Acceptable Use Policy

This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") explains what you can and cannot do when using the Y.O.D.O. website and web application (together, the "Service"). It applies to Account Holders, Delegates, Recipients (where applicable), and visitors who use any logged-in features.

This AUP forms part of the contract under the Y.O.D.O. Ltd Terms and Conditions. If there is any conflict, the Terms take precedence.

1. The basics

You must use the Service lawfully, responsibly, and in a way that does not harm other people, their rights, or the security and reliability of the Service.

You are responsible for:

• What you upload and send through the Service
• Who you invite (Delegates and Recipients)
• Ensuring you have the right to share another person's details with us for the purposes of using the Service

2. Prohibited content and behaviour

You must not use the Service to create, upload, store, send, share, or otherwise make available any content that:

2.1 Illegal or harmful content

You must not use the Service for content that:

• Is illegal in the UK or in the place where you are using the Service. This includes content that is criminal under the Online Safety Act 2023 priority illegal content categories (terrorism, child sexual exploitation and abuse material, encouraging or assisting suicide, hate offences, fraud and financial offences, drugs and weapons offences, harassment and stalking, controlling or coercive behaviour, false communications offences, foreign interference offences, and other named offences). The above list reflects the priority illegal content categories as at the date of this policy. Y.O.D.O. will update this section once Ofcom publishes its final illegal-content codes under the Online Safety Act 2023 and will maintain an illegal-content risk assessment proportionate to our size as a small user-to-user service.
• Content that incites violence, hatred, or harassment.
• Content that threatens, intimidates, or stalks someone.
• Content that exploits or endangers children.

2.2 Abuse, harassment, and discrimination

• Is abusive, harassing, hateful, or discriminatory
• Promotes hatred against a protected characteristic

2.3 Sexual content involving minors

Any sexual content involving minors is strictly prohibited (including any depiction, grooming, or sexual exploitation). We will take immediate action and may report to the National Crime Agency, the Internet Watch Foundation, the relevant EEA authority, or other authorities where required by law.

2.4 Non-consensual intimate content

• Shares sexual or intimate images or recordings of someone without their consent
• Includes "revenge porn" or any content intended to humiliate or coerce

2.5 Infringement of rights

• Infringes intellectual property rights (copyright, trademarks, etc)
• Breaches someone's privacy rights, including sharing personal data without a proper basis
• Includes confidential information you do not have the right to share

2.6 Fraud and deception

• Impersonates another person or misrepresents your identity.
• Is used to scam, defraud, or mislead others.
• Is used to falsely report someone's Passing, or to interfere with Passing verification. By submitting a Passing report and any supporting evidence (including a death certificate), the Delegate warrants to Y.O.D.O. that the report is true to the best of their knowledge and that the supporting evidence is genuine and complete. False reporting may also be a criminal offence under the Fraud Act 2006 or equivalent and may be referred to law enforcement.
• Misuses the Partner referral programme, for example by referring yourself, sharing a Partner code with people it was not meant for, or trying to claim the 15% Partner discount in any dishonest way (see Schedule F of our Terms).

2.7 Technical abuse and security risks

You must not:

• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Service, accounts, systems, or data
• Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of our systems
• Introduce malware, spyware, or other harmful code
• Scrape, harvest, or collect data from the Service without permission
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract source code, except to the extent permitted by applicable law

2.8 Disruption and misuse

You must not:

• Interfere with or disrupt the Service, networks, or infrastructure
• Use the Service in a way that causes unreasonable load or harms availability
• Use automated methods to access or use the Service unless we have expressly permitted it

3. Rules for inviting other people

When you invite someone as a Delegate or Recipient, you must:

• Have a lawful basis to share their contact details with us for the purpose of the invitation and service operation
• Use accurate contact details
• Not invite people in a way that could reasonably be seen as harassment or abuse

If someone asks you not to invite them or to stop contacting them about Y.O.D.O., you should respect that request.

4. Rules for Messages, attachments, and sensitive content

Y.O.D.O. may be used for deeply personal content. That does not relax the rules above.

You must not upload:

• Content that violates another person's rights
• Content that could cause serious harm if shared unlawfully
• Content you do not have permission to share

You are responsible for the content you create and upload.

We do not read or scan the content of your sealed Messages. Message content is encrypted at rest and is not monitored. We may become aware of a potential breach through a user report or a third-party notification, not through reviewing your content. Where we are made aware of a potential breach, we review what has been reported and take proportionate action as described in section 6.

