KYC and AML in the proxy domain

Being a responsible market player, Astro pays close attention to the KYC and AML issues. Whether it comes to buying residential and mobile proxies or the best datacenter proxies, our team is determined to adhere to the top-tier practices. While striving to make our offerings as clear as possible, we have decided to describe our policies in this respect in greater detail. 

KYC and AML concerns in the proxy domain   

When companies and individuals consider paying for mobile proxy networks, the best datacenter proxies, or residential proxies, they are normally concerned about privacy. The latter is needed for data harvesting, marketing research, achieving social media management goals, etc. In the majority of cases, all these activities are absolutely legit. All our customers want is to avoid being blocked, blacklisted, or restricted. 

Simultaneously, there is a reverse side of the medal. Sometimes, users need proxies for fraudulent purposes. That is why we apply an effective KYC and AML framework. Today, we will explain what our guidelines were while we were shaping it. 

KYC stands for Know Your Customer. AML stands for anti-money laundering. Generally, these terms refer to a set of policies, practices, and procedures aimed to ensure that Astro products are used in a legal way and in accordance with standards of business ethics. 

In practical terms, we seek to verify the following aspects: 

1. Whether the identity of our customers buying residential and mobile proxies or the best datacenter proxies is true; 
2. On the basis of verified identities, we check their admissibility in terms of intentions, risks, and purposes;
3. We see our mission in spotting and preventing illegal or otherwise unacceptable actions. 

Main rules of KYC and AML

Basic pillars of a reliable KYC and AML policy include: 

• Universal coverage with KYC and AML policies being applied to all the proxy users. For sure, it might be impossible to thoroughly check every request. However, all users are to be requested to submit their contacts and business profiles. On top of that, selective compliance checks are to be carried out at random from time to time. The latter implies both the onboarding stage and routine account management;
• Reserving the right to refuse to provide services if incorrect data is submitted or risks of inappropriate usage are deemed to be too high; 
• Ruling out illegal activities outright with lifelong bans applied to those who carry them out. 

In more practical terms, KYC and AML in the proxy domain embraces such aspects as: 

• initial user validation procedures requesting to submit company details (name, address, and specialization), contact details (e.g. phones numbers, corporate emails, social media profiles), intended use (descriptions of planned use cases), and any additional information to be submitted upon request 
• mobile proxy network monitoring and tracking of residential and datacenter proxies in real-time 
• regular client checks 
• at the code and equipment level several safeguards and prevention mechanisms shall be added
• any trusted proxy website is to be prepared to receive and examine abuse reports from those who might have incurred losses or detected illegal or unethical actions.

Astro’s constant business priority is to be the best and best-complying trusted proxy website. Whether you are an individual or a company willing to buy residential and mobile proxies, or a potential partner ready to share your IP addresses for reward, you can be sure that our team is a law-abiding entity with all proxy-related KYC and AML policies and practices in place. Order a free trial and start unleashing the full potential of Astro today.