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AI Dialer

Glossary · Compliance

What is Prior express written consent?

  • Also called: consent, opt-in

Reviewed by Sujan ThapaliyaLast updated

Definition

Prior express written consent is the TCPA standard for marketing calls and texts to mobiles using automated technology. It requires a clear, conspicuous disclosure, an affirmative act by the consumer, and a record identifying what they agreed to and when.
The three STIR/SHAKEN attestation levels, which underpin how prior express written consent behaves in practice: A asserts both that the carrier knows the customer and that the customer may use the calling number, B asserts the customer only, and C asserts neither. A shared number pool can reach B at best, which is why number ownership keeps recurring in these definitions.
Attestation is the backdrop to most caller-ID and deliverability terms, prior express written consent included.

In practice

How prior express written consent actually works

Pre-ticked boxes, consent buried in terms of service, and consent bundled into an unrelated agreement all fail. The consumer must take a positive action against clear language.

What you store matters as much as what you collect: the exact language shown, the timestamp, the IP or channel, and the specific number consented to. Without those, consent is unprovable in practice.

Consent obtained by a lead vendor is only as good as the record they can produce. The obligation to prove it stays with the caller, not the vendor.

Consent is also channel-specific in a way most records are not. Permission to call is not permission to text, and permission given to one brand does not travel to a sister brand. Records that capture only "consented: yes" cannot answer the question that actually gets asked, which is consented to what.

Worked example

A defensible record holds the timestamp, the exact wording shown, the channel and the IP or form id. "They ticked a box on the website" is not a record; it is a memory of one.

Prior express written consent: common questions

What makes consent 'prior express written'?
A signed agreement, which can be electronic, that clearly authorises calls or texts using an automatic dialing system or a prerecorded voice, identifies the seller, and is not a condition of purchase. The disclosure has to be conspicuous rather than buried.
How long does consent last?
Until it is revoked. The practical problem is proving it existed at the moment of the call, which is why the record needs the timestamp, the source, the exact wording shown, and the IP or channel it came through.
Can consent be revoked by text or verbally?
Yes. Revocation can be made through any reasonable means, including a spoken request on a call or a reply to a message, and it must be honoured promptly across every channel you contact that person on.

Sources

  1. Combating Spoofed Robocalls with Caller ID Authentication — Federal Communications CommissionThe STIR/SHAKEN framework, the attestation levels carriers sign calls with, and the mandate requiring providers to authenticate caller ID.
  2. 47 U.S.C. § 227 — Restrictions on the use of telephone equipment — Cornell Legal Information InstituteThe Telephone Consumer Protection Act itself — the consent requirements, calling-hours limits, and private right of action.
  3. ITU-T Recommendation E.164 — The international public telecommunication numbering plan — International Telecommunication UnionThe international number format, the 15-digit maximum, and how country codes and national numbers compose.

See prior express written consent in the product

An auto dialer is any system that places outbound calls without a person keying digits. There are four modes — power, preview, progressive and predictive — and they differ in how many calls run per rep and who hears the phone ring first. All four are in the base product here, switchable per campaign.

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