Terms and conditions

Durham County Council has, together with Go Vocal, set up this online engagement platform which aims to give as many people as possible the opportunity to think and talk about County Durham.

These contributions are subject to a number of rules to keep the debate open and constructive. Below you can find the general conditions of our platform, as we are convinced that clear rules provide the best guarantee for a constructive online community.

Because Go Vocal appreciates the feedback of the users of their platform, your ideas are welcomed to further improve the platform. You can forward your suggestions to support@govocal.com.

Who can register on the online engagement platform?

Anyone who wants to, can follow the conversations online. Everyone can take part in a survey or poll, or read any submitted ideas and reactions. But if you want to participate in a debate (sharing your own ideas, putting forward comments or responding to other ideas, or supporting existing contributions), you have to create an account.

You can register via your e-mail address or create an account by simply linking it to your Facebook or Google profile.

The creation of an account by a user does not give this user ownership over the account. Durham County Council reserves the right to refuse, suspend or delete accounts, for example if the user does not comply with the following rules or has previously been denied or removed from Durham County Council's account.

Each account must comply with the following rules:

• Every account is strictly personal
• Each account must be unique and linked to a natural person. Every user has the right to create one account. If it is determined that one person has multiple accounts, Durham County Council reserves the right to delete all these accounts.
• Every user must have reached at least the age of 16 years.
• An account cannot be transferred to another person.
• Since each account is strictly linked to one specific person, this account cannot be transferred to another person without the permission of Durham County Council. This transfer ban must be considered in the broadest sense. Durham County Council reserves the right to refuse or delete this account in case of infringements.
• An account cannot be used for commercial purposes. The Let's Talk County Durham platform is intended to increase participation. An account can therefore only be used in that sense. Any use of the account for the sole purpose of enjoying a commercial advantage is prohibited.
• The account information must always remain confidential
• It is not allowed for another person than the actual person who created the account, to use this account. The person who creates the account must ensure that (s)he keeps the password and login details. We advise you to use a "strong" password (a password with a combination of lowercase, uppercase letters and numbers). Durham County Council and Go Vocal can under no circumstances be held responsible for any loss or damage incurred to the account if the above conditions are not met by the user. Durham County Council and Go Vocal cannot be held responsible for theft of your account, for example by 'phishing', either. Durham County Council and Go Vocal will never ask its users for personal data such as a login or password via e-mail. If personal data is requested, the user will always be redirected to the Let's Talk County Durham platform.

Limitations to content and use of the platform

To ensure that the Let's Talk County Durham platform is working properly and that you can communicate and connect with others, there are some restrictions on the type of content that can be published via the platform:

Offensive behaviour

We firmly believe in freedom of speech. However, in order to ensure that the platform can be used in a constructive way by the users, with respect for different opinions and without people having to be afraid to express their opinions or convictions, we do not allow offensive behaviour that harasses, intimidates or uses fear to silence another user.

Accounts and related accounts with which the actions below are performed can be temporarily blocked and / or permanently deleted.

Violent threats (direct or indirect)

You may not threaten or promote violence, including the promotion of terrorism.

Harassment

You may not incite to, or be involved in, deliberately insulting or harassing others. Here are some factors that we can take into account when assessing abusive behaviour: whether the main purpose of the reported account is harassing or sending offensive messages to others; whether the reported behaviour is unidirectional or contains threats; whether the reported account encourages others to intimidate another account; and whether the reported account sends intimidating messages to an account from multiple accounts.

Hatred

You may not promote violence against other people or directly attack or threaten them on the basis of race, ethnic background, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, philosophical affiliation, age, disability or illness. We also do not allow accounts whose main purpose is to incite others to do harm on the basis of these categories.

Misuse of multiple accounts

Creating multiple accounts for overlapping use to avoid temporary or permanent suspension of an individual account is not allowed.

Private data

You may not publish or post confidential data and private information of others without their express authorisation and consent. These data include, for example, credit card numbers, address details, telephone numbers or data that constitute the personal privacy of a person.

Impersonation

You may not be allowed to enter via the platform if someone else deceives, confuses or threatens in a manner that actually decks or threatens others.

Spam

We strive at all times to protect the Let's Talk County Durham platform user from technical abuse and spam. Accounts in which the actions below are performed can be temporarily blocked or permanently deleted.

Malware / phishing / viruses / worms / Trojans: You may not post malicious content or links to such content for the purpose of damaging or disrupting someone else's browsers or computers, or of violating someone's privacy.

Spam: You cannot use the Let's Talk County Durham platform to spam people.

Infringement of applicable laws

The use of the account may not in any way infringe applicable laws. This includes infringements against privacy legislation, intellectual property rights, the criminal code, etc.

The account may not be used in any way to promote illegal activities.

In case of breaches of the aforementioned rules

Durham County Council reserves the right, if it detects infringements on the aforementioned rules, to delete the relevant messages and even suspend or permanently delete user profiles.

Durham County Council cannot be held liable in any way for messages posted by users or third parties, which violate the above rules. The web administrator will strictly supervise that these rules are not violated. If a user detects an infringement, they can report this to letstalk@durham.gov.uk.

It is possible that files can be downloaded via the platform, whether or not due to a user, or that users place harmful hyperlinks. Every download by a user or click on a hyperlink, placed by a user, is done at their own risk and any damage incurred is completely and solely the responsibility of this user.

Intellectual property rights

Durham County Council and Go Vocal respect the intellectual property rights of others and expect that users of this platform also respect these rights. Durham County Council reserves the right to remove content that infringes intellectual property rights. Repeated infringements of intellectual property rights of any kind by a user will give rise to the suspension or removal of the account by Durham County Council.

Infringements against intellectual property rights can be reported to letstalk@durham.gov.uk.

Property rights - Go Vocal

Go Vocal's platform is protected by intellectual property rights that relate to content, source code, database, etc. The use of this platform in no way means a transfer of these intellectual rights to the users of the platform. Every user must be aware of these rights and must act accordingly.

It is thus forbidden to reproduce, distribute, modify or transmit the platform and its contents without permission.