Newsletter Subscription, Email Communications & Unsubscribe Policy

1. Introduction

VALCORED News Network recognises the importance of helping readers stay informed about significant events, important developments and stories of public interest.

Email newsletters can provide a convenient way to discover news without having to visit a website repeatedly.

However, communication with subscribers must respect individual choice, privacy and applicable electronic marketing laws.

Our Newsletter Subscription, Email Communications & Unsubscribe Policy explains how VNN manages newsletter registrations, subscription preferences, commercial disclosures and requests to stop receiving communications.

Our guiding principle is:

Readers should know what they are subscribing to, why they are receiving it and how to unsubscribe.

2. Purpose

This policy establishes standards for:

• Newsletter registration.
• Subscriber consent.
• Email address collection.
• Subscription confirmation.
• Editorial newsletters.
• Commercial email communications.
• Newsletter sponsorship.
• Mailing-list management.
• Subscription preferences.
• Unsubscribe requests.
• Personal information protection.
• Email delivery services.
• Email tracking.
• Complaints and corrections.
• Compliance with applicable laws.

3. Scope

This policy applies to email communications distributed by or on behalf of VNN where relevant services are active.

Such communications may include:

• General news newsletters.
• Breaking-news summaries.
• Daily or weekly news digests.
• Editorial announcements.
• Topic-specific newsletters.
• Subscriber updates.
• Website service announcements.
• Commercial promotional communications.
• Sponsored newsletters.
• Other authorised email services.

The availability of each newsletter category depends on VNN’s actual publishing configuration.

4. Newsletter Availability

VNN may provide free editorial newsletters or other subscription-based communications.

The precise available services should be identified at the point of registration.

Current Newsletter Services

Newsletter Name

The daily briefing; Breaking news alerts; News from VNN

Current Status

Active. Sign up with the form on the front page.

Newsletter Frequency

The daily briefing: every day after 6:30 am GMT+0000, on days with new stories. Breaking news alerts: only for major breaking stories, at most 3 a day. News from VNN: occasionally.

Available Topics

The daily briefing (The essential headlines, the context behind them and what to watch, each morning); Breaking news alerts (An email the moment a major story breaks. Only for the biggest news); News from VNN (Occasional updates about Valcored News, special coverage and subscription offers)

Subscription Cost

Free.

Email Delivery Provider

Sent from this website (Valcored Mail) through Apple iCloud+.

Newsletter Contact

VNN should not describe a newsletter as active or scheduled for regular delivery unless the necessary service is operating.

5. How to Subscribe

Where available, readers may subscribe through an authorised VNN registration form.

The process may involve:

1. Entering an email address.
2. Selecting available newsletter preferences.
3. Reviewing the subscription information.
4. Providing any consent required for the proposed communications.
5. Submitting the registration.
6. Completing email verification where the system requires it.

Readers should not be subscribed to unrelated marketing lists merely because they submit an editorial complaint, contact enquiry or news tip.

6. Subscriber Consent

VNN recognises that commercial electronic messages are subject to the Australian Spam Act 2003 and other relevant requirements.

Where consent is required, VNN must establish an appropriate basis before sending the message.

Australian law recognises express consent and, in certain limited circumstances, inferred consent.

Express consent is VNN’s preferred approach for promotional newsletter subscriptions.

Consent should be informed, specific enough for the proposed communications and capable of being demonstrated where required.

7. Express Consent

Express consent may be obtained where an individual knowingly agrees to receive identified communications.

For example, a registration form may state:

“I agree to receive the VALCORED News Network email newsletter, including the editorial and promotional content described in this subscription notice. I understand that I can unsubscribe at any time.”

Such wording should be adapted to accurately describe the actual service.

Where materially different marketing choices are offered, separate consent options should be considered.

Preselected checkboxes should not be used as a substitute for valid affirmative consent where such consent is required.

8. Inferred Consent

In limited circumstances, relevant Australian law may permit consent to be inferred from an existing relationship.

However, the mere possession of an email address is not sufficient.

VNN must not assume that a person has agreed to receive marketing merely because they:

• Visited the website.
• Commented on an article.
• Submitted a news tip.
• Requested a correction.
• Contacted the newsroom.
• Downloaded a document.
• Shared an article.
• Provided a business card.
• Appeared in a publicly available directory.

Where there is uncertainty about consent, VNN should obtain appropriate permission before sending commercial messages.

9. Subscription Confirmation

VNN may use email verification to help confirm that a subscriber controls the submitted address.

Where implemented, a verification message may ask the individual to confirm the subscription.

This process is often referred to as double opt-in.

Double opt-in may support accurate subscriber records and reduce unauthorised registrations.

However, VNN should not claim that double opt-in is used unless the system actually requires it.

Current Verification Method

Double opt-in: after signing up you receive an email and must tap its link to confirm before anything else is sent.

