Federal District Court Holds Phone Number Provided in Online Account Information Is Consent to Receive Text Messages

TCPA Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security

On May 30, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California held that a user of an online service consented to receiving text messages from that service by including his mobile number in his online account information. Roberts v. PayPal, Inc., No. 12-622, 2013 WL 2384242 (N.D. Cal. May 30, 2013). In this case, a PayPal user filed a putative class action claiming that the company sent unsolicited advertisements via text messages to users’ mobile phones in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which generally prohibits unsolicited calls and messages using automatic dialing or prerecorded voices absent express written consent. The court granted summary judgment to PayPal, holding that, by providing his mobile phone number to PayPal when he added the number to his online account, the user provided express consent for PayPal to send text messages. The court did not resolve PayPal’s alternative argument that the user consented to receiving messages by accepting the terms of PayPal’s user agreement, which included an express consent to receive autodialed calls. That provision was not included in the agreement at the time the user created his PayPal account and accepted the user agreement, but was added several years later without notice to the user. The court expressed skepticism concerning the binding nature of an agreement amendment that is merely posted to a website without other notice to the customer, even if the customer has previously agreed to the terms and that procedure.