How to achieve seamless one-to-one consent with TrustedForm Verify

UPDATE: The FCC’s proposed one-to-one consent rule has officially been canceled. The FCC originally planned to enforce its new one-to-one consent rule, requiring that consumer consent be tied directly to the specific seller making contact, starting January 27, 2025. This regulation was designed to tighten compliance standards across lead generation and telemarketing.

But just days before implementation, on January 24, 2025, two major developments changed everything: the FCC postponed one-to-one consent with a formal 12-month delay, and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Insurance Marketing Coalition, stating that the FCC lacked the authority to enforce the rule. As a result, the one-to-one consent requirement has been struck down and will not proceed.

However, TrustedForm Verify remains our recommendation for any business that values a high standard of compliance. With TrustedForm Verify, businesses can mitigate risk by verifying that their requirements for obtaining prior express written consent are met and presented digitally, enhancing their ability to audit at scale.

Furthermore, Verify helps businesses:

• Evaluate compliance in a consistent manner that reduces the chance of errors that can occur through manual processes, especially when managing multiple vendors
• Increase productivity by saving time through automated tasks that reduce the need for time-consuming manual reviews
• Consolidate the data they need to assess how well multiple vendors are complying with your requirements

The FCC’s 1:1 consent requirement may be gone, but TrustedForm Verify remains as vital as ever for businesses looking to turn compliance into an advantage and operate at scale. Explore how Verify can help your business today:

There’s no denying the pivotal role that regulations play in shaping the lead generation and performance marketing industry. In our 2024 webinar, “Taking Action: How TrustedForm Verify solves 1:1 consent,” industry leaders gathered to discuss ActiveProspect’s feature, TrustedForm Verify 1:1 Consent Check.

Benjamin Farrar, our Director of Privacy, Security, and Compliance, Christopher Williams, our Technical Product Manager for TrustedForm, and Steve Rafferty, our CEO, tackled the announced regulations. Although one-to-one consent fell through, the conversation and insights are still valuable as the industry rapidly evolves.

Significant updates from the FCC about the TCPA

You’re likely aware of the major updates the FCC announced for the TCPA in 2024. For lead generation professionals, including buyers, sellers, website publishers, and performance marketers, the industry was set to change forever, until it wasn’t. 

The one-to-one requirement would have required all businesses involved in lead generation—buyers, sellers, publishers, and performance marketers—to obtain explicit consent from consumers for each specific advertiser before initiating contact.

Originally, the rule was set to be enforced starting January 27, 2025. Many in the industry, including leaders like Farrar, emphasized the importance of aligning your websites, landing pages, and CRMs with these new requirements well ahead of the deadline. Planning around the 30, 60, and 90-day pre-enforcement windows was seen as critical.

However, that enforcement will no longer happen. Just days before the rule was to take effect, the FCC issued a formal 12-month delay, and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the FCC lacked the authority to enforce the rule. As a result, the one-to-one consent requirement has been struck down and will not move forward.

While the FCC’s broader goal of reducing unwanted calls and texts remains, the immediate mandate for one-to-one prior express written consent is no longer in place. This abrupt change underscores the importance of staying agile and informed in the rapidly evolving regulatory environment around consumer consent and lead generation.

How TrustedForm can help

As Steve explains, TrustedForm consists of four distinct products: TrustedForm Certify, TrustedForm Retain, TrustedForm Verify, and TrustedForm Insights. Here’s a brief overview of each:

• TrustedForm Certify is used to issue certificates. Publishers or website owners can implement our web SDK to start certifying leads for free by signing up for an ActiveProspect account.
• TrustedForm Retain is a paid product for storing certificates. It retains certificates for five years, providing access to full session replays, disclosure language, and consumer agreement details.
• TrustedForm Verify allows programmatic consent verification before contacting consumers. It ensures you have valid consent, specifically one-to-one consent for your brand or legal entity.
• TrustedForm Insights provides metadata associated with lead events, such as originating domain, lead age, and time spent on the page. This information is crucial for campaign optimization.

In October, Christopher explained how ActiveProspect’s TrustedForm Verify 1:1 Consent Check can confirm two distinct methods for obtaining one-to-one consent. The first method involves displaying a single name within the consent language. However, many publishers we’ve spoken to also want the flexibility to share leads with multiple parties. For this, they plan to use a list of checkboxes – an approach the FCC highlighted in their proposed updates.

According to Christopher, standardizing these two methods was our primary motivation for developing this new solution. Additionally, we recognized the need for a scalable way to verify consent. Manually reviewing session replays for each lead is impractical, so our feature provides a programmatic approach to handle thousands or even tens of thousands of leads efficiently.

How TrustedForm Verify 1:1 Consent Check works

As expressed by Christopher, it begins with TrustedForm Certify, a JavaScript snippet installed on publishers’ forms that shares users’ activity. Publishers will now need to provide more information beyond just adding the snippet.

