Who these rules apply to
These rules apply to everyone who uses or visits this site, including prospective students, current students, staff, alumni, partners, suppliers and members of the public.
Some University services, systems or accounts may have additional rules or terms. Where additional rules apply, they will also form part of the conditions for using that service.
Lawful and responsible use
You must use this site lawfully, responsibly and in a way that does not harm other people, the University, or the operation and security of the site.
You must not use this site:
- in any way that breaches applicable law or regulation
- for any unlawful, fraudulent, misleading or harmful purpose
- to harm, exploit, bully, harass, intimidate or threaten any person
- to harm, or attempt to harm, children or vulnerable people
- to send, upload, post, share or link to unlawful, abusive, offensive, discriminatory, defamatory, obscene, sexually explicit, violent or otherwise harmful material
- to promote hatred, violence, terrorism, self-harm, abuse, exploitation or illegal activity
- to send spam, unsolicited marketing, chain messages, scams or other unwanted communications
- to impersonate any person or organisation, or misrepresent your identity or connection with the University
- to interfere with anyone else’s use of the site
- to copy, scrape, harvest, download, reproduce, sell or commercially exploit site content except as allowed by our terms of use or with our written permission
- to use automated tools, bots, scripts or similar technologies in a way that places unreasonable demands on the site or collects data without permission.
Security and misuse
You must not misuse this site or any systems connected to it.
You must not:
- introduce viruses, malware, ransomware, spyware, logic bombs, corrupted files or any other harmful code
- attempt to gain unauthorised access to the site, the server on which it is hosted, any database, account, network or system connected to it
- attempt to bypass, test, probe, scan or compromise security controls unless you have our express written permission
- carry out or assist a denial-of-service attack, distributed denial-of-service attack or any other activity intended to disrupt the site
- interfere with, damage or disrupt any part of the site, any equipment or network used to provide it, or any software used in its operation.
Unauthorised access to computer material may be a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We may report suspected criminal activity to law enforcement and cooperate with relevant authorities where appropriate.
Content you submit
Some parts of this site may allow you to submit information or content, for example through forms, comments, applications, enquiries, uploads, surveys or other interactive features.
Any content you submit must:
- be accurate where it states facts
- be genuinely held where it expresses opinions
- comply with the law in the UK and in any country from which it is submitted
- be respectful of other people’s rights, privacy, dignity and safety
- be suitable for publication on a University website.
You must not submit content that:
- is defamatory, malicious, abusive, threatening, harassing, hateful, obscene or inflammatory
- promotes violence, terrorism, exploitation, self-harm or illegal activity
- promotes discrimination, harassment or victimisation linked to age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law
- infringes copyright, trade marks, database rights, moral rights, privacy rights, confidentiality obligations or any other rights belonging to another person or organisation
- contains personal data about another person unless you have a lawful basis for sharing it
- includes confidential, commercially sensitive or restricted information
- is likely to deceive, mislead, alarm or distress others
- impersonates another person or organisation
- gives the impression that it comes from the University where this is not the case
- contains advertising, sponsorship, promotional material or commercial messages unless we have agreed this in advance.
The Equality Act 2010 lists nine protected characteristics, and the wording above reflects that current framework.
Interactive features and moderation
Where this site includes interactive features, we may provide information about how those features work, including whether submissions are reviewed before or after publication.
We may monitor, review, edit, refuse, remove or disable access to content where we consider it necessary or appropriate. This may include content that breaches these rules, creates legal or reputational risk, affects the security or operation of the site, or may cause harm to others.
We are not obliged to monitor every part of the site or review every submission. Moderation is not a guarantee that all harmful, inaccurate or inappropriate content will be identified or removed immediately.
Where content moderation involves personal data, it will be handled in line with our privacy notice and applicable data protection law. The ICO has specific guidance on how data protection law applies to content moderation, including the potential impact on people’s information rights.
Children and young people
Some content and services on this site may be used by children and young people, including prospective students.
You must not use this site to harm, exploit, groom, bully, harass, threaten or endanger children or young people in any way. Any suspected safeguarding concern or illegal activity may be reported to the relevant University team, regulator, platform provider or law enforcement authority.
If we provide any interactive feature that is likely to be used by children, we will consider appropriate safety measures. The Online Safety Act 2023 places duties on relevant user-to-user and search services to reduce illegal content risks and protect users, including children, where the Act applies.
Breach of these rules
If we believe that you have breached these rules, we may take action that we consider reasonable and appropriate. This may include:
- removing, editing or refusing to publish content
- suspending or withdrawing access to part or all of the site
- disabling an account, login or interactive feature
- issuing a warning
- blocking traffic, accounts, devices or IP addresses where necessary to protect the site
- reporting the matter to relevant University teams
- reporting suspected unlawful activity to law enforcement or regulatory bodies
- taking legal action where appropriate.
We may take action without notice where we consider this necessary, including where there is a security risk, safeguarding concern, legal risk or risk of harm to others.
Nothing in these rules limits any rights or remedies available to the University, or any action we may take under our terms of use or under applicable law.
Our liability
We are not responsible for content submitted by users of the site. User-submitted content does not necessarily represent the views of the University.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for loss or damage arising from a user’s breach of these rules or from action we take in response to such a breach.
Nothing on this page excludes or limits liability where it would be unlawful to do so.
Changes to this page
We may update this page from time to time. The latest version will apply from the date it is published on this site.
You should check this page periodically so that you understand the rules that apply when using the site.
Contact
Questions about this page should be sent to the web team in the Marketing and Communications department: webteam@brighton.ac.uk.
If you need to report a security issue affecting the website or University systems, please contact the IT Service Desk: servicedesk@brighton.ac.uk.
Version: 2
Date: 22 May 2026