Consumers receiving unsolicited SMS marketing messages from companies that they have not directly supplied with their cellphone numbers should report the spammer to the Wireless Application Service Providers' Association of South Africa (WASPA).
So says Russel Stromin, head of WASPA's Code of Conduct (WCOC) Committee, noting that the association takes consumers' rights to privacy very seriously and forbids its members from sending unsolicited messages to consumers whose numbers they have acquired through third-party databases.
“According to the WCOC, 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,” says Stromin.
Enter DMA
Brian Mdluli, CEO of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) of SA, sings the same tune, saying all direct marketing messages should have an 'opt-out' option. “If they don't have, customers should immediately report this to the DMA.”
Distinguishing the roles between the DMA and WASPA, Mdluli says his organisation represents marketers while the later caters for operators.
WASPA's Stromin also points out that consumers have a further remedy in the form of the new Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
The Act, which came into play on 1 April, stipulates that any company embarking on a direct marketing campaign must first compare the list of numbers it is sending SMSes to against a new national opt-out register called the 'do not call registry' (DNCR) and ensure that any names on such a register are deleted off their database.
According to Mdluli, the recently promulgated CPA has already started to bear fruit. “Since the CPA came into play, our 'do not contact' database has grown by 2%.”
This DNCR, Stromin explains, 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.
“WASPA's WCOC, however, is designed to prevent all spam, no matter the consumer's action or inaction as the case may be, since a company may only send SMSes if it has a direct and recent business relationship with the recipient.”
Great leap forward
Dr Pieter Streicher, MD of BulkSMS, believes there is no denying that the promulgation of the CPA 'do not contact registry' to allow South African customers to permanently opt out of all unsolicited marketing communications will be a massive step forward for consumer rights.
“The CPA registry will override previously given explicit consent to companies for direct marketing messages,” says Streicher.
From an SMS point of view, Streicher says, the registry will go a long way in cutting down SMS spam, but only for those on the registry.
The WCOC also specifies that each SMS message must have a 'stop' command inserted into it such that 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, WASPA says it has noticed that some consumers are reluctant to use the 'stop' facility as they are concerned that this will simply confirm to the sender that their number is active.
The association says with SMS, the sender already knows that a number is 'active', because it receives a 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,” WASPA states.
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