 2003 against companies that "not
only called people without their prior consent, but continued
to call despite repeatedly being asked not to do so"
and ignoring the TPS.
Canada
Canada has been moving slowly towards an Australian-style
scheme, with the federal C-37
bill being criticised by Michael Geist and others as the
'do not hesitate to call' register.
Geist noted
that the proposed Canadian 'existing business relationship'
exception is broader than that in the US, allowing businesses
to contact former customers for up to 18 months after
the last communication.
Under
the revised rules, if you spend one night in a hotel,
the hotel chain can call you for the next 18 months,
even if you register your phone number on the do-not-call
list. Similarly, if you call a long-distance provider
for information about their latest plan, they can call
you for the next six months. All of this is in
addition to the blanket exception for charitable calls,
calls from political parties, and polling company calls
seeking participation in surveys.
In
July 2007 the Canadian Radio-television & Telecommunications
Commission, counterpart of Australia's ACMA, announced
that it will seek proposals for establishment and operation
of a national Do Not Call List (aka DNCL).
Canadian telemarketers will be banned from calling numbers
registered on that list. If they contravene the list,
a consumer has two weeks to file a complaint, with the
marketer facing a fine of up to C$1,500 for individuals
or C$15,000 for corporations. Registered charities, political
parties, pollsters, newspapers and any business with which
an individual has had dealings in the preceding 18 months
can "override" the list. Registration will last
for three years. The no-call rules will also apply to
voicemail broadcasts.
New Zealand
In contrast to the preceding nations, New Zealand currently
relies on a voluntary code of practice.
In 1992 the Ministry of Consumer Affairs reviewed the
New Zealand Door to Door Sales Act 1967, responding
to criticisms that marketers had targeted vulnerable consumers,
engaged in coercion and called at inappropriate times.
The Ministry acknowledged that there were substantial
concerns but promoted self regulation of the direct marketing
industry.
The New Zealand Direct Marketing Association (NZDMA),
counterpart of Australia's ADMA and like it representing
only some telemarketers, articulated a code of "telemarketing
ethics practice" in December 2000. That code covered
NZDMA members and essentially restated New Zealand consumer
law, a phenomenon common in several jurisdictions where
marketer advocacy groups have been at pains not to get
ahead of often outdated consumer protection and privacy
law.
Observers have suggested that the New Zealand regime will
evolve in emulation of Australia and with adoption of
automated calling technologies.
NZ Telecom currently requires telemarketers to gain a
permit for unsolicited automated calls, although perceived
ineffectiveness in policing the scheme is increasingly
criticised.
The permit obligates the marketer to -
-
indicate that they will operate during 'reasonable hours'
(with no calls after 9pm on any day)
-
ensure that their equipment will identify itself as
automatic dialling equipment, briefly state the reason
for calls and invite consumers to hang up, or key a
particular digit if calls are of interest.
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