# Restricted targets

helodata blocks a small set of destinations at the gateway. Requests to a restricted target return `403 Forbidden` from the gateway (not the target) with header `X-Helodata-Block-Reason`.

## Permanently blocked

These categories are blocked **on every account** with no exception path:

* **Child sexual abuse material (CSAM)** and any domain on the IWF or NCMEC lists
* **Sanctioned-jurisdiction services** as required by US, EU, and UK sanctions law
* **Distribution of malware, ransomware, or exploit kits**
* **Phishing kits and credential-harvesting infrastructure**
* **DDoS-for-hire services**
* **Government identity-fraud services** (forged passports, driver's licenses)

If you operate threat-intel research that legitimately needs to fetch from blocked categories, contact <security@helodata.com> — we can route specific domains through an audited research channel after a compliance review.

## Restricted by default (per-account exception possible)

Blocked unless you explicitly request an exception in writing:

* **Major banking and brokerage logins** (account-aggregation use cases)
* **Healthcare patient portals** (HIPAA scope)
* **Government tax-filing portals**
* **Streaming services' premium endpoints** (when ToS forbids automated access)
* **Sneaker drops and ticket-resale sites** *during* drop windows on Trial plans

To request an exception:

1. Email <support@helodata.com> with subject `Restricted-target exception: {your domain list}`.
2. Include your sub-user, the domains, and a brief description of the use case.
3. Expect a response within 2 business days. Exceptions are scoped to specific sub-users.

## Trial-only restrictions

Trial accounts have stricter limits — these additional categories are blocked until you upgrade:

* All social media DMs and posting endpoints (read-only public pages are fine)
* Account-creation flows on any major site
* Payment-processor (Stripe, PayPal, Adyen) test or live endpoints

## Operational blocks (temporary)

The gateway also enforces short-lived blocks for operational reasons:

* A target whose abuse complaints exceed our threshold gets a 24–72h cool-off
* A target with active legal action against helodata gets a block until resolved
* A target experiencing an outage that's causing high error rates may get a 5-minute back-off

Operational blocks are listed live in **Dashboard → Status → Active blocks**.

## Detecting a block

```
HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden
X-Helodata-Block-Reason: restricted-category-banking
X-Helodata-Block-Detail: account-aggregation requires per-account exception
X-Helodata-Block-Contact: support@helodata.com
```

Blocked requests do **not** consume traffic credits.

## Reporting abuse

If you receive an abuse complaint involving helodata IPs, forward it to <abuse@helodata.com> with the offending IP, timestamp (UTC), and full headers. We respond to abuse reports within 1 business day.


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