# CON-164 — Text-to-join marketing still owes the written-consent elements

> A marketing text-to-join CTA must carry the federal written-consent elements — the ATDS disclosure, the not-a-condition statement, and the number being authorised.

- **Rule ID:** CON-164
- **Layer:** Consent flow (`CONSENT_FLOW`)
- **Checks:** `keyword CTA copy`
- **Severity:** HIGH — Rejected by at least one carrier or provider, and a common cause of failure at the rest.
- **When it bites:** Gates approval — get this wrong and registration is refused
- **How it is detected:** AI judgement over the submitted form
- **Fix type:** Produce a document that does not exist yet
- **Required by:** FCC
- **Applies:** Applies when consent was collected by text-to-join keyword, and the use case is MARKETING, MIXED, SWEEPSTAKE and LOW_VOLUME.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/consent-flow/con-164/

## Why this rule exists

An inbound keyword is unambiguous express consent, and that is not the same as express WRITTEN consent, which is what automated marketing requires. The gap is easy to miss precisely because the keyword feels stronger than a checkbox: the consumer actively texted you, so nobody thinks to check whether the advertisement carried the elements a form would have had to.

## How to fix it

Add the missing elements to the advertised copy: that the messages are automated and recurring, that consent is not a condition of purchase, and that the number texted from is the number being authorised. Done when the advertisement would satisfy the written-consent test if it were a form.

## Example of a compliant value

```text
Text JOIN to 55512 to get recurring automated marketing texts from Acme Coffee at the number you text from. Consent is not a condition of purchase. Msg frequency varies. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to cancel, HELP for help.
```

## Common mistakes

- The number element is the one keyword programmes almost always miss, and it is the easiest to add: the number they text from is the number they are authorising, and saying so costs eight words.