Your rights under the TCPA, explained in plain English

What the TCPA is

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a federal law, codified at 47 U.S.C. 227, that restricts certain unwanted marketing communications, including text messages, sent without your prior express consent. It is the primary federal statute covering unwanted spam texts.

This page is a factual, educational explainer about your rights under the TCPA. It is not legal advice, and SpamStamp is not a law firm. For the statute itself, you can read the primary source at 47 U.S.C. 227.

What the TCPA says about unwanted texts

• Marketing texts generally require your prior express consent before they can be sent to you.
• You have the right to revoke that consent — replying STOP is a widely recognized way to do so.
• A sender is generally expected to honor an opt-out request such as STOP.
• The TCPA is enforced through federal rules and by federal agencies; it applies nationwide as a federal law.

By-the-book steps you can take yourself

1. Save the message

   Keep the original text, including the sender's number, the date, the time, and the full content. A clear record is the foundation of any factual response.

2. Reply STOP to revoke consent

   Replying STOP is a recognized way to revoke consent. If texts continue after you have opted out, note the dates and times of anything that arrives afterward.

3. Report the message

   Report unwanted texts to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, to the FCC at fcc.gov, and to your mobile carrier by forwarding the message to 7726 (which spells SPAM).

4. Consider a formal, documented notice

   If you want to respond in writing, you can prepare a formal, factual notice and send it in your own name. SpamStamp, a self-help software tool, helps you prepare that notice — you are always the sender.

Where SpamStamp fits (and what it is not)

SpamStamp is a self-help software tool for preparing a formal TCPA notice about a spam text, which you send in your own name. It helps you organize the facts and produce a clear, by-the-book notice that you send yourself. You are always the sender — SpamStamp does not file, sue, or negotiate on your behalf.

To be clear about what SpamStamp is not: it does not block, filter, or identify callers. It is not a spam blocker or call filter (it is not RoboKiller or Nomorobo), and it is not a caller-ID or reverse-lookup app (it is not Truecaller or Hiya). It is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.

When a sender can't be safely identified

Sometimes the sender of a spam text cannot be reliably or safely identified. That is a normal outcome, and it is important to be honest about it. When a sender cannot be safely identified, the appropriate next step is to report the message to the authorities who track this activity.

You can report unwanted texts to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, to the FCC at fcc.gov, and to your carrier by forwarding to 7726 (SPAM). The National Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov is another useful resource for reducing unwanted contact.