BOSS Terms & conditions

Website Terms & conditions

businesswales.gov.wales/boss is managed by the Welsh Government (referred to as "We" below). In entering this site you as a user ("You") are accepting these terms and conditions. This page was last updated on 1 October 2012.

The Welsh Government's business support services including businesswales.gov.wales/boss is available for your personal use and viewing. The access and use of businesswales.gov.wales/boss featuring these terms and conditions constitutes your acceptance of these terms and conditions. They take effect from the date on which you first use this website.

You agree to use this site only for lawful purposes, and in a manner that does not infringe the rights of, or restrict or inhibit the use and enjoyment of, this site by any third party. Such restriction or inhibition includes, without limitation, conduct which is unlawful, or which may harass or cause distress or inconvenience to any person, and the transmission of obscene or offensive content or disruption of normal flow of dialogue within this site.

You are prohibited from posting or transmitting via this website any unlawful, defamatory, obscene, offensive or scandalous material, or any material that constitutes or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offence, likely to give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violates any law. We will fully co-operate with any law enforcement authorities or court order lawfully requesting or directing us to disclose the identity of anyone posting any such information or materials on this website.

The Freedom of Information Act and your Information

We are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations, 2004 (EIR). This means that any information we hold, including any information you provide to us, is potentially disclosable if caught by a FoI request. Should any information you provide to us be caught by a request, we will normally consult with you to seek your views on what harm, if any, would arise from the release of the information into the public domain.

Except as stated elsewhere in this Privacy Policy, we will not share the information you provide to us with any other third party unless:

we are under a duty to disclose or share the information in order to comply with any legal obligation (i.e. FOIA);
in order to enforce or apply our User Terms and any other relevant agreements;
to protect the rights, property or safety of others;
if we outsource or transfer the management and/or operation of all or part of this Website to a third party, to enable that third party to continue to provide you with access to the Website or any of the services provided by the Website.

Linking to and from businesswales.gov.wales/boss

We welcome and encourage other websites to link to the information that is hosted on these pages, and you don’t have to ask permission to link to businesswales.gov.wales/boss.

However, we don’t give you permission to suggest that your website is associated with, or endorsed by businesswales.gov.wales/boss.

Where our site contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources, and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.

Using businesswales.gov.wales/boss content

businesswales.gov.wales/boss is published under the Open Government Licence, and you can reproduce information from the site as long as you obey the terms of that licence.

The material featured on this site is subject to Crown copyright protection unless otherwise indicated.

The names, images and logos identifying The Welsh Government are proprietary marks of the Welsh Government. Copying or use of the logo and/or any other third party logos accessed via this website is not permitted without prior approval from the relevant copyright owner.

Requests for permission to use the Welsh Government logo should be should be directed to the Welsh Government Corporate Communications Branding Team

Email: brandingqueries@gov.wales

Disclaimer

The businesswales.gov.wales/boss website and material relating to government information, products and services (or to third party information, products and services), is provided 'as is', without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind whether express or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, compatibility, security, completeness and accuracy.

We do not warrant or represent that the functions contained in the material available on this site will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or that this site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or represent the full functionality, accuracy or reliability of the materials.

In no event will we be liable for any expense, loss or damage including, without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any expense, loss or damage whatsoever arising from use, or loss of use, of data, or loss of profits, arising out of or in connection with the use of businesswales.gov.wales/boss or reliance on its content.

No data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed as totally secure. Whilst we strive to protect such information, we do not warrant and cannot ensure the security of any information which you transmit to us. Accordingly, any information which you transmit to us is transmitted at your own risk.

The businesswales.gov.wales/boss website is not a substitute for independent professional advice and users should obtain any appropriate professional advice relevant to their particular circumstances.

The material on this website may include the views or recommendations of third parties, which do not necessarily reflect the views of the Welsh Government, or indicate its commitment to a particular course of action. We assume no responsibility or liability arising in respect of any such third party material.

