SMS Compliance Reference

Comprehensive compliance reference for SMS marketing across major jurisdictions, opt-in copy templates, and STOP/HELP response templates.

This is operational guidance, not legal advice. For high-volume programs (50K+ subscribers) or any program with non-trivial revenue, run your compliance setup past a TCPA-experienced attorney.

United States — TCPA

What it is

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (1991, amended) regulates marketing calls and texts. The FCC enforces it; private plaintiffs sue under it. Statutory damages: $500–$1,500 per message. Class actions easily reach 7–8 figures.

Consent tiers

Express written consent requirements

The opt-in flow must capture all of:

1. The recipient agreed to receive marketing SMS from your brand
2. The recipient understands consent is not a condition of purchase
3. The disclosure showed frequency expectation, message and data rate notice, STOP/HELP instructions, terms link
4. The agreement was electronically recorded with timestamp

Opt-in disclosure template (compliant)

By signing up via text, you agree to receive recurring automated promotional and
personalized marketing text messages (e.g., cart reminders) from [Brand] at the
cell number used when signing up. Consent is not a condition of any purchase.
Reply HELP for help and STOP to cancel. Msg frequency varies. Msg & data rates
may apply. View [Terms](link) and [Privacy](link).

Place this directly adjacent to the phone number field and submit button. Do not bury it in a footer.

Quiet hours

• Federal: 8am–9pm in the recipient's local time zone
• Stricter states: Florida (8am–8pm), Oklahoma (8am–8pm), Washington (8am–8pm)
• Carrier-recommended: 9am–8pm recipient-local
• Practical default: 9am–8pm recipient-local for safety

Time zone is determined by area code, but area codes lie (people move). Major platforms (Klaviyo, Postscript, Attentive) handle this automatically; verify yours does.

STOP/HELP handling

STOP variants you must honor: STOP, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE, QUIT, STOPALL, OPTOUT

STOP response (after STOP received):

You're unsubscribed from [Brand] alerts. No more messages will be sent. Reply HELP for help.

HELP variants: HELP, INFO

HELP response:

[Brand] alerts: For help, visit [URL] or email [[email protected]]. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to cancel.

Critical rules:

• Honor STOP within seconds, every time, every keyword variant
• Do not require the recipient to log in or visit a website to opt out
• One STOP confirmation is allowed; do not send additional messages after
• HELP responses do not count as marketing messages and are not subject to quiet hours

Sample TCPA-compliant footer language by sequence type

• Opt-in confirmation: "Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. Msg & data rates may apply." — required
• Recurring promotional: "Reply STOP to opt out" — required quarterly minimum; carrier-recommended every send
• Transactional: Not required by TCPA but carriers expect it; include for safety

United States — A2P 10DLC

What it is

Application-to-Person 10-Digit Long Code registration, run by The Campaign Registry (TCR). Required for businesses sending SMS through 10DLC numbers (regular long codes) since 2022. Carriers (T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon) enforce this; unregistered traffic gets throttled or blocked.

Registration components

1. Brand registration

   • Legal entity name, EIN, business type
   • Trust score assigned (Standard or Verified)
   • Higher trust = better throughput, lower fees

2. Campaign registration (one per use case)

   • Use case: Marketing, Account Notification, Customer Care, Public Service, Higher Education, Polling and Voting, 2FA, Delivery Notification, etc.
   • Sample message text (must match what you actually send)
   • Opt-in flow description and screenshot
   • Opt-out language
   • Help message language
   • Volume estimate

3. Phone number assignment to campaigns

Throughput tiers (varies by carrier and trust score)

Common rejections

• Sample message text doesn't match actual sends
• Opt-in flow screenshot doesn't show required disclosure language
• "SHAFT" content (Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco) without explicit use case
• Generic or vague campaign descriptions

Process time: 1–7 business days. Plan for this in launch timelines.

EU / UK — GDPR + ePrivacy Directive

Consent requirements

• Explicit opt-in: clear affirmative action (no pre-checked boxes)
• Specific: opt-in must be for marketing SMS specifically, separate from generic ToS
• Informed: data subject must know who's processing and why
• Freely given: can't be bundled with service access

Mandatory provisions

• Sender identity in every message
• Easy opt-out in every message
• Right to access data (DSARs)
• Right to deletion
• Records of consent kept for the duration of processing + statute of limitations

Penalty exposure

GDPR fines up to €20M or 4% of global revenue, whichever is higher.

Canada — CASL

Consent

• Express consent: explicit opt-in (same standard as US TCPA express written consent)
• Implied consent: existing business relationship within 24 months — limited use, expires

Every message must include

• Sender identification (legal name + any operating names)
• Mailing address
• Phone, email, or website contact
• Unsubscribe mechanism that works within 10 business days

Penalty exposure

Up to CAD $10M per violation. Enforced by the CRTC.

Australia — Spam Act 2003

• Express or inferred consent (inferred has narrow application)
• Sender ID required
• Functional unsubscribe required
• Enforced by ACMA

Multi-jurisdictional programs

If you send across US + EU + Canada simultaneously:

• Default to the strictest standard across all jurisdictions (US TCPA express written consent + GDPR explicit opt-in)
• Track consent jurisdiction per subscriber
• Default quiet hours to recipient-local 9am–8pm
• Include all required identifiers in every message

Audit-ready compliance checklist

• A2P 10DLC registration complete (US, if applicable)
• Opt-in flow includes all required disclosures, adjacent to phone field
• Disclosure text matches A2P registered sample messages
• Opt-in event captures: timestamp, IP, page URL, exact disclosure shown
• STOP/HELP keywords honored across all variants
• Quiet hours enforced at platform level (recipient-local time)
• Privacy policy includes SMS section
• Terms of service include SMS terms
• Consent records retained per applicable law (typically 4+ years US, longer EU)
• Process for handling DSARs (EU) and consent revocation
• Sender identity in every message
• Compliance footer on every promotional message (recommended) or quarterly minimum (required)
• Test STOP/HELP from a real phone number quarterly to verify it still works