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In Italy, an AI agent may only make marketing calls to people and businesses who agreed to automated calls beforehand. Article 130(1) of the Privacy Code (Codice privacy, D.Lgs. 196/2003) requires consent for any marketing call made “senza l’intervento di un operatore” (without an operator), and it protects companies too. Even with consent, you must screen your list in the Registro pubblico delle opposizioni, and since mid-June 2026 Italy bans phone sales of electricity and gas to consumers unless the customer asked you to call.
This page summarizes the law as of October 2026 to help you plan AI phone calls. It isn’t legal advice. Laws and how regulators apply them change, so check your use case with a lawyer before you start a campaign.

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At a glance

Only with prior consent. Article 130(1) of the Codice privacy reads:
“l’uso di sistemi automatizzati di chiamata o di comunicazione di chiamata senza l’intervento di un operatore per l’invio di materiale pubblicitario o di vendita diretta o per il compimento di ricerche di mercato o di comunicazione commerciale è consentito con il consenso del contraente o utente.”
In English: you may use automated calling systems without an operator for advertising, direct sales, market research, or commercial messages only with the consent of the subscriber or user. The “contraente” (subscriber) is any natural or legal person with a phone contract (Art. 121(1-bis)(f)), so the rule covers consumers, sole traders, professionals, and companies alike. Automated market research calls need consent too. Does an AI agent count as automated? Probably yes. The Garante, the data protection authority, hasn’t ruled on conversational AI. The telemarketing code of conduct it approved defines automated calls as those made “senza l’intervento di un operatore (persona fisica)” (without a human operator). It counts an automated call that qualifies a lead for a human sales agent as automated marketing too (Codice di condotta, Art. 2(2)(c) and (e)). So treat AI calls as automated, even if a colleague supervises or could take over. Law 5/2018 adds two rules. Anyone who makes marketing calls “con o senza l’intervento di un operatore umano” (with or without a human operator) must screen the do-not-call register (Art. 1(12)). The law also bans dialers that generate numbers automatically (Art. 1(14)).

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Cold calls by a human

Article 130(3-bis) allows calls by a human without consent only to numbers listed in public phone directories, unless the owner registered them in the Registro pubblico delle opposizioni. All other numbers, which includes most mobile numbers, need consent (Codice di condotta, Art. 10(2)). This applies to B2B prospecting too. In May 2026, the Garante fined an M&A advisory firm that called company contacts with numbers bought from a sales intelligence tool. Directory numbers outside the register are the only exception (“unica deroga ammessa”), and numbers from public or online sources still need consent (Garante, May 14, 2026).

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Existing customers and callback requests

Existing customers. Italy’s soft opt-in covers email only (Art. 130(4)). An AI call to a customer therefore needs marketing consent. Consent given within an active contract, or one that ended less than 30 days ago, survives a later registration in the do-not-call register (Law 5/2018, Art. 1(5)). Don’t add offers to service calls without marketing consent. The Garante fined Enel Energia for this in March 2026. Callback requests. A person who asks for a callback through a landing page, an ad, or an IVR menu has agreed to that call (Codice di condotta, Art. 7(3)(f)). Make your form say that an AI agent calls back, and confirm the number with an SMS code or a double opt-in. In July 2026, the Garante ordered TIM to prove that each request came from the actual person, and held that a request obtained after an unlawful first call doesn’t cure it (Garante, July 23, 2026).

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Do-not-call register: Registro pubblico delle opposizioni

The register matters even when you have consent, because registration cancels earlier consents. Consent given after registration stays valid (Law 5/2018, Art. 1(6)), until the person renews the registration (DPR 26/2022, Art. 7(4)). botBrains doesn’t screen numbers, so you screen your lists yourself. Consent must be free, specific, informed, unambiguous, and documented, and you carry the burden of proof (GDPR Art. 4(11) and Art. 7). In Italy, that means: Italian law sets no fixed retention period or expiry date for consent, so keep the evidence for as long as you call on it. For what botBrains asks before outbound campaigns, see before you start outbound campaigns.

