Acceptable Use Policy

1. What this policy covers

This Acceptable Use Policy is part of the Terms of Service and applies to everyone who uses Braid Shift — braiders, salon owners and clients — and to everything you do in the app: profiles, listings, posts, photos, comments, reviews, messages, applications and bookings.

2. Prohibited conduct

• Fraud and deception: taking payment or deposits without providing the agreed service, falsifying qualifications, experience, licensing, insurance or business details, or using a false identity.
• Harassment and threats: harassing, intimidating, threatening, stalking, or repeatedly contacting someone who has asked you to stop; hate speech; discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age or national origin.
• Unlawful activity: using the Service to break the law, to arrange unlawful services, or to launder money or move funds that do not relate to genuine work arranged through the app.
• Unauthorised access: attempting to access an account, record or area of the Service you are not authorised to access; probing, scanning or testing the security of the Service without written permission.
• Malicious or disruptive behaviour: uploading viruses or malicious code; scraping or bulk-extracting data; overloading the Service; bypassing access controls, paid features or commissions.
• Misuse of other people's information: sharing private information about someone else (including addresses, phone numbers, financial details or private messages) without their consent, or using information from the app to contact someone off-platform in a way they did not agree to.
• Manipulating trust signals: posting fake reviews, asking someone to leave a review for work that did not happen, reviewing your own account, or coordinating reviews to inflate or damage a rating.
• Payment circumvention: arranging work through the app and then moving the payment off-platform to avoid fees, or asking another user to do so.
• Spam and misuse of communication: unsolicited advertising, promotional bulk messages, chain messages, or using messages to send content unrelated to the Service.
• Intellectual property violations: uploading photos, logos, text or other content you do not own or have permission to use.
• Minors: involving anyone under 18 in work or services arranged through the Service.

3. Content rules

• Do not upload content that is unlawful, defamatory, sexually explicit, violent, hateful, or that promotes any of the conduct listed above.
• Only upload photos you own or have permission to use, and only where you have the consent of any identifiable person shown.
• Do not publish anyone else's personal or financial information.
• Do not make claims about licensing, certification, insurance or experience you cannot support.

4. Safety rules

• Do not offer or accept services that require a licence, permit or professional certification you do not hold.
• Follow the sanitation, health and safety requirements that apply to your work and your premises.
• Do not work, or ask anyone to work, while impaired, and do not bring weapons or engage in violence at a shift or appointment.
• Do not use the app to arrange services for anyone under 18.
• Report a safety concern immediately — a person in immediate danger should be helped by local emergency services first.

5. Reporting a violation

• Use the report control on the profile or listing involved — it lets you choose a reason and describe what happened.
• Or use the Contact & Legal Requests page, or email not yet configured, with the account or listing, a description of the problem, dates, and anything that supports it (screenshots help).
• Reports can be filed confidentially, and we do not have to share your identity with the person you reported. Filing a knowingly false report is itself a violation.

6. What happens after a report

• We review the report and any records on the Service that are relevant to it.
• We may contact you or the other party for more information, and we may ask a user to verify details of their profile.
• In a suspected safety emergency or where required by law, we may act immediately without first notifying the account involved.
• We may preserve records relating to a report for as long as needed to investigate, to enforce this policy, or to comply with a legal obligation.
• We may involve law enforcement where we believe there is a credible risk of harm or where we are legally required to do so.

7. Consequences

• Depending on what happened, we may remove content, issue a warning, restrict a feature (such as posting or messaging), suspend an account, or terminate an account.
• Serious violations — fraud, threats, violence, theft, or unlawful activity — may result in immediate suspension or termination without a warning.
• We may hold funds or delay payouts while investigating a payment-related violation, and we may reverse a commission record where a transaction is refunded or disputed.
• We may report conduct to law enforcement or a regulator where the law requires it or where it is necessary to prevent harm.

8. Appeals and questions

If you believe a decision about your account was wrong, contact us at not yet configured with the account and the decision, and explain why. A person will review it. We will tell you the outcome, and we may keep the restriction in place while a payment, safety or legal matter is unresolved.

9. Contact

Reports, appeals and questions about this policy: not yet configured.