Governing law

These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Any dispute arising under these terms and conditions shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Virus protection

We make every effort to check and test material at all stages of production. You must take your own precautions to ensure that the process which You employ for accessing this website does not expose You to the risk of viruses, malicious computer code or other forms of interference which may damage your own computer system. It is always wise for You to run an anti-virus program on all material downloaded from the internet.

We cannot accept any responsibility for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or your computer system which may occur whilst using material derived from this website.

Variation

We may at any time revise these terms and conditions without notice. Please check regularly. Continued use of the businesswales.gov.wales/boss website after a change has been made is your acceptance of the change.

General

We accept no liability for any failure to comply with these terms and conditions where such failure is due to circumstance beyond our reasonable control.

If We waive any rights available to us under these terms and conditions on one occasion, this does not means that those rights will automatically be waived on any other occasion.

If any of these terms and conditions are held to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal for any reason, the remaining terms and conditions shall nevertheless continue in full force.

Privacy & cookies

businesswales.gov.wales/boss privacy policy

We aim to make sure that we adhere to a sound privacy policy. We're only collecting information that will:

help us make the site work better for you
let us contact you if you've asked us to
let us keep you informed of relevant updates and changes to business support if you subscribe to our newsletters
let us give you accurate local information if you need it
give us a sense of how people are using the site, so we can keep improving it.

The information we collect

We collect the following information from people visiting the website:

the questions, queries and feedback people leave, including your email address if you send us email
personal and business details (e.g. your name, business name, email address, region)
visitors' IP addresses, and details of which browser they used
information on how people use the site, using cookies and page tagging techniques

If you send us feedback, we will keep a record of your message.

More about cookies

businesswales.gov.wales/boss uses small data files stored on your computer called 'cookies'. Most big websites do this. They help us improve the website experience for you. Find out what we use them for, and how to control their use on our cookies page

How we use your information

Any information we collect is used to:

improve the content and design of the website
contact you (with your permission) to respond to feedback
contact you through our newsletters to send you information about possible support for your business, and associated news

We will not share your information with other organisations for marketing, market research or commercial purposes, and we don’t pass on your personal information to any other website.

Connecting to other websites

This site contains links to and from websites of government departments and other organisations. We should make it clear that this privacy policy (the one you're reading) only applies to this businesswales.gov.wales/boss site.

Following a link to another website

If you go to another website from this one, please read the privacy policy on that website if you want to know what it does with your information.

Following a link to businesswales.gov.wales/boss from another website

When you come to businesswales.gov.wales/boss from another website, we may get personal information about you from the other website. You should read the privacy policy of websites you visit that link you to businesswales.gov.wales/boss if you want to know about this.

Linking to and from www.businesswales.gov.wales/boss

The Welsh Government welcomes and encourages other websites to link to the information that is hosted on these pages, and you don’t have to ask permission to link to it.

However, we don’t give you permission to suggest that your website is associated with, or endorsed by, businesswales.gov.wales/boss.

Content you post on the www.businesswales.gov.wales/boss

You are responsible for all content (including information, text, pictures, photographs, messages, reviews, notes, videos software, your name or company name and other files or material) that you upload or post on the site or communicate to other users through the site. If you did not create content that you post or otherwise make available to the site, it is your responsibility to ensure that you have the necessary consent from the owner of the content to use it on the site. You are responsible at your own cost for creating backup copies and replacing any content that you upload or post on the site or provide to us.

In order to ensure that the full benefits of the site are realised by all users businesswales.gov.wales/boss would encourage you to upload your content as you see fit. So that others may access and benefit from your content, businesswales.gov.wales/boss needs to ensure that it has your permission to make your content available. You therefore agree to give businesswales.gov.wales/boss (as providers of the site), a non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any content that you upload, post or otherwise make available on the site.

