Terms of Service

The Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Data Sharing Agreement and Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) form part of these Terms and will be published alongside them.

Agreement to these Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and vAMSYS LTD (company number 09982167), a company registered in England and Wales with its registered office at 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ. In these Terms, "vAMSYS", "we", "us" and "our" mean vAMSYS LTD. You can contact us at help@vamsys.co.uk.

We operate the vAMSYS Virtual Airline management platform at https://vamsys.io, together with the related websites, applications, application programming interfaces (APIs) and other services that link to these Terms (collectively, the "Services"). The Pilot API and the "Login with vAMSYS" sign-in flow form part of the Services and are governed by these Terms and our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) up to the point at which a Pilot's data is disclosed to a Virtual Airline's own application; what that application then does is outside the Services.

By creating an account, operating a Virtual Airline (VA), or otherwise using the Services, you agree to these Terms and to the following policies, each of which forms part of these Terms:

• the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP);

• the Privacy Policy;

• the Cookie Policy; and

• the Data Sharing Agreement, which covers the data a VA receives from, or shares with, us.

These policies will be published on our website. A breach of any of them is a breach of these Terms.

Order of priority. These documents are meant to be read together, and each mainly covers a different area, so conflicts should be rare. If one arises, the documents take priority in this order — a higher one prevails over a lower one, but only to the extent of the conflict:

1. the Data Sharing Agreement, for the VA data-sharing matters within its scope;

2. the Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy;

3. the Acceptable Use Policy;

4. the Virtual Airline Owner Terms (for Owners);

5. these Terms of Service — the primary, residual agreement: they govern everything not covered by a higher-priority document above.

Nothing in this order removes or reduces your statutory rights (including your consumer rights and our duties under data-protection law); to the extent a term would, it does not apply.

If you are an Owner, the separate Virtual Airline Owner Terms also form part of your agreement with us. They cover subscriptions, billing, ownership and transfers, and the API, and they will be published alongside these Terms (see “Who these Terms apply to” below). Where they conflict with these Terms, the order of priority in these Terms applies. They do not apply to Pilots or VA Staff who are not Owners.

This is our agreement with you; it is not legal advice. We have written it to be readable, but it is still a contract.

Changes to these Terms. We may change these Terms from time to time. If a change materially and adversely affects you, we give at least 30 days' notice and a chance to leave before it takes effect — if you are an Owner you may cancel your subscription (with a pro-rata refund); if you are a Pilot or VA Staff you may stop using the Services and close your account — see §13.1. Changes that are favourable to you, neutral, or minor (for example, improvements, clarifications, formatting or contact details) take effect when we update the 'Last updated' date, and your continued use of the Services after that means you accept them.

Where we operate. We provide the Services from the United Kingdom and operate them in line with the laws that apply to us here. These Terms are governed by the law of England and Wales (see §12), which governs our agreement with you wherever you are based. Separately, you are responsible for making sure your own access to and use of the Services is lawful in the country you are in — we do not promise the Services are appropriate or available everywhere. If you are a consumer, you also keep the benefit of any mandatory consumer protections in your home country (see §12).

Who these Terms apply to

vAMSYS has two sets of terms:

• These Terms of Service apply to everyone — every User, whether you are a Pilot, VA Staff or an Owner. They cover your account, conduct, your content, intellectual property, illegal-content reporting, enforcement, availability, liability, data protection and disputes.

• The separate Virtual Airline Owner Terms apply only to Owners (the person who runs and pays for a Virtual Airline). They cover how we treat you as our customer, ownership and transfers, subscriptions and billing, cooling-off and refunds, chargebacks, and the API.

If you are an Owner, both documents form part of your agreement. If you are a Pilot or VA Staff, only these Terms of Service apply to you.

A few clauses that bind only Owners — your VA's branding warranty, and the rules on ending a paying subscription — live in the Virtual Airline Owner Terms, not in these Terms of Service. If you are a Pilot or VA Staff, they do not apply to you.

§1 Definitions

In these Terms, the following defined terms have the meanings given below. We capitalise them when we mean the defined concept, and use ordinary lower case for genuine everyday uses of the same words.

User — a single human account on the Services. Each User is one person, with one account, identified by an email address and password and optionally by linked external accounts (for example Discord, VATSIM, IVAO, POSCON, APOC, Navigraph or SimBrief). One person may hold only one User account.

