B737 captain reported receiving ATC clearance via cpdlc.

Narrative:

ATC on cpdlc (controller pilot datalink communications) gave us a climb and maintain fl 360 without an ATC controller assigning us a clearance via radio. I don't know if it's legal in our ops spec for a B737. We called ATC via radio instead to verify assigned altitude. I don't remember seeing or reading if B737's can legally accept this type clearance. Why is ATC giving us cpdlc altitude clearances? We're not ETOPS over washington dc! Now they're giving us reroutes via cpdlc. I don't know if we can accept these as well. I have talked to many pilots and the assistant chief pilot and no one has an answer to my situation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain reported receiving ATC clearance via CPDLC.

Narrative: ATC on CPDLC (Controller Pilot Datalink Communications) gave us a climb and maintain FL 360 without an ATC controller assigning us a clearance via radio. I don't know if it's legal in our ops spec for a B737. We called ATC via radio instead to verify assigned altitude. I don't remember seeing or reading if B737's can legally accept this type clearance. Why is ATC giving us CPDLC altitude clearances? We're not ETOPS over Washington DC! Now they're giving us reroutes via CPDLC. I don't know if we can accept these as well. I have talked to many pilots and the Assistant Chief Pilot and no one has an answer to my situation.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1767444
Time
Date	202010
Place
Locale Reference	ZDC.ARTCC
State Reference	VA
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy