Acceptable Usage Policy

Last Updated: 1 November 2025

1. Purpose and Scope

This Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) defines acceptable and unacceptable use of The Virtuoso Academy’s Services. This policy applies to all users, including individual students, enterprise users, faculty, and visitors.

By using our Services, you agree to comply with this AUP. Violations may result in account suspension or termination, and potentially legal action.

2. General Principles

2.1 Professional Conduct

As a platform for healthcare professionals, we expect:

  • Professional and respectful behaviour
  • Adherence to your professional code of ethics
  • Respect for intellectual property
  • Protection of patient confidentiality
  • Commitment to evidence-based practice

2.2 Lawful Use

You must:

  • Comply with all applicable laws and regulations
  • Respect third-party rights
  • Use Services only for lawful purposes
  • Provide accurate information
  • Maintain appropriate licences and credentials

3. Prohibited Activities

3.1 Illegal Activities

You may not:

  • Use Services for any illegal purpose
  • Violate any laws, regulations, or ordinances
  • Infringe on others’ intellectual property rights
  • Transmit illegal content or materials
  • Facilitate or encourage illegal activity

3.2 Harmful Content

You may not post, share, or transmit content that:

  • Is illegal, harmful, threatening, abusive, or harassing
  • Promotes violence or discrimination
  • Contains hate speech
  • Exploits or harms children in any way
  • Promotes self-harm or suicide
  • Contains explicit or pornographic material
  • Is defamatory, fraudulent, or misleading
  • Violates privacy or confidentiality

3.3 Unauthorised Access and Security Violations

You may not:

  • Access accounts, data, or systems without authorisation
  • Attempt to breach security or authentication measures
  • Probe or test system vulnerabilities
  • Interfere with service integrity or availability
  • Circumvent authentication or security controls
  • Use automated tools (bots, scrapers, crawlers)
  • Reverse engineer or decompile platform content
  • Attempt to access other users’ accounts

3.4 Abuse of Services

You may not:

  • Resell or redistribute course access
  • Share account credentials
  • Create multiple accounts to exploit offers
  • Use Services to compete with The Virtuoso Academy
  • Engage in unauthorised commercial activity
  • Send spam or unsolicited messages
  • Overload systems or conduct denial-of-service attacks
  • Use Services in ways that degrade performance

3.5 Academic Dishonesty

You may not:

  • Submit others’ work as your own
  • Share assessment answers
  • Use unauthorised aids during assessments
  • Fabricate credentials
  • Obtain certificates dishonestly
  • Assist others in academic dishonesty

3.6 Misrepresentation and Fraud

You may not:

  • Impersonate another person or entity
  • Misrepresent your credentials
  • Provide false registration information
  • Engage in fraudulent transactions
  • Use fraudulent payment methods
  • Claim false affiliations

4. Healthcare-Specific Responsibilities

4.1 Patient Privacy and Confidentiality

You must:

  • Never share identifiable patient information
  • Comply with HIPAA, GDPR, and privacy laws
  • Anonymise case studies
  • Obtain consent when sharing data

Prohibited:

  • Posting patient names or identifying details
  • Sharing protected health information
  • Discussing cases in identifiable ways
  • Violating confidentiality obligations

4.2 Professional Scope of Practice

You must:

  • Operate within your licensure and scope
  • Avoid providing medical advice outside qualifications
  • Clarify personal opinion vs evidence-based information

Prohibited:

  • Diagnosing or treating patients via platform
  • Giving medical advice beyond your scope
  • Recommending treatments without disclaimers
  • Misrepresenting expertise

4.3 Evidence-Based Practice

You must:

  • Base statements on evidence and cite sources
  • Distinguish evidence-based content from opinion
  • Acknowledge limitations

Prohibited:

  • Promoting pseudoscience
  • Making unsubstantiated claims
  • Misrepresenting research
  • Spreading medical misinformation

5. Community Guidelines

5.1 Forum and Discussion Participation

Encouraged:

  • Respectful, constructive dialogue
  • Sharing professional insights
  • Asking questions
  • Offering peer support
  • Citing sources

Prohibited:

  • Personal attacks
  • Trolling or disruption
  • Off-topic posting
  • Self-promotion or solicitation
  • Posting copyrighted material

5.2 Peer Review and Feedback

  • Be constructive and professional
  • Focus on content, not the person
  • Provide actionable suggestions
  • Respect diverse perspectives

5.3 Instructor and Staff Interactions

Expected:

  • Respectful communication
  • Professional tone
  • Patience with response times
  • Clear questions

Prohibited:

  • Harassment
  • Demanding immediate responses
  • Abusive language
  • Unreasonable requests

6. Intellectual Property Respect

6.1 Course Content

You may:

  • Use content for personal learning
  • Take notes
  • Use templates in practice

You may not:

  • Record course videos
  • Distribute course materials
  • Reproduce content commercially
  • Remove copyright notices
  • Create derivative works

6.2 Your Contributions

Your Rights:

  • You retain ownership of your content

Our Rights:

  • We may use your contributions for educational purposes
  • We may display your posts or assignments
  • We may use aggregated data for research

6.3 Third-Party Content

You must:

  • Respect copyright
  • Provide attribution
  • Share only content you own the rights to
  • Follow fair use principles

7. Data Usage and Privacy

7.1 Personal Data Protection

You must:

  • Protect login credentials
  • Not share accounts
  • Report breaches
  • Use secure connections

7.2 Monitoring and Compliance

We reserve the right to:

  • Monitor platform activity
  • Review posted content
  • Investigate violations
  • Access account information
  • Preserve evidence

8. Consequences of Violations

8.1 Enforcement Actions

Warning:

  • Minor first offences

Temporary Suspension:

  • Repeated minor violations
  • Single serious violation

Account Termination:

  • Severe violations
  • Repeated unacceptable behaviour

Legal Action:

  • Illegal activity
  • IP infringement
  • Fraud or financial crimes

8.2 Appeals Process

Step 1: Review this AUP

Step 2: Email [email protected]

Step 3: Appeal reviewed within 5 business days

9. Reporting Violations

9.1 How to Report

9.2 What to Include

  • Description of violation
  • Location (URL)
  • Date/time observed
  • Screenshots if relevant

9.3 Protection from Retaliation

Retaliation against good-faith reporters is prohibited.

10. Platform Security Responsibilities

10.1 Your Responsibilities

  • Use strong passwords
  • Enable two-factor authentication
  • Keep contact information current
  • Report suspicious activity

10.2 Prohibited Security Activities

  • Sharing credentials
  • Attempting unauthorised access
  • Testing security measures
  • Exploiting vulnerabilities
  • Interfering with security features

10.3 Responsible Disclosure

Report vulnerabilities to [email protected] before public disclosure.

11. Modifications to This Policy

11.1 Updates

This policy may be updated to reflect service changes, legal requirements, or clarity improvements.

11.2 Notification

  • Email notification
  • Platform notices
  • Updated “Last Updated” date

12. Contact Information

12.1 General AUP Questions

Email: [email protected]

12.2 Report Violations

12.3 Appeals

Email: [email protected]

13. Relationship to Other Policies

This AUP works alongside the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Code of Conduct, and Copyright Policy.