Houfy Community Standards

Introduction:

These Community Standards provide guidance and rules for the use of our services and outline some examples of prohibited conduct in connection with our services. These policies are incorporated by reference into, and governed by the Terms of Service or other similar written agreement between you (Member) and Houfy Inc.

A core value at Houfy is to put our members first. These Community Standards ensure that the conversations taking place each day on our services help our members be more productive and successful and are free of inappropriate and unwanted content or behavior. The Houfy Services are used by people to share information, build their brands, grow their businesses and everything in between. We’re proud of the creative and inspiring ways that people use the Houfy Services. As a Houfy member, you agree not to misuse the Houfy Services or help anyone else do so.

We ask every member on Houfy to act responsibly. If you see something that you believe may violate our policies, please report it to us. This includes whether it appears in profiles, posts, comments, conversations, or anywhere else. These reports, along with our automated defenses, help us identify and prevent abuse and misbehavior. Please use the reporting tools responsibly and only for their intended purposes. To learn more about how to report inappropriate behavior, visit our Houfy Safety Center.

A violation of these policies may result in us taking enforcement actions. Depending on the severity of the violation and a member’s behavior or account history, we may limit the visibility of certain content, remove content from our Services, or even restrict a member’s account in the event of severe or repeated offenses. If you believe action taken on your content or your account was in error, you can submit a request to appeal your case.

1) Integrity & Authenticity

Be trustworthy. Our members must be real people, who provide their real name and accurate information about themselves. We don’t allow fake profiles on our Services and it’s not okay to provide misleading or deceptive information about yourself.

Be professional. We acknowledge the value of discussions around professional activities and ask our members to behave professionally by not being dishonest or inappropriate. When creating content, we ask that you keep it professional, relevant, and on-topic. For more information, see our Publishing Platform Guidelines. Do not share false information or use the services to shock or intimidate others. And it is not okay to share graphic, obscene, or pornographic content on the services.

Be Relevant. Your messages, posts, comments, hashtags, and other content should be on-topic and relevant. Houfy is a professional community for sharing professional content and information, so don’t share content that’s irrelevant or inappropriate.

Be Honest and authentic. Be honest, forthright, and respectful. Only invite people that you know, that are recommended to you by trusted connections, or that you otherwise trust to join your network. Do not share comments, opinions, or other content in a manner that is intended to be misleading or inaccurate or to conceal a conflict of interest or unlawful motive, including to interfere in or improperly influence an election. Do not share content that directly contradicts guidance from leading global health organizations and public health authorities. You may not use the services to share false content or information, including news stories, that presents untrue facts or events as though they are true or likely true. When you share content or endorse someone or something in exchange for personal benefit (including personal or family relationships, monetary payment, free products or services, or other value), you must include a clear and conspicuous notice of the personal benefit you receive.

Impersonation & Misrepresentation. You may not impersonate others or mislead, confuse, or deceive. Pretending to be someone else or representing a business in a way that’s not truthful is not allowed. You’re not allowed to use an image of someone else, or an artificial or synthetic image, as a representation of yourself. You may not post “deep-fake” images or videos of others or otherwise post content that has been manipulated to deceive. You likewise may not associate yourself on Houfy with a business or organization that you are not actually associated with. You may not use or attempt to use another person's Houfy account or create a member profile for anyone other than yourself. When choosing a profile picture, you may not use an image that is not your likeness for your profile. Also, you may not manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any message or post transmitted through the services. The fact that Houfy, in rare cases, may allow clearly fictional profiles with express prior permission does not waive our right to prohibit your false profile or false association with a business or organization.

• Don’t do anything that's false, fraudulent, inaccurate or deceiving.
• Don’t impersonate another person, company or entity.
• Don’t engage in misleading or unethical marketing or advertising.
• Don't create a false identity or forged email address or header, or phone number, or otherwise attempting to mislead others as to the identity of the sender or the origin of a message or phone call.

Spam and scams. We do not allow un-targeted, irrelevant, obviously unwanted, unauthorized, inappropriately commercial or promotional, or gratuitously repetitive messages or other similar content. Do not use Houfy to sensationalize or capitalize on tragic events for commercial purposes. Do not use our invitation feature to send promotional messages to people you don’t know or to otherwise spam people. Please make the effort to create original, professional, relevant, and interesting content in order to gain popularity, instead of trying ways to artificially increase the number of views, re-shares, likes, or comments.

1. Don’t send spam or other unsolicited communications, promotions or advertisements. (We reserve the right to determine what constitutes spam.)
2. Do not use the Houfy Services in connection with unsolicited, unwanted, or harassing communications (commercial or otherwise), including, but not limited to, phone calls, SMS or MMS messages, chat, voice mail, video, or faxes.
3. Do not engage in any unsolicited advertising, marketing or other activities prohibited by applicable law or regulation covering anti-spam, data protection, or privacy legislation in any applicable jurisdiction, including, but not limited to anti-spam laws and regulations such as the CAN SPAM Act of 2003, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act.
4. Don't use the Houfy Services to harvest or otherwise collect information about individuals, including email addresses or phone numbers, without their explicit consent or under false pretenses.
5. Don’t send altered, deceptive or false source-identifying information, including without limitation phishing or spoofing.

2) Safety

Be safe. We strive to maintain a civil and friendly community for our members. The services shouldn't be used to harm others or their business prospects or to air personal grievances and disputes. It is not okay to harass, abuse, or send other unwelcome communications to people (e.g., romantic advances, sexually explicit content, junk mail, spam, chain letters, phishing schemes). We do not allow hate speech, hate groups, terrorists, or those who engage in violent crimes on the services.

Bullying and harassment. We don’t allow bullying or harassment that targets individuals or groups to degrade or shame. This includes abusive language, sexual advances and innuendo, revealing others' personal or sensitive information (aka "doxing"), posting content about them without consent, or inciting or engaging others to do any of the same.

3) Objectionable Content

Hate speech. We don’t allow content that denigrates, intimidates, or incites or threatens hatred, violence, or prejudicial action against individuals or groups because of their actual or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, or mental, medical, or physical condition. Hate groups are not welcome and not permitted on the services.

We do not allow posts or accounts that glorify, celebrate, downplay, or trivialize violence, suffering, abuse, or deaths of individuals or groups. This includes the use of scientific or pseudoscientific claims to pathologize, dehumanize, or disempower others. We do not allow calls for intolerance, exclusion, or segregation based on protected characteristics, nor do we allow the glorification of groups which do any of the above.

We do not allow hateful text, images, symbols, or other content in your username, profile, or bio.

Harmful content and shocking material. We don’t allow graphic or other content intended to shock or humiliate others. We don’t allow activities that promote, organize, depict, or facilitate criminal activity. We also don’t allow content depicting or promoting instructional weapon making, drug abuse, and threats of theft. Content or activities that promote or encourage suicide or any type of self-injury, including self-mutilation and eating disorders, is also not allowed. If you see signs that someone may be considering self-harm, please report it.

• Don’t do or post anything threatening, harassing, abusive, excessively violent, offensive, sexually explicit or obscene.
• Don’t advocate bigotry or hatred against any person or group based on their race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual preference, age or disability.
• Don't use the Houfy Services to transmit any material or content that is offensive, inappropriate, pornographic, obscene, illegal, or otherwise objectionable to any person or entity.
• Don't use the Houfy Services to transmit any material that is, facilitates, or encourages libelous, defamatory, discriminatory, or otherwise malicious or harmful speech or acts to any person or entity, including but not limited to hate speech, and any other material that Houfy reasonably believes degrades, intimidates, incites violence against, or encourages prejudicial action against anyone based on age, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, geographic location or other protected category.

Adult content. It's not acceptable to post content containing nudity or sexually explicit material or language. (Some adult content may be allowed if the intent is clearly educational, medical, scientific, or artistic, and it’s not gratuitously graphic.) The services are never to be used for sexual exploitation of children. You also may not post content that threatens sexual violence or sexual assault. You may not use the services to send unsolicited sexual advances, engage in or promote non-consensual sexually explicit content (e.g., revenge porn), escort services, prostitution, or human trafficking.

4) Violence & Criminal Behavior

Threats of violence and incitement. We do not allow content or actions that threaten, encourage, or incite violence against anyone, directly or indirectly. This includes statements of an intent to kill or inflict serious physical harm. We don’t allow individuals or groups that engage in or promote violence, property damage, or organized criminal activity. You may not use our services to express support for such individuals or groups or to post content or otherwise use the services to incite or glorify violence.

Terrorism. We don’t allow any terrorist organizations or violent extremist groups on our Services. And we don’t allow any individuals who affiliate with such organizations or groups to promote their activities. Content that depicts terrorist activity, that is intended to recruit for terrorist organizations, or threatens, promotes, or supports terrorism in any manner is not tolerated on the services.

5) Respecting Intellectual Property and Following the Law.

• Don’t do anything that otherwise violates the law, including without limitation all local laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content.

