Contact center compliance: PCI, HIPAA, TCPA guide

Contact center compliance: PCI, HIPAA, TCPA guide

Contact centers are adopting AI and automation faster than compliance frameworks can keep up. The global call center AI market is projected to grow from $1.6 billion in 2022 to $4.1 billion by 2027, and Gartner predicted that 1 in 10 agent interactions would be automated by 2026. That's a massive operational shift, and a compliance minefield if you're not prepared.

The stakes are real. Between 2017 and 2022, the number of breached healthcare records jumped from 5.3 million to 51.4 million. Meanwhile, 91% of cybersecurity professionals report increased cyber attacks tied to remote work, a model many contact centers still rely on.

This guide maps major regulations to the technical controls you need to stay compliant across consent capture, secure recording, encryption, data retention, and auditing.

The regulatory landscape at a glance

Before implementing controls, you need to understand which regulations apply to your operations. Here's a quick reference:

New state laws are adding complexity. Iowa's privacy law took effect January 1, 2025, with fines of $7,500 per violation and a 90-day cure period. Delaware's Data Protection Act, also effective January 1, 2025, requires opt-in consent for sensitive data and recognition of universal opt-out mechanisms by January 2026.

Consent capture and management

The FCC has tightened consent rules significantly. The one-to-one consent rule, which took effect on January 27, 2025, requires separate written consent for each seller; pre-checked boxes on web forms no longer count. And starting April 11, 2025, businesses must honor consent-revocation requests within 10 business days. Opt-outs can come through any reasonable method and apply across channels unless the consumer specifies otherwise.

For contact centers, this means building consent capture directly into call flows. Use IVR prompts or Voice AI agents to record explicit consent before proceeding with marketing calls. Store timestamps, caller ID, and the exact consent language presented. Without this audit trail, you're exposed to TCPA lawsuits that can cost $500 to $1,500 per violation.

Telnyx's event-driven Voice API enables real-time consent capture with webhooks that log every interaction. You can build conditional logic into your call flows. If consent isn't confirmed, the call routes to a different path or terminates. For a detailed implementation checklist, see our TCPA compliance guide.

Secure recording and encryption

Call recording is essential for quality assurance and dispute resolution, but it creates significant liability if mishandled. PCI DSS requires that cardholder data never be stored in recordings unless encrypted and access-controlled. HIPAA demands the same for protected health information.

The technical controls here are straightforward: encrypt recordings at rest and in transit, implement role-based access, and set automatic retention policies. But many contact centers still rely on legacy systems that store recordings in plaintext or lack granular access controls.

A modern approach uses pause-and-resume recording during payment capture, so card numbers never hit the recording file. For healthcare, redaction tools can strip PHI from transcripts while preserving the interaction for training purposes.

Telnyx provides end-to-end encryption on a private IP network, with SOC 2 Type II certification and HIPAA-eligible infrastructure. Regional GPU deployment supports data locality requirements for GDPR and other jurisdiction-specific rules. Our contact center infrastructure guide covers architecture best practices in detail.

Data retention and access controls

Regulations don't just dictate how you collect data, they prescribe how long you keep it and who can access it. GDPR's data minimization principle requires you to retain personal data only as long as necessary. CCPA gives consumers the right to deletion. PCI DSS mandates that cardholder data be purged when no longer needed for business purposes.

Build retention policies into your systems from the start. Automate deletion workflows so recordings and transcripts are purged on schedule. Maintain access logs that show who viewed what and when, as auditors will ask for these.

For contact centers using AI transcription and analytics, the same rules apply to derived data. If your speech-to-text system generates call summaries containing customer PII, those summaries need the same protections as the original recordings.

Auditing and ongoing compliance

Compliance isn't a one-time project. Regulations change, and your controls need to evolve with them. The FCC's eighth report and order on third-party authentication is one example, new attestation requirements can disrupt voice services if you're not prepared.

Establish a regular audit cadence. Review consent records for completeness. Test that encryption is actually applied to recordings. Verify that access controls match your documented policies. Check that opt-out requests are being honored within required timeframes.

For messaging, 10DLC compliance adds another layer. Carriers now require brand and campaign registration for A2P messaging, with throughput limits tied to your trust score. Non-compliant messages face filtering or outright blocking. Our SMS compliance guide for 2025 covers the global opt-in requirements you need to know.

Global numbering and multi-jurisdiction operations

If you operate across borders, compliance multiplies. GDPR in Europe, PIPEDA in Canada, Ofcom rules in the UK: each jurisdiction has distinct consent, recording, and data handling requirements.

Global numbering adds complexity. You need local numbers that comply with national regulations, STIR/SHAKEN attestation for caller ID verification, and routing that respects data residency rules. A fragmented vendor stack makes this nearly impossible to manage consistently.

Telnyx operates as a licensed telecom provider in 30+ markets with PSTN calling capabilities in 100+ countries. That means one platform for number provisioning, SIP trunking, and AI-powered voice, all with the compliance infrastructure built in. CNAM, STIR/SHAKEN attestation, and CTIA-compliant messaging work out of the box.

Build compliant contact center infrastructure with Telnyx

Compliance risk grows as contact centers scale automation. The solution isn't to slow down adoption, it's to build on infrastructure designed for regulatory requirements from the ground up.

Telnyx combines carrier-grade voice, programmable APIs, and AI capabilities on a private global network. End-to-end encryption, regional data processing, and event-driven call control give you the technical foundation for TCPA, HIPAA, PCI, and GDPR compliance.

Explore our Voice API to see how you can build consent capture, secure recording, and auditable call flows into your contact center, without stitching together multiple vendors or sacrificing control.