# OPS-085 — The programme must scrub deactivated numbers before sending

> The programme must describe checking carrier deactivation data before each send, and logging each ingest.

- **Rule ID:** OPS-085
- **Layer:** Operational (`OPERATIONAL`)
- **Checks:** `campaign.message_flow + privacy policy`
- **Severity:** BLOCKING — Breaking this rule gets the submission rejected outright.
- **When it bites:** Gates approval — get this wrong and registration is refused
- **How it is detected:** AI judgement over the submitted form
- **Fix type:** Fix the field — a better value in the form clears it
- **Required by:** CTIA, T-Mobile, AT&T
- **Applies:** Applies to every 10DLC registration.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/operational/ops-085/

## Why this rule exists

Around 100,000 US numbers change hands every day, and a consent record follows the number rather than the person. Messaging a reassigned number sends someone else's order details, or marketing, to a stranger who never opted in — the single largest source of complaints that look like consent failures and are not. The carriers publish daily deactivation files precisely so this is preventable, and a programme with no ingest described has not decided who runs it.

## How to fix it

State which deactivation feed the programme consumes — the carrier files through your provider, or the provider's own deactivation report — how often it runs, and that listed numbers are suppressed before the next send. Done when the flow names a source and a cadence rather than an intention.

## Example of a compliant value

```text
Carrier deactivation lists are ingested daily through our messaging provider; listed numbers are suppressed before any send, and each ingest run is logged with its timestamp.
```

## Common mistakes

- Relying on delivery failures to find dead numbers does not work here — a reassigned number delivers perfectly, to the wrong person.

## Notes

Registration-side twin. The daily ingest itself (OPS-083, OPS-084, OPS-086) is a scheduled job we cannot observe; what we judge is whether the programme has one.