“Change gear”: the Senate votes to ban cold calling without consent

“Change gear” against abuses that “poison our lives”: the Senate on Thursday severely strengthened the arsenal to fight against telephone canvassing by making the “consent” of the consumer a prerequisite for any unannounced commercial proposal.

The bill from Senator Horizons Pierre-Jean Verzelen, adopted by the senators and now transmitted to the National Assembly, proposes to “reverse the principle” of telephone canvassing, by requiring professionals to obtain the prior “consent” of all consumers. “This text aims to change gear” on “a subject which, quietly, is part of the daily lives of our fellow citizens and which exasperates around 65 million of them”, launched the parliamentarian, to justify his approach.

9% of French people registered on “Bloctel”

Many elected officials noted in particular the “inefficiency” of the “Bloctel” system, a telephone opposition list that came into force in 2016, which allows consumers, at their request, to be spared from canvassing.

The bill adopted Thursday by the Senate therefore proposes a “paradigm change” by switching to an “opt-in” logic: “We can no longer be called if we have not given informed consent to a company », summarized Pierre-Jean Verzelen.

Consent on a “case by case” basis

If the author of the text initially proposed creating a “dedicated consent list”, whose compatibility with the European regulation on personal data (GDPR) was called into question, the Senate ultimately fell back on a more measured system , with alignment with the electronic canvassing regime.

“It will now be up to each professional to obtain prior consent from the consumer”, on a “case by case” basis”, detailed the Secretary of State for Consumer Affairs Laurence Garnier, rather benevolent towards the measure even if she called to rework it in the Assembly if the lower house takes it up.

To limit circumvention of this new regime, the Senate also adopted an amendment from the environmental group to prohibit companies from making the purchase of a good or service conditional on consent to cold calling. “It’s obvious that smart people will try by all means to get their customers to agree to canvassing,” warned Senator Mélanie Vogel.

Other restrictive measures have also been adopted, such as reducing the frequency and times of calls authorized for canvassing, or even strengthening sanctions for acts of abuse of weakness committed within the framework of this practice.