Allowed-use policy
The rules,
before you pay.
Most providers bury this in an agreement you sign after checkout, then close accounts when they see the traffic. Ours is a public page, linked from the main navigation, written to be understood by someone deciding whether to spend money.
Step 1
Read the rules
All of them are on this page, so you can check your use case before you sign up or pay.
Step 2
Buy
Top up once the job fits. Not sure it does? Ask first and keep the answer we send in writing.
Step 3
Use it within scope
Run the job inside the rules you read. A tighter rule reaches existing customers only after 30 days’ notice.
Allowed
Go ahead
These are the use cases the network is built for. No approval is needed: sign up and start.
Allowed: Public web data collection
Prices, product listings, reviews, availability, job postings, public company data: anything a logged-out visitor can see. Respect the target’s rate limits and do not degrade their service.
Allowed: Search engine result pages
Rank tracking, SERP monitoring and keyword research across any locale we sell.
Allowed: Ad verification and brand protection
Checking that your ads render where and how you paid for, and finding counterfeit listings of your own brand.
Allowed: Your own accounts and infrastructure
Testing, monitoring and automating services you own or are contracted to operate. Multiple accounts on a platform are fine where that platform allows them.
Allowed: Market and academic research
Aggregate measurement of public content, including censorship and availability research.
Allowed: Authorised security testing
Penetration testing and vulnerability research against systems you have written permission to test. We may ask to see that permission.
Ask first
Allowed, with a conversation
These are not banned, but the abuse rate in these areas is high. Talk to us and we scope the job with you, so it is not shut off mid-run.
Ask first: Ticketing and limited-release retail
Allowed on residential and ISP pools within the platform’s own posted limits. Talk to us first if you are running at high concurrency, and we will scope the job with you.
Ask first: Social platform automation
Allowed for accounts you own and for public data collection. Not allowed for mass account creation or engagement farming.
Ask first: Cryptocurrency and trading platforms
Allowed for public market data. Account automation needs a written note from us first, because the abuse rate here is high.
Ask first: Streaming services
Availability and catalogue checks are fine. Bulk media download is not.
Email [email protected] with what you are doing. A person answers.
Not allowed
Do not bring these here
This list is short, specific and enforced, but it is illustrative, not exhaustive. Something that does the same kind of harm is banned even if it isn't named below. Nothing on it becomes acceptable at higher volume or on a bigger plan.
Not allowed: Credential stuffing and account takeover
Testing stolen or guessed credentials against any service. This is the single fastest way to lose an account here, and the traffic spent on it is not refunded.
Not allowed: Fraud of any kind
Carding, payment fraud, fake transactions, click fraud, ad fraud (including bidding on a competitor’s trademarks in ad auctions), creating accounts to abuse promotions or referral schemes, and running or recruiting for a pyramid or multi-level-marketing scheme.
Not allowed: Denial of service
Traffic intended to exhaust a target’s capacity, whether volumetric or application-layer. Aggressive crawling that has the same effect counts.
Not allowed: Spam and unsolicited messaging
Bulk email, SMS, comment and form spam, and mass unsolicited outreach on social platforms.
Not allowed: Material involving minors
Any access to, or distribution of, child sexual abuse material. Reported to authorities, always, with the account details.
Not allowed: Malware, phishing and command-and-control
Distributing malicious software, hosting phishing pages, or routing botnet or C2 traffic.
Not allowed: Harassment, stalking and doxxing
Targeting an individual, including scraping to assemble a profile of a private person.
Not allowed: Circumventing paywalls and DRM
Defeating access controls on paid content, or bulk-downloading copyrighted media.
Not allowed: Collecting personal data without a lawful basis
Scraping personal data that GDPR, CCPA or equivalent law does not permit you to process. Public availability is not, by itself, a lawful basis.
Not allowed: Government, military and critical infrastructure targets
Unless you are contracted by that body and can show it. Includes utilities, healthcare and financial market infrastructure.
Enforcement
What happens if we think something is wrong
Published in the same detail as the rules themselves.
You hear from us before anything happens
Except where the law obliges us to act immediately, the first step is always an email describing what we saw and what needs to change. Most cases end there.
Suspension is scoped, not blanket
Where we can limit the problem to one target or one sub-user, that is what we limit. We do not disable a whole account over a single misconfigured job.
Unused balance comes back
If we terminate an account for a policy breach, unused prepaid balance goes back to where it came from, minus traffic already spent on the breach itself, with no window to ask within. The one exception is balance that was paid for fraudulently.
You can appeal, to a person
Reply to the enforcement email. A person reads it and answers within two business days.
Restrictions get 30 days’ notice
When we tighten a rule, existing customers get 30 days’ written notice before it applies. Loosening a rule takes effect immediately.
Questions
About this policy
- Why publish this before I buy?
- The allowed-use policy is public and plain, so you know whether your use case fits before you pay. If it does not, you find out here, before a top-up.
- What happens if I break the policy?
- Unless the law requires immediate action, you get an email describing what we saw and what needs to change. Most cases end there. Where we do have to restrict something, we restrict the specific target or sub-user and leave the rest of the account running.
- Do I lose my balance if my account is terminated?
- No. Unused prepaid balance goes back to where it came from, less traffic already spent on the breach itself, with no window to ask within. The one exception is balance that was paid for fraudulently.
- Can I appeal an enforcement decision?
- Yes. Reply to the enforcement email. A person reads it and responds within two business days.
- Can this policy change after I buy?
- Restrictions get 30 days’ written notice before they apply to existing customers. Changes that loosen a rule take effect immediately.
Not sure where your job sits?
Describe it to us before you spend anything. We will give you a straight yes or no, in writing, and you can keep the email.
This policy sits alongside our terms of service and privacy policy. Where the terms and this page disagree, this page is the one we enforce.