Acceptable Use & Messaging Policy

1. Why this policy exists

WhatsApp works because people trust that businesses only message them when they want to hear from them. One business that spams can harm its own number, every other business on i-Connect, and the people receiving the messages. This policy forms part of our Terms of Service and applies to everyone who uses i-Connect.

2. Official channels only

• Use i-Connect only with a WhatsApp Business Account and number you own or are authorised to use, on the Official WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API).
• Follow Meta's WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy, the WhatsApp Commerce Policy and the WhatsApp Business Terms of Service at all times. If they are stricter than this policy, they apply.
• Don't impersonate another business or person, and don't give your display name, profile or messages a misleading identity.

3. Opt-in before you message

• Get a person's opt-in before sending them any business-initiated message. The opt-in must be clear: tell them they will receive messages from your business on WhatsApp, and what kind (for example, offers, order updates or reminders).
• Keep marketing and service messages separate. Someone who agreed to appointment reminders has not agreed to promotions.
• Don't buy, rent, scrape or share contact lists, and don't message numbers collected for another purpose.
• When you import contacts, declare their consent status truthfully. Record where and how each person opted in; i-Connect's forms and Flows do this for you.
• Don't message children without verifiable consent from a parent or lawful guardian.

4. Honour opt-outs

• Make it easy to opt out: include an opt-out option such as a “Stop promotions” button or “Reply STOP” in marketing templates.
• When someone opts out, stop at once. i-Connect does this automatically for STOP, STOP ALL and your own opt-out keywords; don't work around it (for example, by re-importing the person or messaging them from another number).
• Respond to people who ask why they were contacted, and to requests to delete their data.

5. Templates and content

• Choose the correct template category (marketing, utility or authentication). Don't disguise promotions as service updates.
• Be truthful. Don't make false or misleading claims, fake urgency, or hide prices, terms or who you are.
• Only send links to websites you control or trust; don't use link shorteners to hide where a link goes.
• Use the 24-hour customer service window for what it is for: replying to the customer.

6. Prohibited use

You must not use i-Connect to:

• offer or promote goods or services that Meta's Commerce Policy prohibits, including (among others) illegal products, drugs, tobacco and vaping products, alcohol, weapons and ammunition, adult products and services, gambling and real-money gaming, and certain financial, health and medical products, as that policy defines them;
• send content that is illegal, fraudulent, deceptive, defamatory, obscene, hateful, harassing, threatening, or that promotes violence or self-harm;
• run phishing, scams, pyramid or multi-level marketing schemes, or collect passwords, OTPs, card numbers or other credentials;
• send malware, or messages designed to get around WhatsApp's or i-Connect's limits and protections;
• infringe anyone's intellectual property or privacy rights;
• send political or election messages in breach of the law or of Meta's policies; or
• probe, attack or overload i-Connect, or access data that isn't yours.

7. Sensitive data

• Don't send or ask for sensitive personal data (health conditions, financial account details, government ID numbers, passwords) over WhatsApp unless it is necessary, lawful and expected by the person.
• Clinics and healthcare providers: send notices (for example, “your report is ready”) rather than diagnoses or results.

8. Volume, timing and quality

• Respect reasonable hours. Use i-Connect's send window and frequency caps for marketing.
• Watch your number's quality rating and template feedback. If people block or report you, slow down and fix the cause.
• i-Connect pauses sending automatically when quality drops, a template is paused, or failures spike. Don't try to bypass these brakes.

9. Email to your customers

If you use i-Connect to email your customers, the same standards apply:

• Send marketing email only to people who agreed to receive email from you. Agreeing to WhatsApp messages is not agreeing to email.
• Give your real postal address, and never hide or remove the unsubscribe link. An unsubscribe takes effect at once and only that person can reverse it.
• Keep your lists clean. Email pauses automatically if too many emails bounce or are marked as spam.
• Everything in section 6 applies to email as well.

10. How we enforce this policy

We monitor signals such as quality ratings, message failures, email bounces and spam complaints. If we believe this policy is being broken, we may warn you, pause campaigns or sequences, suspend sending, suspend or close your account, and report the matter to Meta or to authorities where the law requires. Where we reasonably can, we will contact you first. No refund is due for a suspension or termination caused by a breach of this policy.

11. Report abuse

If you received unwanted messages from a business that uses i-Connect, reply STOP to that business and tell us at support@i-connect.world with “Abuse” in the subject, the business's name and the number that messaged you. You can also report and block the business in WhatsApp.