Name
alecmaddock.com
Contact details
alec@alecmaddock.com
Any advice given or product endorsement given, is solely the opinion for Mr Alec Maddock. Although having over 26 years in his given field, alecmaddock.com / Mr Alec Maddock, cannot be held responsible for any comebacks from any advice or endorsements given.
Our Ethos is customer awareness and quality products that are value for money, provided / supplied either by the manufacturer, supplier, retailer or dealer.
Any works carried out by professionals recommended by alecmaddock.com has no legal ties nor financial ties to alecmaddock.com, no financial gain is given to alecmaddock.com whatsoever.
It is your (the consumer / client / end user) sole responsibility that any products purchased or services carried out by any recommendations / referrals or endorsements by alecmaddock.com, are done so by your own choice having no legal comebacks to alecmaddock.com / Mr Alec Maddock.
Alecmaddock.com / Mr Alec Maddock receives no financial gain or benefits from any party involved. We are a non-profit venture, aimed at only helping the end client gain better purchasing choices from a trusted source along with services that can be relied on from professionals and industry governing body.
Any endorsement or service / body promoted or endorsed by alecmaddock.com is based purely on Mr Alec Maddock's opinion only and is not in any way covered by law in any way shape or form.
alecmaddock.com in good faith only, wants to help the end consumer and make our industries and works carried out safer for all, whilst you can save money and get pound for pound, very good quality value for money products and services.
any queries welcome - alec@alecmaddock.com
Warmest Regards,
Mr Alec Maddock
TERMS OF USE / TERMS & CONDITIONS
Last updated – 10.12.2024
AGREEMENT TO OUR LEGAL TERMS
We are alecmaddock.com ("Company," we," "us," "our").
We operate, as well as any other related products and services that refer or link to these legal terms (the "legal Terms"} (collectively, the "Services").
You can contact us by email at alec@alecmaddock.com
These Legal Terms constitute a legally binding agreement made between you, whether personally or on behalf of an entity ("you"}, and concerning your access to and use of the Services. You agree that by
accessing the Services, you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by all of these Legal Terms. IF YOU
DO NOT AGREE WITH ALL OF THESE LEGAL TERMS, THEN YOU ARE EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED FROM USING THE SERVICES AND YOU MUST DISCONTINUE USE IMMEDIATELY.
Supplemental terms and conditions or documents that may be posted on tile Services from time to time are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to make changes or modifications to these Legal Terms at any time and for any reason. We will alert you about any changes by updating the "Last updated" date of these Legal Terms, and you waive any right to receive specific notice of each such change. It is your responsibility to periodically review these Legal Terms to stay informed of updates. You will be subject to, and will be deemed to have been made aware of and to have accepted, the changes in any revised Legal Terms by your continued use of the Services after the date such revised Legal Terms are posted.
We recommend that you print a copy of these Legal Terms for your records.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The information provided when using the Services is not intended for distribution to or use by any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would subject us to any registration requirement within such jurisdiction or country. Accordingly, those persons who choose to access the Services from other locations do so on their own initiative and are solely responsible for compliance with local laws, if and lo the extent local laws are applicable.
Our intellectual property
We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in our Services, including all source code, databases, functionality, software, website designs, audio, video, text, photographs, and graphics in the Services (collectively, the "Content"), as well as the trademarks, service marks, and logos contained therein (the "Marks").
Our Content and Marks are protected by copyright and trademark laws (and various other intellectual property rights and unfair competition laws) and treaties around the world.
The Content and Marks are provided in or through the Services "AS IS" for your personal, non-commercial use or internal business purpose only.
Your use of our Services
Subject to your compliance with these Legal Terms, including the "PIROHIBITED ACTIVITIES" section below, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable I1cense to:
Except as set out in this section or elsewhere in our Legal Terms, no part of the Services and no Content or Marks may be copied, reproduced, aggregated, republished, uploaded, posted, publicly displayed, encoded, transmitted, distributed, sold, licensed, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose whatsoever, without our express prior written permission.
If you wish to make any use of the Services, Content, or Marks other than as set out in this section or elsewhere in our Legal Terms, please address your request to: alec@alecmaddock.com . If we ever grant you the permission to post, reproduce, or publicly display any part of our Services or Content, you must identify us as the owners or licensors of the Services, Content, or Marks and ensure that any copyright or proprietary notice appears or is visible on posting, reproducing, or displaying our Content.
