I can finally bid farewell to unwelcome phone calls and spam text messages come January 2014. I’m sure many of you in Singapore have received countless telemarketing calls from financial institutions and/or insurance companies as well as unsolicited SMSes from property agents, investment firms and the like. Sometimes, they get so frequent, they really get on my nerves. A nuisance indeed.
So when this new initiative was officially launched on Monday, I was just elated.
A brief summary…
The Do Not Call (DNC) Registry under the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) allows you to opt out of telemarketing messages to your Singapore registered land-line or mobile number free-of-charge. Organisations are prohibited from sending such messages to numbers registered with the registry.
Registration is easy. You can do it online, via SMS or phone. Check out the website for more details.
If you’d like to retain your communication with certain organisations, you’d have to provide your consent in writing to authorise the company to continue sending marketing messages to you. You may also withdraw your consent any time thereafter if you change your mind.
If you have not listed your number on the registry, you are strongly recommended to do so as soon as possible as it’d take approximately 60 days for it to take effect.
Good riddance to nuisance calls! I embrace this new Personal Data Protection law 🙂