Consumer Contact Compliance Expert
— SVP Ken Sponsler, CECP, CIPP/US

1. I am Ken Sponsler, Senior Vice President of CompliancePoint Litigation Services, part of PossibleNOW Services, Inc., a PossibleNOW subsidiary. PossibleNOW is a global professional services firm specializing in consulting and audit services.

Qualifications

2. I have over 21 years of operational experience in business to business and busi­ness to consumer global direct marketing compliance matters. I have personally conducted do­zens of onsite compliance assessments, gap analyses, and risk assessment studies. I have assessed numerous call center operations on behalf of potential seller-clients as a due diligence measure prior to sellers entering into contractual relationships for services. I have provided ex­pert reports in a number of Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) related matters, including issues specifically associated with the difficulties of identi­fying authorized users of mobile telephones, assess if the technology at issue meets the TCPA's definition of an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS). I have assessed a number of facsimile campaigns as a component of my compliance reviews. Additionally, CompliancePoint has performed fax-specific data analyses and historical subscriber/user research. CompliancePoint's parent company, PossibleNOW, Inc., is a provider of marketer compliance technologies, including mobile telephone identity services.
3. My familiarity with direct-to-consumer marketing industry standards began in early 2000. After my transition from 27 years of military service, I worked as a Project Manager on the development of a software product called “The DNCSolution.” This product enables sellers and organizations engaged in consumer contact operations to comply with federal and state Do Not Call laws by allowing companies to check calling campaign lists against all federal and state Do Not Call lists, company-specific Do Not Call lists, as well as wireless lists. My work on this project led to my study of federal and state Do Not Call laws, as well as exemption criteria. As the “DNCSolution” product evolved to comply with more restrictive state laws, I realized the need for a consultative service, and started a compliance consulting practice in 2005 to help clients understand how these laws applied to them.
4. CompliancePoint's compliance consulting practice revolves around assisting sellers, service providers, and other related third parties to understand consumer contact operations standards and regulations and to implement operational procedures to ensure compliance with such standards and regulations. Consumer contact operations include communication channels such as SMSs/text messages, emails, facsimiles, U.S. and international telephone calls for telemarketing, debt collection, and surveys, for example. I have developed practices, systems, and training to ensure such compliance. These include compliance officer training programs, call data compliance audits, call center compliance assessments, consulting relative to the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005, as well as seller-service bureau risk mitigation consulting.
5. CompliancePoint's consulting practice monitors ever-changing federal and state regulatory requirements, as well as civil actions and published materials from industry experts. My years of experience in these matters involve a host of industry verticals such as financial services, insurance, retail, home alarm services, satellite and cable services, tele-services, vacation and cruise lines, lead generation, and the career college industries.
6. I have assisted many clients to implement compliance standards in various due diligence areas including the development of:
   1. Corporate compliance governance procedures
   2. Compliance review committee charters

• Third-party provider contractual obligations to comply

1. Compliance policy and procedure manuals
2. Compliance training and testing materials
3. Compliance monitoring and enforcement procedures

• Escalation policy and procedure
• Critical task risk assessment analysis

1. Agent quality assurance and compliance monitoring methodologies.

7. I have provided training and instructions relative to direct marketing compliance in the following circumstances:
8. Direct to consumer marketing compliance officer training courses for compliance staff and corporate legal departments
9. Call center agent training regarding corporate Do Not Call policies

• Quality Assurance staff training to incorporate compliance monitoring and scoring

1. College campus admissions representative training regarding consumer contact operations and corporate compliance
2. Customer compliance awareness training for dialer technology providers
3. Compliance training modules for SMS/text service provider customers

• Trade association compliance seminar presentations.

