Anti-Spam Rules and Acceptable Email Policy
PART I – LEGAL BASIS
Article 1. Governing legal framework
▸ (1) Decree 91/2020/ND-CP dated 14/08/2020 on combating spam messages, spam email, and spam calls;
▸ (2) Circular 12/2022/TT-BTTTT on the management of messaging and automated calling services;
▸ (3) Circular 12/2019/TT-BTTTT on email;
▸ (4) Decree 13/2023/NĐ-CP (obtaining consent for marketing contact);
▸ (5) CAN-SPAM Act 2003 (US) — applies to email sent to .com addresses and recipients in the US;
▸ (6) GDPR Article 6 and Recital 47 (the legal basis for email marketing in the EU);
▸ (7) CASL 2014 (Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation) — applies to email routed through Canada.
▸ Legal basis: Decree 91/2020/NĐ-CP (Articles 5–12); CAN-SPAM Act Sec. 5; GDPR Article 7; Google Sender Policy 2024; Yahoo Sender Requirements 2024.
Article 2. Definition of spam
2.1. “Spam email”, under Decree 91/2020/ND-CP, means commercial email sent without the recipient's consent, or email that does not comply with the rules on sending commercial mail.
2.2. “Spam” under international standards includes:
- (a) Unsolicited bulk email (UBE);
- (b) Unsolicited commercial email (UCE);
- (c) Email with forged headers or sender addresses (header forgery);
- (d) Phishing email impersonating other organizations;
- (e) Email containing malware or malicious links;
- (f) Email sent to addresses collected improperly by crawlers or harvesters.
PART II – CUSTOMER OBLIGATIONS
Article 3. Consent requirements
3.1. Every commercial email sent through HiTechCloud infrastructure must have valid consent from the recipient. Two forms of consent are accepted:
Opt-in (Active registration):
- • The recipient enters their own email address and clicks subscribe;
- • The form must not be pre-checked;
- • The types of email to be received must be stated (newsletter, promotions, product updates);
- • Store proof of consent with timestamp and IP address.
Double opt-in (two-step confirmation — strongly recommended):
- • After sign-up, send a confirmation email; the recipient must click the confirmation link;
- • Demonstrate that the email address is valid and the user genuinely consented;
- • Lower bounce and complaint rates, higher deliverability.
3.2. The following list-building methods are NOT acceptable:
- (a) Buying or renting email lists from third parties;
- (b) Harvesting email addresses from websites, social media or forums with automated scripts;
- (c) Using an email list more than 6 months old without re-confirmation;
- (d) Pre-ticking the “I agree to receive marketing email” checkbox.
Article 4. Technical requirements for email marketing
4.1. Every commercial email must contain all of the elements required by law:
- (a) The sender's real name and address (anonymity is not permitted);
- (b) A truthful subject line that does not mislead about the content;
- (c) A clear, working and easy-to-find unsubscribe link or button;
- (d) A valid postal address for the sender (required by CAN-SPAM);
- (e) A clear advertising label, where the message is commercial email.
4.2. Technical requirements for the sending infrastructure:
- (a) A correctly configured SPF record (avoid softfail ~all; use -all or ~all depending on policy);
- (b) DKIM signing with a 2048-bit key;
- (c) DMARC policy of at least p=quarantine;
- (d) Hard bounce rate < 2%;
- (e) Spam complaint rate below 0.1% (the Google/Yahoo 2024 threshold);
- (f) The suppression list is updated immediately after an unsubscribe or complaint.
Article 5. Handling anti-spam violations
5.1. HiTechCloud's automated monitoring detects violations in real time:
| Violation | Action | Processing time |
| Complaint rate > 0.1% | Email warning with a request to review the list | Immediately |
| Complaint rate > 0.3% | Bulk email sending suspended; a ticket is required | < 1 hour |
| IP/domain to the blacklist | Email service suspended pending investigation | Immediately |
| Clear spam detected | Account suspension and reporting to the authorities | < 30 minutes |
| Second offense | Permanent service termination | Not recoverable |
5.2. Customers who violate the anti-spam rules are subject to:
- (a) Spam complaint handling fee: at least 1,000,000 VND per occurrence;
- (b) IP reputation restoration costs: depending on the extent of the damage;
- (c) Legal liability under Decree 91/2020/ND-CP (Nghị định 91/2020/NĐ-CP): fines of VND 10–30 million and suspension of operations for 1–3 months;
- (d) Criminal liability where the violation is organized or causes serious harm.
