JOSEPH BOOYSEN
Consumer Reporter
If you are one of the many consumers who are sick and tired of getting unwanted marketing messages via SMSes you can do something about it.
Most respectable companies are members of the Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association of South Africa (Waspa) and you can report any unwanted SMS marketing messages from their members if you have not given them your cellphone number, or those who don’t comply with their code in other ways.
Russel Stromin, head of Waspa’s Code of Conduct Committee, said the association took consumers’ rights to privacy seriously and forbade its members from sending unsolicited messages to consumers whose numbers they have acquired through third-party databases.
“According to the WCoC (Conduct Committee), businesses need your explicit consent to send you marketing messages via SMS if you have not directly given them your number. You can lodge a complaint against any Waspa member that breaks this rule,” said Stromin.
He said consumers also had a further remedy in the form of the new Consumer Protection Act.
The CPA stipulates that any company embarking on a direct marketing campaign must first compare the list of numbers they are sending SMSs to against a new national opt-out register called the Do Not Call Registry (DNCR). The company must also ensure that any names on such a register are deleted off their database.
“This DNCR is, however, not yet available as it is currently out for tender for its development. While the DNCR will apply to all companies who send SMSes, users will only gain benefit from the DNCR if they take the trouble to register their details on the DNCR.
“WCoC, however, is designed to prevent all spam, regardless of the consumer’s action or inaction as the case may be, since a company may only send SMSes if they have a direct and recent business relationship with the recipient,” said Stromin.
He said his association had vigorously enforced its anti-spam provisions since 2005 and could claim considerable experience in the practical and technical implementation of anti-spam provisions.
The WCoC specifies that each SMS message must have a “Stop” command inserted into it. If someone sends a reply SMS back with the word “Stop” in it, the company that originally sent the message must remove that number from any further SMS communications.
However, the association has noticed that some consumers are reluctant to use this facility as they are concerned that this will simply confirm to the sender that their number is active.
But with SMSes, the sender already knows that the number is active because it receives a delivery report on delivery of the SMS to the phone.
“If the sender is a respectable company and you opted in to receive its communications at some point, you can usually depend on the company concerned to remove you from its database following a Stop request.
“This reply may only be charged for at the standard SMS rate. That said, the suggested opt-out procedure should only be followed if you opted-in in the first place,” said Stromin.
He said with premium rate messages, Wireless Application Service Providers (Wasps) must provide an alternative opt-out procedure at the lowest tariff rates available.
“All premium rate services require explicit opt-in and no direct marketing messages may be sent from premium rate numbers. Neither may Wasps ever send an unsolicited messages from premium rate numbers.
“These instances should be reported to Waspa, since they are serious contraventions of our code. Many people inadvertently sign up for premium services or forget they have signed up for a premium service.
“They then think that the “welcome-to-the-service” SMS messages and monthly “reminder-of-subscription” SMS messages the service provider sends in line with the demands of the Waspa code of conduct are spam SMS messages,” said Stromin.
Stromin added that these messages were not spam and warned consumers not to ignore them. So if you get one of these messages, you are already being billed. “If you did not subscribe to the service, report the message to Waspa. If you did subscribe, follow the opt-out instructions in the message.”
“If a Wasp ignores a valid opt-out request, it is regarded as a serious contravention of the Waspa code. Opt-out instructions sent via SMS can be verified by the network operator. This evidence will be used against a Wasp in case of a formal investigation.”
l Contact Waspa on 011 476 7710, fax 086 606 2016, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.waspa.org.za.