8. Additionally, I was retained to monitor compliance with court orders or settlements in the following instances:
   1. Compliance assessments of potential third-party providers
   2. Monthly call data and call abandonment audit analysis and reporting

• Ongoing announced and unannounced call center audits

1. Consumer call attempts monitoring to prevent over-dialing
2. Call time restriction compliance monitoring

• Admissions agent truthful disclosure monitoring

9. CompliancePoint provides compliance retainer services for over five dozen firms, including several Fortune 500 companies. I provided consulting services to government and military organizations implementing U.S. Army modularity design and organizational changes. I underwent specialized training at the U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major Course (graduated with Honors) and the Advanced Non-Commissioned Officers' Course (Distinguished Graduate). I retired from the U.S. Military after achieving the highest enlisted rank of U.S. Army, Command Sergeant Major, of the 3rd Infantry Division, a 23,400-man elite combat team.
10. I have been retained as an expert or consultant on various issues relating to call center operations. This work includes technical analysis of dialer technology to determine if the dialer meets the FTC/FCC definition of an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS). I have personally assessed dozens of call center operations and monitored hundreds of agent calls to assess agent-compliant behaviors. I have developed call center-specific audit parameters that are in use today, in order to assess third-party call center compliance under contract with large scale seller com­pa­nies. These audits incorporate federal, state, and individual seller policies and procedure compliance measures.
11. I have also been retained as a consultant or an expert in a number of TCPA class action cases involving facsimile technology.
12. From 2007 to 2014 I published a monthly article included in the PossibleNOW newsletter on compliance-related topics entitled “Commentary by Ken Sponsler,” with a circulation of approximately 2,000 — widely accepted in the industry as a resource for compliance-related updates and operational analysis. Following are a few of the pertinent webinars I conducted: 2016 Compliance Review — 2017 Forecast, Regulatory Updates, February 2017; Text Message Compliance Webinar, September 2016; Strategies For Compliance With New TCPA Requirements, March 2012; Employment Placement Verification, February 2012; 2014 Compliance Legislation Review & 2015 Forecast, February 2015; Proven Audit & Business Process Techniques For Compliance, June 2011; and periodic regulatory information charts.
13. As the former General Manager of CompliancePoint's Customer Engagement consulting practice, I organized quarterly compliance-related webinar presentations to PossibleNOW and CompliancePoint CE customers regarding operational compliance subject matter such as:
14. Compliance with the TCPA final rules regarding calls/texts to wireless numbers
15. Federal and state enforcement and settlement action lessons learned

• Changes to federal and state consumer contact laws

1. Global compliance and privacy updates
2. Expressed Consent standards under the federal E-Sign Act
3. Trends in the mobile marketplace

• Do Not Call and Call Abandonment Safe Harbor compliance
• Seller-Service Bureau mutual due diligence requirements

1. Telemarketer registration and bonding requirements
2. Do Not Call compliance data auditing lessons learned
3. Record keeping lessons learned from the Civil Investigative Demand

• Federal and state established business relationship exemption criteria
• Call time restriction compliance
• Federal and state disclosure requirements

1. Lead generator due diligence issues

• How to prepare and respond to federal and state investigative demands.

