Acceptable use policy

This Acceptable Use Policy supplements and forms part of the Terms of Use, and sets out the terms under which you may access and use these websites and the services we provide via these websites ("Services"). This Acceptable Use Policy applies to all users of, and visitors to, these websites. Your use of these websites means that you accept, and agree to comply with, this Acceptable Use Policy.

We may change this Acceptable Use Policy from time to time, so you should check it regularly. If you continue to use these websites, you will be deemed to have accepted any amended or updated Acceptable Use Policy. If there is any conflict between this Acceptable Use Policy and any terms or notices published elsewhere on these websites, the latter will prevail.

1. Prohibited uses

You may only access and use these websites in accordance with the Terms of Use (including this Acceptable Use Policy) and for lawful purposes. You may not access or use these websites:

  • to send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does not comply with this Acceptable Use Policy or otherwise breaches the Terms of Use;
  • in any way that breaches any applicable law or regulation;
  • in any way that is illegal, unlawful or fraudulent, or has any illegal, unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect;
  • for the purpose of harming or attempting to harm anyone in any way;
  • to transmit, or procure the sending of, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation (spam);
  • for the purposes of "scraping", "crawling" or conducting any similar activity in relation to any pages within these websites or the Services, whether using manual or automated software, devices or other means;
  • to knowingly transmit, send or upload any data, code or other materials that disrupt, disable, harm, impede or otherwise adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware or that surreptitiously intercept or expropriate, including viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code;
  • without authority, to interfere with, damage or disrupt: (a) any part of these websites or the Services; (b) any equipment or network on which these websites are hosted; (c) any software used in the provision of these websites or the Services; or (d) any equipment or network or software owned or used by any third party;
  • or use the Services by any means other than through the standard interfaces we provide through these websites.

You must not collect, hold, use or transfer any personal data obtained from these websites or the Services except where the owner of the personal data has consented to you doing so.

Interactive services

We may, from time to time, provide interactive services on these websites, including, without limitation chat rooms, bulletin boards and professional networking areas.

We are providing these websites and Services as a platform and communication portal only, and all content posted on and/or transmitted via these websites is the responsibility of the person who submitted the content. We are under no obligation to and do not select, edit, modify, monitor or moderate any content posted on and/or transmitted via these websites and cannot take responsibility for any such content.

Additional terms and conditions may apply to your use of an interactive service on these websites, and you should read them carefully before using the relevant interactive service.

2. Content standards

The following standards apply to any and all content which you upload to these websites, and to your participation in any interactive services offered on these websites.

Content must:

  • be civil and tasteful;
  • comply with all applicable law;
  • not contain any defamatory, malicious, false or misleading material;
  • be genuinely held (where it contains opinions);
  • not contain any material which is patient sensitive or confidential;
  • not contain any material which is unlawful, offensive, hateful, inflammatory, racist, sexually explicit, blasphemous, discriminatory or otherwise objectionable;
  • not contain or promote any indecent, obscene or sexually explicit material;
  • not be likely to encourage or promote violence, racial or religious hatred or discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age;
  • not infringe any copyright, database right, trade mark or any other intellectual property or other proprietary right of any other person (which means that generally you must own the rights in everything you submit or must obtain permission from the rights owner to submit the material);
  • not be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence;
  • not promote, encourage, assist or constitute any conduct that is a criminal offence, gives rise to civil liability or is otherwise unlawful such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse;
  • not be disruptive, intimidatory, harassing, threatening, abusive, invade someone's privacy, or cause (or be likely to cause) annoyance, inconvenience, embarrassment, alarm, needless anxiety or distress;
  • not be used to impersonate any person, imply or represent that you are affiliated with us (unless we have given you written permission to do so) or otherwise misrepresent your identity, affiliation or status;
  • not prejudice any active legal proceedings of which you are aware.

3. Suspension and termination

If we consider that you have breached this Acceptable Use Policy, we may take any action we reasonably deem appropriate in the circumstances, including any or all of the following actions:

  • issuing a warning to you;
  • suspending and/or permanently withdrawing your right to access and use these websites and/or the Services;
  • temporarily and/or permanently removing any posting or other content uploaded by you to these websites;
  • issuing legal proceedings against you;
  • for repeated and/or serious breaches of this acceptable use policy, disclosing information to relevant third parties including your employer and/or law enforcement authorities.

Where we suspend or terminate your access to and/or use of these websites, you must not attempt to access or use these websites (including by using someone else's subscription) or re-subscribe for Services (as applicable) without our permission.

We exclude all liability for any loss or damage arising from or in connection with our actions taken in response to breaches of this Acceptable Use Policy.