10. What Subscribers May Receive

Depending on their selected service and preferences, subscribers may receive:

General News

Selected reports covering relevant national and international developments.

Breaking-News Summaries

Important developments requiring timely editorial attention.

Topic-Specific News

Articles relating to selected subjects such as politics, business, technology, health or other available categories.

Editorial Highlights

Featured reports, explanatory articles and other selected VNN content.

Service Communications

Relevant information concerning newsletter administration or material changes.

Commercial Content

Advertisements, sponsored placements or promotional material, where such content forms part of the agreed service and relevant legal requirements are satisfied.

Subscribers should be informed of the general nature of the communications they are signing up to receive.

11. Editorial and Commercial Emails

Some newsletters may contain independently selected editorial material without commercial promotion.

Others may include advertisements, affiliate links, sponsored content or promotional information.

A newsletter containing commercial promotional material may qualify as a commercial electronic message even when most of its content is editorial.

Where the applicable law requires consent, sender identification and an unsubscribe facility, VNN must comply.

The inclusion of news articles does not automatically exempt a promotional newsletter from electronic marketing requirements.

12. Sponsored Newsletter Content

If VNN includes sponsored material in a newsletter, readers should be able to identify the commercial relationship.

Suitable labels may include:

• Advertisement
• Sponsored Message
• Paid Partnership
• Sponsored Content

Commercial material should not be presented as independently selected journalism where an advertiser materially controls it.

Relevant legal and editorial requirements continue to apply.

13. Newsletter Frequency

VNN should inform subscribers of the expected frequency of the newsletter.

Potential formats may include:

• Daily.
• Weekly.
• Monthly.
• Topic-based.
• Breaking-news alerts.
• Other stated publication schedules.

The selected frequency must reflect the service actually offered.

VNN may adjust a schedule where reasonably necessary, subject to applicable notice and consent requirements.

If an email service is temporarily interrupted, delivery may be delayed.

No precise delivery schedule should be guaranteed unless the service can support it.

14. Subscription Preferences

Where technically supported, subscribers may be able to select preferred categories or communication frequencies.

Potential choices may include:

• General headlines.
• World news.
• Australian news.
• Business news.
• Technology.
• Health and science.
• Entertainment.
• Other available topics.

Current Preference Management System

An email preferences page, linked from every email, where you choose any of: the daily briefing, breaking news alerts, news from vnn, or unsubscribe from everything.

VNN must not advertise preference-management controls that do not function.

Where no granular preference centre exists, subscribers should at least be given the unsubscribe options required by applicable law.

15. Sender Identification

Commercial messages must identify the sender as required by applicable law.

Where VNN is the organisation authorising a message, the message should contain accurate identifying information and an appropriate contact method.

The message should not falsely impersonate another publisher, public authority or business.

Current Newsletter Sender

Display Name

Valcored News Network

Sending Email Address

Legal Sender

Valcored News Network

Contact Details

The information should be kept accurate.

16. Unsubscribe Rights

VNN respects the right of individuals to stop receiving commercial email communications.

Commercial marketing emails must generally provide a clear and functional unsubscribe mechanism.

Under Australian spam rules, unsubscribe requests must be actioned within five working days.

The mechanism must remain functional for at least 30 days after the message is sent.

Unsubscribing must not require a fee, the creation of an account or provision of unnecessary additional personal information.

Where a link is used, the process should be straightforward and understandable.

17. How to Unsubscribe

Where the service is active, subscribers should be able to use the unsubscribe instructions included in relevant commercial emails.

Unsubscribe Method

Primary Method

The unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email. It works in one click, with no sign-in, and also powers the unsubscribe button in Gmail, Apple Mail and other mail apps.

Alternative Contact

Once an eligible unsubscribe request is received, VNN should ensure it is honoured within the applicable period.

Subscribers should not continue receiving messages from the relevant marketing list after a valid withdrawal has been processed.

Certain essential administrative messages may continue where lawful and genuinely necessary.

18. No Unnecessary Barriers to Unsubscribing

VNN will not deliberately obstruct lawful unsubscribe requests through:

• Excessively complicated processes.
• Mandatory account registration.
• Unnecessary identity collection.
• Hidden or misleading controls.
• Unjustified unsubscribe fees.
• Repeated re-subscription without consent.

A request to stop marketing must not be treated merely as a preference for fewer advertisements where the person has requested to stop the relevant communications.

19. Suppression Records

VNN may retain limited information necessary to ensure that an unsubscribed address is not improperly added back to a marketing list.

Such information may be maintained in a suppression list.

Suppression records should be used for legitimate compliance and administrative purposes.

They should not become a mechanism for renewed promotional contact.

20. Purchased and Third-Party Mailing Lists

VNN should not assume that a purchased, rented or externally supplied mailing list contains valid permission for VNN’s marketing.

