Last Updated: March 5, 2022

This Acceptable Use Policy (the “Policy”) sets out rules that apply to any party (“Client”)  using any products or services (the “Riptide Services”) provided by M3G Technology, Inc., a corporation doing business as Riptide  (“Riptide”, “we”, “our” or “us”),  including  without limitation via our Client’s websites or platforms, and to any service Providers or End-Customers of Client that use the Riptide Services. This Policy also includes a messaging policy that applies to Clients and its Providers. The examples described in this Policy are not exhaustive.  

Client is responsible for its Providers’ and End-Customers’ compliance with this Policy. We may suspend, terminate or take other interim action regarding Client’s and/or any of its Providers’ or End-Customers’ use of the Riptide Services, if, in our sole judgment, we believe Client or any of its Providers or End-Customers, directly or indirectly, violates this Policy or authorizes or help others to do so.

We may modify this Policy from time to time by posting a revised version on our website, riptidehq.com. By using the Riptide Services, you agree to the latest version of this Policy which supersedes all prior versions. Any capitalized terms not defined in this Policy have the meaning set forth in the Riptide Terms of Service.

Prohibited Content. You agree that you will not use the Riptide Services, or encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to use the Riptide Services, to send messages that contain, offer, promote, reference or link to any information or content related to any of the following:

• Solicitations or Advertising. Any messages, promotions, advertising, or solicitations (like “spam”), including commercial advertising and informational announcements or otherwise, that are unsolicited or for which you do not have the proper consent from the intended recipient. If you are a Provider or End-Customer of any Riptide Client, this includes using the Riptide Services to send any such message, communication, or announcement to a Riptide Client or any other person or entity.

• Illegal, Harmful or Fraudulent Activities. Any activities that are illegal, that violate the rights of others, or that may be harmful to others, our operations or reputation, including but not limited to offering, promoting, disseminating, or facilitating:

  • child pornography, child sexual abuse material, or other sexually exploitative content;

  • fraudulent goods, services, schemes, or promotions;

  • make-money-fast or “get-rich-quick” schemes (including work-from-home programs, risk investment opportunities, ponzi and pyramid schemes);

  • high-risk financial services (including payday loans, short term high-interest loans, third-party auto or mortgage loans, student loans, or cryptocurrency); 

  • third-party lead generation services (such as companies that buy, sell, or share consumer information);

  • debt collection or forgiveness services (including third-party debt collection, debt consolidation, debt reduction, or credit repair programs)

  • illegal or regulated substances (including, but not limited to, Cannabis, CBD, Prescription Drugs);

  • Gambling;

  • “SHAFT” use cases (Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco, including vaping-related activities);

  • phishing or pharming.

• Infringing Content. Content that infringes or misappropriates the intellectual property or proprietary rights of others.

• Offensive Content. Content that is harassing, defamatory, obscene, abusive, invasive of privacy, or otherwise objectionable.

• Harmful Content. Content or other computer technology that may damage, interfere with, surreptitiously intercept, or expropriate any system, program, or data, or otherwise effect a security breach, including viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, or cancelbots.

Message Abuse. You will not send messages using bots or other similar automatic-messaging systems, alter or obscure mail headers, provide false identification, or assume a sender’s identity without the sender’s explicit permission.

Reverse Engineering and Additional Restrictions. You will not (a) modify or create a derivative work of the Riptide Services or any portion thereof; (b) reverse engineer, disassemble, decompile, translate or otherwise seek to obtain or derive the source code, underlying ideas, algorithms, file formats or non-public APIs to any Riptide Services, except to the extent expressly permitted by applicable law and then only upon advance notice to Riptide; (c) attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of the Riptide Services, or breach, break or circumvent any security or authentication measures or rate or scope of use limits for Riptide Services or willfully render any part of  the Riptide Services unusable; or (d) remove or obscure any proprietary or other notices contained in the Riptide Services including in any reports or output obtained from the Riptide Services.

Our Monitoring and Enforcement. We reserve the right, but do not assume the obligation, to monitor content on and sent through the Riptide Services and to investigate any violation of this Policy or misuse of the Riptide Services. We may remove or disable access to any user, content or resource that violates this Policy or any other agreement we have with you for use of the Riptide Services. We may report any activity that we suspect violates any law or regulation to appropriate law enforcement officials, regulators, or other appropriate third parties. Our reporting may include disclosing appropriate customer/user information. We may also cooperate with appropriate law enforcement agencies, regulators, or other appropriate third parties to help with the investigation and prosecution of illegal conduct by providing network and systems information related to alleged violations of this Policy.

Reporting Violations. If you become aware of any violation of this Policy, you will immediately notify us and provide us with assistance, as requested, to stop or remedy the violation.

