Overview of New Regulations

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted a new "one-to-one" consent requirement for SMS marketing messages and autodialed calls. While this regulation becomes effective January 27, 2025, TxtCart recommends implementing these changes immediately to ensure compliance and protect your business.

What Does One-to-One Consent Mean?

Under the new requirement, your brand must obtain prior express written consent that is specific to your company before sending marketing messages. This means:

You cannot rely on bundled consent that covers multiple sellers
Each brand must obtain separate, specific consent from consumers
Consent must be brand-specific and cannot be automatically applied across multiple companies

Guidelines for Multi-Brand Consent Collection

When collecting consent across multiple brands (such as during joint promotions or giveaways), follow these requirements:

1. Clear and Conspicuous Disclosure

Consent requests must be clearly visible and understandable to the average consumer
All terms must be prominently displayed and easy to read

2. Separate Consent Collection

Each brand must obtain consent independently
Consumers must actively select which brands they want to receive messages from
No automatic opt-ins for partner brands

3. Terms and Privacy Policy Requirements

Each participating brand must display their:
- Terms and conditions
- Privacy policy
These must be available at the time of consent collection

4. Valid Electronic Consent

Consent must comply with the E-Sign Act through one of these methods:

Checkbox selection
One-time passcode entry
Reply with "Y" or similar confirmation
Other clear electronic acknowledgment

5. Brand Relationship Requirements

Collaborating brands must be "logically and topically related"
When in doubt, limit consent collection to clearly related businesses
Consider what consumers would reasonably expect

Important Note:
The FCC’s Order does not limit the number of brands that can be presented to a consumer for potential opt-in at a particular time, but the FCC did make clear that a “hyperlink” list approach to identifying sellers is unacceptable.

A valid multi-brand consent request may look something like this:

Required Actions Before January 27, 2025

While the FCC's one-to-one consent rule doesn't take effect until January 27, 2025, TxtCart recommends taking action now:

Review Your Subscriber List
- Identify subscribers who may not meet the new one-to-one consent requirement
- Document how consent was obtained for existing subscribers
Update Your Consent
- Plan how you'll obtain compliant consent from existing subscribers
- Consider running re-permission campaigns where needed

Important Note:
After January 27, 2025, you must stop messaging any subscribers who haven't provided valid one-to-one consent.