Q&A: The National Do Not Call
Registry
Tell Me More About the National
Do Not Call Registry.
1. Why would I register my phone
number with the National Do Not Call Registry?
The National Do Not Call Registry
gives you an opportunity to limit the telemarketing
calls you receive. If you registered by August 31, 2003,
you should be receiving fewer telemarketing calls since
October 1, 2003. If you registered after September 1,
2003, telemarketers covered by the National Do Not Call
Registry will have up to three months from the date
you register to stop calling you.
2. Who manages the National Do
Not Call Registry?
The National Do Not Call Registry
is managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the
nation's consumer protection agency. It will be enforced
by the FTC, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),
and state law enforcement officials.
3. Why was the National Do Not
Call Registry created?
The registry was created to offer
consumers a choice regarding telemarketing calls. The
FTC's decision to create the National Do Not Call Registry
was the culmination of a comprehensive, three-year review
of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), as well as the
Commission's extensive experience enforcing the TSR
over seven years. The FTC held numerous workshops, meetings,
and briefings to solicit feedback from interested parties
and considered over 64,000 public comments, most of
which favored creating the registry. You can review
the entire record of the Rule review at www.ftc.gov/bcp/rulemaking/tsr/tsrrulemaking/index.htm.
How Does Registration Work?
4. How soon after I register will
I notice a reduction in calls?
If you registered by August 31, 2003,
you should have started receiving fewer telemarketing
calls after October 1, 2003. If you registered after
September 1, 2003, telemarketers covered by the National
Do Not Call Registry will have up to three months from
the date you register to stop calling you.
5. I've already registered on my
state's do not call list. Do I need to register on the
National Do Not Call Registry?
The answer depends on where you live.
Fifteen states have shared their data with the national
registry (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut,
Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts,
Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, and Oklahoma). If
you registered your phone number on one of these state
lists before June 26, 2003, you do not have to
re-register with the national registry. If you are at
all uncertain about your registration, you may wish
to visit www.donotcall.gov to verify your status. Also,
some state lists have shared or will share their data
with the national registry after June 26, 2003.
If you want to check whether your telephone number was
shared, you can verify by visiting
www.donotcall.gov.
6. When I register my phone number,
how long until it shows up on the National Do Not Call
Registry?
After you register, your phone number
will show up on the registry by the next day. Telemarketers
will have up to three months to get your phone number
and remove it from their call lists.
7. What if I change my mind? Can
I take my number off the National Do Not Call Registry?
You can delete your phone number only
by calling toll-free 1-888-382-1222 from the telephone
number you want to delete. After you contact the registry
to delete it, it will be removed from the National Do
Not Call Registry by the next day. But telemarketers
have up to three months to access information about
your deletion and add your number back to their call
lists, if they choose to. If you have any particular
concern about the deletion process, you may send a question
via e-mail to tsrquestions@ftc.gov.
8. If I registered by phone, will
I receive a confirmation?
No, but you can verify that your number
is on the registry online at
www.donotcall.gov or by calling the registry's toll-free
number (1-888-382-1222) and following the prompts for
verifying that your number is on the registry.
9. I received a phone call from
someone offering to put my name on the National Do Not
Call Registry. Should I let them?
No. The FTC will not allow private
companies or other such third parties to register consumers
for the National Do Not Call Registry. Web sites or
phone solicitations that claim they can or will register
a consumer's name or phone number on the National Do
Not Call Registry - especially those that charge a fee
- are almost certainly a scam. Consumers are able to
register directly, or through some state governments,
but never through private companies. For consumers,
the National Do Not Call Registry is a free service
of the federal government.
What About the Privacy of My Information?
10. If I choose to register my
phone number, how will my information be used and disclosed?
We collect your phone number and store
it the National Do Not Call Registry so that telemarketers
and sellers covered by the FTC's rules can remove your
phone number from their call lists. Telemarketers are
required to search the registry every three months and
delete from their call lists phone numbers that are
in the registry. Phone numbers in the registry also
may be shared with law enforcement to assure compliance
with federal and state law.
If you contact us via the Internet,
we also collect your email address to confirm your registration
request. We will store your email address in a secure
manner, separate from your telephone number. We will
not share your email address with telemarketers.
For more information about the privacy
of your information, please see our privacy policy at
www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.
What Phone Numbers Can I Register?
11. Can I register my cell phone
number?
Yes.
12. Can I register all my family
and friends?
No. You should register only your
own telephone numbers.
13. I have more than three personal
telephone numbers. How can I register all of those numbers?