We reserve all rights not expressly granted to you in and to the Services, Content, and Marks.
Any breach of these Intellectual Property Rights will constitute a material breach of our Legal Terms and your right to use our Services will terminate immediately.
Your submissions
Please review this section and the "PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES" section carefully prior to using our Services to understand the (a) rights you give us and (b) obligations you have when you post or upload any content through the Services.
Submissions: By directly sending us any question, comment, suggestion, idea, feedback, or other information about the Services ("Submissions"), you agree to assign to us all intellectual property rights in such Submission. You agree that we shall own this Submission and be entitled to its unrestricted use and dissemination for any lawful purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment or compensation to you.
You are responsible for what you post or upload: By sending us Submissions through any part of the Services you:
You are solely responsible for your Submissions and you expressly agree to reimburse us for any and all losses that we may suffer because of your breach of (a) this section, (b) any third party's intellectual property rights, or
(c) applicable law.
By using the Services, you represent and warrant that: (1) you have the legal capacity and you agree to comply with these Legal Terms; (2) you are not a minor in the jurisdiction in which you reside; (3) you will not access the Services through automated or non-human means, whether through a bot, script or otherwise; (4) you will not use the Services for any illegal or unauthorized purpose; and {5) your use of the Services will not violate any applicable law or regulation.
If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current, or incomplete, we have the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Services (or any portion thereof).
You may not access or use the Services for any purpose other than that for which we make the Services available. The Services may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors except those that are specifically endorsed or approved by us.
As a user of the Services, you agree not to:
The Services does not offer users to submit or post content. We may provide you with the opportunity to create, submit, post, display, transmit, perform, publish, distribute, or broadcast content and materials to us or on the Services, including but not limited to text, writings, video, audio, photographs, graphics, comments, suggestions, or personal information or other material (collectively, "Contributions"). Contributions may be viewable by other users of the Services and through third-party websites. When you create or make available any Contributio11s, you thereby represent and warrant that:
You and Services agree that we may access, store, process, and use any information and personal data that you provide and your choices (including settings).
By submitting suggestions or other feedback regarding the Services, you agree that we can use and share such feedback for any purpose without compensation to you.
We do not assert any ownership over your Contributions. You retain full ownership of all of your Contributions and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with your Contributions. We are not liable for any statements or representations in your Contributions provided by you in any area on the Services. You are solely responsible for your Contributions to the Services and you expressly agree to exonerate us from any and all responsibility and to refrain from any legal action against us regarding your Contributions.
We reserve the right, but not the obligation, to: (1) monitor the Services for violations of these Legal Terms; (2) take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in our sole discretion, violates the law or these Legal Terms, including without limitation, reporting such user to law enforcement authorities; (3) in our sole discretion and without limitation, refuse, restrict access to, limit the availability of, or disable (to the extent technologically feasible) any of your Contributions or any portion thereof; (4) in our sole discretion and without limitation, notice, or liability, to remove from the Services or otherwise disable all files and content that are excessive in size or are in any way burdensome to our systems; and (5) otherwise manage the Services in a manner designed to protect our rights and property and to facilitate the proper functioning of the Services.
These Legal Terms shall remain in full force and effect while you use the Services. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THESE LEGAL TERMS, WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO, IN OUR SOLE DISCRETION AND WITHOUT NOTICE OR LIABILITY, DENY ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SERVICES (INCLUDING BLOCKING CERTAIN IP ADDRESSES}, TO ANY PERSON FOR ANY REASON OR FOR NO REASON, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION FOR BREACH OF ANY REPRESENTATION, WARRANTY, OR COVENANT CONTAINED IN THESE LEGAL TERMS OR OF ANY APPLICABLE CONTENT, . WE MAY TERMINATE YOUR USE OR PARTICIPATION IN THE SERVICES OR DELETE ANY CONTENT OR INFORMATION THAT YOU POSTED AT ANY TIME, WITHOUT WARNING, IN OUR SOLE DISCRETION.
