Acceptable Use Policy

ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

Gainesville Locally Owned (GLO)
Operated by SparkDog Web Design+ LLC d/b/a SparkDog Creative

Effective Date: September 1, 2026

This Acceptable Use Policy (“Policy”) explains the types of content and conduct that are not permitted when using Gainesville Locally Owned (“GLO”), including the GLO website, directory, listings, accounts, forms, messaging features, and other services or features provided by GLO (collectively, the “Service”).

By using the Service, you agree to comply with this Policy, the GLO Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and any applicable Advertiser Policies. If you do not agree to these requirements, you may not use the Service.

1. PROHIBITED CONTENT

You may not post, submit, upload, transmit, email, display, or otherwise make available through the Service any Content that:

Is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, fraudulent, or otherwise harmful to another person or entity;
Is pornographic, sexually explicit, or otherwise inappropriate for a general-audience local business directory;
Harasses, intimidates, degrades, threatens, or promotes hatred or violence toward an individual or group based on characteristics protected by applicable law;
Promotes or expresses unlawful discrimination, including discriminatory preferences or requirements in employment, housing, or other activities where prohibited by law;
Impersonates another person or entity, falsely represents an affiliation with another person or entity, or otherwise misrepresents your identity, authority, business, or relationship with a business;
Contains another person's personal, private, or identifying information without appropriate authorization or consent;
Is false, fraudulent, deceptive, misleading, or intended to misrepresent a business, product, service, offer, price, location, ownership, affiliation, credentials, or other material information;
Contains fake, fabricated, manipulated, or misleading reviews, testimonials, recommendations, ratings, or other representations of customer experience;
Infringes or misappropriates another party's copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, privacy rights, publicity rights, or other intellectual property or proprietary rights;
Contains malicious software, viruses, harmful code, or other material designed to interfere with, damage, disable, or gain unauthorized access to computers, networks, systems, or telecommunications equipment;
Promotes illegal goods, services, activities, or transactions, or the sale of goods or services that are prohibited or restricted by applicable law;
Contains spam, chain letters, pyramid, or unlawful multi-level marketing schemes, or other deceptive or abusive solicitation;
Contains affiliate links, referral codes, or similar promotional material when used primarily for spam, deception, or unauthorized commercial solicitation;
Advertises or solicits for products, services, or businesses in areas or through features of GLO that are not designated for such purposes;
Is excessively repetitive, irrelevant, disruptive, or otherwise interferes with other users' ability to use the Service; or
Contains forged headers, misleading email addresses, manipulated identifiers, or other information intended to disguise the source or origin of Content.

Employment & Job Listings: GLO is a business directory, not a job board or employment marketplace. Employment agencies, staffing agencies, and similar locally owned businesses may maintain a business listing on GLO. However, GLO may not be used to post individual job openings, solicit applicants, post resumes, or otherwise operate as an employment listing service.

GLO may establish additional content requirements for particular features, listings, advertising programs, promotions, or other areas of the Service.

2. PROHIBITED CONDUCT

You may not use the Service for any unlawful, fraudulent, abusive, or unauthorized purpose.

Without limiting the foregoing, you agree that you will not:

Harass, threaten, stalk, intimidate, or repeatedly contact another person after being asked to stop;
Use information obtained through GLO to harass, threaten, defraud, or otherwise harm another person or business;
Collect, compile, sell, distribute, or otherwise use personal information about GLO users for unlawful purposes or unauthorized commercial solicitation;
Create or maintain an account, listing, or business profile using false, misleading, or unauthorized information;
Claim, manage, or represent a business listing without appropriate authority to do so;
Create duplicate, misleading, or substantially similar listings for the same business for the purpose of manipulating search results, visibility, reviews, or other GLO features;
Submit false or misleading information about a business's ownership, location, services, qualifications, pricing, hours, affiliations, or eligibility for inclusion in GLO;
Manipulate or attempt to manipulate reviews, ratings, recommendations, search results, rankings, listings, coupons, deals, events, or other GLO features;
Use GLO to recruit participants for pyramid schemes, unlawful business opportunities, or prohibited multi-level marketing activities;
Use automated means, including spiders, bots, crawlers, scraping tools, data-mining tools, scripts, or similar technology, to access, collect, copy, monitor, or download information from the Service unless expressly authorized by GLO in writing;
Use automated tools or systems to create, submit, modify, or distribute listings, posts, reviews, messages, advertisements, or other Content without GLO's express written permission;
Attempt to gain unauthorized access to GLO's accounts, systems, servers, networks, databases, or other infrastructure;
Interfere with, disrupt, damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Service or its normal operation;
Circumvent, disable, defeat, or attempt to bypass security measures, access controls, usage limits, or other safeguards used by GLO;
Introduce malicious software, code, files, or other harmful material into the Service;
Use GLO to send unsolicited bulk messages, spam, or unauthorized commercial communications;
Attempt to manipulate or interfere with GLO's eligibility, verification, moderation, or listing-management processes;
Use GLO's content, listings, business information, directory data, or other materials to create or populate a competing directory or database without GLO's written permission; or
Encourage, assist, facilitate, or instruct another person to engage in conduct prohibited by this Policy.

3. BUSINESS-SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

Because GLO is specifically intended to promote genuinely locally owned businesses, Business Owners must also comply with GLO's eligibility requirements.

A Business Owner may not:

Misrepresent a business as locally owned or independently operated when it does not meet GLO's eligibility requirements;
Misrepresent ownership, location, management, affiliation, franchise status, or other information relevant to GLO eligibility;
Submit or maintain a listing for a business that does not qualify for inclusion in GLO;
Use a listing to promote a national, regional, corporate, franchise, or other business that GLO has determined is not eligible, except where GLO has expressly approved an exception;
Use multiple listings or accounts to circumvent GLO's eligibility requirements, pricing, policies, or other restrictions; or
Continue using a listing after GLO has requested that the listing be removed, corrected, or updated.

