Version 1.0.1 · Effective 2026-06-22 · Operated by Kindleye Limited (Hong Kong)

TroveStays — Acceptable Use Policy and Community Guidelines

TroveStays is a community of travellers and creators. This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") tells you what you must not do on the Platform. It applies to everyone who uses TroveStays and it is part of our Terms and Conditions (01-terms-and-conditions.md). Breach of this AUP is breach of those Terms.

1. Spirit of the Platform

We want TroveStays to be honest, useful, kind, and safe. The rules below exist to keep it that way. If you are about to do something that you suspect is not in the spirit of the Platform, do not do it.

2. Prohibited content

Do not post, upload, transmit, share, link to, or otherwise make available on TroveStays any content that:

2.1 Is illegal in Hong Kong or in a jurisdiction where your audience or the subject of the content is located

This includes (without limitation): content that incites or assists a criminal offence; content that infringes the National Security Law; content that breaches export controls or sanctions; content that breaches gambling, financial-product, or pharmaceutical advertising restrictions.

2.2 Sexually exploits or endangers children

Any content that depicts a child (under 18) in a sexual context is strictly forbidden. We have zero tolerance. Such content will be removed immediately, the account will be terminated permanently, and we will report the content and account to the Hong Kong Police and to any other relevant law-enforcement body. We may preserve the content as required by law in connection with any investigation.

2.3 Is non-consensual intimate imagery, voyeuristic, or sexually harassing

This includes "revenge porn", hidden-camera content depicting nudity or sexual activity without consent, sexualised content of someone who has not consented to its publication, and unsolicited sexual content sent to other Users.

2.4 Doxes or otherwise misuses another person's personal data

Posting another person's personal data — such as identity-card number, home or workplace address, phone number, biometric details, immigration status, criminal-record information, or other information from which they can be identified — with the intent or effect of causing them harm, harassment, or psychological harm is doxxing and is a criminal offence under the 2021 amendments to the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486). Do not do it on TroveStays.

2.5 Threatens, harasses, bullies, or incites violence against an individual or group

Including but not limited to threats of physical harm, sexual violence, or self-harm; coordinated harassment campaigns; "pile-ons" against a particular User.

2.6 Is hate speech

Content that attacks, demeans, dehumanises, or incites hatred against a person or group based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or serious medical condition is not allowed.

2.7 Infringes a third party's intellectual-property rights

For example, posting someone else's photo or video as your own; using copyrighted music in a way that exceeds any licence you hold; reproducing a hotel's trademarked imagery without permission where permission is required; copying captions verbatim from another Creator.

2.8 Is deceptive about the stay

A core promise of TroveStays is that posts depict real stays. Do not:

• (a) post photos or videos taken by someone else and pass them off as your own stay;
• (b) post about a hotel you have not actually been to and claim or imply otherwise;
• (c) post about a paid or hosted stay without disclosing the arrangement (see clause 3.5 of the Creator Agreement);
• (d) manipulate photos or videos in a way that materially misrepresents the room, amenity, or experience.

2.9 Misuses TroveStays for unrelated commercial promotion

You can talk about the hotel your post is about. You cannot use TroveStays as a free billboard for an unrelated product or service. Examples of prohibited unrelated commercial promotion: drop-shipping links in captions; off-platform crypto or "get rich quick" promotions; political-party advertising; pharmaceutical or financial-product advertising; pyramid or multi-level-marketing schemes.

2.10 Is spam

Bulk-posting, repetitive posting, automated posting, vote/like-manipulation, bot followers, and engagement farms are all spam. Do not do them and do not pay other people to do them on your behalf.

2.11 Contains malware or harmful technical elements

Any link, embedded code, or file designed to gain unauthorised access to a device, account, or system, or to disrupt the Service, is prohibited.

