united-kingdom telemarketing spam texting
Can you text a business/sole trader promotional material if they put their number online?
<p>eg. An electrician has put their mobile number on a website to attract business. Can I legally contact that electrician to tell them about a product that he/she may be interested in? .. Everything is based in the united kingdom. </p>

<p>No.</p>

<p>From <a href="https://www.bulksms.com/resources/regulations/uk-regulations-on-commercial-sms-messaging-and-marketing.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Organisations must not send marketing texts to individuals without
  their specific, valid and prior explicit consent. This consent must be
  recorded and kept as proof of consent. There is a limited exception
  for previous customers, which is known as the soft opt-in. A soft-opt
  in only applies if the organisation have obtained the contact details
  in the course of a sale (or negotiations for a sales) of a product or
  service to the customer; they are only marketing their own similar
  products or services; and they gave the customer an opportunity to
  opt-out of the marketing, both when first collecting the details and
  in every message thereafter.</p>
</blockquote>
