lawful outbound calling
Outbound calling: what is allowed and what is not
Short Answer
Advertising calls need the prior express consent of the person called. For consumers, § 7 (2) no. 2 UWG requires it. For automated calls, including calls with an AI voice, § 7 (2) no. 3 UWG requires prior express consent, also in B2B. Cold calling without consent is therefore off the table. A callback about a matter the contact started themselves is not advertising.
Summary
On outbound calling, a lot gets assumed and little gets checked. Two questions sort the legal picture: did the contact consent expressly beforehand, and is the call advertising or a callback about a matter the contact started themselves. Advertising calls to consumers need prior express consent (§ 7 (2) no. 2 UWG). For automated calls, including calls with an AI voice, § 7 (2) no. 3 UWG requires prior express consent, also for businesses. The consent has to be documented (§ 7a UWG). That is why the basis gets checked before the first call with your real list, not after.
The Core Question: Who Wanted the Call
For incoming calls the legal situation is simple, because the other side started the contact. Outbound flips that: you call someone who did not ask to be called. Almost everything hangs on that. The central question is not "which technology" but "was I even allowed to call this person for this purpose".
One distinction matters here and often gets lost: not every outbound call is advertising. If a customer requested a quote and you call back about the status of that quote, that is a service contact about a matter they started themselves. If instead you call someone to promote a new product, that is telephone advertising, and strict limits apply. The rules come from competition law and data protection law, and they ask first about consent, not about the script.
Four Fields: Existing or Cold, Business or Consumer
Practice sorts into four fields. Two axes are enough: is there an existing customer or a cold contact at the other end, and is it a business or a private person. For automated advertising calls the answer is the same in all four fields: only with prior express consent.
| Constellation | Basis for advertising calls | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer, cold | prior express consent required | not feasible without consent |
| Consumer, existing customer | also prior express consent, there is no existing-customer exception for phone calls | only with documented consent |
| Business, cold | only with prior express consent (§ 7 (2) no. 3 UWG) | not feasible without consent |
| Business, existing customer | consent also needed for advertising, service callbacks about ongoing matters are not advertising | service yes, advertising only with consent |
The safest case is the one where the person asked for the call themselves, for example through a callback request. Everything else needs provable consent. Anyone who calls with consent has to document and retain it under § 7a UWG.
Why Consumer Cold Calling Is Off the Table
For private people the law requires prior, express and provable consent for advertising calls. Provable means you must be able to show when and for what exactly the person agreed. A list bought somewhere, a broad tick buried in the fine print, or a "they showed interest once" does not carry it.
With consumers, the outbound advertising call without real consent is not a grey area, it is simply the wrong idea.
That is exactly why we do not build consumer outbound as cold calling in the first place. It stays sensible where clean consent exists, such as a callback the customer requested through a form, or contact about an ongoing matter. For businesses it is no different with automated calls: § 7 (2) no. 3 UWG requires prior express consent there too.
What the AI Assistant Changes About the Call
The assistant does not ease the legal position. A call with an AI voice counts, by common classification, as an automated call, for which § 7 (2) no. 3 UWG requires prior express consent, also in B2B. Speed comes on top: an assistant can make very many calls in a short time, and a flaw in the basis multiplies just as fast. Care before the first call is therefore more important, not less.
Two things practically come in with the assistant. First, transparency: the person called should learn early and clearly that they are speaking with an automated system, not a person pretending otherwise. Second, handling of recording and data: if the call is recorded, that is a separate point with its own requirements, and only the data the purpose truly needs should be collected. These points belong in the script and the guardrails, not in a later fix.
Before the First Outbound Call Goes Out
We clarify these points before the assistant dials for the first time. If you get stuck on one, you have found the point that will carry the whole effort or tip it over.
- Which purpose: is the call service about an ongoing matter or advertising for something new?
- Which relationship: existing customer or cold, and how is that documented?
- Which contact type: business or consumer, with the different requirements?
- Which consent: is there one, when was it given and for what exactly?
- Which transparency and recording: is the AI announced, and what happens to the recording?
Core sentence: permissible outbound is in small part technology and in large part an honest clarification of whom you call, for what purpose, on what basis. That clarification is cheap, a fine is not.
Common Misconceptions
- I can always call businesses.
- No. For automated advertising calls, prior express consent is needed for businesses too.
- A bought list with consent ticks is enough.
- Usually not. What counts is a concrete, provable consent for this exact purpose, not a blanket tick from an unrelated context.
- An AI call is legally a normal call.
- No. By common classification it counts as an automated call and needs prior express consent. On top come the duty of transparency about the automated system and clean handling of recording and data.
Glossary
Questions and Responses
- Is B2B cold calling by phone with AI allowed?
- Only with prior express consent (§ 7 (2) no. 3 UWG), also in B2B. Without consent the call is not permitted.
- Does a callback on a form request count as cold calling?
- No. If the person requested a callback themselves, they wanted the contact. That is the clearest and safest outbound case, whether business or consumer.
- Who checks the basis in case of doubt?
- For a reliable judgment in the individual case, a legal check belongs to it. What we do is sort the constellation cleanly and prepare the case so that this check comes out fast and clear.
Sources and Evidence
The rules named (§ 7 and § 7a UWG, gesetze-im-internet.de) are described in general terms and do not replace a check of the individual case. The classification of AI calls as automated calls under § 7 (2) no. 3 UWG reflects the assessment of several law firms and has not been finally settled by the courts. Concrete bases are clarified before go-live with the real list and the real consent.