Virtual Airline or VA — an organisation on the platform, run by an Owner. The VA is the paying customer for a subscription.

Pilot — your membership of a particular VA. Becoming a Pilot is free. One User can be a Pilot at many VAs at the same time.

Owner — the one User responsible for a VA (its creator, or the person to whom ownership was transferred). An Owner's billing, subscription and ownership terms are in the Virtual Airline Owner Terms.

VA Staff — Users to whom an Owner has granted administrative permissions within their VA.

Team vAMSYS — our own personnel, who provide support and carry out moderation. Where these Terms say a decision is made by Team vAMSYS, it is made by a person, not solely by an automated system.

Services — has the meaning given in "Agreement to these Terms" above.

Your Content — the content you upload, create or store on the Services, as further described in §6.1.

Acceptable Use Policy or AUP, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Data Sharing Agreement, and — for Owners — the Virtual Airline Owner Terms: the policies and terms that form part of the agreement, as described in 'Agreement to these Terms' above.

data protection supervisory authority — an independent public authority responsible for monitoring the application of data-protection law. In the United Kingdom this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

§2 Eligibility and age

The Services are not for children. You must be at least 18 years old to use the Services, and by using them you confirm that you are 18 or over.

We do not collect dates of birth and we do not verify ages. We rely on your self-declaration that you are 18 or over. If we learn that a User is under 18, we will remove that account. We document our approach to age in an age-assurance assessment, which we keep with our Privacy Policy, and we carry out a data-protection impact assessment for the Services.

§3 Your User account

3.1 Registering

When you register, you must give accurate information and keep it up to date. You must keep your password and other login credentials confidential. You must verify your email address when we ask you to.

You must not register using a false identity or someone else's identity, and you must not share your account or your credentials with anyone else. If you think someone has accessed your account without permission, tell us straight away at help@vamsys.co.uk.

You are responsible for everything that happens under your account. We are not responsible for any loss you suffer because you did not keep your credentials confidential, or because you shared access to your account — except where the loss results from our own breach of these Terms or our failure to use reasonable care and skill, and subject to §10.

3.2 Your name, and how we review it

You must register using your real, full first and last name. Team vAMSYS reviews registered names to check they appear to be genuine, complete names.

If we are not reasonably satisfied that a name is genuine and complete, we flag it, and you must submit a new first and last name before you can continue — until you do, you cannot take other actions on your account. We may review each submission and, where we are still not satisfied, require you to submit another, repeating as necessary until the name meets this requirement. This is at our reasonable discretion; we are not obliged to accept identity documents or to explain our reasoning in detail.

Once your name has passed review, you cannot change it yourself. If you need to correct a genuine error, contact us at help@vamsys.co.uk. VAs may report a name they reasonably believe is suspicious.

3.3 Confirming your identity

We may ask you to verify your account or your connection to it — for example, by confirming that you control your registered email address, re-confirming your details, or otherwise — where we suspect that one person holds multiple accounts, where an account may be compromised, where ownership of a VA is in question, or in response to a data-protection request. We may restrict access to your account until we are reasonably satisfied.

3.4 One account per person

You may hold only one User account. You must not create, hold or operate more than one. You must not use a false or borrowed identity, and you must not create a new account to get around a suspension, restriction or removal.

Where one person holds duplicate accounts, we may merge, restrict or remove them under §8. This applies whether or not the duplication was deliberate. How this works in practice — including the notice we give you and how you can put it right (usually by merging the accounts) — is set out in §8.5.

3.5 Linked accounts

You may link external accounts (such as Discord, VATSIM, IVAO, POSCON, APOC, Navigraph or SimBrief) to your User account. Linked accounts belong to your User account and are shared across all of your Pilot memberships. You are responsible for your use of those external services, which are subject to their own terms.

3.6 Pilot usernames

When you join a VA, the platform allocates your Pilot username automatically: it is the VA's prefix followed by a sequential number (for example, VAA0001). You do not choose it. It is not changed except to fix a technical problem.