Once Certify is properly installed, a TrustedForm certificate is generated, and its URL is sent to your lead-buying system. Ideally, you’re using LeadConduit, ActiveProspect’s integrated lead-buying system, but TrustedForm can work with any system that’s willing to integrate.

Your system needs to make a call to TrustedForm Verify, passing in your legal entity name to check for consent. Verify will then confirm if one-to-one consent was given with a simple “yes” or “no” response, making it easy for your lead-buying system to decide the next steps – whether to reject the lead or flag it in your CRM.

We strongly advocate for consent-based marketing, so you should only engage with contacts who have given explicit one-to-one consent to the brand contacting them, as per the FCC’s recent ruling.

What lead sellers need to do to start verifying one-to-one consent

As Christopher explained earlier, you’ll need to make some adjustments to how you use the TrustedForm Certify product. Previously, you just added our JavaScript snippet to your form, and that was it – quick and easy. Now, we need you to also tag key elements in your form that are used to obtain one-to-one consent.

You’ll need to label where the advertiser names are displayed, where the submit button is located, and where the consent language is presented. By providing this information, you share with us the data we need to make simple logic decisions, like counting the number of names in the consent language or verifying that your checkbox was actually checked.

This process is straightforward and shouldn’t add much extra work, especially since you’re likely already updating your forms to meet the new FCC requirements.

Check out this guide for more information on how TrustedForm Verify 1:1 Consent Check works.

Lead form examples

Christopher shared some form examples. The first, and simplest, includes just one advertiser in the consent language. Here, we can examine the consent language to see which advertisers are listed. If there’s only one, we can confirm that the advertiser has provided notice in a one-to-one consent manner to contact the consumer. If multiple companies are listed in the consent language or if there’s a link to a list of marketing partners, then one-to-one consent does not appear to be correctly presented.

The second example, which many publishers plan to use, features a list of companies with checkboxes next to each. In this case, what matters is that the checkbox next to your company’s name was checked. It doesn’t matter how the box was checked – whether it was pre-checked or selected via a “select all” option. The crucial point is that your name was checked when the form was submitted, indicating the consumer chose to hear from you.

The third example is much like the second, with a few slight differences. Here, the company‘s name isn’t displayed; instead, a logo is used. Additionally, instead of a traditional checkbox, there’s a selectable tile for choosing the company you want to hear from. This format is also acceptable.

As the law evolves and case law develops, we’ll stay updated and make any necessary changes.

What lead buyers need to do to start verifying one-to-one consent

To ensure you have one-to-one consent, confirm that the correct company name is listed. We’ll need you to specify that name, and then we’ll handle the rest. Make sure all your vendors are aware of the appropriate name to use.

Once integrated with the API, simply send those results to your CRM or the system you use to manage leads and make decisions.

Benefits of using TrustedForm Verify 1:1 Consent Check

For lead vendors, the primary benefit is enhancing the value of your leads. When you send a lead that can be verified for one-to-one consent, its value increases significantly. This trust can strengthen existing partnerships and attract new ones.

For advertisers, the key advantage is compliance, which greatly reduces risk. Avoiding fines and class action lawsuits is crucial for your business. Additionally, you’ll protect your brand reputation.

Consumers are wary of unsolicited contact and spam calls. Ensuring one-to-one consent means consumers are more likely to expect and welcome your contact, leading to higher-intent leads. This results in better conversion rates and improved overall experiences, potentially boosting KPIs across your entire business.

Takeaways

Here are some key takeaways that we were able to gather from our webinar “Taking Action: How Here are some key takeaways that we were able to gather from our webinar “Taking Action: How TrustedForm Verify solves 1:1 consent:”

• ActiveProspect’s new TrustedForm Verify 1:1 Consent Check feature helps businesses programmatically check if valid consent was obtained.
• TrustedForm Verify 1:1 Consent Check works by tagging key elements in a form that are used to obtain one-to-one consent and then verifying if consent has been given.
• The feature is flexible and can accommodate different web form solutions.

While the FCC’s one-to-one consent rule has been canceled, the need for rock-solid TCPA compliance hasn’t gone away. In fact, verifying that consent is not only present but also valid has never been more important. That’s where TrustedForm Verify continues to deliver.

ActiveProspect just rolled out a powerful upgrade to TrustedForm Verify, adding three new automated compliance checks that take the guesswork—and the manual review—out of consent validation:

• Font size check: Flags disclosures that are too small to be considered “clear and conspicuous.”
• Contrast ratio check: Ensures the text color stands out from the background, so consumers can actually read the disclosure.
• Opt-in type check: Lets you define what counts as valid consent, like requiring an active checkbox instead of passive language.

These new checks are built for scale and precision. They address a common blind spot in lead buying: the visual and structural integrity of the consent itself. 

It’s not enough to say someone agreed, you need to prove they did.

Schedule a free demo now, and we will help you get started with TrustedForm Verify!

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