This document informs you of the terms of use on which you may make use of the Support Room provided by Victim Support (Homicide Service). These Terms of Use are to be used together with our Privacy and Cookie Policies and Fair Processing Notice. These policies set out the terms on which we process any personal data that we collect from you, or that you provide to us and also information about the cookies that we use on our sites. By using Victim Support sites, including the Support Room, you agree to us processing your personal data in line with the policies stated and you confirm that all data provided by you is accurate.

Amendments to these Terms of Use

Victim Support may amend these terms of use at any time by amending this page. Please check this page from time to time to ensure that you are aware of any changes that are made as they are conditional to your use of this service.

Accessing the Support Room Forum

Unless otherwise stated, the Support Room is available free of charge and is provided to act as an additional support site for you to use.

We do not guarantee that the Support Room, content or functionality on the site will be available at all times or will not be interrupted. Access to the forum is permitted on a temporary basis and we may suspend, withdraw discontinue or change the forum or access to it without prior notice. We will not be liable to you if the site is unavailable for any reason, at any time or for a period of time.

You are responsible for ensuring that all persons who access the forum using their own individual access credentials, through your internet connection, e.g. a separate family member, that they are aware of these terms of use and that they abide by them.

Amendments to the Support Room Site

We may update or change the content of the forum at any time. Please be aware that any of the content on the forum may not be accurate and up to date at any given time. We will endeavour to ensure content is accurate and up to date, however we are under no obligation to update it.

Your Account Credentials (Username / Password)

When you are provided with user account access credentials in order to access the forum, you must treat them as confidential as they apply only to you. You must not share these credentials with any other person or third party.

We have the right to disable any user account at any time if in our reasonable opinion you have not complied with any part of these terms of use.

If you know or suspect that these access credentials are known by any other person other than yourself, you must notify the forum support helpdesk immediately tsrtechsupport@victimsupport.org.uk and provide details regarding the potential credentials breach. The support helpdesk will follow internal procedures including suspending the account while undertaking an investigation. Once this is complete we will re-activate your account and you will be required to change your password at next logon.

Placing / Removing Content on the Forum

The forum currently allows you to upload and share text. In the future, we hope to also provide the ability to upload images, photographs and potentially other types of content material. Ways in which you may be able to publish and share content on the forum include (but may not be limited to):

a)    Articles;

b)   Blog posts;

c)    Forum community content including forum posts and user comments.

When posting content to the forum you agree that:

a)    The content is accurate;

b)   The content may be reviewed by us prior to publication and we may either amend appropriately in part or whole or we may reject the publication entirely.

We have the right to remove any content posted to the forum for any reason, including if, in our opinion, the content addition does not comply with the Acceptable Use Standards set out in this document.

Views expressed by other users of the forum do not represent the views or values of Victim Support.

Any content that you download or copy from the forum for your own personal use must not be modified in any way from the original content. You are not permitted to extract any contributions or conversations from the forum or take screen shots of the forum and post anywhere else including on any other form of social media, e.g. Facebook.

Acceptable Use Standards

a)      Prohibited Use

You may only use the forum for lawful purposes and in line with your provided access. You may not use the forum:

·      In any way that breaches any applicable law or regulation whether that be local, national or international;

·      In any way that is unlawful or fraudulent;

·      For the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors, those that may be vulnerable or any other persons in any way;

·      To send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any content or material which does not comply with our content standards detailed within this document;

·      to knowingly transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses or malware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware.

You also agree:

·      Not to access without relevant authority, interfere with or damage / disrupt:

o   Any part of the forum;

o   Any equipment or network on which the site is provided;

·      Not to allow anybody access to the forum using your credentials

b)     Content Standards

These content standards apply to any and all content that you provide to the forum. You must comply with the following:

Contributions MUST:

·      Be accurate where facts are stated;

·      Be genuinely held where opinions are expressed;

·      Comply with applicable law both in the UK and in any country where content is posted.