There is one exception. Team vAMSYS holds Pilot accounts on every VA so that we can provide support. These accounts may appear with a distinctive prefix (for example, VAA-Alex) or as ordinary Pilot accounts. They exist for support and moderation and have the elevated (full) access needed to help across VAs; like all accounts, their sign-ins are recorded in our access logs. We describe them in our Privacy Policy (see also §11.8). A VA cannot remove or ban a Team vAMSYS account.

3.7 Closing your account

You may close your User account at any time. Closure is subject to a short grace period during which logging back in cancels the closure. Closing your account does not affect any data we are entitled to keep (see §8.9 and our Privacy Policy).

If you are an Owner, you must deal with your VA before you can close your account — see the Virtual Airline Owner Terms.

§4 Pilots and Virtual Airlines

4.1 Joining a VA

When you join a VA, you become a Pilot of that VA. A VA may operate its own registration review, using its own criteria. Each VA — not Team vAMSYS — decides whether to review, accept, reject or remove its Pilots, and whether a removed Pilot may rejoin.

4.2 A VA runs its own operation

VAs are run by their Owners and VA Staff, not by vAMSYS. The relationship between a VA and its Pilots is a matter for the VA, at the VA's discretion. vAMSYS is not a party to it and is not responsible for a VA's decisions about admitting, keeping or removing Pilots. Any dispute about your membership of a VA is between you and that VA.

None of this relieves a VA of its duty to comply with these Terms, the AUP and the law, and vAMSYS may act under §8 where its own rules are breached.

4.3 A VA's own legal obligations

A VA may have its own legal, regulatory or reporting obligations — for example, a recognised club that has to report on its membership. Those obligations are the VA's own. vAMSYS does not provide a bulk export of a VA's roster or its Pilots' personal data. Where a VA has a genuine legal or regulatory obligation that requires specific member data, vAMSYS may provide that data on request, case by case; the VA is then responsible as controller for how it uses it (see §11).

4.4 Conditions a VA sets, including off-platform

A VA may set conditions for its Pilots, including conditions arranged entirely outside vAMSYS — for example, requiring a Pilot to buy something from, or be a member of, the VA's own separate organisation. Any such arrangement is solely between the VA and the individual. vAMSYS is not a party to it, does not process, track or record it, takes no payment for it, and has no responsibility for it (including for delivery, refunds, disputes, tax or compliance). Any payment a VA asks for is a payment to the VA, not to vAMSYS.

4.5 A VA's own rules

A VA may publish its own rules and require its Pilots to agree to them at registration (by a separate checkbox alongside these Terms). A VA's own rules cannot override these Terms, the AUP or your statutory rights. If a VA's rules conflict with these Terms, these Terms govern your relationship with vAMSYS.

4.6 When a VA removes a Pilot

A VA may remove a Pilot from its own VA, and may decide whether that Pilot can rejoin. But a VA must act consistently with the AUP and the law — a removal must not be discriminatory (for example, based on a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010) or harassing. Where a removal itself breaches the AUP or the law, vAMSYS may take enforcement action against the VA and its Owner under §8 — up to suspending or removing the VA and, for a paying VA, terminating the subscription for cause. vAMSYS is not obliged to reinstate a removed Pilot.

Removal affects only that VA. A removed Pilot keeps their User account, their identity data, and their memberships at other VAs. Their activity within that VA (bookings, flight reports, position reports and similar) remains part of the VA's records: the Pilot can no longer see it, the VA may still use it (for example for its statistics), and — depending on the VA's configuration — it may be restored to the Pilot if they are reinstated. Nothing in this clause limits a VA's right to remove a Pilot who has breached its rules, or to bar rejoining, provided it acts consistently with the AUP and the law.

Running and paying for a Virtual Airline

If you run and pay for a Virtual Airline, the commercial side of that relationship — how we treat you as our customer, ownership and transfers, subscriptions and billing, what happens when a subscription ends, chargebacks, and the API — is set out in the separate Virtual Airline Owner Terms, which form part of your agreement as an Owner. Pilots and VA Staff who are not Owners are not affected by those terms.

§5 Intellectual property

5.1 Our intellectual property and your licence to use the Services

vAMSYS and our licensors own all intellectual property rights in the Services, including the software, design, text, graphics and other materials we provide (but not Your Content — see §6). We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable licence to access and use the Services for their intended purpose while you comply with these Terms.

