Community Guidelines

The Third Connection is operated by RELAYLANE LABS LTD (company number 17162321), registered office: Lavender Cottage Hazelden Farm, Marden Road, Cranbrook, England, TN17 2LP, trading as "The Third Connection".

1. Who these guidelines are for

The Third Connection is an 18+ service for meeting people at ticketed in-person events, and — where two people mutually choose it after an event — matching (romantic or friendship) and text chat in the app.

These guidelines apply to everything you do on the service: your profile and photos, chat messages with your matches, your behaviour at our events, and your use of www.thethirdconnection.com. They sit alongside our Terms and our Acceptable Use Policy (05-acceptable-use-policy.md), which covers technical misuse of the platform.

If you break these guidelines we may take action against your content or your account (see section 7). If you believe we got a decision wrong, you can appeal (see 08-moderation-appeals.md).

2. The short version

• Be respectful, at events and in chat.
• Nothing happens without consent — matching is mutual, and "no" means no.
• Be yourself: real name-you-go-by, real recent photos, real age.
• You must be 18 or over. No exceptions.
• If someone makes you uncomfortable, you can block them and report them from inside the app.

3. Expected behaviour

At events

• Treat other attendees, venue staff and our event hosts with courtesy.
• Respect personal space and boundaries. If someone is not interested, move on gracefully.
• Follow reasonable instructions from event staff and venue rules (including venue age and licensing rules).
• Do not attend an event in a state (through alcohol or otherwise) that makes others unsafe or uncomfortable.

In the app

• Chat is only ever between people who have mutually matched after attending the same event. Treat that mutual choice with respect — it can be withdrawn at any time by unmatching or blocking.
• Keep conversations consensual. If someone asks you to stop a topic, stop.
• A match is an invitation to talk, not an entitlement to anything else.

4. Prohibited content and conduct

The following are not allowed anywhere on the service — in profiles, photos, chat, or in person at events.

4.1 Harassment and bullying

Threats, intimidation, stalking, unwanted repeated contact, degrading or humiliating conduct, or encouraging others to harass someone. This includes continuing to pursue someone at an event after they have disengaged.

4.2 Hate and discrimination

Content or conduct that attacks or demeans people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or any other protected characteristic.

4.3 Sexual content and sexual misconduct

• No sexual content in profiles or profile photos.
• No unwanted sexual content, advances or messages in chat. Consent can be withdrawn at any time; "unwanted" is judged from the recipient's perspective.
• No sexual harassment or sexual misconduct of any kind at events.

4.4 Intimate images (NCII)

Sharing, threatening to share, or soliciting intimate images of any person without their consent is strictly prohibited and may be a criminal offence in the UK. We treat threats ("sextortion") as seriously as actual sharing.

4.5 Scams and financial requests

Do not ask other users for money, loans, gifts, financial details, cryptocurrency, or investment "opportunities"; do not promote get-rich schemes; do not misrepresent yourself to obtain anything of value. Romance fraud will be reported to the relevant authorities where appropriate.

4.6 Impersonation and misrepresentation

Do not impersonate another person, an organisation, or The Third Connection staff; do not use someone else's photos as your own; do not materially misrepresent your identity or age.

4.7 Minors — strictly prohibited

The Third Connection is for adults aged 18 or over only. Under-18s may not create an account, attend events, or use the service in any way. Any content or conduct that sexualises, exploits or endangers children — including grooming behaviour — is treated with zero tolerance: immediate permanent removal from the service and escalation under our Child Safety Standards (06-child-safety-standards.md), including reporting to the relevant authorities where required.

4.8 Illegal content and conduct

No content or conduct that is illegal in the UK, including (without limitation) child sexual abuse and exploitation material, terrorism content, incitement to violence, supply of illegal drugs or weapons, and fraud. Zero tolerance applies to child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) — see 06-child-safety-standards.md.

4.9 Violence and dangerous behaviour

No threats or acts of violence, no encouraging self-harm or suicide, no bringing weapons to events.

5. Profile photo rules

Your photos are reviewed before and during their life on the service. Photos must:

• be of you, and recognisably so;
• be recent and not misleading;
• contain no nudity or sexual content;
• not feature other people without their permission, and never feature children;
• not contain contact details, advertising, QR codes or promotional material;
• not infringe anyone else's rights (use your own photos).

Every photo has a moderation status: draft, pending (awaiting review), approved, rejected (not permitted — you will need to upload a different photo), or restricted (removed following review or reports). Photos that break these rules will be rejected or restricted, and repeated attempts to upload prohibited images will be treated under section 7.

6. Reporting and blocking

• Report in the app: use the safety report option to report a user or an event. You can choose a category (Harassment, Safety concern, or Other) and describe what happened in your own words.
• Report on the web: www.thethirdconnection.com/report.
• Block: you can block any user from the app. Blocking is mutual and immediate — a blocked user cannot message you and you cannot message them.
• At events: speak to event staff if you feel unsafe.
• Emergencies: if you or anyone else is in immediate danger, contact the emergency services (999 in the UK) first, before reporting to us.

Every report is reviewed by a human member of our team. See our User Safety and Reporting Policy (07-user-safety-reporting.md) for how reports are handled.

7. Enforcement

We apply enforcement proportionately. Depending on severity and history, the steps are:

1. Warning — we tell you what the problem was and what will happen if it recurs.
2. Content removal — the offending content (for example a photo or profile element) is rejected or restricted and is no longer visible.
3. Account restriction — your account standing is set to restricted: you lose access to the service's interactive features while the matter is reviewed or for a defined period. An account may also be provisionally restricted automatically pending human review where multiple separate users report it (see 07-user-safety-reporting.md).
4. Permanent ban — your account is permanently restricted and your access is revoked. We may also refuse entry to future events.

We do not always start at step 1. Serious violations — including CSAE, NCII, credible threats of violence, and fraud — result in immediate permanent removal, and where appropriate referral to law enforcement.

Account standing on the service is either active or restricted; restriction ends sessions on your devices.

8. Appeals

If you believe an enforcement decision was wrong, you can appeal. The process, timelines and what you will be told about the decision are set out in our Content Moderation and Appeals Policy (08-moderation-appeals.md).

9. Changes to these guidelines

We review these guidelines at least every 12 months and will publish updated versions with a revised "Last updated" date. Material changes will be notified in the app or by email.

10. Contact

• Safety reports: in the app, at www.thethirdconnection.com/report, or by email to safety@thethirdconnection.com.
• Support, complaints and appeals: support@thethirdconnection.com.
• Data rights: privacy@thethirdconnection.com.