SMS Compliance

Obtaining Consent

You must receive explicit written consent before sending SMS messages. That consent must be documented and saved, otherwise you risk fines of $500-$1500 per message.

Opt-in

Opt-in consent can be obtained in a few ways:

Remember, the phone number field on website opt-in forms must be optional, as mandatory fields are now considered forced opt-ins.

Opt-out

It's crucial to respect your recipients' preferences. If someone hasn't responded to your initial message, treat that as an implied opt-out.

Recipients can explicitly opt out of your messages at any time by texting one of the following keywords: STOP, QUIT, UNSUBSCRIBE, OPT-OUT, or CANCEL.

Upon opting out, our messaging partner automatically sends a confirmation message. This message confirms their opt-out status and provides clear instructions on how to opt back in by texting START, YES, or UNSTOP.

Important Notes for Salesforce Users:

• While our partner's automated opt-out confirmation message isn't visible in Salesforce, the customer's "STOP" or "START" message will appear.

• Attempting to send a message to someone who has opted out (from the same number they opted out of) will result in non-delivery and an error on the SMS record.

• To maintain accurate communication records and avoid sending undeliverable messages, we strongly recommend implementing a process to track all opt-outs within Salesforce.

Configuring Opt-Ins and Opt-Outs

Mogli offers two robust methods to track recipient opt-in and opt-out preferences, helping you maintain compliant and effective communication.

Global Opt-Outs

The Mogli Opt Out checkbox provides a comprehensive way to manage global opt-outs. When this checkbox is selected on a contact's record, Salesforce users will be prevented from sending any outbound SMS messages to that individual. To ensure compliance from the start, we recommend performing a mass update using the Data Import Wizard or Data Loader to check the Mogli Opt-Out checkbox for all recipients initially. This ensures no messages are sent until recipients have explicitly opted in.

You have the flexibility to manage this checkbox manually, or you can automate the process. By setting up our 10-minute Flow, the Mogli Opt Out checkbox will automatically update (checking or unchecking) based on keywords recipients use to opt in or out. For instance, you can configure the Flow to automatically uncheck the checkbox when someone texts in keywords like "START," "SUBSCRIBE," or "OPT IN," or any other terms you define. . When the Mogli Opt Out checkbox is checked, any attempt to send a message will be blocked, and a yellow banner will appear in the Conversation View, though historic messages remain visible.

Find out more about automations

Subscription Opt-Outs

Available in Mogli SMS 5.49.14 and later, Subscription Opt-Outs offer a more granular level of control. This feature allows you to manage opt-in and opt-out preferences at the gateway (or sending phone number) level. This means recipients can opt into specific messaging streams associated with a particular phone number, and you can even set unique opt-out and opt-in keywords for each gateway, providing tailored control over their subscriptions.

Privacy Policy

When collecting phone numbers for messaging campaigns, your Privacy Policy must be easily accessible and clearly visible near the point where the consumer enters their number. Carriers rigorously check the website linked by your Brand to ensure this placement.

Crucially, your Privacy Policy must explicitly state that end-user information will NOT be shared or sold to any third parties or affiliates. This restriction includes, but isn't limited to, sharing data for marketing purposes, lead generation, or third-party analytics. In essence, the policy must clearly confirm that all end-user information is protected, encompassing even voice and political use cases.

You can also feel free to copy/download the compliant privacy policy and terms of use/terms & conditions located below, and edit them to match your Brand: 

• Example Privacy Policy

• Example SMS Terms of Use

Terms & Conditions

Your Terms & Conditions should also be prominently displayed where consumers provide their phone number. These terms must include the following vital elements:

• Program (Brand) Name: Clearly identify who is sending the messages.

• Message Frequency Disclosure: Inform users how often they can expect to receive messages (e.g., "Msg freq varies," "2 msgs/wk").

• Product/Service Description: Briefly explain what the messages will be about.

• Customer Care Contact Information: Provide a clear way for users to get support (e.g., phone number, email, or website link).

• Opt-Out Information: Clearly state how users can stop receiving messages (e.g., "Text STOP to opt out").

• "Message and data rates may apply" disclosure: This is a mandatory notice.

It's critical that your Terms & Conditions do not contradict your Privacy Policy or the stated opt-in process. For instance, the terms cannot state that user information will be shared. If the consumer is opting into SMS via a specific phone number (like a 10DLC or Toll-Free Number), the Terms & Conditions must clearly state that both opt-in and opt-out occur through that specific number. This ensures consistency between your call to action (CTA), Terms & Conditions, and Privacy Policy.

Carrier Filtering

Ignoring carrier regulations can jeopardize SMS campaigns before they even begin. These regulations help protect consumers, so you must consider them when defining your message strategies and drafting your SMS.

Carrier filtering is the action phone carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile take to block the delivery of text messages that are deemed inappropriate or spammy from a specific number or business. While carrier filtering can be inconvenient for legitimate businesses, it’s essential for the integrity of the SMS industry. If message filtering didn’t exist, spammers and scammers could send as many unwanted messages as they want without consequences. This would erode consumers’ trust in text messaging, and businesses using SMS marketing responsibly would see a decrease in the channel’s effectiveness. Typically, customer complaints activate messaging filters, with the carrier immediately blocking future messages from the reported number.

Carriers also filter messages to:

• Ensure SMS marketing compliance with carrier policies, as well as state, local, or country-specific regulations.

• Enforce SMS marketing rules and regulations and protect their customers from unsolicited or unwanted messages that are abusive, fraudulent, or contain questionable content.

• Lower the risk of dissatisfied wireless customers taking legal action and seeking damages or moving to a different carrier.

How Carrier Filtering works

Carriers are super secretive about their message filtering systems to prevent spammers from learning how to dodge these protections, but there are a few methods we do know about. Unlike email, where the recipient can choose to block email addresses, mobile carriers don’t take user preferences into account when blocking a message. So, you have to be extra careful when sending text messages to customers. Each wireless carrier has its preferred method of message filtering. Some of these SMS spam filters use a list of keywords that prevent text messages from getting through. Others use advanced machine learning filters that protect customers from unwanted messages in real-time.

Forbidden SMS Content

SMS is a highly regulated channel and is subject to stringent rules, regulations, and carrier requirements. Certain message content is prohibited and wireless carriers will reject SMS and MMS messages containing prohibited content by default. Other use cases are subject to additional requirements, like age-gating procedures. If your business sends messages containing any of the types of prohibited content listed below, SMS may not be the appropriate channel to reach your customer base.

Please note that these forbidden use cases are not only related to the content of the message but also the business type itself.

The following message categories are prohibited for SMS and MMS:

Non-Compliance Fines

T-Mobile is now enforcing non-compliance fines for messages containing prohibited content. If T-Mobile detects any messages that violate the tiers listed below, they will issue a non-compliance fine and Mogli’s messaging partners will immediately block the offending messages.

Because, sending this type of content breaches Mogli’s Acceptable Use Policy, Mogli will pass these fines on to the sending organization. These fines include, but are not limited to:

• Tier 1: $2,000: phishing (including simulated phishing sent for security testing or similar purposes), smishing, and social engineering

  • Social Engineering is a technique used to manipulate someone into sharing private information, like passwords or credit card numbers.

• Tier 2: $1,000: illegal content (content must be legal federally and in all 50 states)

• Tier 3: $500: all other violations in commercial messaging including but not limited to, SHAFT (sex, hate, alcohol, firearms, and tobacco) that do not follow federal and state law and regulations (e.g. age-gate).

These non-compliance fines apply to violations across any A2P messaging product (SMS/MMS short code, toll-free, and 10DLC) that are sent to your contacts over the T-Mobile network.

This information is not legal advice.

You should consult with your legal counsel to make sure that your SMS program and message content comply with applicable laws.