Terms of Service
- Introduction
- We are the owners and operators of the “Rate your Leader” website (Site) and mobile app (App), which is a platform for users like you (you, and your) which enables you to access content relating to us, your elected leaders and your local community, alongside social and interactive features (Platform).
- Our registered company name is Rate Your Leader Limited and we are a company registered in England and Wales with registration number 11246547. Our registered office and principal place of business is at The Sunderland Software City, Tavistock Place, Sunderland, United Kingdom, SR1 1PB.
- These Terms of Service (Terms) and the associated [Privacy Policy] apply to and shall govern your use of the Platform.
- We are also the data controller for the purposes of any personal data you provide. For information on how we use your personal data, please see the associated [Privacy Policy].
- You must review and accept these Terms before you can use the Platform. You must be 18 or older [(or be 13 or older and have your parent or guardian’s consent)] to use the Platform [DN: will under 18s be allowed to use the Platform?]. By using the Platform, you accept these Terms in full; accordingly, if you disagree with these Terms (or any part of them), you must not use our website.
- We license use of the Platform to you on the basis of these Terms and subject to any rules or policies applied by any app store provider or operator from whose platform you download the App (App Store). We do not sell the App to you. We remain owners of the Platform at all times.
- You must not allow any other person to use your account to access the Platform.
- The Site uses cookies; by using the Site or agreeing to these Terms, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of our [Privacy Policy].
- Registration, Accounts and User Login Details
- You may register for an account through the Platform by completing and submitting the account registration form on [either the Site or the App] [DN: is registration possible through either?], [and clicking on the verification link in the email that the website will send to you] [DN: will this happen in practice?].
- You must not allow any other person to use your account to access the Platform and must notify us in writing immediately if you become aware of any unauthorised use of your account. You must not use any other person’s account to access the Platform.
- When you register for an account through the Platform, you will be asked to choose a user ID and password. Your user ID must not be liable to mislead and must comply with the rules for use of the Platform contained in these Terms, including (without limitation) those set out at clause 4; you must not use your account or user ID for or in connection with the impersonation of any person.
- You must keep your password confidential and notify us in writing immediately if you become aware of any disclosure of your password.
- You are responsible for any activity on the Platform arising out of any failure to keep your password confidential, and may be held liable for any losses arising out of such a failure.
- Accessing the Platform and the content on the Platform
- You may access the Platform either by downloading and installing the App to your device from the App Store[, or via the Site] [DN: will there be any access through a website, or is it all through an app?]. Although we are working to ensure that the Platform is compatible across various devices, we cannot guarantee that the Platform will work with all devices.
- Prior to attempting to install the App on your mobile device, you should check the minimum requirements and specifications (including memory space and operating system) as set out in the App details on the applicable App Store. We will endeavour to support the two most recent versions of the operating systems available in the market (e.g. if iOS 12 is the current version, we will aim to support iOS 11 and iOS 12), but cannot guarantee that any particular version of an operating system will be (or will remain) supported. To download the App, you will need a valid App Store account (as applicable to your mobile device).
- It is your responsibility to ensure that you are able to comply with the relevant system requirements as described above. We accept no responsibility for any lack of functionality that is due to your equipment (including your device, internet connection, operating system or settings and software). Access to parts or all of the Platform and any or all content on the Platform may be restricted from time to time to allow for repairs, maintenance or updating.
- It is also your responsibility to pay for all costs and expenses (including all telephone call or line charges or Internet service data access) that you may incur using the Platform.
- Your use of the Platform and enjoyment of its features and content hosted or made available through the Platform may vary in functionality, availability and quality depending on the type of device and operating system and any restrictions imposed by our content providers.
- Your use of the Platform
- In consideration for you complying with these Terms, we grant you a non-transferable, non-exclusive, revocable licence to use the Platform on your device(s) and to:
- view the content contained on the Platform;
- download pages from the Site for caching in a web browser;
- print pages from the Site
- stream audio and video files from the Site; and
- use services on the Site by means of a web browser and on the App by means of a compatible mobile device,
- In consideration for you complying with these Terms, we grant you a non-transferable, non-exclusive, revocable licence to use the Platform on your device(s) and to:
in each case solely for your personal, non-commercial use, subject to and in accordance with these Terms, the [Privacy Policy] and the applicable App Store rules, which are incorporated into these Terms by reference.
