Online payment service company PayPal has modified the terms of its recently revised User Agreement to address concerns that certain provisions were in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
In a June 29th posting on the PayPal website, Louise Pentland, PayPal’s senior vice-president and general counsel, notified users that the company had modified Sections 1.10 of its revised User Agreement to make clear that it would “not used autodialed or prerecorded calls or texts to contact our customers for marketing purposes without prior written consent.” Further, the company affirmed that consenting to receive such calls or text would not be a requirement for consumers wishing to use PayPal’s payment services.
Read the complete text of the PayPal posting regarding its revised service agreement.
Slated to take effect on July 1st, the original text of the revised User Agreement required users to “consent to receive autodialed or prerecorded calls and text messages from PayPal at any telephone number that you have provided us or that we have otherwise obtained.” The revised User Agreement also permitted PayPal to contact users by phone or text message with solicitations for PayPal offers and promotions, or to answer surveys and questionnaires.
The proposed changes prompted a letter in mid-June from the Enforcement Bureau of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, advising the company that the provisions regarding autodialed and prerecorded calls were likely a violation of TCPA rules that require prior express written consent of the consumer. The FCC also reminded PayPal that FCC requirements directly prohibit requiring consumer consent to receive robocalls as a condition of purchasing any service.
Photo by Steve Ganz 
