We are The Key Group (TKG, we or us). We are a collective of businesses which provide Services designed to help school leaders and teachers work more efficiently and save valuable time.
To keep the Services running safely, securely and effectively for every school that depends on them, all users are asked to use them responsibly and in accordance with this Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), which sets out the standards we expect of users and the activities that are not permitted.
We may take action, including suspending or restricting access, in response to any content or behaviour that is inconsistent with the purpose and spirit of this AUP, even where it is not expressly described here.
Please read this AUP carefully before using our Services. By using our Services, you are agreeing to comply with this AUP. If you do not agree to comply with this AUP, you must not use our Services.
Certain words or phrases are defined to have specific meanings when used in this AUP. Those words and phrases are defined in the glossary set out at the end of this AUP.
1. Agreement
1.1 This AUP forms part of the contract for the provision of our Services that your school, Multi-Academy Trust or local authority, as applicable (your Institution), has entered into with us (your Institution’s Contract). This AUP applies to all users your Institution authorises to access and use the Services, including you.
1.2 If you have any queries regarding our Services or if you wish to report any Content or conduct which you consider to be in violation of this AUP, your Institution is usually the best place to start.
1.3 By accessing and using our Services, you acknowledge that you have read this AUP and agree to comply with it.
1.4 We may update this AUP from time to time. The “Effective From” date above indicates when the AUP was last changed. We encourage you to review this AUP each time you use the Services.
1.5 You must only access those Services which your Institution has expressly authorised you to access.
1.6 Any violation of this AUP may result in the suspension or termination of your access to and use of our Services.
2. Access Rights and Access Credentials
2.1 At the Institution’s discretion you may be granted rights to use and access certain of our Services (Access Rights). You must only use the Services in accordance with your applicable Access Rights.
2.2 You agree:
2.2.1 to keep secure and confidential, and not to share or disclose, your login details and password for accessing our Services (Access Credentials);
2.2.2 not to permit any other person to access or use our Services using your Access Credentials or to use or access our Services using any other person’s Access Credentials;
2.2.3 not to allow more than one person to access or use our Services under a single set of Access Credentials, other than by using any delegated or shared access functionality which we make available for that purpose;
2.2.4 not to create or use any account in a false name, or misrepresent your identity, your age, your role at the Institution or your affiliation with any person;
2.2.5 to immediately notify the Institution in writing on becoming aware of, or where you reasonably suspect, any:
2.2.5.1 person has gained unauthorised access to or use of our Services; or
2.2.5.2 violation of this AUP, including this section 2; and
2.2.6 to accept responsibility for all actions undertaken using your Access Credentials, including any and all Content submitted or uploaded to, or made available via, our Services.
3. How you may use our Services
3.1 You agree to only access and use our Services strictly in accordance with:
3.1.1 the Access Rights granted to you; and
3.1.2 this AUP and any instructions, guidance, policies and/or usage guidelines communicated to you by us or your Institution from time to time.
3.2 You agree not to (and not to permit any person to), whether directly or indirectly, access or use our Services, including our Content, for any purpose or in any manner:
3.2.1 which is illegal or causes us to be in breach of applicable law or regulation;
3.2.2 which is threatening, unethical, offensive, harmful, hateful, abusive, discriminatory, defamatory or fraudulent;
3.2.3 which infringes or violates any person’s rights (whether under applicable law or otherwise);
3.2.4 which harms, interferes with or adversely impacts the normal operation of our Services;
3.2.5 which harms TKG’s, or any TKG affiliate’s, reputation or brings it into disrepute;
3.2.6 to generate, distribute, publish or facilitate unsolicited mass emails, promotions, advertisements or other solicitations; and/or
3.2.7 to distribute viruses, malicious code, worms, trojan horses, corrupted files, hoaxes or other items of a destructive or deceptive nature.
