Glossary · 45 terms
Policy, consent & trust
The rules that keep WhatsApp a channel people trust: opt-in and opt-out, quality rating and messaging limits, business verification and badges, Meta's policies, and data-protection laws such as India's DPDP Act and the GDPR.
Foundation· 12
Start here — the concepts everything else builds on.
- Business VerificationMeta's document check that a real, registered organisation owns a business portfolio — one route to higher WhatsApp limits and more phone numbers.Read definition
- Data PrincipalUnder India's DPDP Act, the person the personal data is about, with rights to information, correction, erasure, grievance redressal and nomination.Read definition
- Digital Personal Data Protection ActDPDP ActIndia's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023: the law that decides when a business may use personal data, such as a phone number it messages on WhatsApp.Read definition
- Green Tick (Official Business Account)OBAMeta's Official Business Account (OBA) badge for notable, authentic brands on WhatsApp: now a blue checkmark beside the name, formerly called the green tick.Read definition
- Green Tick vs Blue TickHow WhatsApp's marks differ: the business badge (once green, now blue), grey sent and delivered ticks, blue read ticks and the paid Meta Verified badge.Read definition
- Messaging Limits & TiersThe cap on how many unique users a business can reach with business-initiated WhatsApp messages in a moving 24 hours, shared across its business portfolio.Read definition
- Meta Verified for BusinessMeta's paid subscription for businesses on the WhatsApp Business app that adds a verified badge, impersonation protection and enhanced support.Read definition
- Opt-inThe permission a person gives a named business to message them on WhatsApp, collected before the first business-initiated message and kept on record.Read definition
- Opt-outA customer's request to stop WhatsApp messages from a business, by keyword, button, WhatsApp's own controls or a block, which must be honoured at once.Read definition
- Quality RatingMeta's High, Medium or Low (green, yellow, red) score for a WhatsApp business phone number, based on the last seven days of feedback such as blocks and reports.Read definition
- Verified BusinessThe status a business portfolio holds once Meta's business verification succeeds, unlocking higher WhatsApp limits and Official Business Account eligibility.Read definition
- WhatsApp Business Messaging PolicyMeta's core rules for business messaging on WhatsApp, covering opt-in, opt-out, content standards, human escalation and prohibited uses.Read definition
Practitioner· 25
What you need once you are running it day to day.
- Account RestrictionA temporary WhatsApp penalty after policy violations: 1 or 3 days without template sends, or 5, 7 or 30 days without sending any messages.Read definition
- Block RateThe share of recipients who block a business on WhatsApp after receiving its messages; Meta measures it as blocks divided by messages sent.Read definition
- Consent RecordThe stored, timestamped proof of one person's opt-in: who agreed, when, where, the exact wording they saw and the purposes they accepted.Read definition
- Data FiduciaryUnder India's DPDP Act, the organisation that decides why and how personal data is processed, such as a brand messaging its customers on WhatsApp.Read definition
- Data Processing AgreementDPAA contract between a business and a vendor processing personal data for it, fixing instructions, security, sub-processors, breach duties and deletion.Read definition
- Data ProcessorAn organisation that processes personal data only on another's instructions, the role a messaging provider usually holds under the DPDP Act and GDPR.Read definition
- Data Protection Board of IndiaDPBIIndia's independent body under the DPDP Act that inquires into breaches of the Act, hears complaints and imposes penalties on data fiduciaries.Read definition
- Data ResidencyWhere WhatsApp customer data is physically stored and processed (Meta's Cloud API, your BSP and your own systems) and so which country's rules apply to it.Read definition
- Data RetentionThe rules and schedule for how long chat logs, media, consent records and contact data are kept before deletion once their purpose has been served.Read definition
- Double Opt-inA two-step consent flow in which a sign-up is confirmed by a second explicit action, such as replying to a WhatsApp message, before marketing starts.Read definition
- DPDP Rules 2025India's DPDP Rules, 2025, which set out notices, consent-manager registration, breach reporting and retention, and phase most duties in by 2027.Read definition
- General Data Protection RegulationGDPRThe EU's data protection law. It also applies to an Indian business that offers goods or services to people in the EU or monitors them, including on WhatsApp.Read definition
- NotabilityHow widely a brand is known through independent sources such as news coverage, which Meta weighs before granting a WhatsApp Official Business Account.Read definition
- Opt-in RateThe share of people asked for WhatsApp consent who give it, measured per source so a business can see which sign-up points actually work.Read definition
- Per-User Marketing LimitWhatsApp's cap on how many marketing templates one person receives from all businesses over a period, set by their engagement; extra sends fail with 131049.Read definition
- Policy AppealA request asking Meta to review a WhatsApp restriction, ban or other enforcement, filed in Business Support Home with evidence it was a mistake.Read definition
- Policy ViolationA breach of WhatsApp's business rules, such as spam, messaging without opt-in or prohibited content, that triggers escalating enforcement from Meta.Read definition
- Privacy NoticeThe plain statement a business gives when asking for consent, saying what data it collects, for what purpose, how to withdraw and how to complain.Read definition
- Quality-Based Rate LimitingHow Meta lets a business portfolio's WhatsApp messaging limit rise only while its messages earn good feedback, and holds back senders whose quality stays low.Read definition
- Restricted IndustriesBusiness sectors such as alcohol, pharmacy, lending and gambling that WhatsApp bans or allows only under extra conditions for business messaging.Read definition
- Right to ErasureA person's right to have their personal data deleted on request, under section 12 of India's DPDP Act and article 17 of GDPR.Read definition
- Suppression ListA do-not-message list of opted-out, blocked, invalid or legally restricted numbers that every outbound send is checked against before it goes out.Read definition
- WABA Account ReviewMeta's policy check of a new WhatsApp Business Account, shown as pending, approved or rejected, which can stop the account messaging if it fails.Read definition
- WhatsApp Account BanThe disabling of a WhatsApp Business Account or number for serious or repeated policy breaches, stopping all messaging unless an appeal succeeds.Read definition
- WhatsApp Commerce PolicyMeta's rules on what may be sold through WhatsApp, banning categories such as drugs, weapons, alcohol, adult products and real-money gambling.Read definition
Expert· 8
Edge cases, internals and the details that matter at scale.
- Consent ManagerA company registered with India's Data Protection Board that lets people give, review and withdraw consent to many businesses through one platform.Read definition
- Cross-Border Data TransferMoving personal data out of India or the EU: DPDP allows it unless a destination is restricted, GDPR only to adequate countries or with safeguards.Read definition
- Data Breach NotificationThe duty to report a personal-data breach promptly to India's Data Protection Board and affected users, or to a regulator within 72 hours under GDPR.Read definition
- Lawful BasisThe legal ground that permits processing personal data: one of GDPR's six bases, or consent or a specified legitimate use under India's DPDP Act.Read definition
- Partner-Led Business VerificationPLBVA route in which an approved Meta partner submits a client's business verification documents by API, so Meta can decide in minutes rather than days.Read definition
- Significant Data FiduciarySDFA data fiduciary the Indian government designates for extra DPDP duties, such as an India-based Data Protection Officer and independent audits.Read definition
- Verifiable Parental ConsentThe DPDP Act duty to get a parent's or guardian's verifiable consent before processing an under-18's data, and not to track or target ads at children.Read definition
- WhatsApp Business Solution TermsThe contract a business accepts to use the WhatsApp Business Platform, setting data use, each side's duties and when Meta can suspend access.Read definition
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