Invitation and member import policy

Everyone who joins your community through an invite or an import receives an email on the community's behalf, sent by Memberfy. That makes inviting a responsibility of whoever runs the community: only people who asked to join get in. This policy covers what is allowed, what is forbidden, how invited people can push back, and what Memberfy does when the rule is broken.

#Summary

• Invite and import only people who agreed to receive emails and join the community.
• Bought lists, giveaways, freebie swaps and data harvested by bots are forbidden.
• Anyone invited can decline the invite and report it to Memberfy.
• A first violation usually leads to a warning. Then come strikes, which expire after 90 days. Three strikes within 90 days close the community.
• A severe violation can close the community immediately, with no warning or strike first. Examples of a severe violation (the list gives examples only, and Memberfy makes the assessment):
  • a contact list that was bought, rented or swapped;
  • automated collection (scraping websites or social networks, data extraction);
  • bulk importing or inviting people who never had any relationship with the community;
  • faking or forging consent (checking "accepted" for someone who did not accept);
  • getting around a suspension or ban (a new community, another account, someone else as owner);
  • using the platform for scams, fraud, phishing or sending illegal content;
  • repeating the same violation soon after a warning or strike;
  • an abnormal volume of reports or declines in a single import or campaign. This list is not complete: Memberfy may treat as severe any conduct that, in its judgment, puts invited people, other communities or the platform at risk.
• Every decision is emailed to the owner, and every decision can be appealed within 14 days.

#What is allowed

You may invite or import someone when they clearly asked to join your community or to receive communications from it. Examples:

• students enrolled in your course, who expect access;
• the members of your coworking space, who signed a contract with you;
• your company's employees, in an internal community;
• people who signed up to a list or event of yours and ticked that they agree to hear from the community.

Data may only be used for the purpose it was collected for. Someone who registered for a tech event agreed to hear about that event; they did not agree to join any community the organizer runs.

#What is forbidden

The Invite Members window itself reminds you: "Only add people who have explicitly opted in to receive emails and participate in the community."

#What Memberfy asks for in a spreadsheet import

Coming soon Spreadsheet import (the Import spreadsheet tab of the Invite Members window) is coming to communities. Before importing, it asks for:

• the list origin (for example, Attendees of event X in 2023), which goes in the invitation email: the person reads where their data came from;
• consent: either you pick the spreadsheet column that says who agreed (only those rows get in), or you tick the statement "I declare that everyone on this list agreed to receive e-mails and to join this community."

The import records who imported, when, the file and the consent used. That record is what Memberfy checks when assessing a report. Declaring consent that doesn't exist is a severe violation.

#How an invited person declines or reports

Someone who got an invite they didn't ask for has two options:

1. Decline the invite. In import invites, the email and the community itself show the button Thanks for the invite, but I don't want to join. On confirming, the person leaves the community and can't be imported or invited by it again. Their Memberfy account stays. (Coming to communities, together with spreadsheet import.)
2. Report it to Memberfy by writing to [email protected] with the community's name and, if possible, the invitation email they received. This works for any invite, imported or not.

A single decline is not a violation: people change their minds. Many declines on the same import, or a report, lead Memberfy to review the community.

#How Memberfy assesses

Today, assessments and measures are carried out by the Memberfy team, case by case. Nothing is blocked automatically: no community gets a warning, strike or restriction without a person on the team having looked at the case.

The team looks at, among other things:

• the origin and consent recorded on the invite or import;
• how many people declined or reported, and how quickly;
• delivery signals for the community's emails (bounces and spam complaints);
• the community's history: earlier warnings and strikes.

If the team needs more information, it asks the owner to show how the data was obtained (the sign-up form, the terms accepted, the date). Without that proof, the report stands.