-
- Except as expressly permitted by clause 4.1 or the other provisions of these Terms, you must not download any material from the Platform or save any such material to your mobile device or other computer.
- You agree:
- that you will not use the Platform for any illegal purpose or in any way that interrupts, damages or impairs the service provided by the Platform;
- that you will not access or attempt to access the accounts of other users of the Platform;
- that you will not impersonate any person, or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person;
- not to post or transmit through the Platform any content which is or could reasonably be viewed as:
- hate speech, obscene, harassing, threatening, pornographic, abusive or defamatory to an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religious belief, race, gender, age, disability or otherwise;
- inciting violence, or containing nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence;
- advertising or promoting a third party or your own products or services;
- an unauthorised commercial communication of any kind (including, without limitation, spam);
- fraudulent, inaccurate or misleading, or is otherwise objectionable content of any kind;
- infringing or violating someone else’s rights or otherwise violating the law (including posting or transmitting any material which would be in contempt of court, or in breach of any court order, or which would incite any person to be so in contempt or breach);
- identifying any person without their consent or disclosing anyone else’s personal contact details or invading their privacy; or
- containing software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of the App, or any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
- that any content you post or upload to the Platform or otherwise make available via the Platform is owned by you and does not breach the requirements set out in clause 4.2(d)(i) – 4.2(d)(viii) above;
- to refrain from doing anything which is defamatory, offensive, damaging or which we believe might damage our reputation, or that of the Platform, or a provider of services accessed through the Platform;
- not to copy the Platform or any content on the Platform except where such copying is incidental to the normal non-commercial use of the Platform, or where it is necessary for the purpose of back-up or operational security;
- not to make alterations to, or modifications of, the whole or any part of the Platform or any content on the Platform, or permit the Platform or any part of it to be combined with, or become incorporated in, any other programs;
- not to infringe our intellectual property or our other licensors’ intellectual property in relation to your use of the Platform;
- that you are solely responsible for your interactions with other users and users through the Platform;
- that you will not collect other users’ and users’ content or information, or otherwise access the Platform, using automated means (such as harvesting bots, robots, spiders or scraping techniques) or otherwise, without our prior written permission (which we may grant or withhold at our sole discretion);
- that you will not violate the directives set out in the robots.txt file for the Site;
- that any content you upload or post to the Platform (with the exception of private messages, which are confidential in nature) will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary and that such content may be viewable by any users of the Platform (whether registered or unregistered). You will own your content, but you hereby grant us, our licensees and any third parties and other users of the Platform (each as we determine) a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferrable, sub-licensable, worldwide licence to use, store and copy that content and to distribute it and make it available to third parties via any and all media, including, without limitation, the right for us to upload and make available and to authorise third parties to upload and make available such content on third party sites and services, including social media applications and channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram and on the Publisher’s own websites;
- that you waive any moral rights or equivalent rights in any jurisdiction in relation to any content that you upload or post to the Platform and that we can use such content without referencing you as the author of such work and that we can adapt and amend such content in our sole discretion;
- to compensate and defend us fully against any claims or legal proceedings brought against us by any person as a result of your breach of these Terms;
- to keep your password secure at all times and not to disclose your password to any other person;
- not to allow any other person to use or access your account; and
- to comply with all laws applicable to you.
- If you learn of any unlawful material or activity on the Platform, or any material or activity that breaches these Terms, please let us know by emailing us at [ ]@[rateyourleader.com] [or by reporting it through the Platform] [DN: does the Platform support this?].
- Termination and Breaches of these Terms
- We may terminate these Terms and close your account at any time without notice if we cease to provide the Platform or any part of it.
- In addition to our right to remove any content from the Platform, we reserve the right to suspend, restrict or terminate your access to the Platform at any time without notice if we have reasonable grounds to believe you have breached any of these Terms. We also reserve the right to disable your account at our reasonable discretion. Suspension, restriction or termination of your access to the Platform will not limit our right to take any other action against you that we consider appropriate.
