Bulk SMS Regulations in the United Kingdom

Bulk SMS is taking off around the world, especially in the United Kingdom. Before you start sending, however, be sure that you’ve acquainted yourself with the necessary regulations to ensure that your SMS activity is not only profitable, but also legal.

The use of bulk SMS in the United Kingdom is governed by The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, and can be found by clicking on the aforementioned link. To some, however, it might prove to be a confusing read, which is why we’ve translated it into layman’s terms below:

“…but it doesn’t even mention Bulk SMS”
If you’ve gone through regulations first hand, then you might be a little confused to find that it doesn’t really mention “SMS”, “bulk SMS” or even “text message” anywhere. But, it does state that:

“‘electronic mail’ means any text, voice, sound or image message sent over a public electronic communications network which can be stored in the network or in the recipient’s terminal equipment until it is collected by the recipient and includes messages sent using a short message service;”

This simply means that wherever you see the term “electronic mail”, you should read “bulk SMS”.

Getting to Grips with Bulk SMS Regulations

Unfortunately the law isn’t always written to be immediately understood by everyone and sometimes even requires a bit of legal expertise to understand exactly what is meant. As such, you’ll find a simple explanation regarding the regulations relating to bulk SMS below.

We would however like to recommend that you acquaint yourself with these regulations first hand. They can be found in sections (22) and (23) of The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

Contact Details

You may only get the contact details of your clients for the purposes of bulk SMS marketing during a sale or negotiation of a product and/or service. This also means that you are not allowed to send them an unsolicited email or SMS asking them to opt-in.

Example: After walking around London for hours, Emma finally found the perfect pair of shoes to go with her New Year’s outfit. As she was paying for her new footwear, the shop assistant offered Emma the opportunity to sign up for SMS alerts.

Informed Choice

Whilst obtaining the contact details of your customers for the purposes of direct marketing through bulk SMS, you’ll have to let them know how you’ll be using their information.

Example: Being the recipient of tonnes of unwanted emails everyday, Emma is remains reluctant to hand out her contact details to anyone but her closest friends. The shop assistant, however, explains that Emma will only ever receive information regarding special offers from the store. Satisfied (and generally impressed with the available range of products), Emma agrees.

Related Products

When using bulk SMS to communicate direct marketing information with your contacts, you may only communicate information regarding similar products and/or services in your messages. This not only makes legal sense, but marketing sense, too.

Example: Emma’s first message from the store arrives the 31st December, informing her of “70% off on all designer labels, but only until 5pm, January 2nd”.

Be Visible

In every bulk SMS message you send, you’ll have to identify yourself. This can be as easy as including your company name in the message body, or using your company name as the sender ID.

Example: Instead of using a long unmemorable number to get in touch with Emma, the store had a custom Sender ID created. Before Emma even opens the message, she’ll see that the sender is G1rl-fashion. Alternatively, the store could have included it’s name in the message body, for example “Happy New Year from G1rl-fashion!”

Unsubscribe

At all times, your intended recipient must be made aware that they have the option to stop all further bulk SMS communication from you. Furthermore, the destination where they can send their unsubscribe message to must exist, and must remain cost-free, save for the incurred communication fees to complete the unsubscribe operation (i.e. the cost of  one local SMS).

Example: As Emma reaches the end of the message she receives, it reads, “To unsubscribe, simply text “STOP” to xxxxx. Normal operator charges apply”. Seeing as Emma is very impressed with her shoes and the available specials, it is unlikely that she’ll use the unsubscribe option any time soon. Still, it’s good to know that it’s there.

That being said, while the characters, company names and the situation of the above example remains fictional, the regulations are a reality that everyone using bulk SMS messages for direct marketing purposes will have to abide by. To find out more about bulk SMS, look at the bulk SMS page, and see how you can extend your business.

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Tags: bulk sms, bulk SMS contacts, bulk SMS regulations, bulk SMS subscription, high volume text messaging, solicited bulk SMS