General Terms and Conditions

1. Introduction

1.1 We are the Disclosure and Barring Service (“DBS”), which is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Home Office (referred to as “we”, “our”, or “us” from now on).

1.2 These General Website Terms and Conditions (together with the documents referred to in it and the Individual User and Organisation User Terms and Conditions, which you will find when you register on one or the other) set out the basis upon which you may make use of our GOV.UK website (“our website”), whether as a guest or a registered user. Use of our website includes accessing, browsing or registering to use.

1.3 Please read all of the terms and conditions carefully before you start to use our website, as these will apply to your use. By using our website, you confirm that you accept these terms and conditions and that you agree to comply with them; if you do not agree to these terms and conditions, you must not use our website or the Services.

1.4 These terms and conditions incorporate the following and so they will also apply to your use of our website and the following Services:

1.4.1 our Privacy Policies (“Privacy Policy”) which can be found here, set out the terms on which we process any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us. By using our website, you consent to such processing and you confirm that all data provided by you is accurate

1.4.2 our cookie policy (“Cookie Policy”) which can be found here, sets out information about the cookies on our site.

2. Use of our website

2.1 By subscribing to use the Services or otherwise accessing our website, you consent to us using the information provided to identify possible matches to records held by the UK Government and law enforcement bodies and otherwise in line with the Privacy Policy and the Cookie Policy.

2.2 Access to our website is made available free of charge but the use of some of the Services may be chargeable (the “Chargeable Services”).

2.3 We do not guarantee that our website, or any content on it, will always be available or be uninterrupted. Access to our website is permitted on a temporary basis. We may suspend, withdraw, discontinue or change all or any part of our website or the Services available without notice and we will not be liable to you if, for any reason, our website is unavailable at any time or for any period.

2.4 You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to our website.

2.5 You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access our website through your internet connection are aware of these General Terms and Conditions (and all other applicable terms and conditions that may be applicable), and that they comply with them. This means that if someone accesses our site through your account and is in breach of these terms and any other applicable terms and conditions or documents, we may take such action as we deem appropriate against you, as though you had committed the breach yourself.

2.6 You may only use our site for lawful purposes. You may not use our site:

2.6.1 in any way that breaches any applicable local, national or international law or regulation;

2.6.2 in any way that is unlawful or fraudulent, or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect;

2.6.3 in a way that affects, or is intended to affect, any of the security features contained on our site;

2.6.4 for the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors or vulnerable persons in any way; or

2.6.5 for any commercial purpose.

3. Intellectual property

3.1 We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in our site, and in the material published on it. Those works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved.

3.2 We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in the Services and any certificate or other information provided to you in connection with the Services.

3.3 You must not print or copy any certificate provided to you in connection with an application.

3.4 You must not modify, in any way whatsoever, the paper or digital copies of any other materials you have printed off or downloaded and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text.

3.5 You must not otherwise copy, distribute, show in public or create any derivative work from our site without our prior written permission or as expressly set out in these terms. You must also not use any part of the content on our site for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors.

3.6 If you print off, copy, download or use any part of our site in breach of these terms, your right to use our site and the Services will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.

3.7 By submitting any material or information to us via our site or other online channel, you:

3.7.1 confirm that you are fully entitled to do so;

3.7.2 confirm that the material or information is complete and accurate to the best of your knowledge;

3.7.3 3.7.3 grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable licence to copy, modify, distribute and use any material in accordance with these General Terms and Conditions or any Individual User or Organisation User Terms and Conditions, that we may require in connection with your use of the website or our provision of the Services; and

3.7.1 consent to the information being used in accordance with these terms and conditions, any other applicable terms and conditions, including our Privacy Policy and/or our Cookie Policy.

3.8 We also have the right, at our sole discretion, to disclose your identity to any third party who may claim that any information submitted via our website constitutes a violation of their rights, including intellectual property rights or of their right to privacy.

4. Authorised use

4.1 Our site is a protected UK Government website. Unauthorised access to our website and/or unauthorised modification to the contents of our website are offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and it is unlawful, therefore, to intentionally cause damage to it or to any of our electronic facilities or data through the transmission of any program, information, code or command. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use our site, including the Services, will cease immediately.