GLO may request information or documentation reasonably necessary to determine whether a business qualifies for inclusion.

4. REVIEWS, TESTIMONIALS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

If GLO provides features that allow Users to submit reviews, testimonials, recommendations, ratings, comments, or similar feedback, those submissions must be genuine and made in good faith.

You may not:

Submit a review or recommendation based on an experience you did not actually have;
Create or submit reviews under false identities or on behalf of other people;
Pay, compensate, or provide other improper incentives for false or misleading reviews;
Submit reviews intended to artificially improve or damage the reputation of a business;
Submit reviews containing false or misleading statements presented as fact; or
Coordinate or manipulate reviews, ratings, or recommendations in a deceptive manner.

GLO may establish additional rules governing reviews, testimonials, recommendations, ratings, and similar Content in the future.

5. COMMERCIAL SOLICITATION AND PROMOTION

GLO may provide designated areas or features for advertising, promotions, business listings, coupons, deals, events, or other commercial activity.

You may not use areas of the Service that are not designated for such purposes for unauthorized commercial solicitation or advertising.

Business Owners and advertisers must also comply with GLO's Advertiser Policies and any additional requirements applicable to the specific advertising or promotional service being used.

GLO may limit, reject, modify, or remove commercial Content that does not comply with applicable policies or that GLO determines is inappropriate for the Service.

6. SCRAPING AND DATA COLLECTION

GLO's directory, listings, business information, website content, and other Service data may not be systematically collected, copied, harvested, scraped, indexed, reproduced, or redistributed through automated or manual means for the purpose of creating, maintaining, populating, or enhancing another database, directory, website, application, artificial intelligence system, or commercial service without GLO's prior written permission.

This restriction does not prohibit ordinary use of the Service by individual Users, including reasonable browsing, searching, viewing, bookmarking, sharing, or linking to publicly available GLO pages.

7. SECURITY AND SYSTEM MISUSE

You may not attempt to interfere with or compromise the security, integrity, availability, or proper operation of the Service.

Prohibited activity includes:

Attempting to access accounts, systems, data, or areas you are not authorized to access;
Testing or probing the vulnerability of GLO systems without prior written authorization;
Circumventing authentication or security controls;
Introducing malware or other harmful code;
Launching denial-of-service or similar attacks;
Interfering with the operation of the Service through excessive or abusive requests; or
Taking any other action that could reasonably be expected to damage, disrupt, or compromise the Service or its users.

8. GLO'S RIGHTS

GLO reserves the right, but does not assume the obligation, to investigate suspected violations of this Policy, the Terms of Service, or other GLO policies.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, GLO may, in its sole discretion and with or without notice:

Investigate suspected violations;
Review, monitor, restrict, modify, disable, or remove Content;
Refuse, reject, edit, suspend, or remove any listing, account, advertisement, coupon, deal, event, review, or other Content;
Restrict or terminate a User's or Business Owner's access to all or part of the Service;
Request additional information or documentation;
Take technical or administrative measures to prevent or limit prohibited activity; and
Take any other action GLO reasonably determines is necessary or appropriate to protect GLO, its users, businesses, systems, or the integrity of the Service.

GLO is not required to provide advance notice before taking action under this Policy when GLO determines that immediate action is appropriate.

9. REPORTING VIOLATIONS

If you believe that Content or conduct on GLO violates this Policy, the Terms of Service, applicable law, or another GLO policy, please report it to us.

Reports should include enough information for GLO to understand the concern and locate the relevant Content or activity.

You may report a suspected violation by emailing: reneecarson@sparkdog.biz

GLO may investigate reports at its discretion and may take any action it considers appropriate. GLO does not guarantee that every report will result in removal or other action.

10. COOPERATION WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT

GLO may report suspected illegal activity to law enforcement, regulators, or other appropriate authorities when GLO believes such reporting is appropriate or is required by law.

GLO may cooperate with lawful investigations, legal proceedings, subpoenas, court orders, or other valid governmental or legal requests, including by providing information as permitted or required by applicable law.

11. NO OBLIGATION TO MONITOR

GLO does not have an obligation to monitor all Content or activity on the Service.

The fact that Content or conduct has not been reviewed, removed, or acted upon does not mean that GLO has approved, endorsed, or determined that such Content or conduct complies with this Policy.

GLO may, but is not required to: monitor, review, investigate, or remove Content or activity at any time.

12. ENFORCEMENT AND OTHER GLO POLICIES

Violations of this Policy may also constitute violations of the GLO Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Advertiser Policies, and other applicable policies.

A violation may result in removal of Content, modification or removal of a business listing, suspension or termination of an account, cancellation of paid services, loss of access to GLO features, or other action permitted under the Terms of Service.

GLO reserves the right to take action based on the circumstances of each situation. GLO's decision regarding whether Content or conduct violates this Policy is final to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Nothing in this Policy limits any rights or remedies available to GLO under the Terms of Service, applicable law, or any other agreement.

13. CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

GLO may update or modify this Acceptable Use Policy from time to time.

When changes are made, GLO may update the Effective Date shown above and may provide notice when required or appropriate.

Your continued use of the Service after an updated Policy becomes effective constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy to the extent permitted by law.

14. CONTACT

Questions regarding this Acceptable Use Policy may be directed to:

Gainesville Locally Owned (GLO)
Operated by SparkDog Web Design+ LLC d/b/a SparkDog Creative
Gainesville, Florida
Email: reneecarson@sparkdog.biz