Contributions MUST NOT:

·      Discuss any element of an active criminal case or proceeding that may impact on the outcome of the ongoing investigation (This does not preclude you from discussing the relevant case in general terms);

·      Discuss any evidence relating to a criminal case, including where this has not been disclosed to relevant authorities;

·      Contain any material which may be deemed defamatory of or to any person;

·      Contain any material which is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory;

·      Promote sexually explicit material;

·      Promote violence;

·      Promote any discrimination based on race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, nationality, disability or age;

·      Contain details intended to mislead any person(s);

·      Promote any illegal activity;

·      Be threatening, abusive or invade another person’s privacy, or deliberately cause any annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety to another person;

·      Be likely to deliberately harass, upset, embarrass or annoy any other person;

·      Be used to impersonate any other person or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any other person;

·      Advocate, promote or assist in any unlawful act.

c)      Private Messaging

Our site enables you to send private messages to other users. You therefore agree that our acceptable use & content standards apply to all such private messages. For the avoidance of doubt, we have the power and right to access and review all private messages transmitted via our site and may do so in our sole discretion if we think it is necessary or if we receive a report of abuse from another user.

d)     Suspension and Termination of Access Rights

We will determine whether there has been a breach of our Terms of Use. Where a breach is deemed to have occurred, we may take any action we deem necessary and appropriate.

Failure to comply with these Terms of Use may result in us taking all or any of the following actions:

·      Immediate withdrawal of your right to use the forum (either temporary or permanent);

·      Immediate removal of any content provided by you to the forum (either temporary or permanent);

·      Issue a warning to you;

·      Take further legal action against you if deemed appropriate;

·      Disclose any relevant information or material to law enforcement authorities as we believe necessary.

We exclude liability for actions taken in response to breaches of our terms of use, including our acceptable use & content standards. The responses described above are not limited, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.

Third Party Links / Resources within the Forum

Our forum may contain features, articles and other content which is published for and on behalf of, or is otherwise sponsored by, third parties. Such content is provided for information only and does not represent our views or opinions or an endorsement of any particular brand, product or service.

Where our forum contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources.

We may also provide information about third party products and services, as well as the opportunity to purchase such products and services. In the event that you choose to do so, you will be taken to the relevant third party's website in order to complete your purchase. The third party will have its own terms & conditions which you should read prior to using their site, or purchasing any products or services.

Viruses

You are responsible for configuring your information technology in order to access our forum. You should use your own virus protection software.

You must not misuse our forum by knowingly introducing any form of malicious software. You must not attempt, or allow anyone else to attempt, to gain unauthorised access to our forum, the server on which our forum is stored or any server, computer or database connected to our forum. You must not attack our forum via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use our forum will cease immediately.

User Content Removal

You have the right to request the deletion of your user account and personal data by contacting us at DPO@victimsupport.org.uk

Upon your request to delete your account we will offer you 2 options. One which will allow deletion of your account along with all posts that you have contributed. The second choice will allow for deletion of your account and posts to remain within the Support Room. These posts will be anonymised in that your details will not be attributed to the actual post, however, any content naming or identifying yourself or other people will not be amended or changed.

Content Removal Process

We may, but shall have no obligation to, monitor the content published on our forum and remove, edit and/or block, content or accounts posting content that we determine, in our sole discretion, violates these terms of use.

If you become aware of any content which you believe may be in contravention of these terms of use, is defamatory, offensive, illegal, or invades your privacy, please report the post via the ‘Report Post’ button or contact the support helpdesk immediately at tsrtech@victimsupport.org.uk with applicable details.

We will review the content in question and determine whether it should be removed. As 'innocent disseminators' of the content on this forum, our policy is to remove content only when there is a clear legal obligation for us to do so, or we believe that the terms of this document have been breached – we will defend our users' right to freedom of speech if we have sufficient reason to believe that content was posted in good faith, without malice and is the honestly held opinion of the person authoring the content.

We will notify you of our decision regarding any requested removal as soon as reasonably practicable. This decision is final but if you disagree with this decision you are welcome to follow the Victim Support Complaints process https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/more-us/contact-us/complaint-about-victim-support.