- Where we suspend or prohibit or block your access to the Platform or a part of it, you must not take any action to circumvent such suspension or prohibition or blocking (including without limitation creating and/or using a different account).
- You may close your account and terminate your agreement with us at any time by emailing us at [ ]@[rateyourleader.com].
- Intellectual Property
- You acknowledge that the Platform, the content provided on the Platform and all copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, source code, object code and other intellectual property associated with any of them are, and shall remain, the property of us or our licensors. You are not granted any intellectual property rights in or to the Platform or the content on the Platform except as expressly set out in these Terms. You are not authorised to use our logos or trade marks or trade names (whether registered or unregistered) in any manner.
- You may only use the Platform for personal, non-commercial purposes.
- [We also use third party software, full details of which can be found [here] for Android and [here] for iOS.] [DN: delete if not required]
- The third party registered and unregistered trade marks or service marks on the Platform are the property of their respective owners and, unless stated otherwise in these Terms, we do not endorse and are not affiliated with any of the holders of any such rights and as such we cannot grant any licence to exercise such rights.
- Licensing
- The service and content provided through the Platform and the Platform itself are our property or the property of our licensors.
- You are strictly only entitled to use the Platform, and consume content made available through the Platform, in accordance with these Terms.
- The Platform and any other software made available to you via the Platform (including the App) is licensed (and not sold) to you, meaning that we or our licensors continue to own all copies of the Platform and other software (including the App) when it is installed on your device. We may freely assign these Terms or any part of them, but you may not assign or otherwise transfer your rights under these Terms, or any part of them, nor may you sub-license your rights under these Terms, to any third party.
- These terms do not grant you any rights to use any of our or our licensors’ intellectual property, such as trade marks, domain names, logos or other branded features, which belong to us and our licensors respectively.
- User Generated Content and Moderation; Notice and Takedown
- We respect the intellectual property rights of others and expect users of the Platform to do the same.
- As part of the functionality of the Platform we may allow you and other users to upload, transmit and send content, data, ideas, communications and other materials to the Platform (User Generated Content).
- You represent and warrant that you own or control all rights in and to your User Generated Content and have the right to grant the license granted pursuant to clause 4.3(m) to us and our affiliates and our service providers, and each of their and our respective licensees, successors and assigns. We are under no obligation to, and we do not, review such materials for the purposes of determining copyright infringement and, as such, your reliance on User Generated Content is at your own risk.
- Additionally, because we have no control over User Generated Content, you acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible for the accuracy or availability of User Generated Content, and we neither endorse, nor are responsible or liable for, any User Generated Content that appears on the Platform.
- We shall have the right (but not the obligation) to delete, remove, monitor, or edit User Generated Content and block links to the Platform through technological or other means without prior notice.
- We also have the right to moderate User Generated Content and user accounts based on any community guidelines which we may post within the Platform from time to time (Community Guidelines). We also reserve the right to terminate access to the Platform if we believe a user is posting infringing material or if a user has breached our Community Guidelines.
- If you are a rights holder and you believe that your copyright is being infringed by any material on the Platform, please contact us via email at [ ]@[rateyourleader.com] or by post to [Rate Your Leader Limited, The Sunderland Software City, Tavistock Place, Sunderland, United Kingdom, SR1 1PB], stating:
- your contact details;
- identification of the material to which the complaint relates and which appears on the Platform, which is reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material; and
- proof that you are the rights holder and a statement that you are the rights holder or are an authorised representative.
- Personal Data
- For information about how we use your personal data, please see our associated [Privacy Policy].
- Our Legal Obligations
- Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence or fraud.
- We are not responsible for:
- losses, damage, costs or expenses not caused by our breach of these Terms;
- the actions or omissions of our licensors introduced to you through the Platform;
- the actions or omissions of other users of the Platform;
- any indirect or consequential loss or damage which means a loss suffered by you which is a side effect of the main loss or damage and where we could not have anticipated that type of loss arising when you agreed to these terms; or
- any harm, loss or damage suffered by you or anyone else if the Platform is interrupted, suspended or otherwise not provided to you or if we do not comply with these Terms because of events beyond our control (for example, industrial disputes, technical difficulties, failure of or delays in communications networks, acts of terrorism or power failure).