14. I am a prior member of the Executive Committee and of the National Board of Directors of PACE (PACE, formerly the American Teleservices Association (ATA)) and I served as the PACE Vice Chairman of the Board in 2018. I have been involved personally in the development and operation of a Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) for the direct to consumer marketing industry. The SRO establishes industry best practices standards for compliance, as well as consumer advocacy. I personally participated in the development of these standards, as well as the audit methodologies and currently serve as a national SRO trustee. I have expertise in the application of those standards to the individual conduct of organizations engaged in consumer contact operations. Companies hire consultants, such as me, to ensure that their employees or third parties, who engage in consumer contact operations on their behalf, comply with these standards.
15. I have been asked to provide presentations and colloquies and am a frequent speaker at industry events, including but not limited to: PACE Annual Convention and Washington Sum­mit, Direct Marketing Association Teleservices Conference, College of Information Assurance Pro­fessional's Governance, Risk and Compliance Summit, Noble Users' Conference, The Asso­cia­tion of Private Sector Colleges and Universities Annual Conference (APSCU), The Customer En­gagement Management (CEM) Conference, Dish Network's Annual Retailer Conference, Cam­pus Management Corporation (CMC) Annual Conference, Life Office Management Association (LOMA), Quarterly Compliance Focused Webinar Presentations, LeadsCon annual conference, and the Allied Solutions Financial Services member conference.
16. I hold the following registrations, licenses, and certifications: Customer Engagement Certified Professional (CECP) by the Professional Association for Customer Engagement (PACE), Certified American Teleservices Association Self-Regulatory Organization Auditor (ATASRO), and Cer­ti­fied Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US) by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (iapp).
17. I have received the following professional recognition for my work in this field: Awards/Honors: 2019 PACE Searcy Award for Advocacy as recognition for my efforts in advocating for the association and the contact center industry at large. 2016 PACE Pioneer Award, 2014 PACE Chairman's Award for Distinguished Leadership and Service to the In­dustry, Technovation Award awarded by American Teleservices Association (ATA), 2010. The ATA (now Professional Association of Customer Engagement “PACE”), is a national trade or­ga­ni­za­tion for the contact center industry. Each year, the organization awards the “Techno­va­tion Award” for the most significant product or service that benefits the goals of the association and the con­tact center industry. My consulting practice received this award for our development of the call da­ta compliance audit program. This program involves monthly call data compliance audits of call cen­ters. Call centers participating in the audits showed significantly reduced non-compliant out­bound calls. This is accomplished by immediately identifying anomalies and the causes of the error, as well as the implementation of remediation procedures to prevent future errors; Hewlett Packard Vendor of the Quarter Award (to CompliancePoint), 2007. Hewlett Packard awarded this dis­tinction to CompliancePoint as a result of the quality and value of our compliance assessment and retainer services. 18 separate personal awards by the U.S. Army, including the Legion of Merit.

Summary of Expert Experience

18. I provided trial testimony in federal district court relative to United States of America, et al. v. DISH Net­work L.L.C., 3:09-cv-03073 (C.D. Ill.) and ADT Security Services Inc. v. Security One International, 11-cv-05149 (N.D. Cal.).

I was retained to provide testimony as an expert or consultant in the following matters; some of my consultant engagements are confidential and, thus, not disclosed:

Jamison v. First Credit Services, 1:12-cv-04415 (N.D. Ill.); Warnick v. DISH, 1:12-cv-01952 (D. Colo.); Manno v. Healthcare Revenue Recovery Group, 11-cv-61357 (S.D. Fla.); United States of America et al., v. DISH, 3:09-cv-03073 (C.D. Ill.); Navarro v. Sears Life Insurance Co., 2:08-cv-00527 (E.D. Cal.); Tri­le­giant Corp. v. Sitel Corp., 1:09-cv-06492 (S.D. NY); ADT Security Services, v. Se­cu­ri­ty One, 11-cv-05149 (N.D. Cal.); Wojcik v. Buffalo Bills, 8:12-cv-2414 (M.D. Fla.);  Lee v. Stonebridge Life Insurance, 11-cv-0043 (N.D. Cal.); Lo­pe­ra v. The Re­cei­vable Management Ser­vices Corp., 1:12-cv-09649 (N.D. Ill.); Rodriguez v. Allied Interstate, 3:13-cv-00388 (S.D. Cal.); Horton v. Cavalry Portfolio Services, 3:13-cv-00307 (S.D. Cal.); Benzion v. Vivint, 0:12-cv-61826 (S.D. Fla.); D'Agostino v. Jesta Di­gi­tal, 2:12-cv-09712 (C.D. Cal.); Physicians Health­source, Inc. v. Stryker Sales Corp., 1:12-cv-00729 (W.D. Mich.); Shamaan v. Monex Credit Co., JAMS Arbitration No. 1200041941; Bug Pro v. Universal Adcom, 4:13-cv-646 (E.D. Ark.); Molnar v. NCO Financial Systems, 3:13-cv-00131 and 3-13-cv-00685 (S.D. Cal.); Glassbrook v. Rose Acceptance, 13-cv-10152 (E.D. Mich.); Bates v. Dollar Loan Center, 2:13-cv-01731 (D. Nev.); Tsai v. 24 Hour Fitness USA, 2:14-cv-04503 (C.D. Cal.); Prater v. Medicredit, 4:14-cv-00159 (E.D. Mo.); Selby v. LVNV Funding, 13-cv-1383 (S.D. Cal.); In Re: Convergent Telephone Consumer Protection Act Litigation, MDL 3:13-md-02478 (D. Conn.); Hooker v. Sirius XM Radio, 4:13-cv-00003 (E.D. Va.); Bianchi v. Dynamic Recovery Solutions, 0:13-cv-61997 (S.D. Fla.); Legg v. Quicken Loans, 0:14-cv-61116 (S.D. Fla.); In Re: Midland Credit Management, Telephone Consumer Protection Act Litigation, MDL 11-md-2286 (S.D. Cal.); on behalf of UTC Fire & Security Americas Corporation, Inc., In Re: Monitronics International, Telephone Consumer Protection Act Litigation, MDL 1-13-md-2493 (N.D. W.Va.); True Health Chiropractic v. McKesson Corp., 3:13-cv-002219 (N.D. Cal.); Daisy, Inc. v. Pollo Operations, 2:14-cv-00564 (M.D. Fla.); Byrd v. Equinox Holdings, 2:14-cv-08226 (C.D. Cal.); Bridge v. Credit One, 2:14-cv-01512 (D. Nev.); Phillips v. Coca-Cola, 2:12-cv-04033 (N.D. Ala.); Tomeo v. Citigroup, 13-cv-04046 (N.D. Ill.); Heidarpour v. Central Payment Co., 4:15-cv-00139 (M.D. Ga.); Rivera v. Exeter Finance Corp., 1:15-cv-01057 (D. Colo.); Autovest, assignee of Wells Fargo Financial. v. D. Muncy and M. Muncy, 14-C-303 (Circuit Court of Logan County, W.Va.); Newhart v. Quicken Loans, 9:15-cv-81250 (S.D. Fla.); Mey v. Frontier Communications, 3:13-cv-01191 (D. Conn.); Raffin v. Medicredit Inc. and The Outsource Group, 2:15-cv-04912 (C.D. Cal.); Ginwright v. Exeter, 8:16-cv-00565 (D. Md.); Jacobs v. Quicken Loans, 9:15-cv-81386 (S.D. Fla.); Buja v. Novation Capital, 9:15-cv-81002 (S.D. Fla.); Abante Rooter & Plumbing v. Birch Communications, 1:15-cv-03562 (N.D. Ga.); Pinchem v. Regal Medical Group, 2:15-cv-06518 (C.D. Cal.); Keim v. ADF Companies & Pizza Hut, Inc., 9:12-cv-80577 (S.D. Fla.); on behalf of Alliance Security, Inc. In Re: Monitronics International, TCPA Litigation., MDL 1-13-md-2493 (N.D. W.Va.); Paoletti v. Everglades College, 0:16-cv-61777 (S.D. Fla.); Abante Rooter & Plumbing v. Alarm.com, 4:15-cv-06314 (N.D. Cal.); Meyer v. bebe stores, 4:14-cv-00267 (N.D. Cal.); Marcus v. CVS, 3:15-cv-002159 (D. N.J.); Tillman v. Ally Financial, 2:16-cv-00313 (M.D. Fla.); Toney v. Quality Resources, 1:13-cv-00042 (N.D. Ill.); America's