Limitation of Our Liability

Nothing in these terms of use excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, or our fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by English law.

To the extent permitted by law, we exclude all conditions, warranties, representations or other terms which may apply to our forum or any content on it, whether express or implied.

We will not be liable to any user for any loss or damage, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, even if foreseeable, arising under or in connection with:

·      use of, or inability to use, our site; or

·      use of or reliance on any content displayed on our site.

We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a virus, distributed denial-of-service attack, or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other proprietary material due to your use of our forum or to you downloading any content on it, or on any website the Support Room provides a link to.

We assume no responsibility for the content of websites linked to from our forum. Such links should not be interpreted as endorsement by us of those linked websites. We will not be liable for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.

Applicable Law

These terms of use, its subject matter and its formation, are governed by English law. You and we both agree that the courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim or dispute.

Contact Us

To contact us regarding these terms of use or any other matter regarding the Support Room, please email tsrgeneralenquiries@victimsupport.org.uk

Updated 04/2019

Under data protection requirements Victim Support is required to inform you how we will process information that we hold in relation to you.

Legal basis of processing

Information relating to the Support Room can be split into:

• Information that you provide to Victim Support that allows your Support Room account to be set up and administered (Account information) – This information is controlled by Victim Support
• Information that you chose to contribute to the Support Room, your feed of information (Feed information) – While Victim Support will address content that is not in line with the Terms of use for the Support Room, this information is controlled by you and is processed by Victim Support on your behalf

This Fair Processing Notice relates to Support Room Account information

• In completing the signing up process in order to obtain a Support Room account, Victim Support understands that you give your consent (explicit consent where required under data protection law) for Victim Support to process the Account information

What Account information we will hold

• The information will be personal details about you to allow Victim Support to set up and administer your Support Room account
• Your Internet Protocol (IP) address in order to allow us to monitor site requests, and log in and failed log in figures
• Such information is held electronically with appropriate technical and organisational measures in place to ensure it is retained securely
• Why we will hold your Account information and what we would do with it
• Victim Support uses your information to administer your Support Room account
• Your information will normally only be seen by Support Room (Victim Support) support staff and third parties hosting the Support Room service. It will also be available to any other users of the Support Room that you choose to share the information with.
• Your information may also be used for statistical purposes (statistical information is anonymous)

Why we would share your Account information

There are exceptional circumstances where we may have to disclose your information without your permission. These are:

• If we believe that either you or someone else is at risk of significant harm; Victim Support individuals have a duty to report any issues relating to child protection or adult safeguarding
• Where there is another legal reason or requirement to disclose your information

How long we would hold your Account information

The information will be retained for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the information is processed, normally to the point you request your account to be deleted or in line with Victim Support Information Retention Policy. There may be circumstances where it is appropriate within legal and best practice requirements to retain the information for longer.

Your rights

• Data protection requirements mean that you have specific rights in relation to your Account information held by Victim Support. You have a right to:
• Be informed of how information about you will be used (Right to be informed)
• Access information held about you (Right of access)
• Request that information about you that is inaccurate or incomplete be rectified (Right to rectification)
• Request deletion or removal of information about you in specific circumstances (Right to erasure)
• ‘Block’ or suppress processing of information about you (Right to restrict processing)
• Obtain and re-use information held about you for your own purposes across different services (Right to data portability)
• Object to processing of information about you (Right to object)
• Withdraw consent at any time where your information is being processed based on that consent, for example if you decide to close your Support Room account or where Victim Support is sharing your information based on previously provided consent
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office in relation to processing of information about you. The Information Commissioner’s Office can be contacted at: 

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

You have a right to object to the processing of information about you.

If you have any questions relating to this Fair Processing Notice, or to exercise your rights in relation to your Account information held by Victim Support, please contact either:

Victim Support
1 Bridge Street
Derby
Derbyshire
DE1 3HZ

or email dpo@victimsupport.org.uk