SMS is increasingly used by businesses for communication purposes. Unfortunately some over zealous marketers do use SMS messaging inappropriately and this could lead to unwanted commercial messages (what is called spam) to your child’s phone.
To ensure that SMS messaging is used appropriately by businesses, industry regulations have been introduced by the Wireless Application Service Provider Association (WASPA). WASPA’s Code of Conduct specifies that consumers can only be messaged when:
- They have requested the message, or
- They have a direct and recent prior commercial relationship (that is within the last 6 months) with the sender of the message and would reasonably expect to receive marketing communications from them.
If a message does comply with the above regulations but you would still like to stop them, you can do so by replying to a standard rate SMS message with the word STOP.
However, a complaint should be lodged with WASPA if an SMS message does not comply with any of the above regulations or you are unable to stop receiving messages.
Unfortunately, there are still wireless application service providers and businesses that ignore opt-out requests. Ignoring a stop request is illegal in terms of the ECT Act and not allowed in terms of the WASPA code. Again, the route to lodge a complaint is through WASPA.
Click here for information about how to lodge a spam complaint with WASPA.
ParentsCorner.org.za 
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