If we terminate or suspend your account for any reason, you are prohibited from registering and creating a new account under your name, a fake or borrowed name, or the name of any third party, even if you may be acting on behalf of the third party. In addition to terminating or suspending your account, we reserve the right to take appropriate legal action, including without limitation pursuing civil, criminal, and injunctive redress.
We reserve the right to change, modify, or remove the contents of the Services at any time or for any reason at our sole discretion without notice. However, we have no obligation to update any information on our Services. We will not be liable to you or any third party for any modification, price change, suspension, or discontinuance of the Services.
We cannot guarantee the Services will be available at all times. We may experience hardware, software, or other problems or need to perform maintenance related to the Services, resulting in interruptions, delays, or errors. We reserve the right to change, revise, update, suspend, discontinue, or otherwise modify the Services at any time or for any reason without notice to you. You agree that we have no liability whatsoever for any loss, damage, or inconvenience caused by your inability to access or use the Services during any downtime or discontinuance of the Services. Nothing in these Legal Terms will be construed to oblige us to maintain and support the Services or to supply any corrections, updates, or releases in connection therewith.
These Legal Terms shall be governed by the country of origin only and apply only to alecmaddock.com.
Informal Negotiations
To expedite resolution and control the cost of any dispute, controversy, or claim related to these Legal Terms (each a "Dispute" and collectively, the "Disputes") brought by either you or us (individually, a "Party" and collectively, the "Parties"), the Parties agree to first attempt to negotiate any Dispute (except those Disputes expressly provide<: below} informally for at least 31 days before initiating arbitration. Such informal negotiations commence upon written notice from one Party to the other Party.
Restrictions
The Parties agree that any arbitration shall be Limited to the Dispute between the Parties individually. To the full extent permitted by law, (a) no arbitration shall be joined with any other proceeding; (b) there is no right or authority for any Dispute to be arbitrated on a class-action basis or to utilize class action procedures; and (c) there is no right or authority for any Dispute to be brought in a purported representative capacity on behalf of the general public or any other persons.
Exceptions to Informal Negotiations and Arbitration
The Parties agree that the following Disputes are not subject to the above provisions concerning informal negotiations binding arbitration: (a) any Disputes seeking to enforce or protect, or concerning tile validity of, any of the intellectual property rights of a Party; (b) any Dispute related to, or arising from, allegations of theft, piracy, invasion of privacy, or unauthorized use; and (c} any claim for injunctive relief. If this provision is found to be illegal or unenforceable, then neither Party will elect to arbitrate any Dispute falling within that portion of this provision found to be illegal or unenforceable a11d such Dispute shall be decided by a court of competent jurisdiction within the courts listed for jurisdiction above, and the Parties agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of that court.
There may be information on the Services that contains typographical errors, inaccuracies, or omissions, including descriptions, pricing, availability, and various other information. We reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions and to change or update the information on the Services at any time, without prior notice.
THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN AS-IS AND AS-AVAILABLE BASIS. YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES WILL BE AT YOUR SOLE RISK. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES AND YOUR USE THEREOF, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE MAKE NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE SERVICES' CONTENT OR THE CONTENT OF ANY WEBSITES OR MOBILE APPLICATIONS LINKED TO THE SERVICES AND WE WILL ASSUME NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY (1) ERRORS, MISTAKES, OR INACCURACIES OF CONTENT AND MATERIALS, (2) PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER, RESULTING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SERVICES, (3) ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SECURE SERVERS AND/OR ANY AND ALL PERSONAL INFORMATION AND/OR FINANCIAL INFORMATION STORED THEREIN, (4)ANY INTERRUPTION OR CESSATION OF TRANSMISSION TO OR FROM THE SERVICES, (S)ANY BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE WHICH MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH THE SERVICES BY ANY THIRD PARTY, AND/OR (6) ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT AND MATERIALS OR FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF ANY CONTENT POSTED, TRANSMITTED, OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE VIA THE SERVICES. WE DO NOT WARRANT, ENDORSE, GUARANTEE, OR ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE ADVERTISED OR OFFERED BY A THIRD PARTY THROUGH THE SERVICES, ANY HYPERLINKED WEBSITE, OR ANY WEBSITE OR MOBILE APPLICATION FEATURED IN ANY BANNER OR OTHER ADVERTISING, AND WE WILL NOT BE A PARTY TO OR IN ANY WAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MONITORING ANY TRANSACTION BETWEEN YOU AND ANY THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. AS WITH THE PURCHASE OF A PRODUCT OR SERVICE THROUGH ANY MEDIUM OR IN ANY ENVIRONMENT, YOU SHOULD USE YOUR BEST JUDGMENT AND EXERCISE CAUTION WHERE APPROPRIATE.
