This ex parte Notice describes a meeting held between consumer and privacy advocates and staff of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in relation to the legality of certain calls under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), as requested by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The meeting, which occurred on June 1, 2022, was attended by Richard Smith, Mark Stone, and Kristi Thornton of the Commission’s Bureau of Consumer and Governmental Affairs; Margot Saunders and Carolyn Carter on behalf of the low-income clients of the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC); and Chris Frascella of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). The discussion revolved around the question of whether the government contractors making the calls described by the HHS Letter at the behest of the federal and state governments could be considered not to be the makers of the calls, such that the requirements for consent for automated texts and prerecorded calls would not apply; it supplemented Reply Comments filed in this proceeding.