Acceptable Use Policy

Last updated: [LAST UPDATED] · Effective: [EFFECTIVE DATE]

Draft — not legal advice. Review with a licensed attorney before use.

This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") is part of the Terms of Service and applies to everyone who uses [PLATFORM NAME] — Customers, Cooks, Teams, and Companies. If you violate this AUP, we may remove content, suspend or terminate your account, withhold payouts, reverse transactions, and report unlawful activity to authorities.

1. General conduct

You must use the Platform lawfully and respectfully. You must not:

• Break any applicable law or regulation, or facilitate anyone else doing so.
• Provide false, misleading, or fraudulent information, or impersonate any person, business, or entity.
• Infringe others' intellectual‑property, privacy, or publicity rights.
• Harass, threaten, defame, or discriminate against any person, including on the basis of a protected characteristic.
• Interfere with, disrupt, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Platform, other accounts, or our systems (including scraping, credential stuffing, rate‑limit evasion, or probing security controls without authorization).
• Circumvent fees, payment, verification, or moderation systems.

2. Food safety and vendor conduct (Cooks, Teams, Companies)

If you list or prepare food, you must:

• Comply with all applicable food‑safety, cottage‑food, licensing, labeling, and health laws for your location and operation, and maintain any required permits, inspections, or certifications.
• Prepare, store, and hand off food at safe temperatures and under sanitary conditions, and honor the hot/refrigerated/frozen handling represented in your listings.
• Accurately describe dishes, including ingredients and known major allergens, and not misrepresent nutrition, origin, or preparation.
• Not list or sell prohibited items (see Section 3), and not sell alcohol, cannabis, or other regulated substances unless expressly permitted and separately licensed.
• Fulfill accepted orders and honor negotiated reservations/catering, or promptly communicate and refund when you cannot.

3. Prohibited items and listings

You must not list, sell, or deliver:

• Food that is unsafe, adulterated, recalled, expired, or prepared in violation of law;
• Alcohol, tobacco/nicotine, cannabis, controlled substances, or other regulated products without the required licenses and our prior written approval;
• Non‑food items, counterfeit goods, weapons, or anything illegal; or
• Anything that infringes a third party's rights.

4. Content standards (listings, photos, reviews, messages)

Content you submit must not:

• Be false, deceptive, or manipulative (including fake reviews, review trading, or self‑reviews);
• Contain others' personal data without a lawful basis, or expose private information;
• Be obscene, hateful, harassing, or otherwise objectionable; or
• Contain malware, spam, or unsolicited advertising.

Reviews must reflect a genuine, first‑hand experience. Messaging is for coordinating orders, reservations, and catering — not for spam, solicitation off‑Platform to evade fees, or abuse.

5. Platform integrity and security

You must not:

• Use bots, scrapers, or automated means except as expressly permitted;
• Reverse‑engineer, decompile, or tamper with the Platform;
• Introduce malware or attempt denial‑of‑service; or
• Test or exploit vulnerabilities without our prior written authorization. To report a security issue responsibly, contact [security@…].

6. Enforcement

We may investigate suspected violations and take any action we consider appropriate, including warning, content removal, feature limits, payout holds, transaction reversals, account suspension or termination, and cooperation with law enforcement. We may act with or without notice where necessary to protect users or comply with law. Enforcement decisions are at our reasonable discretion and do not waive our other rights.

7. Reporting

Report unsafe food, abuse, or policy violations to [support@…] (or the in‑app reporting tools). For intellectual‑property complaints, see the Copyright & DMCA Policy.