4.2 We will endeavour to keep our site free from bugs or viruses, but cannot guarantee it will always be secure or free from such bugs or viruses. You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and platform in order to access our site and you should use your own virus protection software to protect your computer(s).

5. Liability

5.1 Nothing in these General Terms and Conditions (or any Individual User or Organisation User Terms and Conditions) excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, or our fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability to the extent it cannot be excluded or limited by any applicable law.

5.2 To the extent permitted by law, we exclude all conditions, warranties, representations or other terms which may apply to our website or any content on it, or the Services, whether express or implied.

5.3 We will not be liable to you or any third party for any loss or damage, whether in contract or tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise and whether such loss or damage is foreseeable or not, arising under or in connection with the:

5.3.1 use of, or inability to use, our site or any or all of the Services; or

5.3.2 use of or reliance upon any information, data or content displayed on or contained within our site.

5.4 As set out under Section 57 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (“SVGA”)and/or Article 57 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 (“SVGO”), unless otherwise permitted under either the SVGA or SVGO, we will not be responsible for any claim for damages in relation to any loss or damage suffered by you or anyone else in connection with:

5.4.1 you or any other individual being included on the barred list;

5.4.2 you or any other individual not being included on the barred list; or

5.4.3 any information provided by a regulated activity provider, personnel supplier or local authority in accordance with the SVGA or SVGO.

5.5 We will not be liable to you or any third party for any loss or damage which is caused by any act or omission which is outside of our reasonable control, including without limitation any act or omission of any third parties (such as the police and any other referring organisation) who may provide materials and information to us.

5.6 We will not be liable in any circumstances (including in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise) for the following types of loss or damage, whether deemed to have been incurred directly or indirectly and whether we have been advised of the possibility of such losses or damages being incurred or not:

5.6.1 loss of profit;

5.6.2 loss of revenue or loss of sales;

5.6.3 business interruption;

5.6.4 third party losses;

5.6.5 loss of anticipated savings;

5.6.6 loss of data; or

5.6.7 loss of business opportunity, goodwill or reputation.

5.7 We will not be liable in any circumstances (including in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise) for any consequential loss or damage.

5.8 We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a virus, distributed denial-of-service attack, or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other proprietary material due to your use of our site or to your downloading of any content on it, or on any website linked to it, or any use of the Services.

5.9 We assume no responsibility for the content of websites linked to our site. Such links should not be interpreted as endorsement by us of those linked websites and we will not be liable for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.

5.10 Subject to the rest of Section 5 (above), we limit our liability to you to damages only and the level of such damages for any incident or series of related incidents shall not exceed the sum of £250 [for each affected application or request for Services].

5.11 We may revise these General Terms and Conditions, Individual User Terms and Conditions, the Organisation User Terms and Conditions and/or any related documents, policies or procedures that are referred to in such terms as being part of our agreement, at any time, by amending them. Please check our site from time to time to take notice of any changes we may make, as they may be binding on you.

5.12 We may update our site from time to time and may change the content or the Services that are available at any time.

5.13 We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms and conditions to another organisation.

5.14 These General Terms and Conditions and any other applicable terms and conditions are between you and us and no other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms, whether under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 or otherwise.

5.15 Each of the Sections of these General Terms and Conditions, the Individual User Terms and Conditions and/or, the Organisation User Terms and Conditions operate separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining Sections will remain in full force and effect.

5.16 If we do not insist immediately that you do something that is required of you under these General Terms and Conditions, the Individual User Terms and Conditions and/or the Organisation User Terms and Conditions, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your failure to comply with any of these terms, this will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us from taking steps against you at a later date. If we do waive a default by you, we will only do so in writing, and that will not mean that we will automatically waive any later default by you.

6. Applicable law

6.1 These General Terms and Conditions, the Individual User Terms and Conditions and the Organisation User Terms and Conditions, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.

6.2 Both we and you irrevocably agree that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with these General Terms and Conditions, the Individual User Terms and Conditions and the Organisation User Terms and Conditions or any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims).