Only ask which messages to stop when there is more than one kind
The requirementstatement
A scope-clarification question may appear in the opt-out confirmation only where the consumer consented to several distinct message categories.
- Severityseverity
- MediumMEDIUMUsually survives review, but lowers your trust score or invites a manual look you would rather avoid.
- When it bitesphase
- Gates approvalapprovalGet this wrong and the brand or campaign is refused at registration.
- What is checkedobject
- campaign.optout_message + campaign.sub_use_cases
- Where it liveslayer
- OperationalOPERATIONAL
- 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
- Fix the fieldRETRY_FIELD
- A better value in the form fixes it. Ekas can rewrite it and re-check.
- Who requires itauthorities
- FCC
- When it appliesapplicabilityText
- Applies to every 10DLC registration.
Why this rule existsrationale
Asking "which messages would you like to stop?" of somebody who receives one kind reads as an obstacle, and the FCC treats a revocation as complete unless the consumer chose to narrow it — so the question buys nothing and delays the suppression. Where a consumer genuinely consented to two or three categories it is legitimate and useful, which is why the rule is about the mismatch rather than about the question.
How to fix itremediation
Where the campaign sends one category of message, make the opt-out confirmation unconditional and final. Keep a scope question only where the consent covered separately-described categories, and treat no reply to it as a full revocation. Done when the confirmation matches the number of things the consumer agreed to.
A compliant exampleexample
Single-category campaign: "Acme Coffee: you have been unsubscribed and will receive no further messages. Reply HELP for help."
Common mistakespitfalls
- A scope question that keeps sending until the consumer answers it inverts the rule — silence is revocation of everything, not permission to continue.
Rules you will hit next
Other operational rules at the same severity. A registration is judged as a whole, not rule by rule.
OPS-032A help request containing a stop-word is not an opt-outMediumMEDIUMOPS-042Somebody has to own revocations that arrive in conversationMediumMEDIUMOPS-050The opt-out confirmation is worth sending inside five minutesMediumMEDIUMOPS-057Log the sends you did not makeMediumMEDIUMOPS-062An opted-out consumer must be able to come backMediumMEDIUMOPS-063Opt-out records must not be shared onwardMediumMEDIUM
OPS-051 is one of 139 operational rules in the 915-rule 10DLC registry. Free to cite under CC BY 4.0.