Copyright and trademark. We respect the intellectual property rights of others and don’t allow copyright infringement. You may not violate the intellectual property rights of others, including copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, or other proprietary rights. For example, don’t copy or distribute (except through the available sharing functionality) the posts or other content of others without their permission, which they may give by posting under a Creative Commons license. Visit the Houfy Copyright Policy to learn more about how to report copyright infringement. For more information on trademark rules, see our Trademark Policy.

• Don't use Houfy Services to transmit any material that infringes anyone's copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights.

Respect others' rights and follow the law. Before sharing or using someone else's copyrighted works, trademarks, private information, or trade secrets, make sure you have the legal right to do so. The services should not be used for illegal activities, promoting illegal products, or violating the rights of others. Don't use the services to commit fraud or to try to trick others. Also, don't use the services to intentionally distribute viruses, worms, or other software that can destroy or interrupt others' data or computer devices.

Privacy and publicity. You must respect others' privacy on the services. You may not solicit email addresses or other personal information from Houfy members you don't know without authorization; use, disclose or distribute on Houfy any data obtained in violation of any of our policies or agreements; disclose information that you don’t have the right to disclose (such as personal or confidential information of others, including your employer); or post or distribute content depicting children without the necessary consent from such child's legal guardian or parent. Don’t use others' names, likenesses, or photos to suggest an endorsement of a product, service, or investment without their prior consent.

• Don’t violate anyone’s privacy or publicity rights.

Compliance with law. Your use of the services must comply with all applicable laws including, without limitation, privacy laws, intellectual property laws, anti-spam laws, export control laws, tax laws, and regulatory requirements. You may not use the services to create or operate a pyramid scheme, engage in fraud, or to sell or promote illegal products, including drugs.

• Don’t use the Houfy Services in violation of any US export controls, regulations or sanctions.

6) Respecting Houfy's rights.

Respect Houfy's rights. Don't violate the rights of Houfy. For more information about what this means, see our User Agreement . It’s not okay to suggest that you’re affiliated with or endorsed by Houfy when you’re not. Don’t violate our intellectual property rights, scrape the services, or interfere with or disrupt the services.

• Don’t probe, scan or test the vulnerability of any system or network.
• Don’t breach or otherwise bypass any security or authentication measures.
• Don’t access, tamper with or use nonpublic areas or parts of the Houfy Services, or shared areas of the Houfy Services you haven't been invited to.
• Don’t interfere with or disrupt any member, host or network (whether it’s Houfy’s or someone else’s), for example by distributing malware or overloading, flooding or mail-bombing any part of the Houfy Services.
• Don’t take apart, decompile or reverse engineer any part of the Houfy Services in an effort to access things such as source code or algorithms.
• Don’t access, search or create accounts for the Houfy Services by any means other than our publicly supported interfaces (for example, scraping, spidering or crawling).
• Don’t take any action that imposes an unreasonable load on our infrastructure or our third party providers. (We reserve the right to determine what’s reasonable.)
• Don’t provide your password to any other person, use any other person’s username and password, or otherwise manage the Houfy Services through shared credentials.

Unauthorized access and use. You may access the services only in the manner that we expressly authorize, for the tasks that the services are intended for. You may not access the services except through the interfaces intentionally provided by Houfy, such as its mobile applications and Houfy.com.

Interference with the Services. You may not interfere with the functionality of, or our rights in, the services. You may not remove any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary rights notices contained in or on the services.

Respect our rules. You must follow the spirit and letter of our rules, agreements, and policies. You may not violate any additional terms concerning the specific services that are provided when you sign up for or start using such services.

• Don’t use unauthorized credit cards, debit cards or other unauthorized payment devices on the Houfy Services.
• Don’t promote or advertise products or services other than your own without appropriate authorization.
• Don’t sell the Houfy Services unless specifically authorized to do so, or publish or use the Houfy Services on any network or system other than those provided by Houfy unless previously authorized by Houfy.

If we conclude that you’re violating any of these policies, or engaging in any other behavior we deem abusive or inappropriate, we may take action against your Account. We try to ensure fair outcomes, but in all cases we reserve the right to remove any content or suspend your Account, without any refund of any amounts paid for the Houfy Services, without notice, at any time and for any reason. We reserve the right to enforce, or not enforce, these Community Standards at our sole discretion.

You can report violations of these guidelines to us directly by emailing info@houfy.com

We may modify these Community Standards from time to time, and will post the most current version on our site. If a modification meaningfully reduces your rights, we'll notify you in accordance with the procedures set forth in our Terms of Service.

If you have more questions, please join our facebook member group or contact us directly by e-mail.