|
Your rights and obligations under Indiana's new fax spam laws
Indiana’s new Do Not Fax Law took effect Jan. 1 and mirrors federal law.
The rule prohibits entities from sending unsolicited advertising faxes to anyone with whom they do not have a prior business relationship.
The law does not apply to fax advertisements sent with permission, faxes that do not advertise commercial products or services (e.g., issue advocacy or charitable solicitations), or faxes to individuals with an established business relationship (EBR).
Faxes may be sent to an EBR entity as long as the recipient voluntarily provided the fax number, the number was published by the entity in an advertisement or other material, or a third party published and verified it.
All faxes must include a specific notice indicating how to opt-out of future faxes and a header or footer with the date, time, phone number and identification of the business, entity or individual sending the message. The opt-out notice must:
- Be clear and conspicuous on the first page of the advertisement
- State that the recipient may request the sender not to send any future faxes and that failure to comply with the request within 30 days is unlawful
- Include telephone and fax numbers and a cost-free mechanism for opting-out of faxes available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This could include a toll-free telephone number, local number for local recipients, a toll-free fax number, Web site address or e-mail address
If you receive such a spam fax, you have several options:
An unsolicited advertisement is defined as “any material advertising the commercial availability or quality of any property, goods, or services which is transmitted to any person without that person’s prior express invitation or permission, in writing or otherwise.”
An established business relationship is defined as a “prior or existing relationship formed by a voluntary two-way communication between a person or entity and a business or residential subscriber with or without an exchange of consideration (payment), on the basis of an inquiry, application, purchase or transaction by the business or residential subscriber regarding products or services offered by such person or entity, which relationship has not been previously terminated by either party.”
|
