Understand what is required when texting the public.
Providing consent and opting out are key ways for text recipients to express their text communication preferences. Discuss your obligation to obtain consent with your legal counsel.
If you do need expressed consent, consider including a pre-checked plain language opt-in (i.e. “It’s OK to text me.”) on digital forms. Be sure to ask for an up-to-date phone number and include a question about the recipient’s preferred language for text messages if you expect to translate your text messages in languages other than English.
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There is no policy requirement for senders to communicate opt-out options, but including instructions in introductory and/or auto-response texts on how to opt out and opt back in are effective ways to establish trust with your audience.
In the US, no matter where texts are coming from, a recipient has the right to revoke consent at any time through any reasonable means. For example, a text recipient can always opt out of receiving text messages from a phone number by responding “STOP”, “QUIT”, or one of several other keywords.
Any subsequent messages sent to that number will be blocked by the phone carrier and not delivered. We recommend establishing an internal process to obtain and remove numbers that fail multiple times to avoid continuing to send messages to them.
When putting together the data spreadsheet (or CSV) file containing text message data, follow relevant security processes for storing and transmitting the file that contains PII.
Sensitive information should be protected and secure. Social Security Numbers, driver’s license numbers, personal health information, and passwords are all sensitive PII that should not be shared via text message. Consult with your privacy office to understand what information you can and cannot include in a text message. Different programs and jurisdictions may have different rules and interpretations.
Consider the risks if someone who is not the intended recipient receives the text message. Establish an internal process to keep your phone number list up-to-date. The FCC offers a Reassigned Numbers Database to identify phone numbers that may have been reassigned since your agency obtained them.