On Wednesday, May 21, 2025, the Senate approved the bill to ban unsolicited telephone canvassing. Excellent news – even if we will still have to be patient to see its effect materialize.
This is a victory at a time when the phenomenon of non-consensual telephone canvassing has been growing disproportionately in France for decades. The Senate has just passed the Deputies' bill against this annoying practice, which is putting a definitive stop to it. At least when it comes into force.
The text gives companies in the sector a little time to rethink their business practices. This means that it won't come into force before August 11, 2026. In the meantime, the French shouldn't necessarily see a decrease in annoying calls on their smartphones or landlines.
Unconsensual telephone canvassing is almost over
They can always try to block these calls via their smartphone features, operator apps, and third-party solutions. As well as, of course, the Bloctel app, whose effectiveness has proven less formidable than hoped. It must be said that canvassers are multiplying different caller IDs, which makes blocking, in practice, essentially ineffective.
The new text will be accompanied by fairly heavy penalties to dissuade canvassing platforms from continuing their activities. Even more dissuasive penalties in the event of clear abuse of weakness – which in principle covers telephone subscriptions during the first call. The fine will now be €500,000 for individuals and up to 20% of the annual turnover of the company engaging in these practices.
The text will also prevent the automatic registration of your telephone number in public directories. It will also facilitate data sharing between the DGCCRF, the CNIL, and ARCOM to make the fight more effective. Only one exception will be allowed for canvassing users: consented canvassing. This can only take place if the subscriber specifically authorizes a company to call back.
This consent must be obtained in advance, for example via account creation forms on certain sites. Service providers can then arrange an arbitrary time with the person to make their call.
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