3. Prohibited conduct

Even where the content of your post is acceptable, how you use the Platform must also be acceptable. Do not:

3.1 Share your account with another person, sell your account, or buy or rent an account from someone else.

3.2 Impersonate another person, hotel, brand, or organisation — including by using a confusingly similar username, display name, or avatar — unless you have clear authority to represent them and that authority is disclosed.

3.3 Scrape, crawl, or copy the Platform's data at scale, except (a) via interfaces we make available for that purpose, (b) in accordance with the robots.txt of any TroveStays web property, or (c) with our prior written permission.

3.4 Reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble the TroveStays app except to the limited extent permitted by mandatory law.

3.5 Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any TroveStays system unless you have written permission to do so under a coordinated security-research engagement.

3.6 Use automation (bots, scripts) to interact with the Platform beyond the standard use of the app and supported API integrations.

3.7 Commit payment fraud or attempt to do so — including using stolen cards, using cards without the holder's authority, abusing chargeback mechanisms, or engaging in "friendly fraud".

3.8 Manipulate creator attribution or commission — for example by booking through a friend's post in a coordinated way to inflate apparent commissions, by clicking your own links via attribution loops, or by creating fake Traveller accounts to book through your own posts.

3.9 Interfere with other Users' use of the Platform — by mass-reporting in bad faith, by harassment, or by deliberate disruption.

3.10 Misuse our communication channels — for example by sending unsolicited promotional messages to our support inbox or by submitting frivolous IP-takedown notices.

4. How we enforce this AUP

4.1 Automated checks.

• All videos are run through an automated video quality bar (resolution, orientation, duration, codec); videos that fail are rejected automatically without sanction (you can re-upload a corrected video).
• We may, from time to time, use automated systems to detect spam, fraud, abuse, or sanctioned-list matches. Where we do, we will say so.

4.2 Reactive review. When a User or third party reports content or conduct, our trust-and-safety team will review the report and decide what action (if any) is appropriate. Our standard action ladder is:

• Notice. We notify the User of the alleged breach and ask them to fix it.
• Restriction. We restrict visibility of the content (for example, removing it from public feeds) or restrict a specific feature on the account.
• Removal. We delete the offending content.
• Suspension. We suspend the account temporarily.
• Termination. We terminate the account permanently.

The step we take depends on the severity of the breach, whether it has happened before, and the risk to other Users. For severe breaches (such as content under clause 2.2) we may move straight to termination and to law-enforcement reporting.

4.3 Notice to you. We will normally tell you what we have done and why. We may not always be able to do so — for example, where giving notice would prejudice an investigation, would breach a court order, or would put another person at risk.

4.4 Appeal. If you think we got it wrong, write to support@trovestays.com with the relevant details. We will look at it again. Appeals are not available where (a) the breach is admitted, (b) the breach is one we have decided not to entertain appeals on (clauses 2.2 and 2.4 in particular), or (c) the matter is the subject of an active investigation by a regulator or law-enforcement body.

4.5 Three-strike rule for IP infringement. An account that receives three (3) valid intellectual-property complaints within any rolling twelve (12) month period is terminated. The procedure is in the Copyright and IP Takedown Policy.

4.6 Records. We may retain records of removed content, suspended accounts, and reasoning for a reasonable period to operate this AUP consistently and to deal with appeals and legal claims. Retention periods are in the Privacy Policy.

5. Reporting

5.1 To report content or conduct on the Platform, use the in-app reporting tool on the post, comment, or profile in question, or email support@trovestays.com with:

• a link to the content or profile;
• which rule above you think it breaches; and
• any context that will help us investigate.

5.2 To report copyright or trademark infringement, please follow the Copyright and IP Takedown Policy (07-copyright-and-ip-takedown.md).

5.3 To report a child-safety concern, email support@trovestays.com with "URGENT: CHILD SAFETY" in the subject line. We escalate these reports immediately.

5.4 To report a personal-data complaint, email support@trovestays.com.

6. Changes to this AUP

We may update this AUP from time to time as the Platform evolves and as new categories of abuse emerge. The change procedure in clause 15 of the Terms applies.

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