Telephone canvassing regularly annoys many French people. The UFC Que Choisir has decided to act by unveiling a tool to put an end to it.
Who has never been involved in cold calling? Today there are a multitude of companies that exist precisely to make countless calls to potential customers. These call centers prey on the gullibility of their interlocutors by trying to sell them various services that they generally will not need. Insurance, credits, training… So many deals shoved together in a hurry and whose main aim is to commit the victim over several months or years, through a contract which could drain their financial resources.
While it may be tempting to simply hang up without asking for anything else, call centers will generally make a series of attempts to get you to break. This can generally be very debilitating when these calls are repeated several times a day. However, the French Government is not inactive in the face of these marketing excesses. Since March 1, 2023, telephone canvassing has been regulated according to several rules. It is only authorized during the week and during specific times: from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Other solutions exist, notably the Bloctel service. An official website that allows you to register your telephone number to indicate to call centers that you are against cold calling. Unfortunately, some companies do not respect this service. This is why the UFC Que Choisir association decided to act by launching its own solution to put an end to telephone canvassing.
Called “Respect my data”, this online service allows you to assert your rights to forgetting and respecting your personal data. You just need to enter some information such as your telephone operator, your username or your telephone number to access it. The site will then take care of making your request to the call centers to express your wish not to be affected by telephone canvassing!
This site, supported by a recognized player in consumer defense, promises a “tool so that everyone can demand from their telephone operator that they do not transfer their data to the public directory or to its partners, in accordance with the GDPR” . It also aims to reset everything commercial companies know about you. It is possible to select a company and analyze the data it has and how it uses it. “Obviously, the use of our tool does not collect your data but simply aims to give you an overview,” specifies the UFC.