Terms & Conditions



Please note that by using this website or our mobile applications (for example our iPhone and iPad apps) (a “Site”) and participating in the Matters community panel (“Panel”), you accept these Terms. If you do not accept these Terms, do not use this Site or register with the Panel. We may change these Terms from time to time, so you should review them each time that you visit the Site. Your use of the Site and participation in the Panel following any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. You should print a copy of these Terms for future reference. These Terms were last updated on 31st January 2023.

1. About us


1.1. The Panel and the Site are administered and operated by STRAT7 Researchbods, a division of STRAT7 Limited, a company registered in England under company number 07642707 with a registered office at 11 Soho Street, London, W1D 3AD, United Kingdom (“we”, “us”, “our”). Please contact us using the member support page or by emailing support@matterscommunity.co.uk.

1.2. We administer and operate the Panel and Site on behalf of Associated Newspapers Limited, a company registered in England under company number 84121 with a registered office at Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London, W8 5TT (“ANL”). ANL owns all rights and interests in the Panel and the Site.

1.3. References to “you” or “your” mean you as a member of the Panel and user of the Site.

2. Using our Site


2.1. You may view (and, where applicable, listen to) the content available on the Site for personal non-commercial use. You may occasionally print individual webpages on the Site for your private non-commercial use, provided that such printing is not substantial or systematic and ANL’s and our trade marks and copyright and trade mark notices are not removed.

2.2. Unless otherwise stated in these Terms, you must not (whether directly or indirectly) copy, download, store, make available, distribute, sell or offer to sell all or any part of the content or Site, or download or otherwise copy (whether directly or indirectly) any content, files or data from the Site to make or populate a database or publication of any kind whatsoever.

2.3. You may only play video or audio files using the media player on the Site.

2.4. You must not use all or any part of the Site or the contents on it for commercial purposes without our permission.

2.5. Users, whether or not registered, must not abuse our ‘Report Abuse’ facility, e.g. by making malicious reports.

3. Registration


3.1. You must be 18 years old or older to register and submit material (e.g. comments) to the Site and participate on the Panel. Membership in the Panel and use of the Site is free.

3.2. Only one registration per person is allowed. Registration is open to individuals only (not to any business entities). You must keep your registration information up to date. We will require the following details in order to register you as a member of the Panel: forename, surname, region, email address and date of birth. All details you provide must be true, accurate and up to date in all respects and at all times.

3.3. You must choose an email address which gives you frequent access to emails sent to that address, as we need to be able to contact you and may communicate with you by email or by posting notices on the Site and/or Panel. You agree to receive communications from us in this way.

3.4. You must not:
(a) impersonate or try to impersonate another person;
(b) disclose your password to anyone else;
(c) allow anyone else to use your account; and/or
(d) use anyone else’s account.

3.5. You must keep your password confidential. You are responsible for everything done using your account. If you think that someone else may have access to, or be using, your password or account, you must tell us as soon as possible by emailing support@matterscommunity.co.uk.

4. Your content – what we are allowed to do


4.1. We may (but are not obliged to) publish, check, edit or remove all or part of the comments or other material, including your name, town and country, which you submit to us (“Your Content”), at our sole discretion.

4.2. You retain any copyright you may have in Your Content. By submitting material to us, you grant to us and ANL a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive worldwide licence to use, copy, edit, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, make available, communicate and distribute Your Content (in whole or part) and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed. By submitting Your Content, you warrant that you have the right to grant this licence. The licence is capable of sub-license by us and ANL to other entities and brands in our and ANL’s group of companies.

4.3. To the extent permitted by law, you waive your moral rights (e.g. the right to be identified as author or to object to derogatory treatment) in Your Content. This clause 4 means, for example (without limitation), that we can:
(a) continue to publish all or part of Your Content, including your name, town and country, even if you change your mind and want us to remove it and/or you are no longer registered with the Site or the Panel;
(b) remove Your Content, even if you have not breached these Terms;
(c) use all or part of Your Content in promoting our products and services (e.g. we may use a screenshot including your comments in our advertising); and/or
(d) edit Your Content, which may result in a part of it being modified and displayed, including without your name.
Please note that we do not check, monitor, moderate or even see all the comments and other material submitted to us.

5. Your content – what you are not allowed to do


5.1. You must not submit any material to our Site or the Panel that:
(a) is:
(i) defamatory, malicious, threatening, false, misleading, offensive, abusive, discriminatory, harassing, blasphemous or racist;
(ii) indecent, obscene or of a sexual nature;
(iii) a breach of confidentiality or someone’s privacy;
(b) could prejudice any active legal proceedings of which you are aware;
(c) is likely to:
(i) cause someone alarm, anxiety or distress;
(ii) encourage violence or racial or religious hatred;
(d) infringes any intellectual property rights, such as copyright and trade marks. This means generally that you must own the rights in everything you submit or must obtain permission from the rights owner to submit the material;
(e) is technically harmful (including, without limitation, computer viruses, logic bombs, Trojan horses, worms, harmful components, corrupted data or other malicious software, harmful data or conduct);
(f) advertises any product or services;
(g) impersonates anyone else or otherwise misrepresents your identity, affiliation or status;
(h) is in breach of these Terms, and/or our Privacy Policy; and/or
(i) encourages or teaches conduct that is a criminal offence, gives rise to civil liability, or is otherwise unlawful.

