Lastly, many businesses underestimate the legal and compliance risks tied to importing phone number data without verifying consent. If you’re importing numbers from various sources and plan to use them for marketing (e.g., SMS blasts, drip campaigns), you must have auditable proof of consent for each entry—especially under regulations like GDPR, TCPA, and CAN-SPAM. Importing opt-in status incorrectly (or not at all) can result in unauthorized texts, angry recipients, or even lawsuits. Make sure your import files include metadata like source of opt-in, date of
Consent, and communication preferences.
Also, ensure your platform tags contacts with this information, so you’re not lumping transactional-only users into marketing segments. Some CRMs, like Salesforce or HubSpot, allow importing custom fields for tracking consent status, while others require plugins or integrations. In short, every phone number you import should be clean, formatted, verified, and legally usable for your intended purpose. Taking shortcuts during imports may seem efficient at the time, but it can cost you far more in missed opportunities, reputation damage, or compliance penalties down the road.
Exporting phone number data may seem like a routine task,
but in today’s privacy-driven environment, it’s anything but trivial. Whether you’re moving data between systems, sharing with a vendor, or backing up for internal use, one wrong step could result in a privacy violation, security breach, or regulatory fine. The first rule of safe exporting is: only export what’s necessary. This means applying strict filters to limit the export to relevant data—such as current opt-in subscribers, segmented customer groups, or records associated with a specific campaign. Never export your entire database
unless absolutely required. Use your CRM or marketing platform’s built-in tools to exclude sensitive fields like passwords, addresses, payment data, or internal notes, and apply column restrictions to ensure you’re only exporting
phone numbers and the minimal metadata needed (e.g., country code, opt-in date, or tags). Before exporting, confirm the purpose and scope of the export, and document it—this will help you prove intent and accountability later if audited.
