PayPal TCPA Violation

PayPal’s new user agreement may be in violation of federal law. The user agreement conditions the use of PayPal’s services on giving consent to be solicited by an automated machine. If you are a PayPal user, your privacy rights might be infringed. Please contact us using the form on this page or call us at 213-212-2202. You may be part of a class action lawsuit.

Background

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a warning to PayPal. PayPal’s recently revised user agreement may be in violation of the TCPA. The user agreement requires user to give their consent to being robocalled or face termination of their PayPal account. This method of gaining a person’s consent is not valid under the TCPA. If PayPal robocalls users under this new user agreement it may be a violation of federal law.

PayPal is an online payments system and is a payment processor for online vendors. The company arranges electronic money transfers for transactions on the internet and is one of the world’s largest internet payment companies. In 2013, PayPal moved $180 billion in 26 currencies across 193 nations, generating a total revenue of $6.6 billion (41% of eBay’s total profits).

TCPA

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA, is a federal law that sets rules for companies or people making solicitations over the phone. The law makes it illegal for a solicitor to make prerecorded or artificial voice telemarketing calls (aka: robocalls) to residential numbers or autodialed, prerecorded, or artificial voice calls or texts to wireless numbers without first obtaining the prior express written consent of the recipient.

The key here is obtaining prior written consent. The TCPA says that requiring a consumer to give their consent as a condition of purchasing goods or services is not a valid way of getting a person’s consent. This is where PayPal may be in violation of the TCPA. PayPal requires users to give their consent to get robocalls before they can use PayPal’s services, which is a federal offense. The TCPA also requires a notification that consumers have the right to refuse to consent, which the new PayPal user agreement does not seem to do. Under the TCPA prior written consent must be obtained for each individual number. Getting blanket consent to all users is not sufficient. PayPal may be subject to penalties of up to $16,000 per call or text message that is in violation of the TCPA.

Potential Class Action

PayPal’s new user agreement requires users to give their consent to be robocalled or face termination of their user account. This is essentially a take it or leave it provision. Users must comply or seek payment services with another company. In addition to that, the user agreement also does not inform users that they have the right to refuse to give their consent. These are possible violations of the TCPA.

If you are a PayPal user, your privacy rights might be infringed. Please contact us using the form on this page or call The Class Action News at 213-212-2202. You may be part of a class action lawsuit.