IN NO EVENT Will WE OR OUR DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFIT, LOST REVENUE, LOSS OF DATA, OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, OUR LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT All TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE LESSER OF THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO US OR
. CERTAIN US STATE LAWS AND INTERNATIONAL LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MAY HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us harmless, including our subsidiaries, affiliates, and all of our respective officers, agents, partners, and employees, from and against any loss, damage, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses, made by any third party due to or arising out of: (1) use of the Services; (2) breach of these legal Terms; (3) any breach of your .representations and warranties set forth in these legal Terms; {4) your violation of the rights of a third party, including but not limited to intellectual property rights; or (5) any overt harmful act toward any other user of the Services with whom you connected via the Services. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we reserve the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matters which you are required to indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate, at your expense, with our defense of such claims. We will use reasonable efforts to notify you of any such claim, action, or proceeding which is subject to this indemnification upon becoming aware of it.
We will maintain certain data that you transmit to the Services for the purpose of managing the performance of the Services, as well as data relating to your use of the Services. Although we perform regular ro1utine backups of data, you are solely responsible for all data that you transmit or that relates to any activity you have undertaken using the Services. You agree that we shall have no liability to you for any loss or corruption of any such data, and you hereby waive any right of action against us arising from any such loss or corruption of such data.
Visiting the Services, sending us emails, and completing online forms constitute electronic communications. You consent to receive electronic communications, and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications we provide to you electronically, via email and on the Services, satisfy any legal requirement that such communication be in writing. YOU HEREBY AGREE TO THE USE OF ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES, CONTRACTS, ORDERS, AND OTHER RECORDS, AND TO ELECTRONIC DELIVERY OF NOTICES, POLICIES, AND RECORDS OF TRANSACTIONS INITIATED OR COMPLETED BY US OR VIA THE
SERVICES. You hereby waive any rights or requirements under any statutes, regulations, rules, ordinances, or other laws in any jurisdiction which require an original signature or delivery or retention of non-electronic records, or to payments or the granting of credits by any means other than electronic means.
These Legal Terms and any policies or operating rules posted by us on the Services or in respect to the Services constitute the entire agreement and understanding between you and us. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Legal Terms shall not operate as a waiver of such right or provision. These Legal Terms operate to the fullest extent permissible by law. We may assign any or all of our rights and obligations to others at any time. We shall not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage, delay, or failure to act caused by any cause beyond our reasonable control. If any provision or part of a provision of these Legal Terms is determined to be unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that provision or part of the provision is deemed severable from these Legal Terms and does not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. There is no joint venture, partnership, employment or agency relationship created between you and us as a result of these Legal Terms or use of the Services. You agree that these Legal Terms will not be construed against us by virtue of having drafted them. You hereby waive any and all defenses you may have based on the electronic form of these Legal Terms and the lack of signing by the parties hereto to execute these Legal Terms.
In order to resolve a complaint regarding the Services or to receive further information regarding use of the Services, please contact us at – alec@alecmaddock.com
Content creators, such as popular bloggers, influencers, online streamers, celebrities, social media personalities, can have a big impact on a customer’s buying behavior.
If you’ve been incentivized in any way to promote a brand, or product in your social media content, for example in photos including carousels, videos, reels or stories, podcasts or other posts online it’s important that all this content is clearly identifiable as an ad (or advertising).
This includes where you’ve been paid to post content, received a gift, or post content about your own business.
If you’re an influencer or content creator, whenever you’ve been incentivized to post, all:
must be clearly labelled as an Advert or ad.
This applies to both formal agreements, such as written contracts or other agreements, and to more informal arrangements, including verbal or other situations where you’ve been incentivized to promote, endorse or review a product.
It also includes businesses sending products or invites to events without asking for anything in return (‘freebies’ or ‘gifts’). It also applies where you post content about your own business too.