Before using any externally sourced list, VNN must assess the legal basis for the proposed communication.

Responsibility for lawful commercial messaging cannot simply be transferred to a mailing-list vendor or outsourced email provider.

VNN’s general approach is to favour direct, transparent subscriber registration over unsolicited bulk marketing.

21. Subscriber Personal Information

Newsletter registration may involve processing information such as:

• Email address.
• Subscription preferences.
• Registration date.
• Consent records.
• Unsubscribe status.
• Technical delivery information.
• Email engagement data where relevant tools are enabled and lawful.

The exact information collected depends on the service provider and configuration.

Personal information should be processed consistently with VNN’s Privacy Policy.

22. Email Tracking and Analytics

Some email delivery platforms offer measurement functions, including:

• Delivery confirmation.
• Bounce reporting.
• Open tracking.
• Link-click measurement.
• Subscriber activity reporting.

These technologies may have privacy implications.

VNN should evaluate the necessity and lawfulness of email tracking before enabling it.

A tracking pixel must not be assumed to provide a perfectly accurate measure of whether a person actually read a message.

Where appropriate, tracking practices should be disclosed.

Current Email Analytics

Provider

Valcored Mail, run on this website. Nothing is shared with an outside marketing service.

Tracking Features

opens (a 1-pixel image in the email) and clicks (links pass through this website on their way to the story). Delivery and bounces are also recorded.

Retention Period

12 months

23. Third-Party Email Service Providers

VNN may use an authorised external provider to deliver newsletters.

Such providers may process subscriber information for legitimate service functions.

Before engaging a provider, VNN should consider:

• Security.
• Data processing terms.
• International data transfers.
• Subscriber privacy.
• Unsubscribe functionality.
• Access controls.
• Retention settings.
• Delivery reliability.
• Applicable legal requirements.

Current Newsletter Delivery Provider

Sent from this website (Valcored Mail) through Apple iCloud+.

24. International Subscribers

VNN’s news coverage may attract international audiences.

Additional electronic marketing or privacy requirements may apply depending on the sender, recipients and activities involved.

VNN should assess relevant laws where it actively delivers newsletters to subscribers outside Australia.

The accessibility of the website from another country does not automatically establish compliance with that country’s marketing laws.

25. Children’s Privacy

Newsletter services should not unnecessarily collect personal information from children.

Where particular age-related consent or privacy requirements apply, appropriate safeguards should be implemented.

VNN may restrict registration where necessary to comply with relevant law or protect vulnerable users.

26. Newsletter Accuracy and Corrections

Newsletter summaries should accurately reflect the underlying articles.

Where a significant factual error is identified in a distributed newsletter, VNN should consider an appropriate corrective communication.

The seriousness of the error and its potential impact should inform the response.

Newsletter headlines should not materially misrepresent the linked reporting.

27. Technical Delivery Limitations

Email delivery can be affected by:

• Spam filters.
• Invalid addresses.
• Provider interruptions.
• Mailbox storage limits.
• Domain authentication problems.
• Network conditions.
• Recipient settings.
• External filtering systems.

VNN cannot guarantee that every email will be delivered or displayed identically across all email clients.

Where significant technical failures occur, appropriate corrective measures should be considered.

28. Subscriber Complaints

Subscribers may raise concerns about:

• Unwanted marketing.
• Missing unsubscribe functionality.
• Unauthorised subscription.
• Incorrect personal information.
• Misleading newsletter content.
• Privacy practices.
• Unsubscribe requests not being honoured.

Newsletter Support

Complaints should identify the relevant message and explain the concern.

Where necessary, VNN may request limited information to identify the affected subscription.

29. Security and Fraudulent Emails

Readers should remain alert to fraudulent emails impersonating legitimate publishers.

VNN will not use ordinary newsletter communications to request passwords or sensitive account credentials unnecessarily.

Suspicious communications claiming to originate from VNN may be reported through the official contact channel.

VNN should use appropriate domain and email authentication controls where technically available.

30. Changes to Newsletter Services

VNN may change newsletter content, frequency or technical providers.

Where changes materially affect subscriber expectations or require additional consent, appropriate notice or consent should be provided.

VNN may suspend or discontinue newsletters where reasonably necessary.

31. Contact Information

VALCORED News Network

Newsletter Contact

Privacy Contact

Website

valcorednews.com

Readers may also consult VNN’s Privacy Policy and Cookies, Tracking & Consent Policy.

32. Our Commitment

VNN believes that newsletters should help readers remain informed without compromising their privacy or freedom of choice.

We aim to communicate clearly, respect consent, identify commercial relationships and make unsubscribing straightforward.

A valuable newsletter earns a place in the reader’s inbox. It does not assume a right to remain there.