Acceptable Use Policy

1.1 SHAFT-C Content (Absolute Prohibition)

You may not send messages containing content in the following categories, collectively known as SHAFT-C. These categories are prohibited by US carrier content policies and will result in immediate campaign suspension if detected:

• Sex / Sexual Content: Sexually explicit material, adult entertainment, escort services, dating with sexual content, pornography, or sexually suggestive promotions
• Hate: Content promoting hatred, violence, or discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, national origin, or any other protected characteristic
• Alcohol: Promotion, sale, or advertising of alcoholic beverages
• Firearms / Ammunition: Promotion, sale, or advertising of firearms, ammunition, explosives, or weapons of any kind
• Tobacco / Nicotine: Promotion, sale, or advertising of tobacco products, e-cigarettes, vaping products, or nicotine delivery systems
• Cannabis / Marijuana: Any content related to cannabis, marijuana, CBD, THC, edibles, dispensaries, or related products, regardless of legality in your jurisdiction

Sending SHAFT-C content constitutes a material breach of the Terms and may result in immediate Account termination.

1.2 Illegal Content

You may not use the Service to send messages that promote, facilitate, or relate to any illegal activity, including but not limited to:

• Fraud, phishing, or social engineering
• Identity theft or impersonation
• Sale of controlled substances
• Money laundering or unlicensed financial services
• Gambling in jurisdictions where it is prohibited
• Any activity that violates federal, state, or local law

1.3 Harmful or Deceptive Content

You may not send messages that:

• Contain false, misleading, or deceptive claims
• Impersonate another person, business, or organization
• Misrepresent the sender's identity or the purpose of the message
• Contain malware, phishing links, or links to malicious websites
• Attempt to collect sensitive personal information (passwords, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers) via SMS
• Use deceptive opt-in practices (e.g., pre-checked consent boxes, buried disclosures, consent bundled with unrelated agreements)

1.4 Unsolicited Messages

You may not use the Service to send unsolicited bulk messages ("spam"). Every message you send must be to a recipient who has provided valid, documented consent to receive messages from your business for the specific type of content you are sending. Purchased, rented, or scraped phone number lists are strictly prohibited.

2.1 Hard Decline — Not Permitted on RelayKit

The following industries are not permitted to register or send messages through RelayKit at this time:

• Cannabis / Marijuana / CBD: Carrier content policies prohibit cannabis-related messaging regardless of legality in your state or jurisdiction. This is an absolute carrier-level restriction that RelayKit cannot override.
• Firearms / Ammunition / Weapons: Carrier policies restrict firearms-related messaging. T-Mobile maintains a de facto ban on firearms promotional content.

If you operate in one of these industries and attempt to register, your registration will be declined during the intake process. No setup fee will be charged.

2.2 Hard Decline with Waitlist — Future Support Planned

• Healthcare (HIPAA-covered entities): RelayKit processes message content, which creates Business Associate obligations under HIPAA. We do not currently have the BAA infrastructure, encryption-at-rest audit trails, or 6-year record retention required to safely serve HIPAA-covered entities. Healthcare businesses requiring HIPAA compliance will be declined at intake with an option to join a waitlist for future support.

This restriction applies to medical practices, hospitals, mental health providers, dental offices, physical therapy clinics, pharmacies, and any entity that transmits Protected Health Information (PHI). Veterinary practices are not HIPAA-covered and may use the Service.

2.3 Advisory Industries — Permitted with Guidance

The following industries are permitted but receive additional compliance guidance during the registration process:

• Legal services: Messages must not contain case-specific details, legal strategy, or confidential client information. Attorney-client privilege extends to SMS — a misdirected message containing privileged information cannot be recalled.
• Financial services (non-FINRA/SEC): Messages must not contain account numbers, balances, transaction amounts, SSNs, or specific financial figures. Appointment reminders and general notifications are permitted.
• Restaurants / Food service: Permitted with standard compliance. Dedicated alcohol promotion campaigns require a marketing expansion registration.

3.1 Consent

You must obtain valid consent from each recipient before sending any message. Consent requirements vary by message type:

• Transactional messages (appointment reminders, order updates, verification codes, support communications): Require express consent — the recipient must have voluntarily provided their phone number and agreed to receive the type of messages you are sending.
• Marketing / promotional messages (offers, promotions, sales, loyalty programs): Require express written consent with clear and conspicuous disclosure of the type and frequency of messages, as mandated by the TCPA.

3.2 Opt-Out Compliance

• Every first message to a new recipient must include opt-out instructions (e.g., "Reply STOP to unsubscribe").
• You must honor opt-out requests immediately and without condition.
• You may not charge a fee, require additional steps, or impose conditions on opting out.
• RelayKit enforces opt-out at the infrastructure level — messages to recipients who have texted STOP are blocked automatically. You may not attempt to circumvent this enforcement.
• A recipient who has opted out may only be re-subscribed if they independently text START (or an equivalent keyword) to your number. You may not manually override an opt-out.

3.3 Quiet Hours

Messages sent between 9:00 PM and 9:00 AM in the recipient's local time zone are blocked by RelayKit. Several US states (including Florida, Oklahoma, and Washington) impose statutory quiet hours restrictions with penalties for violations. You may not attempt to circumvent quiet hours enforcement.

3.4 Message Frequency

You must not send messages at a frequency that exceeds what you declared during registration or what a reasonable recipient would expect. Excessive messaging to individual recipients may trigger AUP enforcement action.

3.5 Sender Identification

Every message should include your business name to identify the sender. Messages that do not identify the sender create carrier filtering risk and may trigger compliance warnings.

3.6 Use Case Compliance

Your messages must remain consistent with the use case you registered. If you registered for appointment reminders, your messages must relate to appointments. If your messaging needs evolve beyond your registered use case, you must expand your registration rather than gradually drifting outside your approved scope.

Drifting outside your registered use case may result in AUP enforcement action and, if severe enough to attract carrier attention, suspension of your messaging by carriers.

3.7 Rate Limits

RelayKit enforces carrier-assigned throughput limits on your messaging. If you exceed your allocated throughput, the API returns a rate_limited response with a Retry-After header. You must respect rate limit responses and implement appropriate retry logic.

5.1 Inline Enforcement (Automatic)

RelayKit blocks messages that violate the following rules. Blocked messages return an error response to your application with an actionable error code. The message is never delivered to the carrier.

You acknowledge that inline message blocking is an automated compliance control and that RelayKit has no liability for blocked messages or any business impact resulting from non-delivery.

5.2 Manual Enforcement

RelayKit reserves the right to review any Account and take enforcement action — including warning, suspension, or termination — for any violation of this AUP or the Terms, as described in Section 11 of the Terms of Service.