SMS policy

How Forwrd uses text messaging, who starts the conversation, and how to stop it.

You start every conversation

Forwrd never texts anyone who has not texted us first. There is no list to be added to and no way for a third party to sign your number up. You opt in by picking up your own phone and texting @setup to our texting number (announced at launch). That text is the consent.

The pre-order form asks for your mobile number only so we can recognise your phone when you text us after launch. Entering it there does not sign you up for messages, and we never text it first. The first time that phone texts us, we reply once asking you to confirm it is yours with LOCK IN; nothing is forwarded until you do, and replying NO disconnects it.

Every message we send is a direct reply to a message you sent. You text a question or a command; we answer it. The only messages that are not an immediate reply are the two service notices below, and both exist because you asked us to run an account for you:

• One reminder if you start setting up and do not finish, sent about an hour later, so an abandoned sign-up does not silently die.
• One notice if your card is declined, with a link to fix it.

We send no marketing texts, no promotions and no newsletters. Ever.

If you text someone's Forwrd Personal number

Forwrd Personal gives a customer their own local number. If you text one:

• Your text, and your phone number, are emailed to that customer. Nothing else about you is collected.
• If they answer, their reply is texted to you from that same number. Those replies are written by the customer and sent on behalf of the customer; Forwrd does not write them and never adds marketing.
• Replies go only to someone who texted that number first. We never start a conversation with you and never add your number to any list.
• Reply STOP (or STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, END, QUIT, CANCEL, REVOKE, OPTOUT) to that number at any time and you get no more texts from it; if the customer tries to reply, we tell them it was not sent. Reply START to allow them again. Reply HELP for help.
• How often you hear from that number depends on the conversation you started. Message and data rates may apply under your own mobile plan.

How to stop

Text STOP to our texting number (announced at launch) at any time. We stop immediately: every outbound message is suppressed and the phone is unbound from the account. STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END and QUIT do the same thing. You get one confirmation that you have been unsubscribed, and then nothing.

To start again, text START or UNSTOP, or just text @setup.

Texting STOP does not by itself cancel your subscription. To stop being billed, use the billing page: sign in at https://forwrd.email/login, or email support@forwrd.email and we will send the link.

How to get help

Text HELP to our texting number (announced at launch) and we text back the command list and our support address. You can also email support@forwrd.email or read the help page.

How often we message

Message frequency varies, and you set it. We reply only when you text us, so the number of messages you get from us is at most the number you send. Most customers see a handful of messages during the one-time setup and almost none afterwards, because an ordinary forwarded text gets no reply at all. There is no recurring or scheduled campaign of any kind.

Cost

Message and data rates may apply. Forwrd does not charge you per message, but your mobile carrier may charge you for the texts you send and receive under your own plan. Check with your carrier if you are not sure. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

What we do with your number

Your phone number is used to route your texts to your email address, and for nothing else. We do not sell, rent or share mobile numbers, or your consent to receive messages, with anyone — no third parties, no affiliates, no marketers. Our telephone carrier handles the messages themselves, which is the only sharing that happens and is what makes the text arrive at all. The privacy page covers the rest.

What we never do

• We never ask for a password, a card number or a Social Security number by text. A text claiming to be from us that asks for one is not from us.
• We never send you a link you did not ask for, other than the billing link described above.
• We never text a number that has not texted us.

Contact

Forwrd support: support@forwrd.email. We answer email; texting a support question to the service number gets you the command list, not a person.