Acceptable Use and Messaging Policy

Text messages reach people on their personal phones, and mobile networks, regulators and our messaging partners hold us responsible for what is sent through the Services. This policy is part of your agreement with us and sets out what you can and cannot do. It applies to everyone who uses AppStract SMS, including through the API.

If you are not sure whether something is allowed, ask us through a support ticket before you send.

• Get a Recipient’s permission before sending them any advertising, marketing or promotional message. Do not send unsolicited messages of any kind, commercial or otherwise.
• Keep a record of when and how each person agreed, and show proof of consent when we ask for it.
• Do not buy, rent or scrape phone numbers, and do not generate numbers at random or guess them.
• Include a simple way to stop receiving messages. When someone opts out, stop sending them promotional messages straight away.
• Messages that are strictly transactional or security-related, such as a code the person just asked for, or a receipt for something they bought, do not need marketing consent, but they must be genuinely related to the person’s own request or account.

Every broadcast message sent to a list, including advertising, marketing and promotional messages, must include your business name or identity in the sender name or in the text, so that the Recipient knows who it is from.

Never hide or fake who is sending a message. Do not create a false identity, a forged email address or header, or a fake phone number, and do not mislead anyone about who a message or call comes from.

• A Sender ID is subject to approval by us, our messaging partners and the mobile networks. It can be refused or withdrawn.
• It must be 3 to 11 characters of letters and digits only, with at least one letter. No spaces and none of these characters: _ / & @ . " ' , * # + ! ?
• It must identify you, your business or what the message is about, and you must have the right to use the name.
• It cannot pretend to be a person, a bank, a government body, a mobile network or any organisation you do not represent, and it cannot imitate another company’s brand.
• Use a Sender ID only for the purpose you gave when you requested it.

To follow the rules that apply to mobile messaging in Ghana:

• Send promotional and marketing messages Monday to Saturday, between 8am and 7pm. Do not send them on Sundays or at night.
• Do not send promotional messages from the same Sender ID to the same audience more than three times in a month. Traffic that goes over this limit may be blocked.

Transactional messages, such as one-time passwords, payment confirmations and delivery updates that a person is waiting for, are not covered by these time and frequency limits.

Do not send, or help anyone send, a message that:

• is unlawful, or promotes or helps illegal activity;
• is fraudulent, deceptive or a scam, including phishing, advance-fee fraud, fake prizes, and messages that try to get someone’s passwords, codes, PINs or payment details;
• is threatening, harassing, abusive, defamatory, malicious or harmful;
• is vulgar, obscene, profane, indecent, or offensive, or that a Recipient may reasonably see as contentious or offensive;
• is hateful, or discriminates on the basis of race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age;
• encourages criminal conduct;
• infringes someone’s copyright, trademark, publicity or other rights;
• contains links to malware or to sites that mislead the Recipient;
• promotes betting, gambling or lotteries unless you hold, and can show us, a valid licence from the relevant authority, such as the Gaming Commission or the National Lottery Authority.

You are responsible for the content and accuracy of everything sent from your account.

• Bypass or break any security mechanism, or use the Services in a way that poses a security or service risk.
• Test or reverse engineer the Services to find limits or weaknesses, or to get around filtering.
• Use the Services in a way that could expose us, our partners or anyone else to liability, damage or danger.
• Break the policies and requirements of our messaging partners or mobile networks that we have passed on to you, or industry guidelines and best practice for mobile messaging.
• Commit fraud on your account or against anyone else, including using a Sender ID to misrepresent who a caller or organisation is, or bypassing phone identification systems.
• Send messages that are not designed to keep the personal, person-to-person nature of SMS, for example automated floods of messages to people who have no relationship with you.
• Use the Services to solicit, poach or pull customers or subscribers away from a mobile network operator. This leads to immediate permanent suspension.
• Send more traffic than your rate limits allow, or interfere with other customers’ use of the Services.
• Resell or share access to the Services with others without our written agreement.
• Use our name, logos or marks except as we have permitted in writing.
• Use the Services in any other way we have not authorised.

If a Recipient, a mobile network, a messaging partner or a regulator complains about messages from your account, we will tell you, and we may ask you to explain, show proof of consent, or stop sending. If a Recipient complains to you, tell us immediately. Not telling us can lead to suspension.

To report abuse of the Services, open a support ticket or email [email protected].

We may, at our discretion and where we think it is necessary without notice: block or hold messages, withdraw a Sender ID, suspend your account, close it, and report the matter to the relevant authorities or regulators. We may also pass on to you any fine or charge imposed on us because of your traffic. If we close your account for breaking this policy, no payment is refunded.

Our right to act does not mean we monitor every message, and we are not responsible for content you send.

Mobile network and regulator rules change, and so may this policy. We will post updates on this page and tell you about changes that matter. Questions: [email protected].