TCPA · Consent records
What a TCPA consent record has to contain
Two federal rules say what consent must be and what a record of it must hold. Here is each one in plain English, and how a recorded form submission covers it. This is a summary, not legal advice.
The consent itself: the FCC's definition
The FCC defines prior express written consent as a written agreement, signed by the person called, that clearly authorizes the seller to reach them with autodialed or prerecorded marketing. Three things have to be true of it:
- It clearly tells the consumer that agreeing authorizes those calls or texts.
- It tells them agreeing is not required to buy anything.
- It is signed. An electronic signature counts where federal or state law recognizes it.
The record: five things the FTC asks you to keep
The FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule lists what a record of consent must include (16 CFR 310.5(a)(8)). Set next to what a recorded submission captures:
| The rule asks for | What a Kapture recording keeps |
|---|---|
| The name and phone number of the person who consented | The fields they typed, captured at submit, with device, IP address, page and time zone |
| A copy of the request for consent, in the same manner and format it was presented | A replay of the page exactly as the consumer saw it, disclosure text included |
| The purpose for which consent was requested and given | The disclosure wording on that page, inside the replay |
| A copy of the consent provided | The checkbox tick and the submit, second by second on the timeline |
| The date consent was given | A timestamped, tamper-proof record |
The second row is the one templates fail. A screenshot of today's form, or the version in your CMS, is not "the same manner and format" the consumer saw on the day. A recording of their actual session is.
Consent record checklist
For each lead, can you produce all of these, years from now, without asking a vendor?
- The consumer's name and phone number, as they entered them
- The page exactly as they saw it, disclosure text included, not today's version of the form
- Disclosure wording that says agreeing authorizes marketing calls or texts by autodialer or prerecorded voice
- Wording that says agreeing is not a condition of purchase
- Their signature: the checkbox tick and the submit, with the time of each
- The date and time consent was given
- The seller or sellers the consent names
- An ID that ties the record to the lead in every system that received it
- Proof the record has not been edited since
- A copy you control, kept at least five years past the last call that relied on it (work out the date)
A summary for planning, not legal advice. Have counsel review your disclosure wording.
What makes a record hold up
- It is of the real session. Not a reconstruction, not a sample page.
- It cannot be quietly edited. Kapture records are tamper-proof.
- It is tied to the lead. Each record carries an ID in a hidden form field, so it travels with the lead to every buyer, and a dialer can check it through the API before it calls.
- You can produce it. It sits in storage you own, for as long as you keep it. See how long to keep consent records.
A record proves what happened. It does not fix a disclosure that was wrong to begin with, and no tool can promise a TCPA outcome. Have counsel review the wording on the page.
Questions
- What must a TCPA consent record include?
- The FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule (16 CFR 310.5(a)(8)) lists five things: the name and phone number of the person who consented, a copy of the request for consent in the same manner and format it was presented, the purpose, a copy of the consent provided, and the date it was given.
- Is a screenshot of my form enough proof of consent?
- Usually not on its own. The rule asks for the request in the same manner and format the consumer saw it. A screenshot of today's form, or the version in your CMS, may not match what a given consumer saw on the day. A recording of their actual session does.
- What is prior express written consent?
- The FCC's definition (47 CFR 64.1200(f)(9)): a written agreement, signed by the person called, that clearly authorizes the seller to reach them with autodialed or prerecorded marketing, tells them so clearly, and tells them agreeing is not a condition of purchase. Electronic signatures count where federal or state law recognizes them.