Acceptable use policy

This policy applies to everyone who uses PuffinMail. It sits alongside the Spam Act 2003 (Cth), which every commercial email sent through PuffinMail must comply with. If you're unsure whether something is allowed, ask us first at hello@puffinmail.co.

1. Permission

You may only email people who have given consent to receive your emails. That means:

• express consent: they signed up to your newsletter, ticked an opt-in at checkout, or otherwise clearly asked to hear from you; or
• inferred consent as allowed by the Spam Act: for example a recent customer of your store, where your emails relate to what they bought from you and you've given them a clear way to opt out.

You must be able to show us where and when a person gave consent if we ask.

Not allowed:

• purchased, rented, borrowed, shared or "opt-out" lists;
• addresses scraped or harvested from websites, directories or social media;
• addresses you collected for an unrelated purpose, such as event registrations or a different business;
• lists that haven't been emailed for more than two years, unless you re-confirm them first;
• role addresses (info@, sales@ and so on) unless that address itself signed up.

2. Identify yourself

• Every email must clearly identify your business and include accurate contact details.
• Send from a domain you own and have verified with PuffinMail. Don't impersonate another person or brand.
• Subject lines, sender names and email headers must not be false or misleading.

3. Easy unsubscribe

• Every marketing email must include a working unsubscribe link. PuffinMail adds one for you; don't remove or hide it.
• Unsubscribe requests are processed automatically. Never re-add someone who unsubscribed, unless they sign up again themselves.
• Don't make unsubscribing depend on logging in, paying, or giving more information.

4. Content you may not send

• anything illegal, or that promotes illegal goods or services;
• phishing, malware, or links designed to deceive or harvest credentials;
• misleading or deceptive claims, fake offers, or "get rich quick" and pyramid schemes;
• content that is hateful, harassing, threatening, or exploits children;
• sexually explicit content;
• content that infringes someone else's copyright, trademarks or privacy.

Some regulated industries, such as alcohol, gambling, firearms, pharmaceuticals and financial products, need our approval before you send. Contact us first.

5. Sending quality

To protect deliverability for everyone, we monitor every account. We may pause sending if, for example:

• your bounce rate is above 5%;
• your spam complaint rate is above 0.1% (one complaint per 1,000 emails);
• a mailbox provider or blocklist reports problems with your emails.

When an account is paused we'll tell you why and work with you to fix it, for example by cleaning the list or re-confirming consent. New accounts and newly imported lists may start with lower sending limits that rise as your results stay healthy.

6. Your account

• Keep your login secure, and don't share your account with other businesses or resell access.
• Don't try to get around sending limits, suppression lists or our security measures.
• Don't use PuffinMail to test or attack other systems.

Enforcement

If we believe this policy has been broken, we may pause sending, remove content, suspend or close the account, and report illegal activity to the authorities, including the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Where we can, we'll contact you first. Serious or repeated breaches may lead to immediate suspension.

Report abuse

Received an unwanted email sent through PuffinMail? Use its unsubscribe link, and forward it tohello@puffinmail.co with "Abuse" in the subject. We investigate every report.