How members opt in to text messages

The call to action, the consent language, and every place it appears.

Where the opt-in is #

Sign-up URL: https://gatedsitting.com/signup — this opens the account creation form directly, with the text-message opt-in on it. The same form is the Start your household tab at https://gatedsitting.com/.

No sign-in is required to view the form or the opt-in. Gated Sitting is a private neighborhood service, so a neighborhood access code may be required to complete an account — but the form, the mobile number field, the checkbox and its full consent language are all on screen and inspectable without one.

The consent language, verbatim #

This is the exact text beside the checkbox. The application renders it from a single constant and stores that same string, character for character, in the consent record written when a member ticks the box — so what a member agreed to and what we can produce as evidence are the same sentence:

I agree to receive text messages from Gated Sitting about my bookings and account, including service updates and support replies. Message frequency varies. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out or HELP for help.

Every way to opt in #

Three, and all three show the language above:

Creating a household (the main sign-up form)
Open gatedsitting.com/signup — the same form as the Start your household tab on the home page.
Below the optional Mobile number field there is a separate, unchecked checkbox carrying the consent language quoted above. Ticking it is the opt-in. Leaving it alone creates the account normally and sends no texts.
Accepting an invitation from a household
A member invites a sitter or a co-parent by email; the invitation link opens a join form on the same site.
The join form carries the same unchecked checkbox with the same language, next to the same optional mobile number field, and the invitation can be accepted without it.
A sitter's own profile, at any time
Signed in, under Text notifications on the dashboard.
The same unchecked checkbox with the same language. This is also where a member turns texts back off, which records the withdrawal the same way a grant is recorded.

How consent is taken #

Never pre-checked. Every box is unchecked when the form loads. Consent is only ever recorded from an affirmative tick.
Optional. Agreeing to texts is not a condition of creating an account, accepting an invitation, or using any part of the service. The mobile number field is optional too.
Separate. The text-message box is its own checkbox, distinct from the box that accepts the Terms and the other agreements. Neither implies the other.
18 or older. Beside the text-message box is a second, separate box confirming the member is 18 or older. Both must be ticked for texts to be switched on, and the confirmation is stored with the consent record. Members under 18 keep their account and every other feature — it is the messaging program that is 18+.
Recorded. Every grant and every withdrawal is written with the exact consent text shown, the number, the timestamp, the IP address, the user agent, the age confirmation, and the versions of the Terms and Privacy Policy then in force.

What we send #

Only messages about activity on the member's own account: a sitter being confirmed, waitlisted or removed for a night they offered to sit; a night-before reminder; a waitlisted night reopening; being added as a family's sitter or recommended to the neighborhood board; a sitter offering to sit one of a family's nights, or backing out; and another member messaging them in the app.

This is customer-care messaging to existing members. No marketing or promotional content is ever sent. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. The full program description is in Terms of Service §4.

Stopping, and getting help #

Reply STOP to any message to stop receiving texts; STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT, OPTOUT and REVOKE do the same. Reply START, UNSTOP or YES to start again. Reply HELP or INFO for help, or contact support directly at 903-466-2946. Members can also turn texts off in their profile at any time, which records the withdrawal the same way.

Gated Sitting does not share or sell mobile phone numbers or SMS opt-in data with third parties or affiliates for marketing purposes. Text messaging originator opt-in data and consent will not be shared with any third parties.