THE NEW YORK TIMES: Companies will no longer be allowed to advertise goods and services through cold calls without previous consent from consumers.
In France, incessant cold calls advertising solar panels, roofs, heat pumps and other items will stop on Tuesday, when a ban on unsolicited telemarketing calls goes into effect.
Companies will no longer be allowed to advertise goods and services through such calls unless consumers previously gave their consent or if the calls are about a pre-existing contract.
The ban is unlikely to be met with any opposition in a country where 97 percent of the population say they are annoyed by daily telemarketing calls, which have been steadily increasing in recent years, according to a parliamentary report.
A leading consumer advocacy group, Que Choisir Ensemble, called the ban a “historic measure” that “should finally put an end to the daily harassment that the French have endured for far too long.”
“Peace and quiet is a right,” the group’s president, Marie-Amandine Stévenin, said in a statement. “This observation holds true both online and on the street, where we are inundated with calls to consume.” » | Ségolène Le Stradic | Reporting from Paris | Tuesday, August 11, 2026
