Anti-Spam Policy

Our Definition of Spam

Various laws in different countries attempt to define the meaning of spam, but often are not clear enough. The Suite26 management team class spam as:

"Any e-mail you send to a recipient who has not given you their direct permission to e-mail them on the subject of your e-mail"

Our Policy

Suite26 has a zero tolerance attitude towards spam. If we detect your account is being, or has been, used for sending email to recipients which have not given you their direct permission we will terminate your access immediately.

How We Prevent Spam

We employ a number of methods for preventing spam being sent through our systems:

  • Manual Approval - All new Suite26 users will have their campaigns and recipients approved by a member of the Suite26 team before they are sent. We having been sending mail for a long time and we can spot lists that do not have permission a mile off. We only lift the manual approval restriction when we are confident the user is a legitimate and responsible sender.
  • Feedback Loops - Suite26 is integrating with a number of the major mail providers feedback loops. This means when a recipient clicks the 'Spam' button we will know about it and unsubscribe the recipient from that sender's lists. This helps to keep lists clean.
  • Automated Checks - The Suite26 system runs a number of automated checks before a campaign is sent which are designed to spot unacceptable content or recipients which may not be legitimate.
  • Bounce, Unsubscribe & Complaint Tracking - We keep track of all bounces, unsubscribes and complaints and take appropriate action against senders where these are abnormally high.

Getting The Right Permission

You may only use Suite26 to send e-mails to lists of people that gave YOU direct permission to e-mail them. Before adding or importing contacts into Suite26 you MUST ensure that each recipient falls 'Acceptable Recipients' category below:

Acceptable Recipients

  • Filled in an e-mail newsletter subscribe form on my website
  • They ticked a box on my website at the same time as completing some other form indicating they wanted to receive e-mail from me
  • They filled in an offline form (such as competition entry or order form) and ticked a box to indicate they wanted to receive e-mail from me
  • They have purchased a product directly from me within the last 6 months
  • Handed me their business card or gave me their e-mail address at an event in the knowledge that I would contact them by e-mail

Unacceptable Recipients

  • I bought a list of addresses from the Internet
  • I bought the mailing database of a competitior who went bust
  • My friend gave me a list of addresses which he collected from his own website
  • I haven't e-mailed these recipients for over 6 months
  • I copied these addresses from various websites on the Internet
  • I took the mailing database from the previous company I worked for
  • I have rented a list from a list broker who looks legitimate.

If you try to email recipients which do not fall into the 'Acceptable Recipients' category they will almost certainly be spotted by our team and your account will be terminated.

Ensure You Are Not Labelled A Spammer

  • Remove old addresses - Any address which you have not sucessfully e-mailed in the last 6 months should be removed from your list. Too many old bad addresses will cause a high bounceback rate which could you get you and Suite26 blacklisted.
  • Remind your recipients who you are - If a recipient does not remember who you are and that they gave you permission to e-mail them they will hit the Spam button. A short line of text at the start of your e-mail should remind them who you are, how/where they gave permission and a one click way to unsubscribe
  • Include an unsubscribe link - You must include a one click unsubscribe link in EVERY campaign you send.
  • Break your list into segments - Don't just send one massive generic mailing to your whole list, break it down into segments to make the campaign more personal. For example, "You purchased ABC product from us in the past..." or "You gave us your e-mail address at ABC exhibiton in September" etc.
  • Don't import your e-mail address book - You do not necessarily have permission for all e-mail addresses in your e-mail client and it's also likely to contain a number of generic addresses such as sales@26.co.uk or support@ebay.co.uk etc. Firstly, export your address book to a file or spreadsheet and clean up the addresses before importing.

Reporting Abuse

At Suite26 we take abuse reports very seriously. If you have received an e-mail you have not given your permission to receive and you think came from a Suite26 user, then let us know. Please e-mail abuse@26.co.uk with full details and we promise to investigate and take any action necessary.


Last Updated: Tuesday 9th December 2008
Version: 1.0