# Marketing consent, and blocking a contact

A broadcast only reaches people who agreed to marketing. Blocking takes somebody out of your active inbox.

## Quick start

1. Open the contact panel, on the web or on the app, and find **Marketing consent**.
2. On the web, click the line to open it and read **Source**, plus **Basis** and who recorded it when known.
3. To allow marketing, choose how the customer agreed — for example **Agreed in this chat**.
4. To stop it, click **Record withdrawal** instead. The customer is sent nothing either way.
5. Owners, admins and agents can do both. To block, use the conversation menu's **Block contact**.

## Watch out

- Blocking does not stop a broadcast. Record a withdrawal as well if they must not receive one.
- A completed data-deletion request is permanent. Consent cannot be switched back on for that person.

![Marketing consent expanded: Source, Basis and who recorded it, allowed.](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/contacts/marketing-consent-and-blocking-1.webp)

![Block contact, in the conversation header's More actions menu.](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/contacts/marketing-consent-and-blocking-2.webp)

## Getting here

The contact panel or the full profile → the **Marketing consent** line near the bottom of **Details**. Blocking is in the conversation header's **⋯** menu. On the app: open the contact → the **Marketing consent** block; to block, open the conversation's menu and pick **Block contact**, which asks **Block this contact?** first.

## Before you start

- Owners, admins and agents can record consent, record a withdrawal, and block. A **viewer** sees the summary and no buttons.
- Consent is recorded per person, with who recorded it, when, and what the customer actually did.
- Consent is never taken from an import file and never inferred from a purchase. It is recorded by a teammate, by the customer tapping a consent button, or by a connected system that reports what the customer agreed to.

## Fields

| Field | What it means | Limits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Marketing: allowed · {label} · {date} | They may receive a broadcast. The label is what they did, or where the value came from. | — |
| Marketing: not allowed · no consent recorded | Nobody has recorded anything, so they are out of every broadcast. | — |
| Marketing: not allowed · withdrawn on {date} | They asked to stop, and they stay out. | — |
| Agreed in this chat | They said yes in the conversation. | — |
| Said yes (call / in person) | They said yes out loud. | — |
| Sent a screenshot | They sent proof. | — |
| Signed a form | You hold a signed form. | — |
| Record withdrawal | They asked to stop. | Recorded as **Customer asked to stop**. |

## How it works

- The line is always on screen, in the panel and on the app.
- On the web, opening it shows **Source**, plus the **Basis** and **Recorded by** when they are known. Until they opt in, it also carries the reminder **Broadcasts to this contact are blocked until they opt in (PDPA).**
- The app's block does not open. When consent is allowed, its summary names the basis, or the source if no basis is known. It also shows **Recorded by** and the buttons, but no PDPA reminder.
- **Source** says where the value came from: **Recorded manually**, **Bulk import**, **Inferred: customer messaged first**, **Customer used an opt-out keyword**, **Customer tapped a button**, **Reported by integration**, or **Source not recorded**.
- **Bulk import** means an old bulk change made on the contacts list, not a file you uploaded.
- **Basis** is the stronger fact — what the customer actually did — and the summary prefers it over the source when both are known.
- Recording consent writes two things at once: an entry that is never overwritten, and the person's current state. They cannot come apart.
- Every entry carries who did it. The signed-in person is read inside the database, never sent from the screen.
- Consent counts only when it is switched on and newer than the last withdrawal. A broadcast applies exactly that rule when it sends.
- The broadcast audience leaves out anybody without consent and counts them separately, so a list that shrinks reads as a consent decision and not a broken filter.
- The check runs again for each person at the moment of sending. Somebody who withdraws after a broadcast is scheduled is skipped rather than sent to.
- Where a contact has completed a data-deletion request, consent can never be switched back on for them by any route. What you record is kept as evidence, and they stay out of every broadcast.
- From the contacts list you can record a withdrawal for several people at once with **Withdraw consent** on ticked rows. **Mark as consented** is refused there, because each consent has to say how that customer agreed.
- **Block contact** asks first — **Block this contact? Their conversations move to the Blocked view.** — and then moves them there.
- Blocking also writes a line into the conversation saying who blocked them, and puts an entry on the contact's **Activity** tab.
- A blocked contact stops receiving AI replies and workflow messages. A queued AI follow-up refuses with **Not sent: this contact is blocked.**, typing indicators and read receipts are not sent, and no workflow runs for them.
- A broadcast still reaches a blocked contact. See Limits.
- **Unblock contact** reverses it, and the conversations come back into the active views.

