Acceptable Use Policy

This Acceptable Use Policy ("Policy") outlines the rules and standards for using the services, website, and platform provided by Church Loop ("we," "us," or "our"). By accessing or using www.churchloop.co and its associated tools (the "Service"), you agree to comply with this Policy.

Our mission at Church Loop is to help UK churches follow up with visitors and manage their communities with warmth and clarity. To maintain the integrity of our platform and ensure a positive experience for all users, we require that every church and individual user adheres to these guidelines.

1. Compliance with Laws

You must use the Service in compliance with all applicable local, national, and international laws and regulations. This includes, but is not limited to:

• The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
• The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
• Laws regarding intellectual property, privacy, and data security.

2. Communication Standards (SMS and Email)

Church Loop provides tools for SMS and email messaging to assist with visitor follow-up, pastoral care, and event management. To protect recipients, our sending reputation, and the wider Church Loop community, you agree to use these features in a warm, respectful, and lawful way. In particular, you agree not to:

• Send spam or unsolicited messages:You must not use the Service to send unsolicited bulk messages or "spam." You may only message people who have a clear relationship with your church and a reasonable expectation of receiving your communications.
• Message without a lawful basis or required consent: You must ensure you have the appropriate legal basis under applicable law (including PECR and UK GDPR) to contact each recipient (for example, consent where required, or legitimate interest where appropriate). You are responsible for maintaining appropriate records and honouring preferences.
• Ignore opt-outs or preferences:You must provide and respect opt-out/unsubscribe requests and any "do not contact" preferences promptly. You must not attempt to re-subscribe people without their clear permission.
• Use misleading or deceptive practices: You must not send messages with misleading headers, subject lines, identifiers, or forged sender details, or otherwise misrepresent who you are or why you are contacting someone.
• Harass or pressure people: You may not use the Service to harass, threaten, stalk, intimidate, or repeatedly contact someone in a way that is unwanted or distressing.
• Sell, rent, or scrape contact lists: You must not buy, sell, rent, share, harvest, or scrape phone numbers or email addresses, or upload lists where recipients did not knowingly provide their details to your church (or did not otherwise have a reasonable expectation of being contacted).
• Abuse deliverability or platform limits: You must not take actions intended to bypass sending limits, filtering, consent requirements, or deliverability controls (including using multiple accounts to avoid restrictions).

If you're unsure whether a particular message or list is appropriate to send, please contact us at hello@churchloop.co before sending.

3. Prohibited Content

You are responsible for all content uploaded, posted, or distributed through Church Loop. You agree not to use the Service to host or transmit content that:

• Is unlawful, defamatory, or libellous.
• Promotes discrimination, hate speech, or violence against individuals or groups based on race, religion, gender, disability, or sexual orientation.
• Infringes upon the intellectual property rights (including copyright and trademarks) of others.
• Contains viruses, malware, or any other harmful computer code.
• Is sexually explicit or otherwise inappropriate for a professional church management environment.

4. System Integrity and Security

To ensure the stability, security, and performance of Church Loop for all churches, you agree not to:

• Attempt to bypass, disable, or circumvent any security or authentication features of the Service.
• Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service, or breach or attempt to breach any security or access controls.
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the source code of the platform, except to the extent such restriction is prohibited by law.
• Use automated systems (such as bots, spiders, or scrapers) to access the Service in a manner that sends more request messages to our servers than a human can reasonably produce in the same period, or that materially impacts other users.
• Interfere with, disrupt, or attempt to disrupt the proper working of the Service, including by introducing malware, running denial-of-service attacks, or placing an unreasonable load on our infrastructure.
• Access, attempt to access, or use data or accounts that are not yours, or attempt to intercept, exfiltrate, or misuse data transmitted to or from the Service.

If you believe you've found a security issue, please report it responsibly to hello@churchloop.co and don't publicly disclose details until we've had a chance to investigate.

5. Account Security

• You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials.
• You must notify us immediately at hello@churchloop.co if you suspect any unauthorised access to your account.
• Accounts are intended for use by authorised church staff and volunteers; sharing credentials across multiple organisations is prohibited.

6. Monitoring and Enforcement

We reserve the right, but do not assume the obligation, to monitor content and usage to ensure compliance with this Policy and to protect the Service, recipients, and other users. If we determine, in our sole discretion, that a user has violated this Policy (or if we reasonably believe there is a risk of harm, abuse, or legal non-compliance), we may:

• Issue a warning or request that you take specific corrective action (for example, cleaning a list, updating consent practices, or changing message content).
• Remove, disable, or restrict access to content or features (including SMS/email sending).
• Suspend or terminate access to the Service (including immediate suspension where we believe it's necessary to prevent harm, protect deliverability, or comply with law).
• Report suspected illegal activities to the relevant authorities.

We'll aim to be fair and proportionate, but repeated or serious violations may lead to account suspension or termination.

7. Changes to This Policy

Church Loop may update this Acceptable Use Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law or our Service. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the updated policy on our website. Your continued use of the Service after such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new terms.

8. Contact Us

If you have any questions regarding this Policy or wish to report a violation, please contact us at:

Church Loop
Email: hello@churchloop.co
Website: www.churchloop.co