3.3 Except to the extent that you have been validly and expressly granted rights to do so under applicable law or by TKG or by an Institution, you agree not to (and not to permit any person to), whether directly or indirectly:
3.3.1 reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, copy, transmit or distribute our Services;
3.3.2 copy, modify, duplicate, create derivative works from, frame, mirror, republish, display, transmit, or distribute our Services;
3.3.3 license, sell, rent, lease, transfer, assign, distribute, disclose, or otherwise commercially exploit, or otherwise make our Services available to any third party;
3.3.4 access our Services to benchmark our Services or to build a product or service which competes with our Services or any other product or service offered by TKG or any TKG affiliate;
3.3.5 remove, obscure, interfere with, alter or make any addition to and/or deduction from our Services, including without limitation any proprietary notice, label, statement, or mark;
3.3.6 probe, scan or test the vulnerability of our Services or of any network, equipment, infrastructure or system used to provide them;
3.3.7 circumvent, disable, evade or otherwise interfere with any filter, safeguarding control, content moderation measure, usage limit or other technical restriction applied to our Services;
3.3.8 gain unauthorised access to, disrupt or impair the use of our Services or of any network, equipment, infrastructure, or system used to provide them;
3.3.9 access or attempt to access any part of our Services which you have not been granted rights to access, including any account, data or Content related to any other person;
3.3.10 use any robot, spider, scraper, crawler or other automated means to access, extract, index or copy our Services or any Content;
3.3.11 use our Services otherwise than through the interfaces and methods which we make available for that purpose;
3.3.12 use our Services or Content, or link to them, in any manner suggesting association, approval or endorsement by TKG (unless expressly agreed in writing by TKG in each instance); and/or
3.3.13 access, download or use our Services or our Content in volumes or at a frequency beyond what is reasonable and proportionate to your ordinary, permitted use, including by compiling or creating an independent archive or database of any Content.
4. Submitting content to our Services
4.1 You shall ensure that any Content you submit or upload to, or otherwise make available on or via our Services (your Content):
4.1.1 complies with the requirements of this AUP; and
4.1.2 is limited to that which is strictly necessary to access and use the relevant Service as intended by TKG, including limiting and minimising any personal data, personal identifiable information and sensitive information (whether financial, health related or otherwise) contained in your Content.
4.2 You shall ensure that:
4.2.1 you have all necessary rights, permissions, consents and authorisations (including any rights in relation to any personal data contained in your Content) to process your Content and for TKG to process your Content for the purposes contemplated by the relevant Service; and
4.2.2 your Content is complete and accurate in all material respects, and you shall update such Content without undue delay to ensure it remains complete and accurate in all material respects.
4.3 You agree not to (and not to permit any person to), directly or indirectly, access or use our Services to generate, process, distribute or otherwise make available any Content which:
4.3.1 is illegal or causes us to be in breach of any applicable law or regulation;
4.3.2 is threatening, unethical, offensive, harmful, hateful, abusive discriminatory, harassing, intimidating, discriminatory or (in the context of the relevant Service) inappropriate;
4.3.3 exploits or endangers any person, including any child, minor or vulnerable person;
4.3.4 constitutes or comprises any explicit, obscene or indecent imagery;
4.3.5 impersonates any person, or is fraudulent, libelous, defamatory or misleading;
4.3.6 infringes any person’s rights, including any privacy or intellectual property rights; and/or
4.3.7 contains any information, data or other material which you are not permitted to, or do not have the right to, distribute or otherwise make available.
4.4 We are not obliged to monitor, use or publish Content submitted to our Services, but we may review, moderate, remove, disable access to, or decline to publish or make available any Content at any time and without notice, including where we reasonably consider it to be inappropriate, excessive in volume or frequency, or in violation of this AUP. You may report Content you consider inappropriate using any reporting channel notified to you via the Services.
4.5 Our Services may allow you to post, submit or upload ideas and content to us for the purpose of sharing knowledge and supporting other schools (your Contributions). For reasons of confidentiality, you should not submit (and we will not answer) any specific questions about circumstances relating to you, your Institution or an identifiable individual in your Contributions. Unless you post anonymously (where that option is available), we may display your name, Institution and social media handle alongside your Contribution. No fees or other compensation are payable by TKG for use of any Contribution. We do not guarantee that your Contribution will be used, published or displayed.
