Terms of service

1. Agreement

These terms are a contract between you and RateMyColleague (“we”) for the use of RateMyColleague. By using the site you agree to them, to the Review Guidelines and to our Privacy Policy.

2. What RateMyColleague is, and isn't

RateMyColleague publishes people's firsthand opinions about working with professionals. Reviews are the opinions of their authors, not statements of fact by us. We moderate content but do not verify the accuracy of every claim.

We are not a consumer reporting agency. You must not use content on this site as a factor in decisions about anyone's eligibility for employment, credit, insurance, housing or similar purposes.

3. Accounts

• You must be at least 18 and sign in with a Google account you control. One person, one account.
• You are responsible for activity on your account. Tell us immediately about unauthorised use.
• You may delete your account at any time from your settings.

4. Your content

You keep ownership of what you post. You grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, display, moderate and distribute it in connection with operating and promoting the service, and to keep moderation records as described in our Privacy Policy. When you submit a review, you confirm that:

• it describes your own firsthand professional experience with the person;
• it is honest and, to the best of your knowledge, accurate;
• you have no undisclosed conflict of interest and were not paid or rewarded for it;
• it does not breach any confidentiality obligation, such as a non-disclosure agreement, or anyone's rights; and
• it follows the Review Guidelines.

5. Moderation and enforcement

Reviews and responses are checked before publication by automated systems (which may include AI) and people. We may decline, hide, remove or restore content, and restrict accounts, when content or behaviour breaks these terms or the law. We do not remove reviews merely because they are negative. When we make a decision about your content or account we tell you why, and you can appeal from your dashboard.

6. Professionals

If a profile is about you, you can claim it after verification, respond publicly to reviews, dispute reviews that break the guidelines, and request corrections or removal. Claiming a profile does not let you edit or remove reviews, and we never accept payment to remove or alter reviews. Retaliating against reviewers, or attempting to identify anonymous reviewers, is prohibited.

7. Prohibited conduct

• Fake, paid, incentivised, coordinated or duplicate reviews, or reviewing yourself or a competitor.
• Harassment, threats, hate speech, doxxing or sharing others' private information.
• Impersonation, including falsely claiming a profile.
• Scraping, bulk downloading, automated access or circumventing bot protection and rate limits.
• Interfering with the service's security or other users' use of it.

8. Notices of unlawful content

Anyone can report a review or profile using the links on the site. Legal notices (for example defamation, privacy or copyright complaints) can be sent to trust@ratemycolleague.example with the URL, the content concerned and why it is unlawful. We review notices promptly and act in line with applicable law. [Confirm notice-and-action procedures required in your jurisdictions, e.g. the EU Digital Services Act.]

9. Disclaimers

The service is provided “as is”. To the extent permitted by law, we disclaim warranties of accuracy, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Content reflects the views of its authors.

10. Limitation of liability

To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, and our total liability for any claim relating to the service is limited to the greater of USD 100 or the amount you paid us in the past 12 months (which is usually nothing). Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

11. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify us against claims arising from content you post or your breach of these terms, where permitted by law.

12. Termination

You can stop using the service at any time. We may suspend or end access for breaches of these terms, with notice and reasons where required.

13. Governing law

[Choose governing law and venue with counsel. Consumers keep any mandatory protections of their country of residence.]

14. Changes and contact

We may update these terms and will notify signed-in users of material changes. Questions: trust@ratemycolleague.example.