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2020 SESSION

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SB 812 Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act; telephone solicitation calls.

Introduced by: Joseph D. Morrissey | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED SENATE:

Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act. Provides that for the purposes of the Virginia Telephone Privacy Act (the Act), "telephone solicitation call" includes any text message sent to any wireless telephone with a Virginia area code, or to a wireless telephone registered to any natural person who is a resident of the Commonwealth, for the purpose of offering or advertising any property, goods, or services for sale, lease, license, or investment, including offering or advertising an extension of credit or for the purpose of fraudulent activity. The bill prohibits a telephone solicitor from engaging in any conduct that results in the display of false or misleading caller identification information on the called party's telephone. The bill increases the amount of damages and the amount of the civil penalty for violations of the Act from $500 for each such violation to $500 for a first violation, $1,000 for a second violation, and $5,000 for each subsequent violation and increases to $5,000 the maximum civil penalty the court may impose for a willful first or second violation. This bill is identical to HB 1244.

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Telephone privacy protection. Requires a telephone solicitor to immediately disclose who is calling and what property, good, or service is being offered. The measure also prohibits caller ID spoofing, which is defined in the bill as causing any caller identification service to transmit caller identification information that represents or states that the call originates from a telephone with an area code assigned to an area in the Commonwealth or from a location in the Commonwealth if the person on whose behalf the telephone solicitation call is being made does not conduct business from a location in the Commonwealth.

The measure prohibits a telephone solicitor from making a telephone solicitation call or the use of an automatic dialing-announcing device in connection with making a call to any subscriber who has registered with the Virginia Do Not Call Registry. The measure requires the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to set up by January 1, 2021, the Virginia Do Not Call Registry for subscribers who wish to block all solicitation calls and calls that use or are made in connection with automatic dialing-announcing devices.