# Consent and subscriptions ## Unsubscribe vs Suppression **Unsubscribe:** * A contact actively withdrawing permission to receive **marketing messages** via Campaigns * Managed at the **channel level** (e.g., can unsubscribe from SMS but stay subscribed to Email) * Only applies to Campaign messages, not Inbox messages * Triggered by customer action (clicking unsubscribe link, texting "STOP") **Suppression:** * A **compliance block** that prevents you from sending messages to a specific identifier (phone number or email address) * Works at the **identifier level**, not contact level * Can be triggered multiple ways: unsubscribe, spam complaints, hard bounces, manual addition, or global suppression list * More comprehensive than unsubscribe—includes automatic blocks for deliverability issues **Key relationship:** When a contact unsubscribes from a channel, it automatically creates a suppression (compliance block) for that identifier on that channel. **Example:** * A contact unsubscribes from SMS = Creates a suppression on their phone number for SMS * That same contact's email can still receive emails (different identifier, different channel) * If their email hard bounces = Automatic suppression added for that email address --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.bird.com/applications/audience/contacts/concepts/consent-and-subscriptions.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.