Forum reply on The Straits Times, 17 Jan 2014

THE Do Not Call Registry came into effect on Jan 2.

If Ms Sanju Joseph ("'Opt in' for SMS ads instead"; Jan 9) does not wish to receive unsolicited marketing calls, SMSes or fax messages, the Personal Data Protection Commission encourages her to register her telephone number with the Registry.

Any organisation that intends to send unsolicited telemarketing messages to individuals must check with the Registry and cannot contact registered individuals for telemarketing purposes.

Individuals who have registered with the Registry on or after Jan 2 should not receive unsolicited telemarketing messages (after a 60-day grace period for the registration to take full effect), unless they choose to "opt in" by providing clear consent to individual organisations.

However, for individuals who are ongoing customers or members of organisations, the Commission has provided an exemption for organisations - as part of servicing their ongoing customer relationships - to send telemarketing messages related to those relationships to customers via SMSes or faxes only.

Individuals who do not wish to receive these "in-service" telemarketing messages can unsubscribe to them from the sender organisation. These messages must cease after 30 days.

Those who continue to receive unsolicited telemarketing messages from organisations to which they have not provided clear consent may wish to lodge a complaint with the Commission for investigation, through our website at www.pdpc.gov.sg.

Amos Tan (Mr)
Director, Communications & Operations 
Personal Data Protection Commission