Acceptable Use Policy

The short version

Use CrawlNode for things you have the right to do: load pages, read what is on them, drive a site the way a person would, and collect data you are entitled to collect. Do not use it to break into anything, to harm the sites you visit or the people whose data is on them, or to do something that would be unlawful if you did it from your own computer.

You are responsible for what is done with your API keys, including by your agents, your customers and anyone you give a key to.

What is not allowed

Breaking the law or other people's rights

• Anything illegal where you are, where we are, or where the site you are visiting is.
• Collecting or using personal data in ways privacy law does not permit.
• Copying or redistributing content in breach of copyright or other rights you do not hold.
• Content that sexually exploits children, in any form. We report it.

Breaking into things

• Accessing accounts, systems or data you are not authorised to access.
• Testing stolen or guessed credentials against a site, or taking over accounts.
• Scanning for or exploiting vulnerabilities in systems you do not own or have written permission to test.
• Reaching private networks, internal addresses or infrastructure that is not meant to be public.

Harming the sites you visit

• Sending traffic meant to overload a site or take it offline, or traffic so heavy that it does.
• Buying up stock or tickets to deprive other people of them.
• Faking clicks, views, sign-ups, reviews or engagement.

Deceiving or harming people

• Fraud, phishing, or pretending to be someone else in order to deceive.
• Sending spam, or creating accounts in bulk in order to send it.
• Distributing malware, or hosting or relaying anything meant to damage a device.
• Stalking, harassing or building a profile of a private person.

Harming the service

• Getting around the limits on your key, or using more than you have bought by any means other than buying more.
• Probing or attacking the CrawlNode API, our machines or other customers' sessions.
• Publishing an API key, or sharing one outside the people and systems you are responsible for.
• Using a proxy of your own that you do not have the right to use.

Your responsibilities

• Know the terms of the sites you visit and the law that applies to what you collect. We cannot check either for you.
• Keep your request rate to something the site you are visiting can serve without noticing you.
• Keep your keys secret, give each agent a key of its own, and replace a key that has been somewhere it should not be.

What we do about it

If a key is being used against this policy, we may limit it, suspend it or close the account. Where we can, we tell you first and give you the chance to fix it; where the use is harming someone, illegal, or a risk to the service, we act first and tell you afterwards. We cooperate with lawful requests from authorities.

Reporting abuse

If traffic from CrawlNode is causing you a problem, write to support@crawlnode.com with the time, the address that was requested and the IP address it came from, and we will look into it.