5.2. You must not include links on the Site or the Panel to any websites or webpages.

5.3. You must not try to get round any protections we put in place for the security and operation of the Site and the Panel.

5.4. You must not access or attempt to access any other users’ data.

5.5. You must not re-submit content which you are aware has been removed.

5.6. You agree to compensate us in respect of any damages or losses suffered by us or ANL as a result of any claim made by a third party relating to: (a) your use of the Site and/or Panel in breach of these Terms or the Privacy Policy; or (b) your violation of any applicable law or regulation when using the Site and/or Panel.

6. Suspending or terminating your registration


6.1. We may suspend, terminate or prevent your registration at our sole discretion. This may be because, for example, we consider that you have breached or will breach these Terms or someone has reported abuse. However, we are not obliged to do these things, and we will decide whether we do so on a case by case basis.

6.2. Where we suspend, terminate or prevent your registration, you must not attempt to re-register or submit content (e.g. using someone else’s registration), without our permission. The period of any suspension depends on the circumstances in each case.

6.3. You may terminate your membership at any time by closing your account. This can be done by going to your Profile page and clicking the ‘delete my account’ option. You can also unsubscribe from email communication.

6.4. If you close your account, your profile information will be removed, you will be unable to access the Site and you will no longer receive emails from us. In addition, you will forfeit any incentives or rewards that have not been administered at the time of closure.

7. Third party content and links available on this Site


7.1. We are not liable or responsible for the third party content on this Site or the Panel. Third party content includes, for example, comments posted by users (including you) and the content of advertisements.

7.2. Where this Site contains links to other sites and resources, which are provided by third parties, these links and resources are provided for your information only and you access them at your own risk. We are not liable or responsible for the content of third party sites or resources.

7.3. If you see something which you reasonably believe breaches these Terms, please contact us using our ‘Contact Us’ page.

8. Your personal information


8.1. We will use your personal information in accordance with the privacy policy, which forms part of these Terms. Please read our Privacy Policy (available here: https://matterscommunity.co.uk/p/privacy) and Cookie Policy (available here: https://matterscommunity.co.uk/p/cookies) now.

8.2. By using the Site and registering as a member of the Panel, you acknowledge that we may disclose any personal information you provide to us and/or ANL.

9. Our liability


9.1. The information contained on this Site and the Panel is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice. You should check any information on the Site and Panel and use your own judgment before doing or not doing anything on the basis of what you see. The Site and Panel are provided on an ‘as is’ and ‘as available’. We give no warranties of any kind in relation to the Site, the Panel or either of their contents.

9.2. Except for liability for fraudulent misrepresentation, neither we nor ANL are liable for:
(a) any action you may take as a result of relying on any information provided on this Site or for any loss or damage suffered by you as a result of you taking this action;
(b) any dealings you have with third parties (e.g. other users, advertisers or promoters) that take place using or facilitated by the Site;
(c) any liability for losses which are not a foreseeable or likely consequence of: (i) your use of the Site; or (ii) a breach of these Terms.

9.3. We are not responsible if you cannot access the Panel or the Site properly or at all because of any event outside our control, for example (without limitation) the performance of your or our ISP, your browser or the Internet.

9.4. The Site relies in part on software to work. Software has bugs. Whilst we will monitor the Site and try to fix bugs, we cannot guarantee that the Site or any individual feature of the Site will be error free, available all the time and/or free from viruses.

9.5. To the maximum extent permitted by law, neither we nor ANL will be liable in contract, tort, negligence or otherwise for any loss or damage whatsoever in any way connected with your use, misuse, or inability to use the Site or participate in the Panel, including without limitation, any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, expenses or losses of whatever nature, including damage to software or hardware, loss of data, damage for loss of business, loss of profits, or any other indirect or consequential loss.

9.6. However, nothing in these Terms will: (i) restrict your statutory rights as a consumer; or (ii) affect any liability we may have for death or personal injury arising from our negligence or any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited by law.

10. Maintenance of the Site


10.1. Making your use of the Site enjoyable means we need to fix bugs, install updates and do general diagnosis and maintenance of the Site. We will try to do scheduled maintenance during times when we anticipate that online use is lower than normal.

10.2. We also need to be able to do emergency maintenance and/or suspend access to the servers where, in our reasonable discretion, we see the need to do that. We will try to have the Site and the Panel available again as soon as we think it is safe to do so.

11. Validity of these Terms


11.1. If any part or provision of these Terms is found to be unlawful or unenforceable, this shall not affect the validity of any other part or provision.

12. Jurisdiction and applicable law


12.1. These Terms are governed by English law. The English courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute relating to these Terms.
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