Purpose

Hidden Gems is a personalised discovery and engagement feature within iLancaster. It is designed to help students and visitors discover spaces, societies, events, and wellbeing resources through a combination of community contributions and AI-supported discovery.

This Acceptable Use Policy sets out how Hidden Gems should and should not be used, ensuring the service remains safe, respectful, inclusive, and trustworthy for everyone.

By using Hidden Gems, submitting content, or sharing ideas, you agree to follow this policy.

Appropriate Use

You may use Hidden Gems to:

• Explore spaces, societies, events, and wellbeing resources
• Save favourites and personalise your discovery experience
• Contribute suggestions for spaces, events, or resources
• Share constructive ideas and feedback about the service
• Engage with AI-assisted search and recommendations in good faith

All use should align with Lancaster University policies, values, and codes of conduct.

Prohibited Use

You must not use Hidden Gems to:

• Submit content that is offensive, abusive, discriminatory, harassing, or threatening
• Share false, misleading, or deliberately harmful information
• Upload personal data about others without their consent
• Promote illegal activity or unsafe behaviour
• Attempt to manipulate recommendations or moderation processes
• Use the service in a way that disrupts, degrades, or compromises the system
• Attempt to reverse engineer, probe, or bypass technical safeguards

Hidden Gems must not be used as a platform for advertising, political campaigning, or commercial promotion without explicit approval.

Community Contributions

When submitting spaces, events, or resources:

• Ensure content is accurate and provided in good faith
• Avoid including sensitive personal information
• Respect other users and the wider university community
• Submit only content relevant to student life and wellbeing

All contributed content may be moderated before being made visible. Submissions may be edited or rejected if they do not meet these standards.

Use of AI Features

Hidden Gems uses AI to support discovery and recommendation. Users must:

• Treat AI-generated suggestions as guidance, not authoritative advice
• Not rely on Hidden Gems for emergency, medical, or crisis decisions
• Report inaccurate, biased, or inappropriate outputs where possible

AI features are designed to assist exploration, not to replace professional support or judgement.

Monitoring and Enforcement

Use of Hidden Gems may be monitored to ensure compliance with this policy and to support service improvement.

If misuse is identified:

• Content may be removed
• Access may be restricted or withdrawn
• Serious breaches may be escalated in line with university disciplinary processes

Changes to This Policy

This policy may be updated as Hidden Gems evolves. Significant changes will be communicated through iLancaster or associated channels.