Acceptable Use Policy

Our Core Values

Do's — What We Encourage

✅ For Explorers

• Share genuine experiences — Your honest feedback helps other explorers and helps businesses improve
• Support local — Prioritize family-owned shops, local restaurants, and independent businesses
• Be respectful — Remember there are real people behind every business
• Ask permission — Before photographing inside businesses or private property
• Engage constructively — If you had a negative experience, share feedback that helps
• Explore responsibly — Follow local laws, respect nature, and leave places better than you found them

✅ For Business Partners

• Keep information accurate — Update hours, contact info, and descriptions regularly
• Represent yourself honestly — Use real photos and accurate descriptions
• Engage with feedback — Respond professionally to both positive and negative comments
• Support fellow local businesses — We're stronger together
• Report issues — Let us know about suspicious activity or inaccurate competitor listings

Don'ts — Prohibited Activities

🚫 Fraud & Deception

• Fake reviews or ratings — Don't create fake positive reviews for yourself or negative reviews for competitors
• Impersonation — Don't pretend to be someone else or claim false business ownership
• False information — Don't post inaccurate business details or misleading content
• Gaming the system — Don't use bots, scripts, or fake accounts to manipulate scans, points, or rankings

🚫 Harmful Content

• Hate speech — No content that promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, sexuality, or other protected characteristics
• Harassment — Don't target individuals or businesses with repeated negative, threatening, or abusive content
• Defamation — Don't make false statements that damage someone's reputation
• Explicit content — No pornographic, excessively violent, or otherwise inappropriate material
• Illegal activities — Don't promote or facilitate illegal conduct

🚫 Platform Abuse

• Spam — Don't flood the platform with repetitive, irrelevant, or promotional content
• Scraping — Don't use automated tools to extract data from our platform
• Security attacks — Don't attempt to hack, DDoS, or otherwise compromise our systems
• Circumventing rules — Don't create new accounts to evade bans or restrictions

🚫 Privacy Violations

• Personal information — Don't share others' private information without consent
• Tracking — Don't use our platform to stalk or track individuals
• Photos without consent — Don't post identifiable photos of people without their permission

Review Guidelines

Our AI analyzes reviews to ensure authenticity and helpfulness. Here's what makes a great review:

Enforcement

We take a graduated approach to enforcement:

1. Warning — First-time minor violations may receive a warning and content removal
2. Content Removal — Violating content will be removed without notice
3. Temporary Suspension — Repeated violations may result in temporary account suspension
4. Permanent Ban — Severe or repeated violations will result in permanent removal
5. Legal Action — In cases of fraud, defamation, or illegal activity, we may pursue legal remedies

Business partners who violate these policies may have their listings removed and subscriptions terminated without refund.

Reporting Violations

Help us maintain a healthy community by reporting violations:

• Email: youmekentucky@gmail.com with "Report" in the subject line
• Include the URL, screenshot, and description of the violation
• We investigate all reports and respond within 3 business days

Building Kentucky Together

You + Me Kentucky is more than a directory — it's a community effort to celebrate and preserve what makes Kentucky special. Every genuine review, every QR scan at a local shop, every recommendation shared with a friend — these small actions add up to something meaningful.

Thank you for being part of this community and helping us support the small towns, family businesses, and local legends that make the Bluegrass unforgettable.

Questions?

If you have questions about these guidelines or need to report an issue: