A chat conversation is not a marketing opt-in
The requirementstatement
Consent inferred from a chat widget or an inbound conversation must not be used to justify a marketing use case.
- Severityseverity
- HighHIGHRejected by at least one carrier or provider, and a common cause of failure at the rest.
- When it bitesphase
- Gates approvalapprovalGet this wrong and the brand or campaign is refused at registration.
- What is checkedobject
- consent basis vs use case
- Where it liveslayer
- Consent flowCONSENT_FLOW
- How Ekas settles itdetectability
- AI · formAI_FORM
- A semantic question about what you wrote: whether a description matches a use case, whether a name looks like a filed entity. Judged by a model against written criteria.
- What the fix involvesfailureClass
- Supply evidenceTERMINAL_EVIDENCE
- Needs proof only you hold: a screenshot, a recording, a scan of the form people signed.
- Who requires itauthorities
- CTIA
- When it appliesapplicabilityText
- Applies when consent was collected by chat, and the use case is MARKETING, MIXED, SWEEPSTAKE and LOW_VOLUME.
Why this rule existsrationale
Somebody who opened a support chat consented to that conversation, not to a promotional programme. The two get conflated because the chat platform holds a phone number and an apparent agreement to be contacted, so the marketing list builds itself out of support enquiries — which is exactly the mismatch between what was agreed and what arrives that drives complaints.
How to fix itremediation
Either register the programme as customer care, matching what the chat consent actually covers, or add a marketing opt-in inside the chat flow with the full disclosure and record it separately. Done when the use case and the consent describe the same thing.
A compliant exampleexample
In-chat: "Want Acme Coffee offers by text too? Reply YES to opt in — msg frequency varies, msg & data rates may apply, reply STOP to unsubscribe." Only repliers join the marketing list.
Common mistakespitfalls
- A conversational opt-in inside the chat is fine and is the fix; what fails is treating the existence of the conversation as the consent.
Rules you will hit next
Other consent flow rules at the same severity. A registration is judged as a whole, not rule by rule.
CON-017An offline opt-in still needs a findable business behind itHighHIGHCON-033Opt-in evidence must be the live surface, not a mockup of itHighHIGHCON-038Verbally-collected informational campaigns need the mockup and the messagesHighHIGHCON-042The phone field must be optional on a general-purpose formHighHIGHCON-044A required phone field must carry an SMS disclaimer beside itHighHIGHCON-064A kiosk or terminal must not pre-fill the consumer's numberHighHIGH
CON-162 is one of 101 consent flow rules in the 915-rule 10DLC registry. Free to cite under CC BY 4.0.