Alterna Marketing Consultants LLC is facing a new California call recording lawsuit, alleging the company violated state and federal privacy laws.

The call recording lawsuit alleges that Alterna Marketing violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act and federal telemarketing laws by making unwanted phone calls and allegedly recording the plaintiff on at least one occasion.

Plaintiff Collette S. filed a call recording lawsuit soon after discovering at least one of the calls had been recorded without consent, and alleges numerous federal violations regarding the use of an automated dialing system when making these unwanted phone calls.

According to her call recording lawsuit, Collette had received numerous calls for solicitation purposes between Sept. 1, 2018 and Nov. 12, 2018 and had allegedly been recorded on at least one occasion.

Collette describes these calls as harassing, and she says that they caused unnecessary higher phone bills. In addition, Alterna Marketing reportedly did not have prior consent from Collette to initiate contact or permission to send automated calls or texts using an automated dialing system.

While the Telephone Consumer Protection Act does allow for the use of automated dialing systems, these systems can only be used if the consumer opts in to receive them. Additionally, the company must stop sending the automated calls or texts when the customer asks and these customers must be added to the company’s do-not-call registry.

According to the call recording lawsuit, Alterna Marketing failed to obtain Collette’s permission and violated state privacy laws by recording calls with her without providing notification or asking for consent.

In addition to the TCPA violations, the call recording lawsuit alleges that Alterna Marketing violated California state privacy laws. Under California call recording laws, companies must disclose potential conversation recording to customers. In fact, the disclosure must be given before any recording takes place.

Overview of California Call Recording

Under the California Invasion of Privacy Act, it is almost always illegal to record a conversation without the consent of all parties involved. This means that businesses operating in the state of California must adhere to state privacy laws when communicating with customers, especially those who call in on their customer service lines.

Numerous businesses across the country have customer service numbers, but not all states have call recording policies. While call recording for customer service training purposes is common practice for many businesses, California law requires that businesses still provide a disclosure for potential call recording.

Call recording disclosures are typically given at the beginning of the call using a pre recorded message to asking customers to either stay on the line or push a button on their dial pad to indicate consent. It is important to note that by staying on the line, the customer gives implied consent and is in accordance with California privacy laws.

According to the call recording lawsuit, Alterna Marketing did not provide a disclosure or obtain Collette’s consent for any potential call recording.

Collette is seeking compensation for all alleged TCPA and California call recording violations, along with any other relevant damages.

The Call Recording Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-02599-JLS-AGS, in the U.S. Federal District Court of Southern California.