5. Rights you are giving us to use your Content
5.1 We may access, use, retain and disclose your Content and information relating to your use of our Services to the extent necessary to:
5.1.1 provide, secure, support, maintain and improve our Services;
5.1.2 investigate any actual or suspected violation of this AUP;
5.1.3 comply with any applicable law or regulation, or the order or request of any court, regulator or other competent authority;
5.1.4 exercise and perform our rights and obligations under your Institution’s Contract; or
5.1.5 protect the rights, property or safety of TKG, the Institution or any other person, including where we consider that there may be a risk to the safety or welfare of a child.
5.2 With respect to your Contributions:
5.2.1 we may use, store, reproduce and make your Contributions available in our products and services;
5.2.2 copy, adapt, edit, modify and create derivative works from your Contributions and permit other customers to do the same; and
5.2.3 publish or post your Contributions or ideas derived from them to inspire other customers.
6. Your Personal Data
6.1 Typically when we handle Content which includes personal data, we will do so on the instructions of your Institution. Where we process personal data on the instructions of your Institution, you should refer to the Institution’s privacy notice to understand how personal data is processed. If you have questions about your data, your Institution is usually the best place to start.
6.2 Our Privacy Statement explains how we collect, use and store your personal data for our own purposes, and your rights in relation to your personal data and how to exercise them. It is important that you read that statement.
6.3 We may anonymise your Content so that it can no longer be used to identify you, and we may aggregate it with other Content and data. We may use this anonymised and aggregated data to help develop and improve our products and services, to publish insights, benchmarks and trend reports for the benefit of the wider education sector and other purposes we decide. Anonymised data is owned by us.
6.4 You must comply with all notices, guidance and instructions which we make available regarding the protection of personal data in connection with our Services, and with any data protection, privacy or information security policy of the Institution which applies to you.
7. AI Tools
7.1 Depending on your Access Rights, you may have access to AI tools which form part of our Services.
7.2 You may input data (e.g. a prompt) to the AI tools (Input) resulting in an output generated by the AI tool (Output).
7.3 In addition to the other terms of this AUP, you agree that:
7.3.1 you must not provide the AI tool with anything that may constitute a breach of a third party’s Intellectual Property Rights;
7.3.2 you will use the AI tool only for the purpose you were granted Access Rights for;
7.3.3 you will not use the AI tool for any purpose which has an objectionable nature;
7.3.4 you will not use the AI tool to seek or provide advice that would ordinarily be provided by a qualified or licensed professional (including legal, HR, financial or safeguarding advice) as a substitute for that professional advice;
7.3.5 TKG shall not accept any liability for the accuracy, validity, reliability, or completeness of the AI tool or the Output generated by it;
7.3.6 you will ensure your use of Output does not mislead anyone and you are transparent about the source of the Output;
7.3.7 you will not attempt to override or circumvent any safety filters or intentionally drive the AI tool to act in a manner that contravenes this AUP;
7.3.8 you will not use the AI tool to generate Content that may harm or promote the harm of any individual or group; and
7.3.9 you are solely responsible and accountable for the Output generated by the AI tool, including evaluating whether the Output is appropriate for your intended use and is accurate, and you agree that TKG will not have any liability whatsoever for all such Output.
7.4 You must ensure you have all necessary rights and appropriate consents related to your Input to allow TKG to perform the relevant Services and enforce our rights.
7.5 Your continued use of the AI tool will be subject to this AUP and we reserve the right to disable your access and use of the AI tool for any violation of this AUP.
8. Third Party Websites
8.1 TKG shall not be responsible for your use of any third party websites our Services link to. TKG has no control over, and accepts no responsibility for, the content, accuracy, availability, security or practices of third-party websites. Links do not imply endorsement. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, TKG excludes all liability for any loss or damage arising from your use of any such websites.
8.2 In respect of your use of our Services (whether via your Content or otherwise), you must not link to, or embed, any third party website, information, or materials.
9. API Fair Usage
9.1 We may provide APIs to enable the Institution to use the services of a third party integrator.
9.2 You must comply with any fair usage limits applicable to the Institution and we shall enforce our rights for any non-compliance which may include, without limitation, suspending and removing your access to the APIs and/or charging the Institution additional costs arising from breaching such limits.
