RGPD in WhatsApp Business campaigns: what a store needs to ensure

RGPD makes no exception for WhatsApp. A promotional campaign sent through this channel is subject to the same requirements as any other direct marketing communication—prior consent, a clear purpose, and a simple way for the recipient to opt out of receiving messages.

Consent: The Foundation of Everything

Before sending any promotional messages, the store needs a legal basis to do so—typically the customer’s explicit consent, given at the time of purchase, registration, or another clear interaction. Contact information collected without such consent should not be used for marketing campaigns, regardless of whether the number is technically available.

Where is the data stored?

WhatSMS’s own infrastructure—chat history, contacts, campaign data—is hosted on European servers, and the artificial intelligence component also runs on European servers. This covers the platform itself, but it does not address the underlying issue: WhatsApp is operated by Meta, and any message sent through this channel passes through Meta’s infrastructure as a subprocessor, regardless of where the store stores its own records. It’s worth keeping this in mind when conducting a risk analysis for any campaign—you can check out our política de RGPD for more details on this processing.

Right to erasure and right to object

A customer may, at any time, request to stop receiving communications or to have their data deleted. The platform allows you to manage these requests—removing a contact from the campaign list or deleting the associated history, when requested.

Best Practices for Maintaining Compliance

Documenting how and when each contact gave consent, targeting campaigns only at those who have actually authorized receiving marketing communications, and always including a simple way to opt out in every message sent—these three practices cover most of the risk of noncompliance in a typical retail campaign.

What the store still has to decide

Record of consent as evidence

In the event of an audit or a customer complaint, having a clear record of when and how consent was given is a store’s best defense. The platform stores this history for each contact, which makes it easier to respond to such requests should they arise.

No platform, on its own, guarantees full compliance—it also depends on the store’s internal processes for how data is collected and managed. You can criar uma conta gratuita to test the platform’s technical functionality while that internal assessment is underway, at no cost.