Today Attorney General Steve Six warned Kansas political campaign committees that federal law requires all telephone calls using pre-recorded messages to identify who is initiating the call and include a telephone number to reach them.
“As the primary election day draws near, voters will receive an increasing number of political robo-calls,” said Attorney General Six. “Political campaigns are now on notice: I will be aggressively enforcing the law against robo-calls that fail to disclose the proper information.”
Earlier this year, the Kansas Robo-Call Privacy Act, introduced by Attorney General Six, was defeated in the Kansas Senate. The Robo-Call Privacy Act (SB 456) would have established a comprehensive restriction on unsolicited, intrusive robo-calls in Kansas.
“Although state law does not yet allow me to protect Kansans’ privacy rights from political robo-calls, federal law authorizes me to make every effort to ensure that campaigns using robo-calls are not shrouded in secrecy,” Six said.
The Attorney General’s Office frequently receives complaints about unsolicited robo-calls. Although there is no state law restricting these automated, pre-recorded messages, the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requires robo-calls to state clearly at the beginning of the call the identity of the party responsible for initiating the call.
The call also must include the telephone number of the party initiating the call so that the person receiving the call will have an opportunity to demand not to receive any further calls. The telephone number provided may not be a 900 number or any other number for which charges exceed local or long distance transmission charges. The Kansas Attorney General’s Office is empowered to enforce the Act in Kansas. Violators of the Act may be subject to court-ordered injunctions and damages of up to $1500 per violation.
Kansans receiving robo-calls that do not comply with federal law should contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at www.ksag.org or by calling (785) 296-3751 or (800) 432-2310.
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Today Attorney General Steve Six warned Kansas political campaign committees that federal law requires all telephone calls using pre-recorded messages to identify who is initiating the call and include a telephone number to reach them.
“As the primary election day draws near, voters will receive an increasing number of political robo-calls,” said Attorney General Six. “Political campaigns are now on notice: I will be aggressively enforcing the law against robo-calls that fail to disclose the proper information.”
Earlier this year, the Kansas Robo-Call Privacy Act, introduced by Attorney General Six, was defeated in the Kansas Senate. The Robo-Call Privacy Act (SB 456) would have established a comprehensive restriction on unsolicited, intrusive robo-calls in Kansas.
“Although state law does not yet allow me to protect Kansans’ privacy rights from political robo-calls, federal law authorizes me to make every effort to ensure that campaigns using robo-calls are not shrouded in secrecy,” Six said.
The Attorney General’s Office frequently receives complaints about unsolicited robo-calls. Although there is no state law restricting these automated, pre-recorded messages, the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requires robo-calls to state clearly at the beginning of the call the identity of the party responsible for initiating the call.
The call also must include the telephone number of the party initiating the call so that the person receiving the call will have an opportunity to demand not to receive any further calls. The telephone number provided may not be a 900 number or any other number for which charges exceed local or long distance transmission charges. The Kansas Attorney General’s Office is empowered to enforce the Act in Kansas. Violators of the Act may be subject to court-ordered injunctions and damages of up to $1500 per violation.
Kansans receiving robo-calls that do not comply with federal law should contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at www.ksag.org or by calling (785) 296-3751 or (800) 432-2310.