You must not upload, post, or otherwise transmit any content (including but not limited to text, links, communications, software, images, sounds, data, or other information) that includes any of the following inappropriate content:

any personal information belonging either to the poster or another person, such as full name, address, phone number, personal email address;
spam, such as advertisements for other web sites and services, or other commercial solicitation; chain letters, or pyramid schemes, polls or petitions;
flooding the forum boards with excessive posting or padding posts;
profanity; material that is libellous, fraudulent, unlawful, defamatory, pornographic, obscene, profane, racist, sexist, abusive, offensive, threatening, hateful, or otherwise objectionable;
discussion of illegal activities or providing links to other websites containing such information;
discussions that veer off topic, are unrelated to resolving the issue at hand, are repetitive or campaigning, that promote products or services from other providers, or abuse any company or product;
Repetitive or continuous complaints about businesswales.gov.wales/boss policy including allegations of abuse of privacy, use of third party suppliers or any other policy for any purpose;
Discussions of moderator actions on the boards. If you need to comment on a moderator action, please contact us;
Posting or transmitting any information or software containing a virus, worm, Trojan horse, or other damaging or destructive component;
Posting a link directing users to any information or content that, if posted on the Site would constitute a violation of the Guidelines or Terms of Use.
"Bombing" the site or individual threads with repetitive or meaningless postings, postings unrelated to the purpose of the businesswales.gov.wales/boss Forums; excessive cross-posting;
Attacks, including "Flaming" another user or entity in such a way as to incite or perpetuate an argument or conflict; creating usernames to attack other users' identities; impersonating other individuals or falsely representing one's identity or qualifications; posts made under secondary user names or other aliases for the purpose of either endorsing or denigrating others; posts that breach any participant's privacy by including name, address, phone, email address, or any other identifying information.
Evading bans or suspensions or otherwise disregarding directions from moderators or administrators.

businesswales.gov.wales/boss reserves the right to take necessary action if you carry out any of the activities described above.

You agree to indemnify businesswales.gov.wales/boss against all claims and proceedings arising from infringement of any third party's intellectual property rights as a result of content that you have posted on or made available on the site. This indemnity does not apply to claims or proceedings arising from businesswales.gov.wales/boss use of your content other than in accordance with these Terms. businesswales.gov.wales/boss can withdraw your content at anytime without notice.

User Conduct

You agree not to use the site (or any part of it) to:

act in any way that is unlawful or defamatory, in contravention of any license, third party rights, or in contravention of any guidance that businesswales.gov.wales/boss may give to you;
damage, disable, overload or affect the operation of the site;
collect email addresses or other contact information of other users from the site by any means for the purposes of sending unsolicited emails or other unsolicited communications;
solicit personal information, passwords or other personally identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes;
solicit participation in public discussion, debate, comment or activity outside this site;
register yourself for more than one account, or register on behalf of another individual or group without our written consent;
provide false or misleading information about yourself or your business, or create a false identity; or
use or attempt to use another's account, service or system without businesswales.gov.wales/boss prior written authorization.

businesswales.gov.wales/boss takes any misuse of the site very seriously and therefore you agree to take all necessary steps to make sure that you do not misuse the site. If businesswales.gov.wales/boss reasonably believes that you have misused the site (or any part of it) in any way, then businesswales.gov.wales/boss may terminate your registration, remove your content, and/or suspend or terminate your access to the site without notice. businesswales.gov.wales/boss will be under no obligation whatsoever to reinstate your registration.

You agree to indemnify businesswales.gov.wales/boss and any affected 3rd party against all legal fees, damages and other expenses that we may reasonably incur as a result of any misuse of the site (or any part of it).

If you believe that any content displayed or made available on the site includes any of the above offences, then please let businesswales.gov.wales/boss know through our contact page which is displayed on the site.

businesswales.gov.wales/boss reserves the right to manage the postings on the boss forums to provide an orderly presentation of this information. To effectively manage the site, businesswales.gov.wales/boss may designate employees or others to act as moderators and administrators for the site ("Moderators"). These Moderators are the only representatives of businesswales.gov.wales/boss authorised to manage the boss forums. Any Welsh Government employees who are not designated as Moderators or Employees are not authorised to represent themselves on the site as Welsh Government employees. Authorised Welsh Government Employees are distinguished by the rank of "Employee" and/or an official boss logo as an Avatar. businesswales.gov.wales/boss is not responsible for content provided by any Welsh Government employee who is not designated as a Moderator or an Employee.