Senator Joel Villanueva has filed a bill providing mobile phone subscribers an “opt-in” mechanism on push messages on SMS or calls as a response to the pervasive text messages circulating in the public offering purported high-paying jobs and other products.
Villanueva, chairman of the Senate Labor committee, explained that Senate Bill No. 2460 seeks to address the so-called present epidemic of “smishing” which lures unwitting consumers and jobseekers into giving away personal information using links and other related means.
“This scheme will undoubtedly mislead some recipients, thereby necessitating the need for the government to take affirmative action to address these types of spam messages,” Villanueva wrote in the explanatory note of the bill, which he filed on Wednesday.
In a related development, Senator Grace Poe, chairwoman of the Senate Public Services committee, emphasized that the government must prove that it is smarter and quicker than text scammers.
Poe said concerned agencies should waste no time using available resources at their disposal to catch the fraudsters and stop their illegal act victimizing vulnerable consumers.
Telecommunications companies (Telcos) and businesses must also do more to protect their customers by continuously improving their systems and making them fool-proof against fraudsters.
‘’Criminals who defraud through text and phone scams cause huge distress and financial harm to our people still pained by the pandemic,’’ she said.
‘’The illegal practice of those who line their pockets at the expense of law-abiding citizens must immediately cease,’’ she added.
Under the Villanueva bill, subscribers are opted out from push messages as default, and their prior and explicit consent to receive commercial or promotional advertisements would be required.
The measure also defines spam messages as either one of the following:
1. Not initiated by the recipient of the call or message containing commercial promotions or advertisements and did not opt-in to receive the same;
2. Causes an installation of programs on the subscriber’s device without consent;
3. Contains false or misleading electronic representations redirecting to websites, chat platforms, etc. and
4. Triggers the collection of personal information by accessing an electronic device illegally.
“Under its prohibited acts, there shall be a prima facie presumption of a violation of this Act if the subscriber opted out of receiving any calls or text messages, or when the subscriber has declined to further give consent to the continuation of the call or text, or when the unsolicited call or text falls under provisions of the measure,” the bill stated, with the last referring to categories that pertain to suspicious and deceptive calls or texts.
The measure also mandated the continuous monitoring and oversight of concerned government agencies, such as the National Telecommunications Commission, National Privacy Commission, and National Bureau of Investigation “to further improve and develop the technical and industry efforts to protect the data privacy of citizens.”
“This bill will redound to the benefit of millions of subscribers who will have the freedom to choose with whom they shall transact, and will reduce, if not eliminate, the proliferation of potentially risky and harmful unsolicited calls or messages,” Villanueva said.
Villanueva filed the measure in the wake of pervasive text messages circulating in the public that contained supposed job offers promising to earn between P500 to P8,000 a day. Consumers are asked to click a link to get more information.
Other versions of the text message include names of e-commerce websites claiming to be hiring employees.
Villanueva reiterated his warning to the public from such misleading messages, and asked authorities to heighten its vigilance against those sending spam messages.
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