Contract trap · Privacy policy
Default marketing consent/spam
Providing a phone number or email is treated as consent to advertising by SMS, calls, push, messengers and email from the operator and its partners, including autodialed/prerecorded calls to any number, call recording and — in loan documents — contacting your employer, references and relatives; opt-out is manual or obscure and RU consents run for 10+ years.
- Severity
- Expensive
- How often it turns up
- Almost always
- Holds up?
- Depends where you are
- Clause phrases
- 22
What it looks like in a contract
Redline matches these phrases against your document verbatim. Drafters rarely invent new wording — they copy it, which is why the same sentences turn up across unrelated contracts.
In English-language contracts
- you agree to receive marketing communications from us and our partners
- by providing your phone number you consent to receive autodialed or prerecorded calls and text messages
- at any telephone number you provide
- we may record or monitor any calls
- we may contact you about products and services that may interest you
- Consent is not a condition of purchase
- our partners may contact you
- contact your employer or references
- even if you are charged by your carrier
- newsletter and promotional offers
In Russian-language contracts
- согласие на получение рекламных рассылок
- согласие на получение информационных и рекламных сообщений
- по сетям электросвязи, в том числе посредством SMS, звонков, push-уведомлений и мессенджеров
- на получение рекламы от Оператора и его партнёров
- предложения товаров и услуг третьих лиц
- Пользователь соглашается на обзвон
- отказ от рассылки осуществляется путём направления письменного заявления
- в целях продвижения товаров, работ, услуг
- взаимодействие с третьими лицами
- уведомление родственников
- контактные лица
- согласие действует в течение
Check your own contract
Paste a clause, a page or the whole document. Nothing leaves your browser: the matching runs here, on this page, against the phrases above.
Why it bites
Unstoppable spam, your number sold to 'partners' who spam further, collectors calling relatives and employers, data sold to lead generators (МФО spam); withdrawing often requires a letter while new partners keep the number.
Is it enforceable where you are
The same clause can be routine in one country and void in another. What follows is what the law says where you are — not advice on your particular contract.
In the EU and the UK, the GDPR governs the legal basis, the retention period and your right to erasure; in the US, state privacy laws (CCPA/CPRA and its successors) give an opt-out of sale and sharing.
United States
TCPA requires prior express written consent for autodialed/prerecorded marketing calls and texts (statutory damages $500-$1,500 per message), revocable by any reasonable means (FCC 2024 rule); CAN-SPAM requires opt-out for email; FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule/Do Not Call; Reg F limits collector calls (7 in 7 days); GLBA opt-out for sharing with non-affiliates.
- Cited
- FCC
- FTC
European Union
ePrivacy Directive Art 13: prior opt-in consent for electronic direct marketing (soft opt-in only for own similar products); GDPR Art 7(4) — consent must not be bundled (CJEU C-61/19 Orange România 2020 on pre-ticked consent); Garante v. TIM €27.8M (Jan 2020) for unlawful telemarketing.
- Cited
- C-61/19
- Garante v. TIM
- GDPR Art 7(4)
United Kingdom
PECR regs 22-23: opt-in for email/SMS, ICO monetary penalties up to £500k (rising under the DUA Act 2025); no marketing calls to TPS-registered numbers; CONC 7.9 restricts contact with third parties about a debt.
- Cited
- CONC 7.9
- DUA Act 2025
- ICO
- PECR regs 22-23
Russia
Ч. 1 ст. 18 38-ФЗ «О рекламе»: реклама по сетям электросвязи только с предварительного согласия абонента; ст. 15 152-ФЗ — обработка в целях продвижения только с предварительного согласия, бремя доказывания на операторе; штрафы ст. 14.3 КоАП: юрлица 300 тыс.–1 млн ₽, банки/МФО 600 тыс.–1.6 млн ₽ (ФАС); 230-ФЗ ст. 4 — контакт с родственниками/третьими лицами только с отдельного письменного согласия, отзываемого в любой момент.
- Cited
- 152-ФЗ
- 230-ФЗ
- 38-ФЗ
- ст. 14.3 КоАП
- ст. 15
- ст. 18
- ст. 4
Where this has actually happened
Regulator actions, court rulings and the contracts they were fought over.
- Garante (Italy) v. TIM S.p.A. (15 Jan 2020) — €27.8M for unlawful telemarketing processing
- FTC/DOJ v. Twitter (2022) — $150M for using security phone numbers/emails for ads
- Discover Cardmember Agreement (2026): consent to 'calls, text message or automatic dialer or pre-recorded voice message' and to call recording
- ФАС practice under ч. 1 ст. 18 38-ФЗ and ст. 14.3 КоАП — routine fines to banks and telecom operators for SMS/calls without prior consent
What to do
In order, from the thing that takes a minute to the thing that takes a letter.
- Untick marketing boxes and cross out third-party-sharing consents (RU: these must be separate documents under 152-ФЗ)
- Reply STOP/«отписаться» and keep evidence
- Revoke autodialer consent in writing
- Do not list references you do not want contacted
- RU: send a written refusal and complain to ФАС (ст. 18 38-ФЗ, ст. 14.3 КоАП) and to ФССП about contacts with third parties (230-ФЗ)
- EU/UK: complain to the DPA/ICO under ePrivacy/PECR
- US: TCPA gives $500-$1,500 per unlawful call or text.
Traps that travel with it
Drafters who use one of these usually use several.