## When it fails

- Recording consent without saying how: **Choose how the customer agreed.**
- A newer decision is already on file, and the message says so: “Recorded, but the contact's consent did not change — a newer decision is already on file. Refresh to see the current state.” The entry is kept; the person's state is not moved.
- The contact completed a data-deletion request: “This contact completed a data-deletion request, so marketing consent cannot be turned back on for them. What you recorded is kept as evidence, but they stay out of every broadcast.” Retrying does not help.
- Their withdrawal is newer than the opt-in you are recording: **This contact withdrew consent more recently, so the opt-in was not recorded.**
- A bulk opt-in from the contacts list is refused: “Bulk opt-in isn't available — a recorded consent has to say how each customer agreed. Open the contact and use Marketing consent. Bulk opt-OUT is available here.”
- Without the right role: **You don't have permission to change consent.** or **You don't have permission to block contacts.**
- A block that will not save: **Could not update the contact. Please try again.**
- A bulk consent change that did not land on everybody says so, and tells you to open those contacts to see why.

## Limits

- Consent is not a channel opt-in. Somebody can be perfectly reachable on WhatsApp and still be out of every broadcast.
- A completed data-deletion request is permanent suppression: a later consent is recorded as evidence and does not switch marketing back on.
- Consent has nothing to do with answering somebody. A customer who writes to you is answered whatever their consent says.
- Blocking is not the same as closing a conversation. Closing ends a conversation; blocking takes the person out of the active views entirely.
- Blocking does not stop a broadcast. The audience is built from marketing consent and a phone number, and it does not ask whether the person is blocked — record a withdrawal as well if they must not receive one.
- Blocking does not stop somebody writing to you. Their messages are still stored; they simply do not appear in the active queues.
- Blocking does not stop a teammate replying by hand from a conversation they have open.
- Nothing here deletes anybody's data. A deletion request is a separate thing, handled elsewhere.

## Best practices

- Record consent the moment the customer gives it, in the conversation where they gave it, so the entry carries that conversation.
- Pick the basis honestly. **Agreed in this chat** and **Said yes (call / in person)** are not the same evidence.
- Use **Record withdrawal** the moment somebody asks to stop, rather than remembering not to include them.
- Check the **Excluded — no consent** count on a broadcast before you publish. A big number usually means consent was never collected.
- Block only people you genuinely do not want to hear from. It hides their messages from your team.

## Use cases

- Sarah Chen says yes to offers in the chat: open the panel and record **Agreed in this chat** while you are still in it.
- Michael Torres asks to stop: click **Record withdrawal**, and he is out of every broadcast from that moment.
- A promotion's audience is far smaller than the segment: read **Excluded — no consent** on the review.
- Somebody is abusive: block them, and record a withdrawal too, so no broadcast reaches them.

## FAQ and troubleshooting

### Can I import consent for a whole list?

No. Consent is recorded per person with a basis, and an import never carries one. See [importing contacts](/help/contacts/import-and-export-contacts).

### If somebody writes to me first, may I market to them?

Not on that alone. Writing to you is not a marketing opt-in, so record how they agreed. Some older contacts show **Inferred: customer messaged first** as their source. Those older contacts still receive broadcasts until a withdrawal is recorded.

### I recorded consent and the line still says not allowed.

A newer decision is already on file — usually a withdrawal. The message says so, and refreshing shows the current state.

### Does blocking somebody take them out of a broadcast?

No. A broadcast picks people by marketing consent and a phone number, and does not check blocking. Record a withdrawal as well.

### Where does a blocked contact's new message go?

It is stored and appears in the Blocked view, not in the active views.

### Can I record consent from my phone?

Yes. The app's contact screen has the same summary line, the same four choices, and the same **Record withdrawal**.

## Related

- [Choose who receives a broadcast](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/broadcasts/choose-who-receives-a-broadcast)
- [Read a broadcast's results](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/broadcasts/broadcast-report)
- [Everything you know about a contact](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/contacts/the-contact-panel-and-full-profile)
- [The contacts list](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/contacts/contacts-list-and-saved-views)
- [Ask for Marketing Consent](https://inchat.inseller.my/help/workflows/ask-for-marketing-consent)

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Source files: `src/components/inbox/MarketingConsentBlock.tsx`, `src/lib/contacts/consent-basis.ts`, `src/lib/contacts/set-consent.ts`, `src/lib/contacts/consent-buttons.ts`, `src/app/(app)/contacts/consent-actions.ts`, `src/app/(app)/contacts/block-actions.ts`, `src/lib/contacts/bulk-ops.ts`, `src/lib/broadcasts/audience.ts`, `src/lib/broadcasts/drain.ts`, `src/lib/inbox/schedule-send.ts`, `src/lib/inbox/human-typing.ts`, `src/lib/inbox/customer-read-receipt.ts`, `src/lib/orchestrator/thread-gate.ts`, `src/lib/workflows/execution-guard.ts`, `src/components/inbox/ThreadHeader.tsx`, `src/components/contacts/ContactsBulkTable.tsx`, `supabase/migrations/0063_marketing_consent_gate.sql`, `src/lib/i18n/messages/inbox-contact.ts`, `src/lib/i18n/messages/inbox-thread.ts`, `mobile/src/app/contact/[id].tsx`, `mobile/src/lib/i18n/en.ts`