Several consumer associations, including UFC-Que-Choisir, want to do away with telephone canvassing once and for all. She believes that the solutions to counter this sometimes abusive marketing practice are ineffective.
In August 2018, the UFC-Que-Choisir association revealed in a poll that 9 out of 10 French people judged the calls of canvassing or telephone prospecting “Too frequent” and “Annoying. “ Today, with several other consumer associations, she is launching a petition to “Ban this scourge. ” For many years, insurance companies, real estate companies and even energy suppliers have called individuals to offer them commercial offers. They draw their numbers from the telephone directories, partly supplied by the operators. This canvassing practice – also done by SMS or email – can sometimes become abusive. To combat this phenomenon, the French government has implemented since 2016 a list system called BlocTel. Once a number is entered on this list, it is theoretically protected from any possibility of canvassing for at least three years.
However, in an interview with France Info, Alain Bazot, president of UFC-Que-Choisir, judges this solution “Inefficient” and recalls that it has multiple flaws. Indeed, some companies take advantage of exemptions allowing them to circumvent the opposition effect normally obtained with BlocTel. For example, a company already linked to such an individual is authorized to contact the latter to offer him other offers. What Alain Bazot especially denounces, through this new petition from UFC-Que-Choisir, is the principle of the opposition system: “Today you are supposed to be okay if you don’t take a step to say no. ” He therefore wants to favor, conversely, a principle of refusing to solicit by default. This corresponds to the compulsory consent system, reinforced by the new European regulations established by the GDPR, concerning in particular advertising SMS, Internet cookies or newsletters. Since August 2019, Arcep (telecoms regulatory authority) has implemented a new regulatory framework to limit door-to-door canvassing, in addition to the BlocTel system. This prohibits call centers located abroad from making telephone calls using French numbers, deemed “Misleading” by targeted individuals. When it was launched, this measure was nevertheless qualified “Insufficient” by UFC-Que-Choisir.
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