May 23, 2018
On May 18, 2018, South Carolina enacted House Bill 4628, which creates the South Carolina Telephone Privacy Protection Act. The SCTPPA applies to "telephone solicitations," defined as the "initiation of a telephone call, or a text or media message sent, to a natural person's residence in South Carolina, or to a wireless telephone with a South Carolina area code, for the purpose of offering or advertising a property, good, or service for sale, lease, license, or investment, including offering or advertising an extension of credit, prize promotion, or for the purposes of obtaining information that will or may be used for the direct solicitation thereof."
The following solicitations are generally exempt from coverage under the SCTPPA:
(1) a political campaign-related call made, or a text or media message sent, in compliance with the Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act;
(2) unless the consumer previously stated a desire not to be contacted, a telephone solicitation made to a consumer with:
(a) that consumer's prior express invitation or permission as evidenced by a signed or electronically signed, written agreement stating that the person agrees to be contacted by or on behalf of a specific party and including the telephone number to which they may be placed;
(b) whom the person on whose behalf the telephone solicitation is made has an established business relationship; or
(c) whom the telephone solicitor making the telephone call or sending a text message has a personal relationship; or
(3) calls by institutions licensed and regulated under the South Carolina Insurance Title.
"Established business relationship" means a relationship between the consumer and the person on whose behalf the telephone solicitation call is being made based on the consumer's:
(1) purchase from, or transaction with, the person on whose behalf the telephone solicitation is being made within the 18 months immediately preceding the solicitation date; or
(2) inquiry or application regarding a property, good, or service offered by the person on whose behalf the telephone solicitation is being made within the 3 months immediately preceding the solicitation date.
The SCTPPA prohibits telephone solicitors from contacting consumers at certain times without consent, requires specific disclosures at the outset of the call, prohibits the display of misleading, false or inaccurate caller ID information, requires prerecorded identification and opt-out messages in some instances, and prohibits contacting persons that have either previously expressed a desire not to be contacted or who appear on the National Do Not Call Registry.
The SCTPPA took effect on May 18, 2018, and will be enforced by the South Carolina Attorney General and Department of Consumer Affairs.