A governed subscription lifecycle connects the initial request, confirmation, current communication eligibility, preference changes, unsubscription, suppression, and retained evidence. Elaine can orchestrate these steps across forms, APIs, contact groups, messages, automations, and privacy controls.
Acquisition and double opt-in
- A form or connected application submits a subscription request with contact data, the intended contact group, source context, and applicable permissions.
- Elaine records the pending request separately from an active membership.
- A confirmation message explains what the person requested and provides a confirmation action.
- After confirmation, Elaine activates the membership and can send a welcome or confirmation message.
- The process retains the evidence required by the organization’s approved consent model.
Preferences and eligibility
Contact groups can represent participation in defined communication contexts, while preferences, consent data, PAC flags, suppression, and business rules provide additional eligibility controls. The model should distinguish a channel preference from permission for a processing purpose.
Unsubscription patterns
| Pattern | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Unsubscribe from the sending contact group | The group directly represents the communication the person wants to stop. |
| Preference center | The person should choose among topics, brands, channels, or frequencies. |
| Suppression or blacklist | Communication must be prevented more broadly because of policy, complaint, abuse, or deliverability state. |
| Automation-based handling | The request requires synchronization, evidence, branching, or updates in connected applications. |
Connected applications
When a CRM, commerce application, or consent service also stores the state, define which application owns it and how changes propagate. The process must handle retries and reconciliation so that an accepted withdrawal cannot remain active in another campaign or application.
Important controls
- Use stable identifiers and record the acquisition source and applicable declaration.
- Keep pending, confirmed, withdrawn, and suppressed states distinct.
- Apply eligibility checks to transactional communication when its content or purpose requires them.
- Test one-click unsubscribe and provider feedback handling.
- Define retention and deletion for both profile data and consent evidence.
Legal note: Elaine provides technical capabilities for implementing subscription and privacy processes. The controller remains responsible for the legal basis, notices, process design, configuration, and jurisdiction-specific validation.