Prior express written consent
A signed agreement, electronic signatures included, that lets a business send marketing calls or texts with an autodialer or a prerecorded voice to the phone number it names.
Use this definition in team training or when clarifying a sales note.
Definition
Prior express written consent is the TCPA’s highest consent standard, defined in 47 CFR 64.1200(f)(9). It is an agreement in writing, signed by the person, that clearly authorizes the seller to send marketing calls or texts using an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice, and names the phone number they may be sent to. An electronic signature counts where federal law or state contract law recognizes it.
The agreement has to say, clearly and conspicuously, that signing authorizes those calls and that the person does not have to sign as a condition of buying anything. Consent can be revoked in any reasonable way, and the FCC’s rules require a revocation to be honored within a reasonable time of no more than ten business days. Teams often shorten the name to PEWC. This is general information, not legal advice.
Why it matters
This is the consent that marketing texts and automated calls depend on, and the one most often missing when a complaint arrives. A web form that collects a phone number is not this consent on its own: the disclosure has to be there, signing cannot be made a condition of buying, and the record has to show who agreed, to what, for which number and when. Keep that record with the rest of the customer history, make revocations reach every system that sends, and have counsel review the wording.