- For any loss or damage suffered by you or anyone else that may arise from use of the Platform and which is not otherwise excluded under this clause 10, to the extent permitted by law, our liability is limited to £100.
- Disclaimer and Technical Limitations
- We do not endorse or take any responsibility for statements, advertisements or any content whatsoever transmitted through, or linked to from or via, the Platform by other users or third party service providers. We are not responsible for any transaction you may enter into with a third party via the Platform and it is up to you to decide whether or not to do so.
- The Platform and the service provided through it is provided without express or implied warranty or condition of any kind, on an “as-is” basis, subject to applicable law. You agree that you must evaluate, and that you bear all risks associated with, the use of the Platform, including without limitation, any reliance on the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any materials available through the Platform.
- We have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption or loss of business opportunity.
- You acknowledge and accept that your access to the Platform is dependent on connectivity over communications networks and facilities that are outside of our operation and/or control (including the internet) and that your use of the Platform may be subject to limitations, delays and other problems inherent in the use of such networks and facilities.
- We disclaim all warranties with respect to the Platform including, but not limited to, the warranties of non-infringement and title. We give no warranty that your use of the Platform will be uninterrupted or error free, that the information obtained from the Platform will be accurate, complete, current, or reliable, that the quality of the Platform will be satisfactory to you, or that errors or defects will be corrected. You acknowledge and accept that we are not responsible for any loss or damage of any kind that you may suffer as a result of any interruption or delay to your access to the Platform, or as a result of any failure or error in the transfer of data over those networks and facilities in connection with your use of the Platform.
- Third party sites or services
- The Platform may include and link to features, websites and services and social applications such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram) that are provided by a third party. We do not control such third party sites or services and are not responsible for the content of such sites or services. Our inclusion of links does not imply any endorsement or association with their operators. The terms applicable to use of that third party service will apply and (subject to clause 10.1) we will not be responsible for anything that is done or not done by you or the third party service provider in connection with your use of their service. We recommend that you check the applicable third party service’s terms and conditions of use and sale before using such third party service or purchasing any products or services.
- Changes
- We may occasionally make changes to the Platform or these Terms. If we do, we’ll notify you either by updating the effective date of these Terms listed above, or via the Platform. You must accept these changes in order to continue using the Platform. You should stop using the Platform if you disagree with any changes to the Platform or these Terms.
- From time to time we may issue updates to the App via an App Store. Depending on the update, you may not be able to use the App until you have downloaded the latest version of the App and reviewed and accepted any new terms.
- Disputes
- Unless otherwise required by applicable law, any disputes in connection with these Terms will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and the courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction to hear any claims made in relation to these Terms. If the court in your country will not apply the laws of England and Wales, or if the courts in your country will not permit you to consent to the jurisdiction of the courts in England and Wales, then your local law and jurisdiction will apply to such disputes related to these Terms.
- Other Important Legal Terms
- You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms to anyone else.
- If you breach these Terms and we take no action against you, or if we delay in doing so, that will not mean that we have waived our rights against you and we will still be entitled to enforce our rights and remedies against you in relation to that breach and to use our rights and remedies in any other situation where you breach these Terms.
- If any part of these Terms is disallowed or found to be ineffective by any court or regulator, the remainder of the Terms will continue to govern each of our respective obligations.
- These Terms are not intended to give rights to anyone except you and us.
- Except as otherwise expressly stated, these Terms and our [Privacy Policy] contain the entire agreement between us and you relating to use of the Platform and supersede any previous agreements, arrangements, undertakings or proposals, written or oral, between us, the Publisher and you relating to use of the Platform.
- Contacting Us
- If you need to contact us, please email us at [ ]@[rateyourleader.com] or write to us at [Rate Your Leader Limited, The Sunderland Software City, Tavistock Place, Sunderland, United Kingdom, SR1 1PB].
- If we have to contact you, we will do so by e-mail to the address you provide to us when you signed up for the Platform [or via the App]