The National Do Not Call Registry (www.donotcall.gov), managed by the Federal Trade Commission, gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. The FTC says despite re-current E-mails, it is still not necessary to register Cell Phone Numbers. You can register your phone either via the Web or by calling 1-888-382-1222, directly.
Registration is free for your home or mobile phone at the FTC-run site, www.donotcall.gov. Your registration will be effective for five years. Cell phone numbers will NOT be released to telemarketers at any time in the near future. It is not necessary to register cell phone numbers on the DNC Registry to be protected from most telemarketing calls to cell phones — but you can if you want.
According the the FTC’s website:
- Contrary to the e-mail, cell phone numbers are NOT being released to telemarketers, and you will NOT soon be getting telemarketing calls on your cell phone.
- There is NO deadline by which you must register your cell phone number on the Registry.
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. Automated dialers are standard in the industry, so most telemarketers are barred from calling consumers on their cell phones without their consent.
- The national associations representing telemarketers have stated that their clients do not intend to start calling consumers’ cell phones.
- There is only ONE DNC Registry. There is no separate registry for cell phones.
- The DNC Registry accepts registrations from both cell phones and land lines. You must call from the phone number that you want to register. If you register online, you must respond to a confirmation e-mail.
- While the telecommunications industry has been discussing the possibility of creating a wireless 411 directory, according to the FCC, even if a wireless 411 directory is established, most telemarketing calls to cell phones would still be illegal, regardless of whether the number is listed on the federal government’s National Do Not Call Registry.
Still, Bellevue-based Intelius claims it has some 240 million cellphone numbers in its database, or about the equivalent of every subscriber in the U.S. Lookups cost $15. Portland-based Qsent was trying to create a secure system to ensure numbers didn’t get into the hands of telemarketers. Chicago-based TransUnion bought Qsent last year and said Qsent’s technology is ready to go whenever the carriers decide to enable it.
For more information about a planned “wireless 411” directory, visit www.qsent.com/wireless411.
.gif)
