Franken critical of PayPal's unavoidable robocalls

WASHINGTON – When Sen. Al Franken sought re-election in 2014, constituents could use PayPal accounts — through an online payments system — to make a "secure online donation" to his campaign.

On Tuesday, Franken pushed back against PayPal because of recent changes in the company's user agreement that mean campaign donations, online shopping or other uses of your PayPal account might come with a flood of unavoidable robocalls.

He joined three other senators who sent a letter to the online payment company. The letter, addressed to PayPal President Dan Schulman, calls the business out for not allowing consumers to opt out of robocalls from the company.

Sens. Franken, Ed Markey, D-Mass., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said in the letter that the inability to opt out of the robocalls "could adversely affect consumers by exposing them to a barrage of unwanted calls that are unstoppable unless consumers choose to discontinue using PayPal."

The lawmakers point out that PayPal already has been warned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that the policy violates the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The TCPA states that companies must first obtain consent from consumers for robocalls and must also allow for them to opt out. "We share the FCC's perspective and believe consumers should not have to agree to submit themselves to intrusive robocalls in order to use a company's service," the letter states.