You may register up to three telephone
numbers at one time on the National Do Not Call Registry
Web site. You will receive a separate confirmation email
for each number you wish to register online. You must
open each email and click on the link in each one to
complete the registration process. If you have more
than three personal telephone numbers, you will have
to go through the registration process more than once
to register all of your numbers. There is a limit on
the number of phone numbers you can register in this
manner.
You can register only one phone number
each time you call the National Do Not Call Registry,
and you must call from the phone number you wish to
register.
14. What happens if I register
more than one number at a time online?
You will get an email for each number
you register online. You need to open each email and
click on the link in each email within 72 hours to register
those numbers.
15. Can I register my business
phone number?
The National Do Not Call Registry
is only for personal phone numbers. Business-to-business
calls are not covered by the National Do Not Call Registry.
When Does My Registration Expire?
16. How long does my phone number
stay registered?
Your phone number will remain on the
registry for five years from the date you register (unless
you choose to take it off the registry or your phone
number is disconnected). If you register online, you
may want to print the Web page for your records when
your registration is accepted.
17. How can I find out when my
registration expires?
You can click on the Verify a Registration
button any time to check your expiration date. Your
registration will expire five years from your registration
date. You may want to print the Web page with your registration
date for your records.
What If I Move or My Phone Is Disconnected?
18. I moved and got a new phone
number. Do I need to register the new number?
Yes.
19. Do I need to take my old phone
number off the list when I get a new number?
No. You can if you would like to,
but the system will automatically remove numbers that
are disconnected for any reason.
20. What happens if my phone number
is disconnected and then reconnected?
If your phone number is disconnected
for any reason, and then reconnected, you will need
to re-register. Here are some examples:
- If you have a vacation home, and you disconnect
the service for the months you are not there, then
you need to re-register that phone number when you
turn your service on again. Each time you re-register,
telemarketers have three months to take your number
off their call lists.
- If your phone service was disconnected because
of a billing issue, then you need to re-register the
phone number when service is re-established. Each
time you re-register, telemarketers have three months
to take your number off their call lists.
Registration and My Email Address.
21. Why do you need my email address?
When you use the registry's Web site
to put a phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry,
we collect your email address to confirm your request.
We will send you an email and you will need to click
on the link in the email within 72 hours to finalize
your registration. We also collect your email address
when you request to verify your registration online
so that we can email you a response to your verification
request. We will store your email address in a secure
manner, separate from your telephone number. We will
not share your email address with telemarketers.
22. Can I register online if I
do not have an active email address?
No. The online registration process
requires an active email address. If you register online,
we will send you an email message with a link in it.
You need to click on the link in the email within 72
hours to finalize your registration. If you do not have
an email address, you can register by phone (1-888-382-1222).
23. Can I reply to the email I
got when I was registering?
No. The email address is a one-way
mail service. It cannot accept incoming emails.
24. What if my email address changes
after I register? Will I still be able to verify my
registration on the national registry?
Yes, you will be able to use your
new email address to verify your phone number online.
I'm Having Problems with Registration.
25. I called to register my phone
number, but the message said my phone number could not
be verified. Why not?
When you call to register a phone
number, you are asked to enter the number you are calling
from. The system tries to match the number you enter
to "Automatic Number Identification" or ANI,
which is like Caller ID for the telephone network. A
small percentage of U.S. phones do not have ANI. If
your phone doesn't, the system will have trouble locating
your phone number. You can register your phone number
on the National Do Not Call Registry Web site at
www.donotcall.gov.
26. I called to register my phone
number, but the message said that the phone number I
was calling from did not match the phone number I entered.
What happened?
To register, you must call from the
phone you want to register. For example, you cannot
register your home phone number by calling from work.
Also, people in certain communities
- such as senior living centers or university residences
- have phone numbers that are hidden by a PBX (private
branch exchange) telephone system and cannot be matched
by the National Do Not Call system. If you live in such
a community, you can register your phone number on the
National Do Not Call Registry Web site at
www.donotcall.gov.
Will All Telemarketing Calls Stop
If I Register?
27. If I register my number on
the National Do Not Call Registry, will it stop all
telemarketing calls?
No. Placing your number on the National
Do Not Call Registry will stop most telemarketing calls,
but not all. Because of limitations in the jurisdiction
of the FTC and FCC, calls from or on behalf of political
organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors would
still be permitted, as would calls from companies with
which you have an existing business relationship, or
those to whom you've provided express agreement in writing
to receive their calls.
28. Are calls from political organizations
or calls soliciting for charities covered?
