This Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”) describes rules that apply to any party (“Customer”) using the Application-to-Person (A2P) type messaging platform (“Twecho Platform”) provided by Twecho.
(“Twecho”) and any user of any software application or service made available by the Customer that interfaces with the Twecho Platform (“End User”). The examples described in this AUP are not exhaustive. The customer is responsible for its End Users’ compliance with this AUP.
Inappropriate Content or Users. Do not use the Twecho Platform to transmit or store any content or communications (commercial or otherwise) that is illegal, harmful, unwanted, inappropriate, objectionable, confirmed to be criminal misinformation, or otherwise poses a threat to the public.
This prohibition includes the use of the Twecho Platform by a hate group or content or communications that originate from a hate group or are exploitive, abusive, or hate speech.
Prohibited Activities. Do not use the Twecho Platform to engage in or encourage any activity that is illegal, deceptive, harmful, violating others’ rights, or harmful to Twecho’s business operations or reputation, including:
- Violations of Laws. Violating any applicable laws, regulations, or industry standards or guidance (collectively, “Applicable Laws”).
This includes violating Applicable Laws requiring (a) consent be obtained prior to transmitting, recording, collecting, or monitoring data or communications or (b) compliance with opt-out requests for any data or communications. - Interference with the Twecho Platform. Interfering with or otherwise negatively impacting any aspect of the Twecho Platform or any third-party networks that are linked to the Twecho Platform.
- Reverse Engineering. Reverse engineering, copying, disassembling, or decompiling any component of the Twecho Platform.
- Falsification of Identity or Origin. Creating a false identity or any attempt to mislead others as to the identity of the sender or the origin of any data or communications.
Service Integrity Violations. Do not violate the integrity of the Twecho Platform, including:
- Bypassing Service Limitations. Attempting to bypass, exploit, defeat, or disable limitations or restrictions placed on the Twecho Platform.
- Security Vulnerabilities. Finding security vulnerabilities to exploit the Twecho Platform or attempting to bypass any security mechanism or filtering capabilities.
- Disabling the Twecho Platform. Any denial of service (DoS) attack on the Twecho Platform or any other conduct that attempts to disrupt, disable, or overload the Twecho Platform.
- Harmful Code or Bots. Transmitting code, files, scripts, agents, or programs intended to do harm, including viruses or malware, or using automated means, such as bots, to gain access to or use the Twecho Platform.
- Unauthorized Access. Attempting to gain unauthorized access to the Twecho Platform.
Data Safeguards. Customer is responsible for determining whether the Twecho Platform offers appropriate safeguards for the Customer’s use of the Twecho Platform, including, but not limited to, any safeguards required by Applicable Laws, prior to transmitting or processing, or prior to permitting End Users to transmit or process, any data or communications via the Twecho Platform.
The Campaign Registry Guidelines. Customer must adhere to and stay in compliance with all registration guidelines set forth by The Campaign Registry as provided by Twecho.
Twecho’s Messaging Policy
This Messaging Policy is part of this AUP and applies to SMS and MMS messaging channels.
To ensure all messages are received, unhindered by filtering or other similar blockers, Twecho strives to work with Customers so that messages are sent with the consent of the message recipient, and that those messages comply with all applicable laws and communications industry guidelines or standards.
Messaging. Twecho treats all messaging transmitted via the Twecho Platform, regardless of the use case or phone number type (e.g., long code or toll-free), as A2P messaging.
All A2P messages originating from Twecho are subject to this Messaging Policy, which covers rules and /or prohibitions regarding:
- Consent (“opt-in”);
- Revocation of Consent (“opt-out”);
- Sender Identification;
- Messaging Usage; and
- Enforcement.
If Customer provides its own End Users with the ability to send messages through the Twecho Platform, for example as an independent software vendor, Customer is responsible for the messaging activity of its End Users.
Customer must ensure that any messaging activity generated by its End Users is in compliance with Twecho’s policies.
Consent/Opt-in. Consent cannot be bought, sold, or exchanged. For example, Customer cannot obtain the consent of message recipients by purchasing a phone list from another party.
Aside from Alternative Consent Requirements noted below, Customer must meet each of the consent requirements listed below.
If Customer is a software or platform provider using Twecho Platform for messaging within its application or service, Customer must require its End Users to adhere to these same requirements.
Consent Requirements
- Prior to sending the first message, Customer must obtain agreement from the message recipient to communicate with them – this is referred to as “consent”. Customer must make clear to the individual they are agreeing to receive messages of the type that is being sent.
Customer needs to keep a record of the consent, such as a copy of the document or form that the message recipient signed or a timestamp of completion of a sign-up flow. - If Customer does not send an initial message to that individual within a reasonable period after receiving consent (or as set forth by local regulations or best practices), then Customer must reconfirm consent in the first message sent to that recipient.
- The consent applies only to the specific use or campaign that the recipient has consented to. Customer cannot treat such consent as blanket consent for messages from other brands or companies Customer may have, or additional messages about other uses or campaigns.
- Proof of opt-in consent should be retained as set forth by local regulation or best practices after an End User opts out of receiving messages.
Alternative Consent Requirements. While consent is always required and the consent requirements noted above are generally the safest path, consent can be received differently in the following scenarios:
- Contact initiated by an individual. The customer is free to respond to a message first initiated by an individual without consent.
