:: Anti-SPAM Policy
:: Report SPAM Abuse of iQ-Mail
iQ Media takes the issue of unsolicited e-mail seriously.
If you have recieved an e-mail that appears to have been sent by one of our customers from iQ-Mail and you believe it to be unsolicited, please fill in the form below so we may investigate further.
We believe that e-mail offers an exceptional way to communicate information and marketing messages to interested prospects. We also believe that e-mail should not be abused through unsolicited junk.
iQ-Mail has been designed to allow bulk e-mail to be sent out to as many people as a campaign may require. However every recipient that has e-mail sent to them, must fully adhere to our policy on SPAM, and iQ Media takes the issue very seriously.
Opting-in
Current UK and EU law states that any e-mail contact sent a marketing e-mail must have previously consented to receiving communication of that nature. This is referred to as 'opting-in'.
Recipients may have opted-in in 2 main ways. The most common way is through supplying their e-mail address to you or a third party for the purpose of receiving updates. This could be through an online subscription form, or through other means, such as paper-based forms where a note has stated that they will be opted-in. The second way is referred to as a 'soft opt-in' where a recipient already has an existing relationship with the sender, such as an exisiting client or prospect.
Sending e-mail to an individual who has not specifically opted-in or who is not currently in a business relationship with you can be classed as a criminal offence.
We always recommend you keep a log of how a recipient opted-in to your list. So, if through an online form, the location of the form on the internet, together with the time and date of the subscription would be enough information. Where you are sourcing data from another company, you should always ensure that their contacts have both opted-in to the list and have consented to receiving mailings from third-parties. When setting up a full account with iQ-Mail, we may ask for details of where your data came from before allowing use of the service.
Opting-out
The other key part of the legislation is the provision of a clear and easy-to-follow means of unsubscribing. The most common form this takes is a link and online confirmation form that allows removal from a mailing list within a minimal number of clicks. You must always provide this option and you must always honour someone's request to opt-out. It is an offence to continue to contact someone who has opted out.
Rather than deleting the contact, you should always keep a log of who has requested to opt-out, so that you do not send any further information them, and do not re-add them from another source in the future.
In short
You MAY NOT:
- Send e-mail to contacts who have not consented to being e-mailed
- Surf the internet for the purposes of collecting e-mail address from websites or other data sources, and then use them as e-mail contacts
- Send e-mail to contacts who have requested to opt-out
- Send e-mail that does not allow an easy way for the user to unsubscribe/opt-out
- Send e-mail that does not clearly indicate you as the sender, or attempts to disguise its origin or purports to be from another sender
You MAY:
- Send e-mail to any contact who has consented to receiving such communication, until they say otherwise
- Send e-mail to your existing clients or prospects, where the communication is related to their interest in your company
- Send non-consensual e-mail to businesses/corporations, as opposed to consumers/individuals, where your service is directly addressing a business need (i.e. it is a B2B communication) and where that organisation has not previously opted-out
How iQ-Mail Helps
To help ensure each of our clients adhere to the law on unsolicited mail, iQ-Mail offers a number of features:
List creation through online forms. Every account allows access to tools that create the code for subscription boxes for you to place on your website. These will allow interested prospects to sign-up for e-communication and log the time and date that they chose to do so.
Built in unsubscribe tools. Every e-mail sent through iQ-Mail will have an unsubscribe link added to it. This will link to a form that users can click to unsubscribe automatically from your list. Once unsubscribed, the user will remain on your list but flagged as an opt-out, so you can not accidentally re-add them in the future.
Spam Abuse Procedure
If we receive a report that iQ-Mail has been used for the sending of unsolicited e-mails we we will:
- Investigate the complaint's validity by reviewing iQ-Mail's logs and your campaign data
- Ask you to produce details on how your contacts opted-in to your list, or where you obtained the data you are using, as well as what provision you made for opt-outs
- Issue a warning should the complaint prove true
- Suspend your account completely should another complaint be received, from the same or any other recipient, within 3 months.
These procedures apply to all users, both those with trial and full status. If you are ever in any doubt about your data, please contact us to discuss. Should you end up with a complaint, we will always look at ways of avoiding this in the future, to hopefully keep you as a successful iQ-Mail customer.