Political solicitations are not covered
by the TSR at all, since they are not included in its
definition of "telemarketing." Charities are
not covered by the requirements of the national registry.
However, if a third-party telemarketer is calling on
behalf of a charity, a consumer may ask not to receive
any more calls from, or on behalf of, that specific
charity. If a third-party telemarketer calls again on
behalf of that charity, the telemarketer may be subject
to a fine of up to $11,000.
29. What about telephone surveys?
If the call is really for the sole
purpose of conducting a survey, it is not covered. Only
telemarketing calls are covered - that is, calls that
solicit sales of goods or services. Callers purporting
to take a survey, but also offering to sell goods or
services, must comply with the National Do Not Call
Registry.
30. My number is on the National
Do Not Call Registry. After I bought something from
a company, a telemarketer representing that organization
called me. Is this a violation?
No. By purchasing something from the
company, you established a business relationship with
the company. As a result, even if you put your number
on the National Do Not Call Registry, that company may
call you for up to 18 months after your last purchase
or delivery from it, or your last payment to it, unless
you ask the company not to call again. (In that case,
the company must honor your request not to call. If
they subsequently call you again, they may be subject
to a fine of up to $11,000.)
An established business relationship with a company
also will be created if you make an inquiry to the company,
or submit an application to it. This kind of established
business relationship exists for three months after
the inquiry or application. During this time, the company
can call you.
If you make a specific request to
that company not to call you, however, then the company
may not call you, even if you have an established business
relationship with that company.
31. Are telemarketing calls from
overseas covered?
Yes. Any telemarketers calling U.S.
consumers are covered, regardless of where they are
calling from. If a company within the U.S. solicits
sales through an overseas professional telemarketer,
that U.S. company may be liable for any violations by
the telemarketer. The FTC can initiate enforcement actions
against such
companies.
Other Ways to Limit Telemarketing
Calls.
32. I'm happy to have the choice to limit telemarketing
contacts, but there are some telemarketing calls I don't
mind receiving. Is there a way to allow only certain
companies to call?
Yes. If you give a company your written
permission to call you, they may do so even if you have
placed your number on the National Do Not Call Registry.
33. If I don't want to put my number
on the National Do Not
Call Registry, can I still stop telemarketers from calling?
Yes. Even if you do not register with
the National Do Not Call Registry, you can still prohibit
individual telemarketers from calling by asking them
to put you on their company's do not call list.
34. What is the relationship between
the state do not call lists and the National Do Not
Call Registry in terms of coverage?
The National Do Not Call Registry
requirements are at least as stringent as most state
laws. Most unwanted telemarketing calls will be covered
by the National Do Not Call Registry. States also can
continue to enforce their laws, which will not be limited
by the FTC. However, the FCC's requirements impact some
state laws. For information on the FCC's rule, visit
www.fcc.gov.
Filing a Do Not Call Complaint.
35. When would I file a do not
call complaint?
If your number has been on the National
Do Not Call Registry for at least three months and you
receive a call from a telemarketer that you believe
is covered by the National Do Not Call Registry, you
can file a complaint at the registry's Web site at www.donotcall.gov.
To file a complaint, you must know either the name or
telephone number of the company that called you, and
the date the company called you.
36. When can I file a do not call
complaint?
If you registered your phone number
between June 27 and August 31, 2003, then you could
file a complaint at any time if a telemarketer has called
you.
If you registered your phone number
after August 31, 2003, then you must wait three months
before most telemarketers must stop calling. After three
months, you can file a do not call complaint on the
registry's Web site at
www.donotcall.gov or by calling the registry's toll-free
number at 1-888-382-1222.
37. How do I file a do not call
complaint? What do I need to file a complaint?
You can file your complaint on the
registry's Web site, www.donotcall.gov, using the File
a Complaint page. You must know either the name or the
phone number of the company that called you. You also
must provide the date that the company called you and
your registered phone number. You may provide your name
and address, but it's not required for you to submit
a complaint. You also may also call the registry's toll-free
number at (1-888-382-1222) to file a complaint.
38. What happens to my complaint?
Do not call complaints will be entered
into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available
to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies
worldwide. While the FTC does not resolve individual
consumer problems, your complaint will help us investigate
the company and could lead to law enforcement action.
39. What if I get a telemarketing
call, but can't get the telemarketer's name or phone
number?
For law enforcement officials to take
action on your complaint, they need either the telemarketer's
name or phone number, as well as the date of the call.
If you want to report a do not call violation, please
get that information.
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