Something about SMS spams

SA33 posted a comment regarding some SMS spams that he/she has received, and mentioned that a "spammer" claimed that they are IDA compliant and there's nothing we could do about if we are not happy.

Well, what the "spammer" said, is somewhat correct.

We approached IDA a while ago with a similar question, and was told that they are responsible for regulating the behavior of the telecommunication service providers, but not the behavior of the end users of telecommunication services, including those who use SMS to legitimately market their products / services, or send unsolicited SMSes.

Having said that, the sending of unsolicited commercial SMSes in Singapore is governed by the Spam Control Act ('Act'), meaning marketeers must follow certain rules and regulations laid in the Act, such as the use of the <ADV> prefix. Therefore, if you comply with the Act, you are allowed to send as many unsolicited SMS as you wish, and no one can stop you.

However, the Act adopts a civil-based regime for the enforcement of its requirements. This means that whoever suffered loss / damage due to a spammer's non-compliance with the Act, can take direct legal action against the spammer. There is a catch though, due to the fact that it is a civil-based regime, there are no specific authorities which can take enforcement action under the Act.

Now, since there's no authority that can protect us from getting free spams, we have to fight the battle on our own. This is also part of the reasons why we started this blog.

Feel free to add your comments.

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