Compliance

This page provides a developer-focused summary of key compliance requirements. It is not legal advice. Consult a legal professional for full regulatory guidance.

Opt-out handling

For all marketing and promotional SMS messages sent to Irish numbers, recipients must be given the ability to opt out. The standard opt-out mechanism in Ireland is:

Opt-out keywords

OPTOUT to 50123
  or
STOP to 50123

You are responsible for including opt-out instructions in your marketing messages and for honouring opt-out requests. Once a recipient has opted out, you must not send them further marketing messages.

Example compliant message

Compliant marketing message

Phonovation: 20% off this weekend only. Shop now at phonovation.com.
To opt out reply STOP to 50123.

Handling inbound STOP messages

Set up Inbound Message Relays to receive opt-out replies. When you receive a STOP or OPTOUT keyphrase, remove that number from your active sending list immediately.

curl -X POST https://example.com/sms/inbound \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
  -d "SMS-Keyphrase=STOP&SMS-From=353861234567"

from flask import Flask, request

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.post("/sms/inbound")
def inbound():
    keyphrase = request.form.get("SMS-Keyphrase", "").upper()
    sender = request.form.get("SMS-From")

    if keyphrase in ["STOP", "OPTOUT"]:
        suppression_list.add(sender)

    return "", 200

app.MapPost("/sms/inbound", async (HttpRequest request) =>
{
    var form = await request.ReadFormAsync();
    var keyphrase = form["SMS-Keyphrase"].ToString().ToUpperInvariant();
    var from = form["SMS-From"].ToString();

    if (keyphrase is "STOP" or "OPTOUT")
    {
        suppressionList.Add(from);
    }

    return Results.Ok();
});

post("/sms/inbound", (req, res) -> {
    String keyphrase = req.queryParams("SMS-Keyphrase").toUpperCase();
    String from = req.queryParams("SMS-From");

    if (keyphrase.equals("STOP") || keyphrase.equals("OPTOUT")) {
        suppressionList.add(from);
    }

    res.status(200);
    return "";
});

$keyphrase = strtoupper($_POST['SMS-Keyphrase'] ?? '');
$from = $_POST['SMS-From'] ?? '';

if ($keyphrase === 'STOP' || $keyphrase === 'OPTOUT') {
    $suppressionList->add($from);
}

http_response_code(200);

app.post('/sms/inbound', (req, res) => {
  const keyphrase = req.body['SMS-Keyphrase']?.toUpperCase();
  const from = req.body['SMS-From'];

  if (keyphrase === 'STOP' || keyphrase === 'OPTOUT') {
    suppressionList.add(from); // add to your opt-out list
  }

  res.sendStatus(200);
});

Sender ID registration

All alphanumeric Sender IDs used to send to Irish numbers must be registered with ComReg (Commission for Communications Regulation).

Transactional vs marketing messages

Type	Opt-out required	ComReg Sender ID required
Marketing / promotional	Yes	Yes
Transactional (order confirmations, alerts, OTPs)	Recommended	Yes (for Irish numbers)

Data protection

SMS campaigns targeting Irish recipients are subject to GDPR and the ePrivacy Regulations. Key obligations include:

You must have a valid legal basis (typically consent) for sending marketing messages
You must maintain records of consent
You must honour opt-out requests promptly
Personal data (phone numbers) must be processed lawfully and securely

Contact support@phonovation.com if you have questions about compliance requirements for your specific use case.

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Security and compliance

Tools

Opt-out handling

Example compliant message

Handling inbound STOP messages

Sender ID registration

Transactional vs marketing messages

Data protection

​Opt-out handling

​Example compliant message

​Handling inbound STOP messages

​Sender ID registration

​Transactional vs marketing messages

​Data protection

Opt-out handling

Example compliant message

Handling inbound STOP messages

Sender ID registration

Transactional vs marketing messages

Data protection