ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

This Acceptable Use Policy sets out the content standards that apply when you upload content to our website, digital membership platform or other online spaces, make contact with other users of our digital products and services, link to our website, or interact with our website or other online spaces in any other way.

1. Prohibited Uses 

You may use our website and digital products and services only for lawful purposes. You may not use our website or digital products and services

• in any way that breaches any applicable local, national or international law or regulation;

• in any way that is unlawful or fraudulent, or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect;

• for the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors in any way;

• to send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does not comply with our content standards below;

• to transmit, or procure the sending of, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation (“spam”);

• to knowingly transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware.

You also agree not to access without authority, interfere with, damage or disrupt:

• any part of our website or other online spaces;

• any equipment or network on which our website or other online spaces are stored;

• any software used in the provision of our website or other online spaces; or

• any equipment or network or software owned or used by any third party.
  

2. Reporting content and complaints about moderation decisions

Reporting content. If you see a Contribution or other content on our website or digital membership platform that you believe breaches this Acceptable Use Policy or the law, you can report it to us at [insert contact email address]. We will review reports made in good faith and take appropriate action, which may include removal of the content, in accordance with this Policy

Complaints about our moderation decisions. If you disagree with a decision we have made to remove, restrict or leave up a Contribution, you can raise this with us at [insert contact email address]. We will consider your complaint and respond within a reasonable time.

3. Interactive Services  

We may from time to time provide interactive services on our website or other online spaces, including, without limitation:

• chat rooms;

• bulletin boards;

• blog posts;
  

(jointly the “interactive services”).

Where we do provide any interactive service, we will provide clear information to you about the kind of service offered, if it is moderated and what form of moderation is used (including whether it is human or technical).

We will do our best to assess any possible risks for users from third parties when they use any interactive service provided on our website, and we will decide in each case whether it is appropriate to use moderation of the relevant service (including what kind of moderation to use) in the light of those risks. However, we are under no obligation to oversee, monitor or moderate any interactive service we provide on our website or other online spaces, and we expressly exclude our liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of any interactive service by a user in contravention of our content standards, whether the service is moderated or not.

The use of any of our interactive services by a minor is subject to the consent of their parent or guardian. We advise parents who permit their children to use an interactive service that it is important that they communicate with their children about their safety online, as moderation is not fool proof. Minors who are using any interactive service should be made aware of the potential risks to them.

Where we do moderate an interactive service, we will normally provide you with a means of contacting the moderator, should a concern or difficulty arise.

4. Content Standards 
   

These content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to our website or other online spaces (“Contribution”), and to any interactive services associated with it. The content standards must be complied with in spirit as well as to the letter. The content standards apply to each part of any Contribution as well as to its whole. We will determine, in our absolute discretion, whether a Contribution breaches the content standards.

Any Contribution you post will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. You retain all of your ownership rights in your content, however by sharing any Contribution to our website or other online spaces, you grant us, our affiliates and service providers the right to use, reproduce, modify, perform, display, distribute and otherwise disclose to third parties any such material for any purpose.

We also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any content posted or uploaded by you to our website or other online spaces constitutes a violation of their intellectual property rights, or of their right to privacy.

A Contribution must:

• be accurate (where it states facts);

• be genuinely held (where it states opinions);

• comply with the laws applicable in the United Kingdom and in any country from which it is posted.
  

A Contribution must not:

• be defamatory of any person;

• be obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory;

• promote violence;

• promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age;

• infringe any copyright, design right, database right, trade mark or other intellectual property right of any other person;

• be likely to deceive any person;

• breach any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence;

• promote any illegal activity;

• be in contempt of court;

• be threatening, abuse or invade another’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety;

• be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person;

• impersonate any person, or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person;

• give the impression that the Contribution emanates from us or our company, if this is not the case;

• advocate, promote, incite any party to commit, or assist any unlawful or criminal act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse;

• contain a statement which you know or believe, or have reasonable grounds for believing, that members of the public to whom the statement is, or is to be, published are likely to understand as a direct or indirect encouragement or other inducement to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism;

• contain any advertising or promote any services or web links to other websites.
  

5. Breach of this Policy  

When we consider that a breach of this Acceptable Use Policy has occurred, we may take such action as we deem appropriate. Failure to comply with this Acceptable Use Policy constitutes a material breach of the terms upon which you are permitted to use our website and our digital products and services, and may result in our taking all or any of the following actions:

• immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use our website, other online spaces, digital products and services;

• immediate, temporary or permanent removal of any Contribution uploaded by you to our website or other online spaces;

• issue of a warning to you;

• legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach;

• further legal action against you;

• disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary or as required by law.

We exclude our liability for all action we may take in response to breaches of this Acceptable Use Policy. The actions we may take are not limited to those described above, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.