10. Service Specific Terms
10.1 Some Services are subject to specific, additional AUP terms, which are set out at the end of this AUP.
10.2 Some Services may also incorporate products and/or services provided by third party service providers. Where your use of any incorporated third party service is subject to compliance with additional terms provided by the relevant third party service provider, we have also out at the third party service provider’s terms at the end of this AUP (if applicable).
11. Investigation, Suspension and Termination
11.1 A violation of this AUP is a violation of your Institution’s Contract.
11.2 Without affecting any other remedies available to us:
11.2.1 we have the right to investigate your use of our Services, including your compliance with this AUP;
11.2.2 we may suspend or terminate your access to our Services, and/or amend or delete any of your Content, where:
11.2.2.1 we determine you to be in violation of this AUP or to prevent or mitigate any anticipated violation of this AUP;
11.2.2.2 to prevent or mitigate any security incident in respect of our Services, including in circumstances where any harm may be caused to our Services, to other users or to our third party service providers; and/or
11.2.2.3 we are permitted to do so under your Institution’s Contract or where the Institution’s Contract terminates or expires.
11.3 Any rights exercised under this AUP shall not restrict or affect any rights of TKG (including of any TKG affiliate or third party service provider) or any Institution under the Institution’s Contract, applicable law or otherwise.
12. Glossary
12.1 In this AUP, the following definitions apply:
Access Credentials has the meaning given in section 5.2.1.
Access Rights has the meaning given in section 5.1.
Content means any text, materials, pictures, information or data (in whatever form) and your Content has the meaning given in section 4.2.
Institution’s Contract has the meaning given to it in section 1.1.
Services means the products and services provided by or on behalf of TKG under the Institution’s Contract.
TKG, we, us, or our means the TKG group company which has entered into the Institution’s Contract.
12.2 References in this AUP to: (a) Services shall be interpreted to apply to our Services whether in part or in whole; (b) TKG, we, us, or our shall be interpreted to include affiliates of the relevant TKG group company and all TKG group company third party service providers.
Specific Terms for The Key Services
1. Permitted Use
1.1 You must only use The Key Services’ Content for internal and non-commercial purposes, and strictly for the purpose of carrying out your role at your Institution.
1.2 You may download, save and reproduce The Key Services’ Content (excluding any Third Party Content which is subject to section 3 (Third Party Content) below) in any media or format, and you may adapt and modify model policies, templates and similar documents made available through The Key Services and designed to be adapted to your Institution’s particular context (Model Policies and Templates) subject to the restrictions in paragraph 2 (Restrictions).
2. Restrictions
2.1 You agree not to distribute, communicate, publish or otherwise make available all or any part of The Key Services’ Content to any person who has not been authorised to receive the same by your Institution.
2.2 You agree not to reproduce or incorporate all or part of The Key Services’ Content in any other work or publication except that, provided you obtain authorisation from your Institution and subject to section 3 (Third Party Content):
2.2.1 Internal Presentations. You may circulate copies of The Key Services’ Content for internal purposes to, and may incorporate The Key Services’ Content into internal presentations for, your Institution and its employees, contractors, trustees and governors, provided that circulation is limited to what is reasonably necessary for the purpose of carrying out your role at your Institution; and
2.2.2 Model Policies and Templates. You may adapt Model Policies and Templates and make them available to relevant stakeholders of your Institution (such as employees, contractors, parents, pupils, governors, trustees) strictly for the purpose of implementing your Institutions’ own policies or procedures.
2.3 You must not remove or obscure any copyright, trademark, watermark or proprietary notice in The Key Services or its Content, nor use images, video, audio or graphics separately from accompanying text. Content created by TKG in partnership with third parties may be subject to additional attributions, restrictions or licence terms identified within or alongside such content, which you shall comply with.
2.4 The Key Services are directed to people residing in England and may not be appropriate for use in other locations.
3. Third Party Content
Where The Key Services’ Content is identified as third-party Content (which for clarity shall not include Model Policies and Templates that have been created in partnership with third parties, as indicated by the attributions in those materials), the permissions in section 1 (Permitted Use) do not apply and you must contact the relevant third party directly for permission to use such Content.