For example, if an individual texts a Customer’s phone number asking for the Customer’s hours of operation, the Customer may respond directly to that individual, relaying the open hours.
In such a case, the individual’s inbound message to the Customer constitutes both consent and proof of consent. Such consent is limited only to that particular conversation.
Unless Customer obtains additional consent, it shall not send messages that are outside the scope of that particular conversation. - Informational content to an individual based on a prior relationship.
The customer may send a message to an individual with a prior relationship, provided that individual provided their phone number to the Customer, has taken some action to trigger the potential communication, and has not expressed a preference to not receive messages.
Actions can include a button press, alert setup, appointments, or order placements.
Examples of acceptable messages in these scenarios include appointment reminders, receipts, one-time passwords, order/shipping/reservation confirmations, drivers coordinating pick-up locations with riders and repair persons confirming service call times.
The message cannot attempt to promote a product, convince someone to buy something, or advocate for a social cause.
Periodic Messages and Ongoing Consent. To send messages to a recipient on an ongoing basis, the Customer should confirm the recipient’s consent by offering them a clear reminder of how to unsubscribe from those messages using standard opt-out language (defined below).
The customer must also respect the message recipient’s preferences in terms of frequency of contact. Customer also needs to proactively ask individuals to reconfirm their consent as set forth by local regulations and best practices.
Identifying Yourself as the Sender. The customer must identify itself as the sender in every message it sends, except in follow-up messages of an ongoing conversation.
Opt-out. The initial message sent to an individual needs to include the following language: “Reply STOP to unsubscribe,” or the equivalent using another standard opt-out keyword, such as STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, and QUIT.
- Individuals must have the ability to revoke consent at any time by replying with a standard opt-out keyword. When an individual opts out, the Customer may deliver one final message to confirm that the opt-out has been processed, but any subsequent messages are not allowed.
To send any additional messages to an individual who has opted out, the Customer must obtain consent again.
Usage Limitations
Prohibited Content. The key to ensuring that messaging remains a great channel for communication and innovation is preventing abusive use of messaging platforms. That means Twecho never allows certain types of content on the Twecho Platform, even if a Customer obtains consent from recipients for that content.
Twecho prohibits sending any content that is illegal, harmful, unwanted, inappropriate, objectionable, confirmed to be criminal misinformation or otherwise poses a threat to the public, even if the content is permissible by law. Other prohibited uses include:
- Anything that is illegal in the jurisdiction where the message recipient lives.
- Hate speech, harassment, exploitation, abuse, or any communications that originate from a hate group.
- Fraudulent messages.
- Malicious content, such as malware or viruses.
- Any content that is designed to intentionally evade filters (e.g., Snowshoeing, etc).
Country-Specific Rules. All messages should comply with the rules applicable to the country in which the message recipient lives.
Age and Geographic Gating. Additional restrictions apply to messages that include content in any way related to alcohol, firearms, gambling, tobacco, or other adult content.
In addition to obtaining consent from every message recipient, the Customer must ensure that no message recipient is younger than the legal age of consent based on where the recipient is located. Customers also must ensure that the message content complies with all applicable laws of the jurisdiction in which the message recipient is located or applicable communications industry guidelines or standards. The customer needs to be able to provide proof that it has in place measures to ensure compliance with such restrictions.
Messaging Policy Violation Detection and Prevention Evasion. Customers may not use our Twecho Platform to evade Twecho’s or a telecommunications provider’s unwanted messaging detection and prevention mechanisms. Examples of prohibited practices include:
- Content designed to evade detection. As noted above, Twecho does not allow content that has been specifically designed to evade detection by unwanted messaging detection and prevention mechanisms. This includes intentionally misspelled words or non-standard opt-out phrases that have been specifically created with the intent to evade these mechanisms.
- Snowshoeing. Twecho does not permit snowshoeing, which is defined as spreading similar or identical messages across many phone numbers with the intent or effect of evading unwanted messaging detection and prevention mechanisms.
Violations of AUP. When a violation of these principles is identified, where possible, Twecho will work with Customers in good faith to get them back into compliance with this policy.
However, for the protection of the continued ability of all Customers and End Users to freely use the Twecho Platform for legitimate purposes, violations of this AUP by the Customer or any End User may result in the immediate suspension or termination of Customer’s or End User’s use of the Twecho Platform, or civil and/or criminal liability.
In any such event, Customer is still liable for any and all outstanding charges accumulated through the user of the Twecho Platform, including uses in violation of this AUP, the laws of any applicable jurisdiction, or applicable communications industry guidelines or standards.
In addition, Twecho may investigate incidents that are contrary to this AUP and provide requested information to third parties who have provided notice to Twecho stating that they have been harmed by the Customer or its End Users’ failure to abide by this AUP.
Twecho’s failure to enforce this policy does not amount to a waiver of any of its rights hereunder. Violations of this AUP, including any prohibited content or communications, may be reported to https://twecho.com/contact-us.
The customer agrees to immediately report any violation of this AUP to Twecho and provide cooperation, as requested by Twecho, to investigate and/or remedy that violation.
Changes To This AUP. Twecho reserves the right to change this AUP from time to time without notice by posting changes at https://twecho.com/acceptable-use-policy/ and revising the “Last Updated” date of this AUP.