AI and WhatsApp Consent and Opt Out
1. Scope
This policy explains the rules for AI-assisted conversations and WhatsApp messaging through Maria Systems-enabled workflows. It applies to Maria Systems personnel, clients and people using or administering those workflows. Clients remain responsible for the legality of their lead sources, campaigns, property claims and contact instructions.
2. Starting a Conversation
People may contact a business through WhatsApp, a website request, a click-to-message advertisement or another authorised channel. A user-initiated conversation allows the business to respond to that request within applicable platform rules. Website requests must make the intended contact channel clear.
Imported contacts and referrals require an applicable lawful basis and any required channel-specific consent before messaging. Marketing follow-up is limited to eligible recipients who have not opted out, with approved templates where required.
3. Consent and Purpose
Where consent is relied on, it must be freely given, informed, specific enough to cover the business and channel, and expressed through a clear action. It must not be hidden in unrelated terms or inferred from silence. The responsible business must retain appropriate evidence of permission and any withdrawal or objection.
Consent to receive a requested property response does not automatically authorise unrelated or indefinite marketing. Follow-up must remain connected to the disclosed purpose and comply with applicable law and platform rules.
4. AI Participation and Human Assistance
AI participation must be clearly disclosed at or near the beginning of an AI-assisted conversation. The assistant must not falsely present itself as a named human, licensed broker, lawyer, financial adviser, mortgage adviser, property owner, government representative or developer representative.
People may ask to speak with a human. Workflows must support escalation when requested, when information is disputed or insufficient, or when an authorised professional is needed. Human assistance may require a response from the relevant brokerage team and is not a promise of immediate human availability.
5. Information and Property Enquiries
The assistant may answer questions using approved business information, collect relevant buyer requirements, suggest properties from approved inventory and prepare the next sales action. Material property information—including availability, prices, fees, investment information and formal documents—requires verification by an authorised brokerage representative.
Appointment preferences may be collected, but appointments must remain pending until confirmed by an authorised calendar or person. AI-generated information may be incomplete or inaccurate. AI sales assistance does not replace legal, financial, mortgage, valuation or investment advice.
6. Prohibited Practices
Maria Systems-enabled messaging must not be used for purchased, scraped, unlawfully shared or unverifiable contact lists; messaging after opt-out, outside an approved purpose or to a number known to be wrong; fabricated properties, documents, testimonials, affiliations, licences, urgency or booking confirmations; unsupported claims concerning returns, yields, mortgage approval, residency outcomes, completion dates, prices or availability; unlawful discriminatory steering or exclusion; or requests for passwords, full payment-card details or unnecessary sensitive information through ordinary chat.
7. Opting Out
People may reply STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT or make another clear request not to be contacted. Equivalent requests in supported languages must also be recognised. Following a clear opt-out, the workflow must suppress future automated marketing and follow-up, cancel scheduled follow-ups and record the request. At most one short opt-out confirmation may be sent.
Only the minimum suppression information necessary to respect the request should be retained, subject to applicable legal requirements. An opt-out does not authorise unrelated further contact. Any necessary communication about an active transaction must remain distinct from marketing. Automated marketing must not resume without a new clear request or fresh valid consent where required.
8. Follow-Up and Human Takeover
WARM and COLD follow-up are separate from missed-lead recovery. A reply, booking, conversion, opt-out, ineligibility, human takeover or lead-temperature change must stop or reroute the relevant automated cadence before another message is sent. Automated persuasion must not continue while human takeover is active.
9. Privacy and Security
Collect only information reasonably necessary for the approved sales purpose. Client information, access credentials and conversation data must be kept appropriately separated and accessible only to authorised roles. Passwords, access tokens, full payment-card details and unnecessary identity documents must not be placed into ordinary chat or AI prompts.
Where Maria Systems processes information on behalf of a brokerage, the brokerage’s privacy notice and relevant data-processing agreement also apply.
10. Questions and Complaints
11. Policy Updates
This policy may be updated when services, messaging channels, applicable rules or material workflows change. Any adopted revision should show its actual effective date.