Newsletter & Marketing Consent Policy

Hifiverse.io — Last updated: 7 May 2026 · Version 1.0

Quick summary

Marketing emails go only to people who opt in. No pre-ticked boxes. No bundling with the Terms of Service.
We use double opt-in: you give consent, we send a confirmation email, you click the link, you start receiving the newsletter.
One-click unsubscribe in every email, with no follow-up "are you sure?" friction.
We send four types of email: Transactional (receipts, alerts — mandatory); Editorial newsletter (free, weekly); Subscription announcements (paid subscribers); Marketing campaigns (opt-in only).
We do not sell or rent the email list. We do not share it with advertisers.

1. About this Policy

This Policy explains how Hifiverse handles consent to receive electronic marketing — email newsletters, marketing campaigns, push notifications and similar — and how we honour your choices.

Key legal bases: GDPR Article 6(1)(a) and Article 7 (consent must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous); EU ePrivacy Directive 2002/58/EC; Planet49 CJEU ruling (no pre-ticked boxes); CAN-SPAM Act (US); PECR (UK).

2. The four kinds of email we send

Transactional email — mandatory while you hold an account. Includes: account confirmation, password reset, security alerts, subscription receipts, invoices, renewal confirmations, payment failure notices, cancellation confirmations, Authentication booking updates, marketplace lead notifications, policy-change notices, moderation actions and Statements of Reasons.

You cannot opt out of transactional email while you hold an account. Transactional emails do not contain marketing content, promotions, sponsored content or affiliate links.

Editorial newsletter — optional. Free to anyone who opts in. Sent typically once a week. Includes editorial reviews, news summaries, Price Index commentary, occasionally featured deals and clearly labelled sponsored sections. Each issue contains an unsubscribe link in the footer and an affiliate-disclosure notice at the top where the issue contains affiliate links.

Subscription announcements — mandatory while you hold a paid subscription. Sent when materially relevant to the value of the subscription: new features affecting your tier, early access, quarterly market reports for dealers. Frequency cap: no more than two such emails per month, except for materially time-sensitive matters. Each email contains a one-click "stop receiving subscriber announcements" link.

Marketing campaigns — optional, opt-in only. These include: offers (a discount for a limited time), product launches, surveys, recommended-product round-ups, win-back offers if you cancelled.

The signup form shows separate, un-ticked checkboxes:

☐ Send me the Hifiverse weekly editorial newsletter (free, unsubscribe anytime).
☐ Send me Hifiverse marketing emails about new features, deals and surveys.

Neither box is pre-ticked. Neither is bundled with the Terms of Service. Agreeing to the Terms does not constitute agreement to receive marketing.

You can manage all preferences at any time at hifiverse.io/account/notifications.

4. Double opt-in

For the Editorial newsletter and Marketing campaigns we use double opt-in:

You submit the form.
We send a confirmation email with a unique link valid for 48 hours.
You click the link to confirm.
We add the address to the active list.

If you do not click within 48 hours, we discard the request. We do not send the newsletter to addresses that have not confirmed.

5. How you unsubscribe

Every newsletter and marketing campaign contains a one-click unsubscribe link in the footer. Clicking it ends your subscription immediately. We do not present a "are you sure?" intercept. We do not require you to log in. We do not require you to give a reason.

If you reply to a newsletter with the word "unsubscribe", "stop", "opt out", "remove me" or similar, we treat that as an unsubscribe and confirm by reply.

If our email system fails to honour an unsubscribe within 5 working days, write to info@hifiverse.io and we will fix it.

You can also manage all preferences from hifiverse.io/account/notifications.

When the Editorial newsletter includes sponsored content:

The sponsored section is clearly labelled with a "Sponsored by BRAND NAME" header at the top of the section, in a font and colour distinct from the editorial body.
The sponsor is named.
The sponsorship is separated from the editorial section by a horizontal rule and a clear visual break.
Sponsored content is never the lead story.
A sponsored content placement does not give the sponsor access to your email address.

The Sponsored Content & Branded Content Policy governs the broader rules around sponsored content.

7. Push notifications and SMS

If we add push notifications or SMS in future, the same consent and opt-out rules apply: explicit opt-in, one-tap or one-text-reply opt-out, separate preferences for transactional and marketing, no pre-enabled categories. We do not currently send SMS marketing to general users.

8. Frequency

Editorial newsletter: weekly, with occasional special editions for major audio shows.
Marketing campaigns: at most twice a month for general marketing; at most one survey request every two months.
Subscription announcements: at most twice a month, plus time-sensitive matters.

9. Handling of email addresses

We collect email addresses only:

From signup (with the box ticked and double opt-in confirmed).
From paid subscriptions (transactional only by default; marketing requires the box to be ticked).
From dealer KYC (transactional only by default).
From newsletter signup forms (double opt-in required).

We never buy lists, rent lists, or import lists from co-marketing partners.

10. Data protection and retention

Legal basis: Consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a)).

We retain:

The active subscription record while you remain subscribed.
The consent record for as long as you remain subscribed plus 5 years (burden of proof under GDPR Art. 7(1)).
Aggregated open and click metrics for 14 months, then anonymised.

We use SendGrid Inc. (a Twilio company) as our email service provider, processing in the United States under Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

11. Changes to this Policy

We update this Policy when our practices change or when we add a new electronic-marketing channel. For changes affecting your existing consents — for example adding a new topic category — we email subscribers with the new version. We do not retroactively expand the scope of an existing consent.

Contact

Email: info@hifiverse.io (subject: "Newsletter", "Unsubscribe", "Privacy", "Sponsorship")
Postal: Timelapse Games EOOD, Bulgaria