Acceptable use policy
Draft for legal review. This policy forms part of our terms of service.
Our network carries calls and messages for many businesses. These rules keep it trusted by the people on the other end, and keep you and us within South African law. They apply to everything sent through Cloudvoice, including by AI agents and through our API.
1. Consent and direct marketing
- Send direct marketing by SMS, WhatsApp or email only to people who agreed to receive it, or to your existing customers about your own similar products, with a chance to opt out each time (POPIA, section 69).
- Keep a record of the consent you rely on, and show it to us if we ask.
- Do not market to anyone who has asked not to be contacted, including people registered on a pre-emptive block list under the Consumer Protection Act.
- Messages about an existing account or transaction, such as reminders, notifications and collections, must still be lawful and fair, and must not be used to market.
2. Opt-outs
- Every marketing message must say who it is from and how to opt out at no cost.
- Act on an opt-out promptly and keep that person off your lists for that channel.
- On WhatsApp, follow WhatsApp's own business and commerce policies as well as these rules.
3. Calling hours
Direct marketing calls and messages may not be made outside the times allowed by the Consumer Protection Act regulations: [Monday to Friday 08:00 to 20:00, Saturdays 09:00 to 13:00, never on Sundays or public holidays: confirm against the current regulations]. Account and collection contact must keep to reasonable hours and to any limits in your agreement with the person.
4. Caller ID and sender names
- Show only caller IDs that are allocated to you or that you have the right to use. Do not spoof another person's or business's number.
- Use SMS sender names and WhatsApp business names that truthfully identify your business.
5. AI agents
- AI agents must say that they are AI assistants, and must not claim to be a person.
- Tell people when a call is recorded or transcribed.
- Give people a way to reach a person when they ask, and do not use AI agents to pressure, mislead or threaten anyone.
6. Debt collection
Collection contact must follow the Debt Collectors Act and the National Credit Act where they apply: no threats, harassment or misleading statements, no contacting third parties about the debt beyond what the law allows, and respect for disputes and payment arrangements.
7. Never allowed
- Fraud, phishing, impersonation or scams of any kind.
- Calls or messages that are threatening, harassing, abusive or hateful.
- Artificially inflated traffic, including calls to premium or international numbers designed to generate revenue.
- Wangiri (one-ring) calls, auto-dialled calls left silent or abandoned, or deliberately short calls to many numbers.
- Attempts to break into, overload or disrupt our network or anyone else's.
- Reselling our services without a written agreement with us.
8. What we do about misuse
We monitor our network for misuse, such as sudden traffic patterns, high complaint rates or numbers flagged as spam. If we find a breach, we may block the traffic, quarantine numbers, suspend the service or end it, as set out in our terms of service. Where the law requires it, we report to the authorities.
To report misuse of a Cloudvoice number, contact [abuse@cloudvoice.network] with the number, the date and time, and what happened.