SMS and Messaging Terms

This text is a draft for review by counsel before launch.

What this page covers

This page explains the text and chat messages aali may send to your phone, and the rules for sending them. It applies if you give us a mobile number when you create an account, enrol or ask for information. It is part of the terms of use and is read with the privacy notice.

The messages we may send

• Service messages: sign-in and verification codes, enrolment and payment confirmations, a reminder before a live session, a notice if a session moves, and a warning if a payment fails.
• Study reminders: a nudge about a deadline or an unfinished week, if you turn them on.
• News: course dates, new programmes and events, only if you say yes to them separately.

We do not send messages to advertise other companies, and we do not give your number to others for their own marketing.

Your consent

Service messages are part of the course and go to the number on your account. Study reminders and news need your separate consent, which you give by ticking a box on the form or in your account settings. Consent to news is never a condition of enrolling. You can withdraw any consent at any time.

How to stop

Reply STOP (or "إيقاف" in Arabic) to any message that is not a sign-in code, or open Message settings in your account. Replying stops reminders and news, and we confirm it with one last message. If you want to stop service messages as well, tell support; some necessary messages, such as sign-in codes, may then not reach you and studying may become difficult.

How often, and what it costs

How many messages you get depends on the courses you take; during a live cohort expect a few a week at most. aali does not charge for messages, but your mobile carrier may charge for texts or data under your plan.

Where the messages come from

Messages arrive under the sender name "aali" or from a number we publish on this site [sender name and numbers: to be confirmed]. We will not ask you for a password, card details or a code in a text message, and we will not send a link to pay an amount you did not ask for. If a message pretends to be us, do not open its links, and report it to us.

Language and timing

We write messages in the language of your account, Arabic or English. We avoid sending reminders and news at night in your time zone, except for sign-in codes and payment notices, which go as soon as they are needed [quiet hours: to be confirmed]. If you travel or use an international number, messages may arrive late or cost more.

Cohort chat groups

The aali team or learner organisers may set up a chat group for each cohort. Joining is optional, and members may see one another's numbers or names depending on the app, so do not join if you would rather not. The community values and honor code apply to these groups, and we may remove anyone who breaks them.

Keeping a record of your consent

We keep a record of when and where you agreed to each kind of message and the wording you were shown, so that we can prove your consent and respect a withdrawal. If you abuse our numbers or send unlawful content to them, we may block your number.

Learners in organisation teams

If your employer enrolled you in a course and gave us your number, we will ask you to confirm it before we send anything except a verification code. Your employer cannot give consent on your behalf for study reminders or news. This page applies to you as to any other learner.

Complaints

If you get a message you did not agree to, or messages do not stop after you ask, tell us the date and what it said. We will stop it and reply with what happened. You may also complain to the competent consumer or data protection authority.

Chat apps

We may offer chat apps as a channel for the same messages. If we do, the same rules on consent and stopping apply, and the provider of the app has its own terms too [chat channels: to be confirmed].

Delivery

Messages travel over networks we do not control, so we cannot promise that each one arrives on time, or at all. Do not rely on a message alone for a deadline; the course page always shows the dates.

Your number and its safety

Keep your number up to date. If you change it, update your account at once, since the old number may be given to someone else. If you receive messages meant for another person, tell us. We use your number only for the purposes above, keep it as the privacy notice describes, and put no sensitive information in a text message. Never share a code with anyone, even someone who says they are from aali; we will never ask you for it.

Changes and contact

We may change this page, show the date of the latest update at its top, and ask for your consent again if the kinds of message change. Questions: [contact email: to be confirmed] or the contact page.