FCC Revocation of Consent Rulemaking

1. Revocation Can Be Category-Specific for Informational Calls

The FCC now allows callers to treat a consumer’s opt-out request as applying only to the specific category of informational robocall or text that prompted the revocation, rather than all future informational communications. 

Examples given by the FCC:

• A consumer who opts out of payment reminders does not necessarily opt out of:
  • fraud alerts,
  • multi-factor authentication notices,
  • appointment reminders,
  • utility outage notifications, or
  • other categories of informational calls. 

The FCC concluded that the prior “revoke all” approach often conflicted with consumer expectations and could unintentionally block important communications. 

2. Telemarketing Revocations Remain Broad

The category-specific rule does not apply to telemarketing.  If a consumer revokes consent in response to a telemarketing call or text, the revocation applies to all future telemarketing calls and texts from that caller.  The FCC also reiterates that consumers can already stop telemarketing calls through existing do-not-call rights. 

3. Callers May Designate an Exclusive Revocation Method

One of the most important changes is that callers no longer must honor revocations made through every “reasonable means” if they designate an approved exclusive opt-out method. The FCC permits callers to require consumers to revoke consent through one or more designated mechanisms:

1. Interactive voice or key-press opt-out during a call.
2. Replying to texts with standardized words such as:
   • STOP
   • QUIT
   • END
   • REVOKE
   • OPT OUT
   • CANCEL
   • UNSUBSCRIBE
3. A website or telephone number designated by the caller. 

If properly disclosed, callers are not required to process revocation requests submitted through other methods. This substantially limits arguments that statements made to customer service representatives, emails to unrelated departments, or other unconventional communications automatically constitute valid revocations, provided the caller has properly designated an approved exclusive method. 

4. Disclosure Requirements

If a caller designates an exclusive method, it must clearly disclose that method in the call or text.  For text messaging programs, the FCC allows a sender to satisfy the disclosure requirement by identifying even a single recognized keyword, such as: “Reply STOP to opt out.” However, the sender must still recognize all of the FCC-approved keywords as valid revocation requests. 

5. Ten-Business-Day Processing Window Remains

All valid revocation requests must be honored within a reasonable time, not to exceed 10 business daysafter receipt. 

6. Confirmation Texts Are Allowed

A sender may send a single confirmation text after receiving an opt-out request, provided the text:

• merely confirms the opt-out,
• contains no marketing content, and
• is sent within a reasonable period. 

A confirmation sent within five minutes is presumed compliant. 

7. Financial Institution Fraud Alert Expansion

The FCC broadened the existing TCPA exemption that permits certain fraud-alert calls and texts without prior consent.  Financial institutions may now rely on telephone numbers obtained from “reliable sources,” including:

• an authorized spouse or family member,
• a number obtained when the customer contacted the institution, or
• records acquired from another financial institution. 

The FCC’s purpose was to facilitate delivery of fraud and identity-theft alerts.

View the FCC Revocation of Consent Rulemaking here.