Acceptable use policy

1. Scope

This acceptable use policy forms part of the general terms and conditions (section A8) and applies to all services of Swizz-IT, in particular web hosting, email and domains. The customer is also responsible for the content and actions of persons to whom they grant access to their services.

The services run on servers in third-party data centers. This policy is never less strict than the rules of the operators of these data centers; if an operator prohibits a use, it is also prohibited at Swizz-IT.

2. Prohibited content and uses

The following are prohibited in particular:

• pornography and sexually explicit images, films and depictions, including for payment or behind an age check;
• any content that shows, describes or offers minors in a sexual context, as well as content that endangers minors;
• calls for violence, hatred or criminal acts, depictions of violence and extremist and terrorist content;
• illegal goods and services, for example narcotics, weapons without the required permit, forged documents or means of payment, stolen data and gambling without a license;
• phishing, fraud and impersonating third-party websites, brands or senders;
• spam, bulk email without the consent of the recipients, forged sender information and open email relays;
• malware such as viruses, Trojans and ransomware, as well as operating botnets;
• infringements of copyright, trademark, name and personality rights and of data protection, in particular unauthorized copies and defamation;
• mining cryptocurrencies;
• attacks on other systems, in particular denial-of-service attacks, scans of third-party networks and addresses, exploiting security vulnerabilities and forged source addresses on the network;
• proxy, VPN, Tor and other anonymization services for third parties;
• any other use that is prohibited under Swiss law, under the law at the location of the data centers or under the rules of the data center operators.

The prohibition also applies to links and redirects to such content and to content that is only stored in mailboxes or file storage.

3. Allowed content

The following are allowed in particular:

• shops for adult products, for example erotic items, lingerie or sex toys, as long as the products are shown without sexually explicit depictions and the customer complies with the rules on the protection of minors;
• factual content on sex education, sexuality and health.

If in doubt, the customer can ask the support team in advance.

4. Checks by Swizz-IT

Swizz-IT does not monitor content continuously. To protect the systems, other customers and third parties, it automatically checks publicly accessible pages as well as file and folder names for indications of prohibited content. A match never leads to a suspension automatically; a person reviews it and decides.

5. Consequences of a violation

• Swizz-IT informs the customer of a violation and sets a reasonable deadline for remedying it. If a report from an authority or from a data center operator has been received, the deadline may be a few hours.
• In the case of serious violations, in particular content involving minors under section 2, or if there is a danger to the systems, other customers or third parties, Swizz-IT may suspend the website and other services immediately and without prior notice (section A9 of the terms and conditions). Visitors then see a neutral notice; mailboxes and data are kept.
• There is no entitlement to a refund of fees already paid. The fees remain payable during a suspension.
• In the case of serious or repeated violations, Swizz-IT may terminate the contract without notice (section A6 of the terms and conditions).
• Where necessary, Swizz-IT reports criminal content to the competent authorities and secures the necessary evidence. It discloses information about the customer to authorities to the extent that it is legally obliged to do so.

6. Reporting abuse

Anyone can report abuse using the report abuse form or by email to abuse@swizz-it.com. Content showing minors in a sexual context must also be reported to the police.

Swizz-IT uses the information provided by the reporting person only to handle the report. It does not disclose it to the customer concerned without consent, unless required by law.

7. Amendments

Swizz-IT may amend this acceptable use policy, in particular if the law or the rules of the data center operators change. Section A18 of the terms and conditions applies to amendments.