Everyone involved in creating your content like this on social media must take responsibility to ensure all ads are labelled correctly.
If you mislead customers through hidden ads you may be in breach of consumer protection law.
It may also mean you could be breaking industry rules on advertising.
Any form of incentive or reward – including money, commissions, discounts, leases or loans free of charge or in more favorable terms than those offered to the general public, gifts of any products – is payment.
Avoid misleading your audience
Hidden ads are illegal and harmful as they can persuade people to buy things they might not usually buy if they’d known that the content was not a non-biased opinion, review or recommendation.
Posting about products, services or brands without labelling them as an ad can mislead your audience if there’s the impression that you:
It’s a problem, and misleading, if you give the impression that any results you’ve claimed on social media are ones you’ve achieved or experienced first-hand when you’ve in fact been paid in some way to say it.
Also, the content must not make false or unsupported statements. For example, do not say that something tastes good, washes well, etc. if you have not tried it. Don’t claim a product is ecologically friendly if you can’t prove it. If you are trying to demonstrate the benefits of a beauty product don’t exaggerate the results through the use of a video, or photo filter on the platform.
Clear ad labels
All commercial content must be correctly labelled and clearly identifiable as an ad. This also includes where you post about any gifts you’ve received, even if there’s no obligation for you to do anything with it.
To do this, all labels must be clear, prominent and easy to understand. It is not enough just to tag a brand in your post, use discount codes or affiliate links.
Easy to understand and easily defined (transparent and unambiguous)
You should use a label that clearly identifies your content as an ad, or advert, such as:
Ad
Advert
Advertising
Advertisement
The above image is an example of a post which the CMA views would likely comply with the requirements of consumer protection law.
Some platforms have tools to label content automatically, like ‘paid partnership’ or ‘branded content’. You can also use these provided the label is clear and easy to see or access.
You should consider whether the labelling tool clearly conveys that the content is an ad; if not, you should include the label #Ad in a clear, upfront position.
You should avoid unclear or ambiguous terms such as #gift, #gifted, #sponsored, #spon, #aff, #affiliate, #collab, #PRTrip, ‘Prahu’, ‘Funded by’, ‘PR Stay’, ‘In association with’, ‘thank you’, ‘made possible by’, ‘my products’, ‘my brand’ ‘own brand’, or just naming the brand.
Clearly shown in posts (prominent)
Your audience should be able to understand that your content is an ad, as soon as they access or engage with it, regardless of the format or media used.
Disclosure labels should not be hidden or buried in many other hashtags or poorly contrasted with the content background.
It must be immediately clear that your content is an ad. Your audience should not have to:
If they do, you will need to adjust or edit your content to ensure your audience can recognize it’s an ad.
Ad is obvious from the first interaction (timely)
All promotional content should be labelled as advertising, and this must be obvious as soon as anyone engages with the content.
This includes content such as podcasts or videos, where the disclosure for ads must be given at the beginning of the ad.
If you use carousels (video or photos), or sequences where your audience can access individual posts: you must also label each item that contains promotional messaging.
Influencers with their own brands
If you own (in full, co-own or in part), or are employed by a brand and use your social media account to promote its products, you must make this known and clearly label these posts as ads. Visit the Pretty Little Thing / Molly Mae Hague ruling for more information.
You should not rely on your bio, previous posts or selecting links for more information for your followers to discover what relationship you have with the brand you’re promoting or advertising.
For example, visit Advertising Standard Authority (ASA)’s rulings for Charlotte Dawson t/a charlottedawsy and Jamie Genevieve which explains this.
The above image is an example of a video endorsement which the CMA views would likely comply with the requirements of consumer protection law.
Multiple brands
You should be clear which brands you’re advertising for in your post.
Advice and further info
You could face enforcement action from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), local authority Trading Standards Services or the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland if your content misleads consumers.
ASA’s work
Did you know non-compliant influencers can be named and shamed for not abiding by advertising rules?
For more information on labelling ads correctly, the CMA has co-published a guide on how to label ads correctly with the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP). It explains how to comply with consumer protection law and the Advertising Codes enforced by the ASA. You can also visit CAP’s eLearning module on this topic too.
For more information on label placement, visibility and wording, visit ASA’s research.
CMA’s work
Please note: Guidance from the CMA is not legal advice.
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