A Massachusetts woman has filed a lawsuit against social media website Twitter for sending spam text messages.
The dispute is surrounded around the "short code" technology, which allows companies to send automated messages. Twitter is said to use "40404" short code to send marketing texts. The same code is also used by Twitter to notify its users regarding their Twitter account activities.
Beverly Nunes, of Taunton, Massachusetts, has filed the lawsuit and wants to turn it into a class action for other consumers who are in the same position. Nunes says that she purchased a new phone in Nov. 2013 and started getting unsolicited texts every day from short code 40404.
Nunes claim that she never opened a Twitter account and she should have never received any SMS from Twitter. The lawsuit also cites other users who are flooded with unwanted messages from Twitter. Moreover, Nunes also tried to stop getting the messages by replying "STOP" or "UNSUBSCRIBE" to 40404 but she still received messages from Twitter.
According to the lawsuit, Twitter sends text message via Short Message Service, commonly known as SMS, to recycled phone numbers. Consumers who do not use Twitter or did not opt to receive text messages from the company are being spammed with unsolicited messages. The previous owners of these phone numbers may have opted to receive messages from Twitter. According to the lawsuit, Twitter did not take sufficient steps to stop sending messages to recycled phone numbers.
The lawsuit seeks $5 million claiming that Twitter disregarded industry policies related to disconnected phone numbers so that they can send text messages.
"Twitter knows, or is reckless in not knowing, that its SMS text messages are sent to non-consenting, recycled cellular number subscribers," per the documents filed by Nunes. "Twitter has caused consumers actual harm, including the aggravation and privacy invasion that accompanies receiving unsolicited text messages. Consumers are damaged by having to pay cellular telephone service providers for the receipt of Twitter's unsolicited text messages."
Per the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a 1991 law requires a company to pay $500 for each unsolicited telephone call. However, the complaint indicates that the same law also applies to text messages and Twitter should pay $500 for each text it sent without the consent of a telephone number's owner.
According to a Gigaom report Twitter claims that the lawsuit does not have any "merit" and the company will "vigorously defend" itself.
