Acceptable Use Policy

CLUB LOTUS ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

Last updated: 12/05/2026

This Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”) sets out the rules that apply when you use any interactive feature of www.clublotus.co.uk or any associated service operated by Club Lotus Ltd — including the forums, comments, classified advertisements, Lotus Spotted, My Photos, My Garage Documents, magazine submissions, area pages and event sign-on. It forms part of our Terms & Conditions and should be read together with our Privacy Policy, Disclaimer and Cookie Policy.

By posting, uploading or otherwise contributing content to the Website (“User Content”), you confirm that you have read, understood and will comply with this AUP.

1. The spirit of the club

Club Lotus has been a friendly, knowledgeable and supportive community since 1956. The single overriding rule is straightforward: treat other members the way you would treat a fellow Lotus owner in the paddock at Hethel — politely, helpfully and with a sense of humour. Most of this policy is there for the very small number of occasions when that does not happen, or where the law requires us to be explicit.

2. Who this policy applies to

This AUP applies to:

members and guests posting in the forums, including private messages between users;
anyone leaving comments on articles, events, products or archive pages;
members placing classified advertisements or responding to them;
members uploading content to Lotus Spotted, My Photos or My Garage Documents;
contributors submitting articles, photographs, letters or images for Club Lotus News or for area newsletters;
members corresponding with Club Lotus staff, officers, area organisers or other volunteers; and
attendees at Club Lotus events, whether in person or online.

It applies to all User Content regardless of how brief, whether public or private, and whether contributed under your real name or a username.

3. Content that is always prohibited

You must not post, upload, link to or otherwise share any content that:

is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory or fraudulent;
promotes or incites violence, terrorism, self-harm, suicide or the harming of any person or animal;
promotes discrimination based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age or any other protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010;
is sexually explicit, pornographic or otherwise inappropriate for a general audience that includes younger members;
infringes any intellectual property right — including copyright, trade marks, design rights or database rights — of Club Lotus or a third party (see also section 6);
discloses personal data about another person (including names, addresses, telephone numbers, registration numbers in context, or photographs of identifiable people) without their consent;
impersonates any other person, including another member, a Club Lotus officer, an employee of Lotus Cars Limited or Classic Team Lotus, a public figure or a brand;
contains malware, viruses, harvested data, or any code or technique intended to interfere with the operation of the Website; or
is otherwise contrary to applicable UK law.

4. Conduct in forums, comments and messages

In addition to the above, the following rules apply specifically to discussion areas:

4.1 Civility and tone

Disagreement is welcome; personal attacks are not. Address the argument, not the member.
Profanity should be the exception, not the default. Avoid it in thread titles entirely.
Treat newcomers patiently. Many members are early in their Lotus ownership journey and the club exists in part to help them.

4.2 On-topic posting

Use the appropriate forum or sub-forum and a clear, descriptive title.
Do not “thread-jack” — start a new topic for a new question rather than diverting an existing one.
Politics and religion are not banned outright but should be confined to clearly marked off-topic areas where they exist; they should never derail technical or model-specific threads.

4.3 No spam

Do not post or message the same content repeatedly across the forums.
Do not use the forums or private messaging to send unsolicited bulk content, marketing material, chain letters, “pyramid” schemes or affiliate links.
Signatures should be reasonable in length and free of commercial promotion unless agreed with us.

4.4 Commercial activity

Members and trade contributors may discuss products, share recommendations, and refer to their own business where directly relevant to a thread, provided this is transparent and proportionate.
Active commercial promotion — recruitment of customers, soliciting work, advertising stock — is permitted only through the official Classifieds and through agreed sponsorship and advertising arrangements (contact advertising@clublotus.co.uk).
Undisclosed commercial relationships, fake reviews and astroturfing are prohibited.

4.5 Safety-critical topics

The forums frequently discuss restoration, modification and track use. Members may share their experience freely, but you must not present advice as professional advice unless you are qualified to give it and identify yourself as such.
Procedures that materially affect roadworthiness, structural integrity or safety should reference the relevant workshop manual, MSA/Motorsport UK regulation or qualified specialist where appropriate. See also section 3 of the Disclaimer.

5. Classified advertisements and Lotus Spotted

5.1 Eligibility

Member-to-member Classifieds are for the sale of Lotus cars, parts, memorabilia and related items.
Advertisers must be entitled to sell the goods, and the goods must be lawful to sell in the United Kingdom (or in the jurisdiction of the advertiser, with that jurisdiction clearly identified).

5.2 Accuracy and consumer protection

Listings must be honest, accurate and not misleading, in line with the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and (for trade advertisers) the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008.
Trade advertisers must clearly identify themselves as such.
Material faults known to the seller should be disclosed. Photographs should be of the actual item.

5.3 Stolen, illegal or counterfeit goods

We have a zero-tolerance position on stolen, replica-passed-as-original, or counterfeit items. Suspect listings will be removed and may be reported to the appropriate authorities.

5.4 Lotus Spotted

Photographs you upload to Lotus Spotted should be your own, or used with permission.
If you photograph a car in a public place, take care not to expose the owner’s home address or other identifying details. Number plates may be left visible but please consider whether doing so might cause an owner concern.
We strip GPS metadata from photographs displayed publicly; you should still avoid posting precise location information unless the owner is happy for it to be shared.

6. Intellectual property and credits

6.1 Your own work

By posting User Content you confirm that it is your own, or that you have all the rights and permissions necessary to share it on Club Lotus channels.
You grant Club Lotus the licence described in section 9 of the Terms & Conditions to host, edit and republish your content as part of the Website, magazine and archive.

