This Messaging Policy applies to the Sitecore Send Services (“Services”) and forms part of the Sitecore Usage Policy. Terms governing updates to the Usage Policy apply equally to updates to this Messaging Policy.
This Messaging Policy provides guidance as to how the Services should be used and what constitutes misuse of the Services, with the aim of ensuring that emails are sent with the consent of the email recipient and that these emails comply with applicable laws, comply with industry standards avoid damage to Sitecore’s reputation and compliant status with major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and white-listing programs, avoid disruptions to the Customer, Sitecore or other Sitecore customers, as well as meeting measures of fairness and decency.
The terms of this Messaging Policy are in addition to and supplement the Usage Policy; thus, for sake of clarity, all terms of the Usage Policy apply equally to the Services.
A. What email sending guidelines must Customer follow when using the Services?
- Use only permission-based marketing email lists (ie lists where each recipient has granted permission to receive email from customer by affirmatively opting-in).
- Retain proof of opt-in consent as required by local regulation or best practices (including after the recipient opts out of receiving messages), which may include the following information:
- Confirmation of consent to receiving email (ie opt-in or double opt-in)
- Source of consent (eg URL of the website or other source)
- IP of the email address owner
- Form of consent (eg registered on the website, an existing client)
- Date and time of consent
- Include an “unsubscribe” link or other mechanism in all marketing emails that allows subscribers to opt out in an easy manner and free of charge from Customer’s marketing mailing list. Information emails that are exempt from “unsubscribe” requirements as set forth by applicable law are exempt from this obligation. The Services scan every marketing campaign for the existence of an unsubscribe link. If an unsubscribe link is not detected, Sitecore will automatically insert a one-click unsubscribe link at the bottom of Customer’s email.
- Comply with all unsubscribe requests from recipients as soon as you receive such unsubscribe request.
- Monitor the accuracy of the information contained in email lists (including updating and correcting (where necessary) email addresses to which messages are sent through your account).
- Ensure that:
- the sender email address and the sender email name are clear (ie do not disguise the subject matter or origin of an email or falsify the sender email address, header, subject line or transmission path information for any email);
- emails are sent from an active domain and that the links redirect to the sender’s website;
- emails contain, in a clear and explicit manner, information with regard to the sender’s identity or the identity of the entity on whose behalf the email was sent, such as that entity’s trade name, registered address or phone number, as well as a valid address; and
- each email states the reason the recipient is receiving the message (eg, “You are receiving this message from ABC Company because you signed up for our email list at www.abc.com.”)
- Maintain and publish a privacy policy that complies with all applicable privacy laws and include in each email a link to the privacy policy applicable to that email.
- Comply with all disclosure requirements which may apply to the sender (e.g., some countries’ laws require that business letters, including emails, contain further identification details as to the form of the organization, the place of incorporation, the names of executives, etc.)
- Do not send to:
- Acquired mailing lists (ie whether purchased, rented or exchanged);
- Lists compiled by email harvesting;
- Distribution lists or newsgroups; or
- Role-based or non-specific addresses
- Do not use the Services to send unsolicited bulk email or email otherwise considered junk email (examples include but are not limited to, regardless of whether or not they are permitted by applicable law).
- Do not engage in sending practices that negatively impact the Services or other customers of the Services.
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Do not send emails that result in an unacceptable number of spam or abuse complaints (even if the emails sent are not actually spam or abuse), unsubscribe emails, hard bounced emails or spamtrap emails (collectively, “Complaints”), in accordance with the following:
- Below are the minimum acceptable level of complaints of any campaign sent from the Services:
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Complaint Categories
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Acceptable Rates
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Unsubscribe rate
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≤ 1%
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Hard bounce rate
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≤ 3%
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Spam complaints rate
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≤ 0.1%
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Spam complaints from provider
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≤ 1 complaint
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Spamtrap hits
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≤ 1 hit
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- The complaint categories are further described below:
- “Hard bounced emails” occur when an email cannot be delivered because of a permanent error (in many cases this is because the email address does not exist anymore or because it was misspelled);
- “Spam complaints” occur when a subscriber/email recipient has marked the email sent as spam;
- “Spam complaints from provider” occur where Sitecore’s hosting providers inform us about abuse and unsolicited emails sent from the Sitecore Send infrastructure;
- “Spamtrap emails” refer to emails where Internet Service Providers (ISPs) turn inactive emails into spam traps in order to detect senders who haven’t used their mailing lists for a long time or who have acquired mailing lists.
- Sitecore, in its sole discretion, shall determine whether the number of complaints received is in line with the above acceptable rates and within industry norms, where the above acceptable rates are provided for reference only and may be updated in its sole discretion and without prior notice to Customer.
- For sake of clarity, Sitecore may suspend the provision of the Services where these acceptable rates are not met and repeated violations may be treated as an uncurable material breach where Sitecore may terminate the Order for Services.
B. What content is prohibited?
- Customer must not use the Services to send emails that include or link to any content that is illegal, harmful, libelous, infringing, disruptive, unwanted, inappropriate, objectionable, confirmed to be criminal misinformation, or otherwise poses a threat to the public, even if the content is permissible by law.
- Examples of prohibited content include but are not limited to:
- Fraudulent, false, misleading or deceptive messages;
- Hate speech, harassment, or any content that promotes discrimination, bigotry, or harm against any individual or group;
- Nudity, pornography or obscenity;
- Illegal contests or gambling-related content;
- Pyramid schemes and/or multi-level marketing campaigns
- Prostitution or escort or dating services
- Pharmaceutical-related topics
- Chain letters
- Malicious content such as malware or viruses
- Weapons or drugs
- Loans or financial opportunities, credit repair, work-from-home opportunities, online trading, become millionaire scams, forex, or credit cards
C. Compliance with applicable law
- Customer’s use of the Services must comply with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, and ordinances of any governmental body in any jurisdiction applicable to Customer, Sitecore or the email recipient.
Some examples include the US CAN-SPAM Act, Canada Anti-Spam Law (CASL), EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), member state implementations of the EU ePrivacy Directive, AU Federal Privacy Act and its Australian Privacy Principles, and other laws relating to data protection, privacy, intellectual property, security, terrorism, corruption, child protection, and import/export laws.