Per industry standards, you should have a mobile terms of service page and a privacy policy for each US SMS short code or long code program.

Mobile terms of service

Your mobile terms of service must contain certain provisions including customer support contact information; complete opt-out instructions, displayed in bold; a recurring message disclosure (if applicable); a product description; and a program (brand) name. There may also be additional requirements for certain programs like sweepstakes or contests.

To help you get started, we have drafted the following example: 

Example ** COMPANY NAME SMS Terms of Service ** Example

  1. When you opt-in to the service, we will send you an SMS message to confirm your signup.
  2. This service is used to send you notifications about _____ (Insert a brief description of the kinds of messages users will receive when they opt in to your SMS program.)
  3. You can cancel this service at any time. Just text “STOP” to #####. After you send the message “STOP” to us, we will send you a reply message to confirm that you have been unsubscribed. After this, you will no longer receive messages from us. If you want to join again, just sign up as you did the first time and we will start sending messages to you again.
  4. If at any time you forget what keywords are supported, just text “HELP” to #####. After you send the message “HELP” to us, we will respond with instructions on how to use our service as well as how to unsubscribe.
  5. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
  6. As always, Message and Data Rates May Apply for any messages sent to you from us and to us from you. If you have any questions about your text plan or data plan, it is best to contact your wireless provider. For all questions about the services provided by this SMS program, you can send an email to your company’s support email address.
  7.  If you have any questions regarding privacy, see your company’s privacy policy.

Privacy policy

Per industry standards, you should have a privacy policy concerning your use of customer information that you collect via your US SMS program. If your company already has an existing privacy policy on its Web site, then you just need to be sure that it meets the requirements for SMS as specified in the below example. You need to provide a link to your existing company privacy policy along with your SMS request application form.

If you do not already have privacy policy, then you must create one. Basically, your privacy policy must outline exactly what you will do with any information that you collect from your customers. 

To help you get started, we have drafted the following very basic example: 

Example ** COMPANY NAME Privacy Policy** Example

We will not sell or share your email address, telephone number, name, mailing address or any other personal and non-public information with any telemarketer or marketing agency.

For more information on industry standards, you should review CTIA’s Messaging Principles & Best Practices article. You should also consult your company’s legal department for more details.