6.2 Other people’s work

Do not copy and paste articles, photographs, technical drawings, scans or other material from elsewhere without permission. Short quotations with attribution are usually fine; whole articles, complete photographs and downloadable manuals are not.
When sharing third-party content lawfully (for example, an embedded video or a link), please credit the source.

6.3 Trade marks

Lotus, the Lotus roundel, Esprit, Elise, Elan, Europa, Exige, Evora, Emira, Eletre, Team Lotus and similar marks belong to their respective proprietors. Use them descriptively and respectfully; do not use them in a way that suggests endorsement by, or affiliation with, Lotus Cars Limited or Classic Team Lotus.

6.4 Archive material

Heritage Digital Archive material is provided for personal, non-commercial research and enjoyment. Do not repost archive images or scans elsewhere without our permission (see Terms section 8).

7. Privacy of other people

Do not post the personal data of another member or any other identifiable individual — name, address, telephone number, email address, workplace, vehicle registration in context, or images that allow them to be identified — without their consent.
Do not republish private correspondence, private forum messages or screenshots of either, without the agreement of the other party.
“Doxxing”, “outing” or otherwise revealing information about another member that they have chosen not to make public will be treated as a serious breach.
Photographs of children should not be posted without the express consent of a parent or guardian, and only where appropriate to the context.

If you are the subject of User Content and you wish it to be removed or amended, please contact dpo@clublotus.co.uk under the procedures in our Privacy Policy.

8. Account integrity

One person per account. Do not share your login details with anyone, including family members on a separate membership.
Do not register a second account to circumvent moderation, evade a suspension, or appear to support your own arguments under a different identity (“sockpuppeting”).
Usernames must not be offensive, deliberately misleading, or impersonate another person or organisation.
You are responsible for everything posted from your account, whether you posted it personally or not.

9. Moderation, escalation and sanctions

9.1 Reporting

If you see content that breaches this AUP, please use the report function on the forum or comment in the first instance, or email moderation@clublotus.co.uk for items outside the forum.
Reports are reviewed by our moderation team — a combination of staff and trusted volunteer moderators — under the direction of the Editor and Chairman.

9.2 The moderation ladder

Moderation is intended to be proportionate and corrective. In broad order of seriousness we may:

Edit content (for example, to remove a piece of personal data, a broken link or an excerpt that exceeds the quoting rule);
Hide or delete content;
Issue a private warning explaining what was wrong and why;
Place an account on pre-moderation so that posts are reviewed before going live;
Suspend an account for a fixed period;
Terminate membership and revoke Website access in cases of serious or repeated breach.

We will normally explain our reasoning, except where doing so would itself disclose personal information or compromise an investigation.

9.3 Immediate removal

Some content — including unlawful material, threats of violence, child sexual abuse material, doxxing, and content reasonably believed to be defamatory — will be removed immediately on identification, without prior notice to the contributor. Where appropriate we will report it to the relevant authority.

9.4 Appeals

If you believe a moderation decision was wrong, you may appeal in writing to appeals@clublotus.co.uk within 14 days of the decision.
Appeals are reviewed by a person not involved in the original decision, normally a member of the committee.
Appeal outcomes are final within the club’s internal process. Nothing in this AUP affects any statutory right you may have, including under data protection or consumer protection law.

9.5 Records

We keep a record of moderation actions and warnings to ensure consistency and to inform future decisions. These records are held in line with our Privacy Policy.

10. Events and online sessions

For events run by Club Lotus, whether in person or online, the principles of this AUP apply in addition to any specific event terms or venue rules:

Follow the instructions of event officials, marshals and online moderators.
Treat fellow attendees, suppliers, instructors and volunteers with respect.
Online sessions may be recorded for later archive use; if you contribute by voice or video you are accepting that you may be recorded, as stated at the start of the session.
Behaviour that is unsafe, abusive or seriously discourteous may result in removal from the event without refund (see Terms section 6.4) and may also result in action against your Website account.

11. Volunteers and area organisers

Area Organisers, moderators, magazine contributors and other volunteers act on behalf of the club within the scope of their role. They are entitled to the same standards of respectful conduct from other members as anyone else, and to additional protection from sustained personal criticism connected to their volunteer duties.

Concerns about the conduct of a volunteer should be raised in writing to chairman@clublotus.co.uk rather than in public threads.

12. AI-generated content

Where you use AI tools (for example, to draft a post, summarise a thread or generate an image), you remain fully responsible for what you publish. In particular:

AI-generated content must comply with all other parts of this AUP, including accuracy, defamation, privacy and intellectual property rules;
AI-generated images of identifiable people or vehicles should be clearly labelled as AI-generated, especially in archive, historical or news contexts where they could be mistaken for genuine material; and
Wholly AI-generated forum posts — used to inflate post counts or simulate participation — are not welcome.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this AUP from time to time to reflect changes in law, club practice, technology or community feedback. The “Last updated” date at the top of the page shows the date of the most recent revision. Significant changes will be flagged through the Website and, where appropriate, by email.

14. Contact

Purpose	Address
Reporting content (off-forum)	moderation@clublotus.co.uk
Appeals against moderation decisions	appeals@clublotus.co.uk
Privacy concerns about content involving you	dpo@clublotus.co.uk
Heritage archive rights and takedown	archive@clublotus.co.uk
Advertising and sponsorship	advertising@clublotus.co.uk
Conduct of a volunteer or officer	chairman@clublotus.co.uk
General enquiries	info@clublotus.co.uk
Postal	Club Lotus Ltd, Signpost House, Ambassador Way, Greens Road, Dereham, Norfolk NR20 3TL
Telephone	+44 (0)1362 694459

Follow us: