What you may point the network at

The allowed-use policy is public and written before you pay, so you can check your use case on a free page instead of after a top-up. The full text is the allowed-use policy on our site. This article is the short version; where the two differ, the policy wins.

Allowed

• Public web data collection. Prices, listings, reviews, availability, job posts: anything a logged-out visitor can see. Respect the target's rate limits.
• Search result pages. Rank tracking, SERP monitoring and keyword research.
• Ad verification and brand protection. Checking your ads render where you paid for them, and finding counterfeit listings of your own brand.
• Your own accounts and infrastructure. Testing, monitoring and automating services you own or are contracted to run.
• Market and academic research. Aggregate measurement of public content.
• Authorised security testing. Only against systems you have written permission to test. We may ask to see that permission.

Not allowed

Credential stuffing and account takeover, fraud of any kind, denial of service (aggressive crawling with the same effect counts), spam, anything involving the sexual abuse of minors, malware and phishing, harassment and doxxing, defeating paywalls or DRM, collecting personal data without a lawful basis, and government, military or critical-infrastructure targets unless you are contracted by that body. The list is illustrative: conduct that does the same kind of harm counts even where it is not named.

Allowed with conditions

Ticketing and limited-release retail, social platform automation, cryptocurrency and trading platforms, and streaming services each come with conditions. Read that section of the policy before you start; trading-account automation, for one, needs a written note from us first.

If something goes wrong

1. Unless the law makes us act at once, you get an email first, saying what we saw and what needs to change.
2. Where we have to restrict something, we restrict as narrowly as we can, such as one target, not the whole account.
3. You can appeal by replying to that email. A person reads it and answers within two business days.

When a rule gets stricter, existing customers get 30 days' written notice. A rule that gets looser applies straight away.

Not sure whether your job fits? Ask before you buy: write to support@proxyhive.io with a description of the target and what you collect.