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Tell callers they’re talking to an AI

Since August 2, 2026, Article 50 of the EU AI Act requires that people know they’re talking to an AI system, at the latest when the conversation starts. This applies to inbound and outbound calls, to consumers and to business contacts, and you can’t count on the exception for obvious cases when your AI agent sounds human. The default introduction already says that your AI agent is an AI, so keep that statement first when you edit it. When you call a consumer to sell something, the Consumer Rights Directive also requires you to name your company, anyone you call for, and the commercial purpose at the start. Italian law adds these duties for the start of a marketing call: Italy’s AI law (Legge 132/2025, in force since October 10, 2025) adds no disclosure duty beyond the AI Act (Art. 3(5)). It asks for plain-language information on AI-related data processing (Art. 4(3)) and makes spreading harmful AI-faked voices a crime (Art. 26). Recommended introduction for outbound marketing calls in Italian. Replace the parts in brackets:
For inbound calls:
Edit the introduction per project, see introductions. A spoken “no more calls” is an objection you must apply at once, even within the running campaign (Codice di condotta, Art. 12(5)). Add guidance for objections and a Unitool that writes the objection to your CRM.

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Call recording

Italy follows a one-party rule in criminal law. Article 617 of the Criminal Code punishes listening in on conversations between other people or not addressed to you (“tra altre persone o comunque a lui non dirette”). Recording a call you take part in falls outside it. Under the GDPR, you need a lawful basis such as legitimate interest or contract, and you must tell the caller about the recording (Art. 6 and Art. 13). Consent isn’t required, but the caller can object (Art. 21). A recording kept for quality isn’t biometric data. Voice becomes biometric only when you process it to identify someone (Art. 4(14) and Art. 9). After a forward, the recording also captures your colleague. Tools that allow remote monitoring of employees can require a union agreement or approval from the labor inspectorate (Statuto dei lavoratori, Art. 4). In botBrains, pressing the star key stops the recording and discards it. The transcript stays. botBrains stores recordings, transcripts, and call data in the EU.

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Caller ID and calling hours

Show a number people can call back. Marketing calls, with or without a human, must show the caller’s number (Law 5/2018, Art. 2, and DPR 26/2022, Art. 9). AGCOM, the communications regulator, reserved the 0844 prefix for marketing calls. You may use another number instead if people can call it back (AGCOM 156/18/CIR). Callers see your botBrains number, botBrains provisions Italian numbers on request, and your AI agent answers when people call back. Businesses that run call center activity on Italian numbers must also register in AGCOM’s operator register (ROC) and declare their numbers (D.L. 83/2012, Art. 24-bis(11)). Ask your lawyer whether your campaign counts. Spoofed numbers get blocked. Since August 2025, Italian carriers must block calls from abroad that show an Italian landline number, and since November 2025 also an Italian mobile number unless the phone is roaming (AGCOM 106/25/CONS). Calling hours. We found no statutory calling hours. The code of conduct allows calls from 9:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and from 10:00 to 19:00 on Saturdays and days before public holidays, with no calls on Sundays or public holidays (Art. 7(3)(f)). Calls the person asked for are exempt. botBrains starts calls one at a time with Dial or through the API and doesn’t enforce calling hours, so plan your calls within these windows yourself.

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Sector rules

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Fines and enforcement

Recent telemarketing fines by the Garante: We found no Italian case yet about a conversational AI agent. Recent and upcoming changes. The energy call ban applies since mid-June 2026, and the AI Act’s disclosure duty since August 2, 2026. Legge 132/2025 asked the government to adapt Italian law to the AI Act by October 2026 (Art. 24), so check for new decrees before a large campaign.

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Sources

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Next steps

Phone integration

Set up your phone line, introductions, and outbound calls.

Calling laws by country

Compare consent rules for AI calls across the EU, the UK, and the US.