Zendesk User Content and Conduct Policy

Last updated: June 1, 2020

Zendesk is a platform that allows our Subscribers and their End-Users to freely communicate and share content. The vast majority of the time this communication is productive and benefits the parties involved. However, there are times when a Subscriber or End-User takes advantage of the open nature of our Services and uses our Services to engage in or support objectionable or harmful conduct. We developed this Zendesk User Content and Conduct Policy (“Policy”) to make it clear that such activity is prohibited.

The Policy is incorporated into the Zendesk Master Subscription Agreement (“MSA”) and outlines prohibited conduct and content on the Services. The Policy applies to all Subscribers, Agents and End-Users who use the Services. Violations of the Policy may result in suspension or termination of a Subscriber’s Account in accordance with the terms of the MSA. Any person may report a violation of this Policy by reporting the violation here.

We encourage all persons to report suspected violations of the Policy. There may be instances where We are limited in how We can respond to reported violations, but We want to know about this activity. If you have a copyright infringement complaint, please review and follow the process outlined in Zendesk’s Copyright Infringement Notice and Takedown Policy. Zendesk may modify these policies at any time. Capitalized terms used in this Policy but not defined herein have the meaning given to them in the Zendesk MSA.

1. Spam or Unwanted Contact

The Services may not be used to send spam, including the sending of unwanted or unauthorized commercial content, unwanted or mass solicitation, or other forms of duplicative of unsolicited messages. If an Account is found to be sending spam, Zendesk may investigate and contact the Subscriber to stop sending the messages if it believes Subscriber is doing so unintentionally, or Zendesk may suspend and/or terminate the Subscriber’s Account immediately at Our sole discretion and block IP addresses or email addresses it believes to be the source of the spam.

2. Illegal and Fraudulent Activities

The Services may not be used to engage in dangerous, illegal, or fraudulent activities or to directly or indirectly promote such activities. This prohibition includes promoting or supporting pyramid schemes or similar activities and using the Services to record or monitor a phone call or other communication without securing consent from the participants to the phone call or other communication as required under applicable law (including, as applicable, California’s Invasion of Privacy Act and similar laws in other jurisdictions). If Zendesk suspects a Subscriber is using the Services for or to support fraudulent or illegal activities, including infringing the intellectual property rights of others, it may suspend or terminate the Subscriber’s Account. If any person suspects that an Account is engaging in illegal or fraudulent activity, please report it to Zendesk in accordance with the process described above. Please note that Zendesk is limited in its ability to review fraudulent activity that may occur outside of the Services or to assess the legality of certain activities and may require that persons work with law enforcement to validate the fraudulent nature or the illegality of the activity before We are able to take action related to a reported Account.

3. Malicious Products and Activities

The Services may not be used to transmit viruses, malware, or other harmful code. This includes sending content or automated traffic, generated by bots or otherwise, that harms networks, services or other infrastructure of Zendesk or any third party.  

4. Hateful Activities

The Services may not be used to transmit hate speech or to support hateful, racist, libelous, or discriminatory activities. Content, activities, and use of the Services by organizations that promote or normalize violence against individuals or groups based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, nationality, veteran status, or sexual orientation/gender identity, or whose primary purpose is inciting hatred on the basis of these characteristics is prohibited. It isn’t always clear whether something is hate speech, but if the intent is to attack a protected group the content is unacceptable.

5. Subdomain Squatting and Account Hijacking

The creation of Accounts using subdomains that include names and trade names of other businesses, organizations or individuals is prohibited. If Zendesk determines that a Subscriber is engaging in this activity it may suspend or terminate the Subscriber's Account. The access of another Account without the permission of the Subscriber that owns the Account or use the Services for phishing schemes is prohibited.

6. Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking

The upload or sharing of content that exploits or abuses children is prohibited. This includes all child sexual abuse imagery (even cartoon images) and all content that presents children in a sexual manner. We will remove such content from the Service and take appropriate action, which includes terminating a Subscriber's Account and reporting it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and law enforcement. If any person finds any content that such person believes to exploit children in this manner, report the content as described above. If you find content elsewhere on the internet, please contact NCMEC directly. Further, do not upload or share content that promotes, enables or discusses human trafficking. If We find evidence that a Subscriber is engaging in such activity, we will alert the authorities and terminate the Subscriber’s Account.

7. Sexually Explicit Content

The Services may not be used to distribute content that contains nudity, graphic sex acts, or sexually explicit material.

8. Harassment and Bullying

The Services may not be used to engage in abusive, harassing, or bullying behavior, including when contacting Zendesk for customer support. This prohibition also includes a prohibition on illegal dissemination of private information or media using the Services. 

9. Deceptive Behavior

The Services may not be used to deceive individuals or impersonate other individuals or organizations.  This prohibition includes creating a false or forged identity, email address, header, or phone number or otherwise attempting to mislead others as to the identity of the originator of a communication.

10. Violence

The Services may not be used to advocate violence or otherwise distribute graphically violent or obscene materials.