Riptide’s Messaging Policy

This Messaging Policy applies to messages, including SMS and MMS messages, initiated through the Riptide Services. To ensure all messages are received, unhindered by filtering or other similar blockers, Riptide strives to work with Clients so that messages are sent with the consent of the message recipient, and that those messages comply with all applicable laws and communications industry guidelines or standards.

Messaging. Riptide treats all messaging transmitted via the Riptide Services, regardless of use case or phone number type as Application-to-Person (A2P) messaging. All A2P messages originating from the Riptide Services are subject to this Messaging Policy, which covers rules and /or prohibitions regarding:

• Consent (“opt-in”);

• Revocation of Consent (“opt-out”);

• Sender Identification;

• Messaging Usage; and

• Enforcement.

If Client provides its Providers with the ability to send messages through the Riptide Services, for example as an independent software vendor, Client is responsible for the messaging activity of its Providers. Client must ensure that any messaging activity generated by its Providers is in compliance with Riptide’s policies.

Consent/Opt-in. Consent cannot be bought, sold, or exchanged. For example, Client cannot obtain the consent of message recipients by purchasing a phone list from another party. Aside from Alternative Consent Requirements noted below, Client must meet each of the consent requirements listed below and must require its Providers to adhere to these same consent requirements.

Consent Requirements

• Prior to sending the first message, Client must obtain agreement from the message recipient to communicate with them - this is referred to as "consent". Client must make clear to the individual they are agreeing to receive messages of the type that is being sent. The preferred format of such consent is written or via a click-through, but if those methods are not available, then verbal consent may be obtained instead if there is a prior relationship (as described further in the Alternative Consent Requirements below. Whatever the method of consent, Client is responsible for validating the consent and keeping a record of the consent, such as a copy of the document or form that the message recipient signed, timestamp of completion of a sign-up flow or log of when verbal consent was provided.

• If Client or its Provider does not send an initial message to that individual within a reasonable period after receiving consent (or as set forth by local regulations or best practices), then Client or its Provider must reconfirm consent in the first message sent to that recipient.

• The consent applies only to the specific use that the recipient has consented to. Client cannot treat such consent as blanket consent for messages from other brands or companies Client may have, or additional messages about other uses except that consent provided to a Client may be treated as consent for messages from Client’s Providers who provide service in whole or in part related to the specific use that the recipient has consented to.

• Proof of opt-in consent should be retained as set forth by local regulation or best practices after an individual opts out of receiving messages.

Alternative Consent Requirements. While consent is always required and the consent requirements noted above are generally the safest path, consent can be received differently in the following scenarios:

• Contact initiated by an individual. Client is free to respond to a message first initiated by an individual without consent. For example, if an individual texts a Client’s phone number asking for Client’s hours of operation, Client may respond directly to that individual, relaying the open hours. In such a case, the individual’s inbound message to Client constitutes both consent and proof of consent. Such consent is limited only to that particular conversation. Unless Client obtains additional consent, it shall not send messages that are outside the scope of that particular conversation.

• Informational content to an individual based on a prior relationship. Client or Client’s Providers may send a message to an individual with a prior relationship with the Client, provided that individual provided their phone number to Client, has taken some action to trigger the potential communication, and has not expressed a preference to not receive messages. Actions can include a button press, alert setup, appointments, order placements, service requests to the Client, service requests to the Client which may be coordinated in whole or in part with Client’s Providers, and the Client’s Providers coordinating service with service recipients. Examples of acceptable messages in these scenarios include appointment reminders, receipts, one-time passwords, order/shipping/reservation confirmations, service providers coordinating service locations and times with service recipients, service providers answering questions or gathering information or explaining services to service recipients, drivers coordinating pick up locations with riders, and repair persons confirming service call times. The message cannot attempt to promote a product, convince someone to buy something, or advocate for a social cause.

Periodic Messages and Ongoing Consent. To send messages to a recipient on an ongoing basis, Client should confirm the recipient’s consent by offering them a clear reminder of how to unsubscribe from those messages using standard opt-out language (described below). Client must also respect the message recipient’s preferences in terms of frequency of contact. Client also needs to proactively ask individuals to reconfirm their consent as set forth by local regulations and best practices.

Identifying Yourself as the Sender. Client or any Provider must identify itself as the sender in every message it sends, except in follow-up messages of an ongoing conversation.

Opt-out. The initial message sent to an individual needs to include the following opt-out language: “If you no longer want to receive text messages, reply STOP,” or the equivalent using another standard opt-out keyword, such as UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, and QUIT. To send any additional messages to an individual who has opted out, Client must obtain consent again.