Health & Resource Center and Affiliated Health Group v. Alcon Laboratories, Inc., 1:16-cv-04539 (N.D. Ill.); Glasser v. Hilton Grand Vacations Co., 8:16-cv-00952 (M.D. Fla.); Bennett v. GoDaddy.com, 2:16-cv-03908 (D. Ariz.); Slovin v. Sunrun, 4:15-cv-05340 (N.D. Cal.); Lennartson v. Papa Murphy's Holdings, 3:15-cv-05307 (W.D. Wash.); Gorss Motels v. Brigadoon Fitness, 1:16-cv-00330 (N.D. Ind.); Larson v. Harman-Management Corp., 1:16-cv-00219 (E.D. Cal.); Gorss Motels v. Otis Elevator Co., 3:16-cv-017871 (D. Conn.); Dipuglia v. US Coachways, 1:17-cv-23006 (S.D. Fla.); Etter v. Allstate Insurance, 3:17-cv-00184 (N.D. Cal.); Scoma Chiropractic v. Mastercard International, Inc., 2:16-cv-00041 (M.D. Fla.); Bakov v. CWT, 1:15-cv-02980 consolidated with 1:17-cv-00973 (N.D. Ill.); Flores v. Adir International, 2:15-cv-00076 (C.D. Cal.); Eisenband v. Starion Energy, 9:17-cv-80195 (S.D. Fla.); Gorss Motels v. Sprint Solutions, Inc., 3:17-cv-00546 (D. Conn.); Gorss Motels v. AT&T Mobility & AT&T Mobility National Accounts, 3:17-cv-00403 (D. Conn.); Fitzgerald v. Universal Pictures, 6:16-cv-01193 (M.D. Fla.); Knapper v. Cox Communications, 2:17-cv-00913 (D. Ariz.); Gorss Motels v. Lands' End, 3:17-cv-00010 (D. Conn.); Aparicio v. Jade Holdings Grp, 0:18-cv-60202 (S.D. Fla.); Sliwa v. Bright House Networks, 2:16-cv-00235 (M.D. Fla.); Fabricant v. United Card Solutions, 2-18-cv-01429 (C.D. Cal.); Powell v. YouFit Health Clubs, 0:17-cv-62328 (S.D. Fla.); Poirier v. CubaMax Travel, 1:18-cv-23240 (S.D. Fla.); Warren v. Ross Medical Education Center, 1-18-cv-00341 (W.D. Mich.); E&G, Inc. v. Mt. Vernon Mills, 6:17-cv-00318 (D. S.C.); Washington v. Ross Medical Education Center, 3-18-cv-00139 (N.D. Ind.); Lisa Drayton and Daniel Drayton v. Toyota Motor Credit Corp., 3:16-cv-00046 (M.D. Fla.); Hunter, Villa, Mejia, et al. v. Time Warner Cable, 1:15-cv-06445 (S.D. N.Y.); Morgan v. Orlando Health, Inc. et al., 6-17-cv-01972 (M.D. Fla.); San Pedro-Salcedo v. Häagen-Dazs, 5:17-cv-03504 (N.D. Cal.); Grigorian v. FCA US, LLC, 1:18-cv-24364 (S.D. Fla.); Morgan v. Adventist Health System/Sunbelt, Inc., d/b/a Florida Hospital Orlando et al., 6:18-cv-01342 (M.D. Fla.); Burke v. Credit One Bank, 8:18-cv-00728 (M.D. Fla.); Kawa Orthodontics LLP v. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, 9:19-cv-80521 (S.D. Fla.); Frank v. South Aiken Fitness, 1:18-cv-02454 (D.S.C.); CS Wang v. Wells Fargo, 1:16-cv-11223 (N.D. Ill.); Jenkins et al. v. National Grid USA Service Company, Inc., 2:15-cv-001219 (E.D. N.Y.); Clark v. FDS Bank and Department Stores National Bank, 6:17-cv-00692 (M.D. Fla.); Greenspan v. FDS Bank, 01-19-0002-1607, American Arbitration Association; Manopla v. Credit One, JAMS Arbitration No. 1425026839; Chinitz v. Intero Real Estate Services, 5:18-cv-05623 (N.D. Cal.); Davila-Lynch v. HOSOPO Corporation d/b/a Horizon Solar Power, et al., 1:18-cv-10072 (D. Mass.); Williams v. PillPack LLC, 3:19-cv-05282 (W.D. Wash.), Fischer v TriVita, Inc., 6:19-cv-02333 (M.D. Fla.); Davis Neurology, P.A. v. DoctorDirectory.com, et al., 4:19-cv-00499 (E.D. Ark.); Austin and Marrero v. Public Reputation Management Services d/b/a PR.Business, 9:20-cv-80161 (S.D. Fla.); Hicks v. Houston Baptist University, 5:17-cv-00629 (E.D. N.C.); Career Counseling, Inc. dba Snelling Staffing Services v. AmeriFactors Financial Group, LLC, 3-16-cv-03013 (D. S.C.); Bacon v. All Web Leads, Inc., 1:20-cv-00043 (W.D. Tex.); and Watson v. Lexus of Manhattan, 1:20-cv-04572 (S.D. N.Y.).