Acceptable Use Policy

Acceptable Use Policy

1. Introduction This Acceptable Use Policy ("Policy") sets out the terms under which you may access and use the Rate Your Landlord website and associated services (together, "the Service"). It applies to all users of and visitors to the Service. By using the Service, you confirm that you accept this Policy in full and agree to comply with it. This Policy supplements our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and should be read alongside them. If you do not agree with any part of this Policy, you must not use the Service. Rate Your Landlord is operated by Harriet Wylie operating as Rate Your Landlord (referred to as "we", "us", or "our"). You acknowledge that you are wholly responsible to us and to any third party for anything you contribute, upload, or submit using the Service. We may, without notice, remove any content from the Service that we believe has been submitted contrary to this Policy. 2. Purpose of the Service Rate Your Landlord provides a platform for tenants and prospective tenants to submit, read, and share honest reviews of landlords and property management companies. The Service is intended to help people make informed decisions about renting and to encourage high standards among landlords and agents. It is important that any review or comment you make about any landlord, property management company, or letting agent is accurate, proportionate, and based on your genuine personal experience. Submitting a false or misleading review could expose you to legal action for defamation and may constitute a criminal offence under applicable data protection and fraud legislation. The Service is not intended for use by children. We do not knowingly permit access to or use of the Service by anyone under the age of 18. 3. Prohibited Uses You may only use the Service for lawful purposes and in accordance with this Policy. You must not use the Service: In any way that breaches any applicable local, national, or international law or regulation. In any way that is unlawful, fraudulent, or deceptive, or that has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect. For the purpose of harming, exploiting, or attempting to harm minors in any way. To send, upload, download, or re-use any material that does not comply with our Content Standards set out in Section 4 below. To transmit any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material, or any other form of spam. To upload or transmit any data or material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware, or any other harmful code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware. You also agree not to: Reproduce, duplicate, copy, or resell any part of the Service in contravention of our Terms of Use. Access without authority, interfere with, damage, or disrupt: any part of the Service; any equipment or network on which the Service is stored; any software used in the provision of the Service; or any equipment, network, or software owned or used by any third party. Use any technical means or process to "mirror", "frame", "scrape", "crawl", or "spider" any web pages or services within the Service. Attempt to access the Service by any means other than through the Rate Your Landlord website — for example, via software platforms that aggregate access to multiple services. Tamper with, disable, or attempt to override any security component or process of the Service. Republish in bulk any information derived from use of the Service. Hold yourself out as the originating provider of Rate Your Landlord or any material or processes contained within it ("white-labelling"). Claim that you are associated with or endorsed by Rate Your Landlord unless you have entered into a written agreement with us to that effect. 4. Review Integrity The value of Rate Your Landlord depends on reviews being honest, genuine, and based on real experiences. To protect the integrity of the platform, you must not: Submit any review or comment that is not honest and based on a true account of your own personal experience with the landlord or property in question. Write reviews of yourself, your own business, your friends' or relatives' landlord or agency business, your peers or competitors, or landlord or agency businesses in your professional network. Create fake, duplicate, or sockpuppet accounts in order to inflate or manipulate ratings. Attempt to use another user's account without authorisation, or create a false identity on the Service. Create a user profile for anyone other than yourself as an individual, or (if you are a landlord or letting agent) for any business other than your own. Include in your profile any image of any other person without their explicit consent. 5. Content Standards These standards apply to all material you contribute to the Service, including reviews, ratings, comments, messages, and profile information. The standards apply to each part of a contribution as well as to its whole. Contributions must: Be accurate — where they state facts, those facts must be true and verifiable. Be genuinely held — where they express opinions, those opinions must be sincerely held and not malicious. Comply with all applicable law in the UK and in any country from which they are posted, including data protection, defamation, and consumer protection legislation. Be proportionate — criticism of a landlord or property must be proportionate to your actual experience and not exaggerated for effect. Contributions must not: Contain any material that is defamatory of any person or business. Contain any material that is obscene, offensive, hateful, malicious, threatening, or inflammatory. Promote or contain sexually explicit material. Promote or glorify violence. Promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, age, or any other protected characteristic. Infringe any copyright, database right, trademark, or other intellectual property right of any person. Be likely to deceive any person or give a false impression of any person or business. Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or duty of confidence. Promote any illegal activity. Be threatening, abusive, or invade another's privacy, or cause unnecessary annoyance, distress, or anxiety to any person. Be used to impersonate any person or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person or organisation. Give the impression that content emanates from Rate Your Landlord if that is not the case. Advocate, promote, or assist any unlawful act, including copyright infringement or unauthorised computer access. Personal Contact Information Except when using any private content storage function of the Service, you must not upload any personal contact information — whether your own or anyone else's — such as email addresses, phone numbers, or home addresses. Reviews should focus on your experience of the landlord or property, not on sharing private details about individuals. 6. Enforcement, Suspension, and Termination We will determine, at our sole discretion, whether there has been a breach of this Policy through your use of the Service. When a breach occurs, we may take any action we deem appropriate, including any or all of the following: Immediate, temporary, or permanent withdrawal of your right to use the Service. Immediate, temporary, or permanent removal of any content or material uploaded or submitted by you. Issuance of a formal warning to you. Legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs incurred as a result of the breach, including reasonable administrative and legal costs, on an indemnity basis. Further legal action against you, including for defamation or other civil claims. Disclosure of information to law enforcement authorities where we reasonably consider it necessary. We exclude liability for actions taken in good faith in response to breaches of this Policy. The actions described above are not exhaustive, and we reserve the right to take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate. Failure to comply with this Policy constitutes a material breach of the Terms of Use upon which you are permitted to use the Service. 7. Reporting Concerns If you believe that any content on the Service breaches this Policy — including content that is defamatory, inaccurate, or otherwise harmful — please report it to us using the reporting function on the relevant page, or by contacting us directly at admin@rateyourlandlord.co.uk. We take all reports seriously and will investigate and take appropriate action where warranted. We cannot guarantee to remove all reported content, but we are committed to acting responsibly and fairly. 8. Changes to This Policy We may revise this Acceptable Use Policy at any time by updating this page. You are expected to check this page from time to time to ensure you are aware of any changes, as they are legally binding on you. Some provisions of this Policy may also be superseded by notices published elsewhere on our site. Your continued use of the Service after any changes to this Policy constitutes your acceptance of the revised terms. 9. Contact Us If you have any questions about this Acceptable Use Policy or wish to report a concern, please contact us: Email: admin@rateyourlandlord.co.uk Website: [www.rateyourlandlord.co.uk]