Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: FTC releases FY 2014 National Do Not Call Registry Data Book, (Nov 20, 2014)

By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.

The FTC yesterday released the National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. The FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry allows consumers to choose not to receive telemarketing calls, the agency said in an announcement.

In its sixth year of publication, the Data Book contains statistical information about the Registry for FY 2014 (from October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014), including: (1) the number of active registrations and consumer complaints since the Registry began in 2003; (2) FY 2014 complaint figures by month and type; (3) FY 2014 registration and complaint figures for all 50 states and the District of Columbia by population; (4) rankings of the number of Do Not Call registrations by state population; (5) the number of entities accessing the Registry by fiscal year; and (6) an appendix on registration and complaint figures by consumer state and area code.

According to the Data Book, at the end of FY 2014, the Do Not Call Registry contained 217,855,659 actively registered phone numbers, up from 213,400,640 at the end of FY 2013. In addition, the number of consumer complaints about unwanted telemarketing calls received decreased from 3,748,646 during FY 2013 to 3,241,086 during FY 2014.

The Data Book also reveals trends in complaint data. In addition to providing information on the total number of consumer complaints per month, it contains data on the number of monthly complaints specifically related to pre-recorded telemarketing “robocalls,” and requests for a telemarketer to stop calling.

During the past fiscal year, the FTC has continued to receive large numbers of consumer complaints about robocalls. The number of complaints has varied by month, ranging between a low in October of 85,167 and a high of 184,876 in August 2014.

Most telemarketing robocalls have been illegal since September 2009. As part of its effort to stop deceptive, misleading, and otherwise unlawful robocalls, the FTC will take action against entities that are violating the agency’s Telemarketing Sales Rule.

As part of the FTC’s ongoing efforts to stop illegal robocalls, the agency hosted its second public challenge in August 2014, called “Zapping Rachel.” The contest challenged participants at DEF CON 22 to design a robocall honeypot, which is an information system designed to attract robocallers, and help law enforcement authorities, researchers, and others gain enhanced insights into robocallers’ tactics.

News: ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews