Content reporting and moderation

1. Scope and single point of contact

This policy covers content hosted on Bookelya: reviews, salon profiles, descriptions, photos and other user-submitted content on the website and in the apps. The single point of contact for users and authorities under the Digital Services Act (DSA) is contact@bookelya.com. You may write in French, English or Dutch without creating an account.

2. Prohibited content and sensitive data

Unlawful content is prohibited, including threats, unlawful hate speech, copyright or privacy infringements, sexual exploitation of children, fraudulent offers and impersonation. Our rules also prohibit spam, fake reviews, misleading advertising and photos posted without the necessary rights or permissions. Honest criticism, even if negative, is not prohibited merely for being critical.

Do not publish health data or private contact details in a public review. Private salon forms may collect information on allergies or contraindications necessary for the service: the salon is the data controller and Bookelya acts as a processor. This collection must be limited, with clear information, explicit consent where required and access restricted to the salon. Responses, including health information, are deleted 24 months after the customer’s last appointment at that salon. This never permits publication of such information in a review.

3. How to report content

Reviews currently have no dedicated report button. Email your report to contact@bookelya.com with the subject “Content report”. Provide the exact URL or, in the app, the salon, screen and reference needed to locate the content; identify the relevant passage or photo, explain why it is unlawful or breaches our rules, and include evidence useful for assessment.

Include your name and email address to receive updates, and a statement that you believe in good faith that the information provided is accurate and complete. For reports concerning certain sexual offences against children, the DSA does not require a name or email address. Do not send copies of child sexual exploitation content: provide its location. Limit other attachments to necessary data; never send passwords or full payment-card details.

4. Manual assessment and possible measures

Reports are handled by email, with an acknowledgement when your contact details allow it. We may request necessary clarification. Assessment covers the identified content, its context, relevant evidence and the rights of those concerned. It is conducted diligently, objectively and proportionately; no fixed processing time or automatic immediate removal is guaranteed.

Following assessment, content may remain available, be removed or made inaccessible. Account restriction or suspension may be considered according to the seriousness and recurrence of breaches, under the applicable terms. Measures are implemented manually; the platform currently has no automated moderation workflow or automatic detection of unlawful review content. Technical form checks are not an assessment of a comment’s legality.

5. Reasoned decision and notification

The decision is sent by email to the reporter when contact details are available. If a restriction is imposed, the author receives, where contact is possible and unless a legal exception applies, the facts relied on, the affected content and measure, its scope and any duration, the contractual rule or legal basis applied, and how to challenge it. Any use of automated means in a decision must be disclosed; no such moderation decision system is currently provided.

6. Internal complaints and dispute resolution

You may challenge a decision to retain, remove or restrict content free of charge by emailing contact@bookelya.com with the subject “Content appeal”, identifying the decision and your reasons. This complaint route is open to the reporter and affected person for at least six months from notification of the decision. Review is human; we email you a reasoned outcome and correct unjustified measures. No integrated appeal form is currently available.

Where Article 21 of the DSA applies, you may also refer the dispute to a certified out-of-court dispute settlement body competent to handle it. The European Commission publishes the official list. Neither this procedure nor the internal appeal prevents you from bringing proceedings before a court.

For its relations with professionals, Bookelya is a small enterprise within the meaning of Recommendation 2003/361/EC. The obligations to provide an internal complaint-handling system and designate mediators under Articles 11 and 12 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 (P2B) therefore do not apply to it. Bookelya nevertheless handles complaints from professionals at contact@bookelya.com. This exemption does not concern consumer mediation for disputes with Bookelya.

7. Abusive reports and safety

A rejected report is not necessarily abusive. Repeated, manifestly unfounded reports or complaints may lead, after a warning and individual assessment, to a temporary suspension of their processing. Frequency, seriousness, context and intent are considered; the duration and reasons are communicated. The same proportionate assessment applies to repeated dissemination of manifestly unlawful content. Merely reporting content triggers no automatic sanction.