On Oct. 16, 2013, new FCC regulations related to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) -- which established the federal "do not call" list -- go into effect. The new rules will have significant implications for marketers by introducing a prior express written consent requirement for text messages and calls to mobile phones. Much of the so called “opt-in” data floating around in this industry will not meet the new rigorous mobile device consent standards. For example, the “established business relationship” exception for pre-recorded messages will no longer suffice.
Among other things, the new rules require that marketers have prior express written consent to autodial or send pre-recorded messages to cell phones. The rules, which put the
burden of proof for compliance on the marketer/caller, come with stiff penalties ($500- $1,500 per call/text) and will open the door for consumer class action lawsuits.
The new TCPA rules will have broad implications for three reasons:
Many marketers that make outbound calls to consumers utilize call centers. These call centers typically use autodialing software to make the calling process more efficient.
A growing percentage of U.S. households exclusively rely on wireless phones. As of June 2012, 35.8% of U.S. households were wireless only.
Consumers can bring private lawsuits or initiate class action lawsuits against marketers that violate the regulations.
Internet marketers face a particularly difficult burden of certification and recordkeeping. Internet leads, also known as web leads or inquiries, are generated when a consumer fills out a form on a website requesting to be contacted by a business (marketer). Companies that buy and sell Internet leads constitute a $1.7 billion industry. Marketers will have to develop special consent acquisition and certification protocols for these third-party leads.
3. The Easy Part
Adding consent disclosures to your online
forms
The Hard Part
Capturing and documenting proof of
consent
4. Our Solution: TrustedForm
• The first lead certification solution, launched in
2010
• Independently collects and stores evidence for
every lead
• Authoritative proof of consent presented in an
easy-to-understand format
• Cost-effective and easy to implement
5. How TrustedForm Works
1. Add the universal TrustedForm script to
form pages
2. Script automatically generates a certificate
for every lead in real time
3. Claim the certificate via API, and keep as
additional field with lead data
6. What Is a TrustedForm Certificate?
• Virtual document accessible
as a unique URL
• Displays authoritative proof
of consent
• Can be emailed or printed as
tangible proof
8. What Does Proof of Consent Look
Like?
Every TrustedForm Certificate
includes:
• Date/time of consumer visit
• IP address, browser and OS of
visitor
• The URL of website
• Real-time screenshot
• Full copy of HTML and images
15. Rigorous Methodology
• Data captured and stored by a
neutral third party
• All data independently collected
through TrustedForm script
• Multi-step process to help
prevent tampering
• Doesn’t rely on vendor-supplied
data
16. Real-Time Screenshots
• Allows for visual review of
exactly what the consumer saw
• Shows whether form was pre-
populated
17. Real-Time Page Scanning
• Certificate includes a copy of the
full HTML code and images of the
web page
• Scans the HTML code in real time;
verifies that the full, correct
disclosure language is present
• Verifies proof of consent without
sales delay
18. Lead Fingerprinting
• Ensures the certificate matches
corresponding lead data
• Verifies the submitted phone number
matches corresponding lead data
• Embedded in every certificate
19. Publisher-Friendly Solution
• Universal script
• Script is extremely fast and
reliable (issuing 50+ million
certs/month)
• Transparent about the data
collected
• Proprietary information is
protected
21. TCPA compliance is easy with
TrustedForm
1. Add disclosures to your web forms
2. Issue & store TrustedForm Certificates
with your leads
3. Scan page snapshots in real time to
verify consent