Senator Fuschillo Announces New Privacy Protections For New Yorkers

Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr. (8th Senate District), Chairman of the Senate Consumer Protection Committee, today announced that legislation he introduced which would improve the New York State "Do Not Call" Registry has passed both the Senate and the Assembly. As the original sponsor of the "Do Not Call" Registry in New York, Senator Fuschillo authored the new amendments to the law to offer greater privacy protection to those who have placed their numbers on the registry.

"The Registry is one of the most popular and effective programs in New York State and these enhancements would make it even more useful. New Yorkers would be provided with greater protection from telemarketers and would have increased privacy rights," stated Senator Fuschillo.

The improvements to the New York State registry would include eliminating a loophole in current law that allows telemarketers to make unsolicited calls to ask consumers for a "face-to-face" meeting or sales presentation to discuss an offer, as long as the consumer is not required to pay for any goods or services until after the sales meeting or presentation.

In addition, the legislation would amend the New York law permitting businesses to make unsolicited telemarketing calls to customers with whom they have an existing business relationship. Under this proposal, businesses would not be allowed to make telemarketing calls to consumers with whom they have an established business relationship, if those customers have asked not to receive them.

After New York State enacted legislation sponsored by Senator Fuschillo creating the State "Do Not Call" Registry, the federal government instituted a similar nationwide registry which contains many of the same restrictions as New York’s law. The federal registry already prohibits businesses from calling those customers who have already stated that they do not wish to receive calls from or on behalf of that seller and there is no federal exemption for callers requesting face-to-face meetings.

The differences between the New York State registry and the federal registry have created confusion for consumers in this State and this legislation would help to eliminate the differences between the two registries and allow for better enforcement by the New York State Consumer Protection Board.
"This would clearly define what is and what is not acceptable under the guidelines of the New York State registry and allow the consumer more opportunity to protect their privacy. This would make the State and federal "Do Not Call" laws more consistent, and help avoid any confusion over the rights afforded to consumers," concluded Senator Fuschillo.
Over 4 million phone numbers have been registered with the New York State "Do Not Call" Registry since its inception in 2000 and the Consumer Protection Board has collected over one million dollars. To register your phone number, please visit www.donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222.

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