STOP and opt-out behaviour.

How TapText handles the standard STOP keyword, what happens after a customer opts out, and how to stay compliant.

The short version

If a visitor texts STOP (in any case, with or without other words) to your TapText AU number, they're suppressed from receiving any further SMS from your business. This is automatic, immediate, and required under the Spam Act 2003.

What counts as an opt-out

TapText treats any of these keywords as an opt-out:

• STOP
• UNSUBSCRIBE
• OPT OUT
• OPTOUT
• END
• QUIT
• CANCEL

The match is case-insensitive and ignores leading or trailing whitespace. "Stop", "stop please", "STOP THIS NOW" all opt the visitor out.

What happens immediately

1. The visitor's number is flagged as suppressed in your account.
2. An automatic confirmation goes back to them: "You've been unsubscribed. Reply START to resubscribe."
3. No further outbound SMS will go to that number from your TapText account, including auto-replies.
4. The conversation in your inbox is marked with a "Suppressed" badge.

What if I really need to reach them again

You can't, by SMS, until they opt back in. The visitor needs to text START (or RESUBSCRIBE) to your TapText number from their own phone. That re-enables messaging to that number.

You can still reach them by other channels (phone call, email) if you have them. But TapText won't send to a suppressed number.

Why this matters

Spam Act 2003 requires every commercial electronic message in Australia to have a working unsubscribe path. STOP keyword handling is the SMS-industry-standard way to do that. If you ignore it (or build a workaround that bypasses it), you're exposed to ACMA penalties up to several thousand dollars per non-compliant message.

TapText handles this for you. As long as you use TapText to send SMS, you don't need to do anything extra to comply with the unsubscribe requirement.

Suppressions are per-number

If a visitor opts out, only that mobile number is suppressed. Same person, different mobile, no suppression. Same mobile, different TapText tenant, also no suppression (every account has its own suppression list).

Viewing the suppression list

Settings, Compliance, Suppressed numbers. You'll see every mobile that has opted out, with the date they did so. You can't delete entries from this list (that would defeat the point). You can see the count if you want to know how many opt-outs you've had.

The opt-out doesn't go away

Suppressions persist across:

• Plan changes
• Cancellation and resubscription
• Number changes (suppressions follow the visitor's number, not yours)

The only way a suppression clears is if the visitor texts START to opt back in.