#Warnings and strikes

The approach is inspired by the guidelines of large content platforms:

• Each strike expires 90 days after it is applied. An expired strike no longer counts toward closure.
• A new strike does not renew earlier ones: each expires on its own date.
• The warning doesn't expire like strikes do, but it is only given once. After it, the next violation is already a strike.
• Severe violations close the community immediately, skipping the steps: a bought or bot-harvested list at scale, falsely declared consent, using the community for spam or fraud, or insisting on inviting people who already declined.

#Consequences Memberfy may apply

From lightest to most serious. The team picks the measure to fit the problem, and may combine more than one.

On legal action: in Brazil, using personal data without a legal basis falls under the LGPD (the General Data Protection Law) and the Marco Civil da Internet; in the United States, sending commercial email without respecting consent and unsubscribe rules falls under the CAN-SPAM Act and state laws. Whoever runs the community is responsible for the data they put into it.

#Suspension of joining and sales

Coming soon Coming to communities. One of the measures is suspension: Memberfy can suspend joining and sales for a community.

• While suspended, the community does not accept invites, imports, sign-ups or any new sale.
• Members and subscriptions that already exist stay as they are.
• The reason is shown to the owner, admins, moderators and finance, in a fixed notice in the dashboard and by email.
• Anyone trying to buy or sign up only sees that the community isn't accepting new members.
• To go back to normal, the community contacts Memberfy support.

#Notification and appeal

• Every measure is emailed to the owner of the community, with the reason, the measure applied and, for a strike, the date it expires.
• You have 14 days from the notification to appeal any strike or measure, the ban included.
• To appeal, reply to the notification email explaining why the decision is wrong and sending what proves consent (form, accepted terms, sign-up date).
• A person on the team reviews the case and replies by email. If the appeal is upheld, the measure is reversed and the strike removed.
• While the appeal is under review, the measure stays in effect.

#Our environment, our rules

Memberfy is a private platform. By creating or running a community, or by using any feature of the platform, you state that you have read and accept this policy and the Terms of Use, without reservation.

• Sole discretion. It is solely up to Memberfy to decide whether this policy was violated and which measure to apply: a warning, a strike, suspension of sign-ups and sales, deletion of improperly obtained data, or a ban.
• No duty to explain. Memberfy may give a brief reason, but is not required to detail the reasons, evidence or criteria behind a decision.
• Single review. An appeal, filed within 14 days of the notification, is the only means of review within the platform. The decision on the appeal is final.
• Optional use. Using Memberfy is voluntary. Anyone who does not agree with these rules may stop using the platform at any time.

This policy is part of the Terms of Use and is applied within the limits of applicable law.

#Examples

A school with its enrollment list. The school imports the 200 students enrolled this semester, with the origin Second-semester enrollments. The students expect access. This is within the policy.

An event whose sign-up asked. The event form had the box "I want news and to join the community". The organizer imports the spreadsheet with that column as consent: only those who ticked it get in. This is within the policy.

An Instagram giveaway. A community imports the 3,000 entrants of a giveaway. Dozens report it the same day. It's a violation: the first time, a warning and deletion of the imported people; if it happens again, a strike with a sending restriction.

A bought list. A community imports 20,000 emails bought from a "lead" vendor. It's a severe violation: immediate closure, with no warning.

#Frequently asked questions

Someone declined the invite. Did I get a strike? No. Declining is the person's right and doesn't trigger a measure on its own. What leads to a review is many declines on the same list, or a report.

Can I invite someone who declined again? No. Someone who declined only comes back by joining on their own (open sign-up or a purchase).

I had the list before using Memberfy. Can I import it? Yes, if the people agreed to join a community of yours or to receive communications from you, and the purpose matches. Give the real origin in the import.

How do I know whether my community has a warning or strike? Every warning and strike reaches the owner by email. There isn't a screen with that history in the dashboard yet.

#This policy may change

Memberfy may update this policy at any time, for example to add automatic controls or to keep up with changes in the law. The version published on this page is the one in force. Changes that affect communities are announced in Releases, here in the Help Center.

#Related

• Invite members
• Manage members
• Roles and permissions