Messaging Policy

This document explains the rules under which WhatsApp messages may be sent using irua.app. It is relevant primarily to organizers — the account holders who operate the sending tools — but also to guests who receive messages through the platform.

1. Why this subject matters

The Israeli “spam” law (section 30A of the Communications Law) is one of the strictest in the world. It provides that sending an “advertisement” by short message, email, fax or recorded call — without obtaining the recipient’s express prior consent — is a civil wrong that entitles the recipient to compensation without proof of damage of up to ₪1,000 per message.

This law is enforced through civil and class actions, and there are a number of precedents of significant judgments against businesses that sent “only a few messages”. In addition, the Consumer Protection Authority may impose administrative fines. We want you to use our sending tools — but in the lawful way.

2. Types of messages: service versus advertisement

The law distinguishes between two types of messages, and the difference is critical:

• Service (operational) messages — permitted even without consent: Messages that do not market a product or service but rather provide substantive information that the recipient requested or that he needs. For example: confirmation of attendance at an event, entry details and start time, a change in the event venue, a cancellation notice, a link to a QR ticket that has been paid for.
• An advertisement — prohibited without express consent: Any message whose purpose is to encourage a purchase, present a promotion, invite to an event for which a ticket has not yet been purchased, request a share, offer a discount, or promote the sender’s business. For example: “Hi, we have the May promotion”, “A new event of ours is getting under way, would you like to receive details?”.

Where a message falls in between — that is, it includes both operational information and an invitation to purchase — it will be regarded as an advertisement in the eyes of the court. When in doubt, the right course is to act as though the message is an advertisement.

3. The prior-consent requirement (Opt-in)

Before sending an advertisement, the organizer must verify that every recipient has given express consent to it:

• The consent must be active — a checkbox ticked at the user’s initiative. A pre-checked box is not valid consent.
• The consent text must be clear: “I agree to receive advertising messages concerning [name of the organizer/event]”.
• The organizer must document when the consent was given, how, and which text was presented to the recipient at the time the consent was given — for evidentiary purposes should a complaint be filed.
• Consent given in the course of a purchase is not automatically construed as consent to receive advertisements later on. It is recommended to request the consent separately.

4. What an advertising message must contain

A marketing message must include all of the following components, otherwise it violates the law:

1. The word “פרסומת” (“advertisement”) at the beginning of the message (or in the subject line; on WhatsApp — in the body of the message). The law prescribes this literal Hebrew word.
2. The full and accurate name of the sender — not merely “our team”.
3. Clear contact details of the sender — an address or a telephone number.
4. A simple and immediate removal option — a link or an instruction to reply STOP.

irua.app includes built-in message templates (attendance confirmation, reminder, thank-you) — these are operational templates. If the organizer drafts a customized template of a marketing character, he is responsible for including the required components.

5. Removal mechanism (Opt-out)

The law requires that the removal option be simple, immediate and frictionless. A removal is valid for every future advertising message — not only for the specific campaign.

We recommend one of the following methods within customized organizer templates:

• A short web removal link.
• A clear instruction: “To be removed, reply STOP” or “To be removed, reply הסר” (the Hebrew word for “remove”).
• A telephone number for a human refusal.

Once a guest has asked to remove himself, the organizer must cease immediately sending advertisements to him — and no later than three business days. Sending thereafter is a serious violation and increases the statutory compensation.

6. Recommended sending hours

The law does not expressly restrict sending hours, but court rulings have regarded the sending of marketing WhatsApp messages at unreasonable hours (after 22:00 or before 08:00, and on days of rest) as an aggravating consideration for the purposes of compensation.

Our recommendation: send advertisements only on weekdays, between 09:00 and 21:00. Operational service messages (attendance confirmation, a change of time) — are always permitted.

7. What irua.app does to assist with compliance

• We keep a detailed log of every message you have sent — date, time, recipient, content, delivery status — which can be downloaded in CSV for evidentiary purposes.
• We support an optional “opted_in_at” field on a guest record, which can be marked upon intake in order to document the time at which the consent was given.
• We automatically filter out numbers that are not in a valid format and do not charge the account for formally failed deliveries.
• We do not allow more than three consecutive automated messages to be sent to the same recipient within 24 hours from the same event, unless the organizer expressly approves this.
• In the event of a spam complaint from a recipient — we notify the organizer and retain the relevant documentation.

8. What applies to the organizer

By the very use of the sending tools, the organizer undertakes that:

1. He has obtained valid consent for every advertising message he has sent, and it can be produced if required.
2. He will not upload to the system lists that were purchased, harvested from the internet, or obtained without the consent of their owners.
3. The content of the messages does not include unlawful, misleading, offensive or inciting content.
4. He will honour removal requests within no more than three business days.
5. He will indemnify Activated Digital Ltd for any claim, fine or demand directed at us as a result of his violation of laws in the course of the sending.

9. Violations and sanctions on our part

Activated Digital Ltd reserves the right, following an internal inquiry, to take one or more of the following steps against an account that has violated this policy:

• A first written warning.
• Temporary suspension of the sending tools in the account.
• Limitation of the sending rate.
• Permanent closure of the account, in serious or repeated cases.
• Charging the organizer for costs incurred by the company as a result of the violation.

10. Reporting abuse

Did you receive a WhatsApp message sent through irua.app that you did not ask for? Did you receive a message from a sender who did not honour a removal request? Please report it to us and we will examine the allegation with the organizer:

Email: info@activated.digital
Telephone: 03-52-444-11

Please state in your approach: the telephone number to which the message was sent, the date and time, and the content of the message in full.

Related documents

This document is drafted in the masculine grammatical gender for reasons of convenience only and is addressed to all genders alike.

This English version is provided for convenience only. The binding version of this document is the Hebrew version, and in any case of discrepancy or conflict between the versions, the Hebrew version shall prevail. מדיניות שליחת וואטסאפ (Hebrew)