Fourth Circuit Holds TCPA Disclosure Requirements Constitutional

TCPA Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security

On August 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit published an opinion, previously under seal, in which it held that provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requiring all automated telephone messages to disclose the entity initiating the call and its telephone number are constitutional.  State of Maryland v. Universal Elections, Inc., No. 12-1791 (4th Cir. July 29, 2013). In affirming the district court’s judgment, the court identified three important government interests served by the disclosure requirements: (i) protecting residential privacy, by providing call recipients the information needed to stop future calls; (ii) promoting disclosure to avoid misleading recipients of recorded calls, by enabling call recipients to better evaluate the veracity of such messages; and (iii) promoting effective law enforcement by assisting the government in detecting violations.