5. Identity verification and Passing verification misuse

You must not:

• Attempt to bypass identity verification
• Submit false or misleading information during any verification step
• Upload altered, forged, or misleading documents
• Pressure or coerce others to complete verification steps improperly

Misuse here is treated as a serious breach.

6. What we can do if you breach this policy

If you breach this AUP (or we reasonably suspect you have), we may take one or more of the following actions, depending on severity and risk:

• Remove or restrict access to specific content
• Restrict features (for example uploads or invitations)
• Suspend your account
• Terminate your account
• Block abusive IP addresses or devices
• Report unlawful activity to relevant authorities where required or appropriate

We will act reasonably and proportionately. For serious breaches (especially involving child safety, fraud, or security threats), we may act immediately without notice.

7. Reporting misuse

If you believe someone is misusing the Service, contact us at info@yodo.ltd with:

• The account email (if known)
• A brief description of the issue
• Any relevant screenshots or timestamps

Do not send identity documents or death certificates by email. If documentation is required, we will direct you to the secure in-app flow.

Report illegal content (UK Online Safety Act 2023 and EU Digital Services Act Article 16)

Any person or entity may notify us of content on the Service they consider illegal. Email info@yodo.ltd with the subject line "Report illegal content". To enable us to act, your notice should include, in line with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act):

• a sufficiently substantiated explanation of the reasons why you allege the content is illegal;
• a clear indication of the exact electronic location of the content (for example, the exact URL or in-Service identifier), and where necessary additional information enabling the identification of the content;
• your name and email address (except where the report concerns content believed to involve offences under Articles 3 to 7 of Directive 2011/93/EU on child sexual abuse, in which case anonymous reporting is accepted); and
• a statement confirming the bona fide belief of the person submitting the notice that the information and allegations contained in it are accurate and complete.

We will send a confirmation of receipt without undue delay (target: within 2 business days) and will process notices in a timely, diligent, non-arbitrary, and objective manner. Where a notice contains the elements above, it is deemed to give rise to actual knowledge or awareness for the purposes of Article 6 of the Digital Services Act. Where a report concerns child sexual abuse material or a serious and immediate risk to a person, we act immediately and may report to the National Crime Agency, the Internet Watch Foundation, the relevant EEA authority, or other competent authorities required by law.

Statement of reasons (EU Digital Services Act Article 17)

Where we impose any of the restrictions listed below on a recipient of the Service in the EEA on the basis that content provided by them is illegal or incompatible with our Terms or this Acceptable Use Policy, we will provide that recipient with a clear and specific statement of reasons without undue delay. Restrictions covered include: removal of, disabling of access to, or demoting content; suspension or termination of monetary payments; and suspension or termination of an account. The statement of reasons will include: the type of restriction; the facts and circumstances relied on (including, where relevant, whether the decision was triggered by a notice or by our own-initiative review); information on any use of automated means in the decision; the legal or contractual ground relied on; and information on redress (including our complaints process and, where applicable, judicial redress and out-of-court dispute settlement under Article 21 of the Digital Services Act).

Statements of reasons will not be issued where the content is deceptive high-volume commercial content, or where we are subject to a legal obligation prohibiting us from doing so. Internal appeals can be made by replying to the statement of reasons or via our Complaints policy.

Internal review of content-moderation decisions

If we restrict, suspend, or terminate access to your account or content, you may ask us to review that decision. Submit a request by replying to the statement of reasons or by emailing info@yodo.ltd with the subject line "Moderation review" within 6 months of the decision. We will:

• acknowledge receipt within 2 business days;
• have the case reviewed by a person who was not involved in the original decision;
• provide a reasoned response within 14 calendar days, or, where the case is complex, tell you how much longer we need and why;
• reverse the original decision without undue delay where the review concludes that the content or activity did not constitute illegal content or a breach of these Terms or of this Acceptable Use Policy.

Internal review does not affect your right to bring proceedings in court or, where applicable, to use an out-of-court dispute settlement body under Article 21 of the Digital Services Act.

8. Changes to this AUP

We may update this AUP from time to time. We will update the "Last Updated" date and may provide additional notice where changes are material.

9. Users outside the UK and EEA

If you are using the Y.O.D.O. Service from a country outside the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area, you remain bound by this Acceptable Use Policy and the Terms of Service. You are responsible for ensuring that your use of the Service does not breach the laws of the country in which you are located. Y.O.D.O. operates from the United Kingdom and applies UK and EEA standards; we do not assess your use against the law of any other country. If your use becomes unlawful in your country, you must stop using the Service.

We do not accept sign-ups from countries or persons where the supply of our Service is prohibited by applicable sanctions, export controls, or other laws that bind us.