The short answer
Ask for nine things in writing: the landing page, the disclosure text, a sample consent record, the scrub provider and cadence, the suppression process, the exclusivity terms, a sample payload, the replacement policy, and their insurance position. This is not a legal review — it is an inventory, and the informative part is which items arrive within a day and which produce a phone call instead.
Compliance diligence sounds like something that needs a lawyer. Most of it is an inventory question — does this documentation exist — and you can answer that yourself with one email.
| Ask for | What having it proves |
|---|---|
| The live landing page URL | The traffic is theirs, not bought in |
| The disclosure text, verbatim | Consent is specific, not categorical |
| A sample consent record | The record exists and is retrievable |
| Scrub provider and cadence | Screening is a process, not a claim |
| Their suppression process | Opt-outs actually propagate |
| Exclusivity terms in writing | "Exclusive" has a duration |
| A sample payload | You can see what you are buying |
| The replacement policy | It has limits you can read |
| Insurance position | They have considered the risk at all |
How to read the response
- Items that arrive same day, as documents: this vendor operates a process.
- Items that arrive as a description in an email: it may exist, ask again for the artefact.
- Items that turn into a phone call: it does not exist in a form anyone can inspect.
- Items that produce an explanation of why you do not need them: note which ones.
Do it before the first order
This is worth an afternoon before you spend anything, because the answers are cheapest to get while the vendor is selling to you. After the first invoice the same questions get slower answers, and after a complaint they get lawyered ones.