You must not copy, reproduce, resell, sublicense, distribute or commercially exploit the Services or any part of them without our written permission, except as these Terms expressly allow.

5.2 Our trade marks

"vAMSYS" and the vAMSYS logotype are UK registered trade marks (word mark UK00004099395; logo mark UK00004038489; classes 9 and 42). You must not use our name or logotype, or any confusingly similar mark, except as permitted in these Terms. A VA must not represent itself as operated, run or endorsed by vAMSYS.

5.3 "Powered by vAMSYS" badge

As an exception to §5.2, a VA may use the vAMSYS name and logo to indicate accurately that it is 'Powered by vAMSYS', on these conditions: you use the vAMSYS logo as provided and do not modify, recolour, distort or otherwise alter it, or use it in a misleading way; you do not imply any partnership, sponsorship, agency or endorsement by vAMSYS beyond the accurate 'Powered by vAMSYS' statement; and we may withdraw this permission at any time, in which case you must stop using the vAMSYS name and logo within a reasonable time.

§6 Your content

6.1 You keep ownership; the licence you give us

You keep ownership of the content you upload, create or store on the Services ("Your Content"). You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, copy, display, adapt and process Your Content solely to the extent necessary to provide, operate, secure, support and improve the Services for you and your VA.

This includes things such as adjusting VA settings as needed to operate, maintain, fix and update the Services (for example, when we add, change, fix or remove features), as well as on your instruction, generating aggregated or derived data (for example statistics), and using service providers and automated tools (including AI tools) for those same purposes. We may grant a sub-licence to our service providers strictly so they can help us provide the Services to you under this licence.

6.2 Limits on the licence

This licence is for running the Services for you, and nothing more. It does not let us sell Your Content or your personal data. Any personal data within Your Content is processed only in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

6.3 You are responsible for Your Content

You are responsible for Your Content. By providing it, you confirm that you have the rights needed to provide it and that it does not breach these Terms, the AUP, anyone else's rights, or the law. We may remove or disable content that breaches these Terms or the AUP (see also §7) and we may suspend or terminate accounts, and remove or suspend VAs, under §8.

§7 Names, branding and third-party rights

Some VAs are modelled on real airlines, using names, logos, liveries and callsigns inspired by them. This section explains how we host that content and how to report content that should not be there. An Owner's responsibility and warranty for the VA's names and branding is in the Virtual Airline Owner Terms §2.8.

7.1 Our role as a host

To the extent vAMSYS acts as a host of content provided by Users and VAs, it does so passively — we do not pre-screen, select, approve, endorse, or claim ownership of that content, and we take no position on its legality. In doing so, the hosting defence under regulation 19 of the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 may apply.

As supporting context (and not as a legal conclusion): a VA is a non-commercial flight-simulation hobby community, not a booking, ticketing or commercial airline; and the only public-facing surface of a VA is its login and registration page (which may show the VA's logo, rules and an image). The rest of a VA is accessible only to logged-in members.

7.2 Illegal content and reporting (online safety)

We prohibit illegal content and content that amounts to a priority offence on the Services. Users and VAs must not upload, share or link to illegal content.

How to report. Anyone can report illegal content, or other content or conduct concerns, by emailing help@vamsys.co.uk. We will acknowledge and assess valid reports promptly. (We cannot commit to a fixed response time, but we treat illegal-content reports as a priority.) We may remove or disable content and suspend or terminate accounts, remove or suspend VAs, and — for a paying VA — terminate the subscription for cause, where appropriate (see §8 and the Virtual Airline Owner Terms §3.13).

7.3 Reporting infringement (takedown), and counter-notice

If you believe content on the Services infringes your rights (for example, your trade mark, copyright or other rights), please contact us at help@vamsys.co.uk.

What a takedown notice should include. To help us assess your report quickly, please include:

• (a) your name and contact details;

• (b) the exact location of the content — a URL where possible, or the VA identifier and a description of where the content appears; and

• (c) a clear statement of why the content is unlawful or infringing, and of the right you say it breaches.

We will acknowledge valid reports and assess them, and we may remove or disable the content, require changes, or suspend or terminate the relevant account or VA, as appropriate.

Counter-notice. If we remove or disable a VA's content following a third-party report, the affected VA may submit a counter-statement to help@vamsys.co.uk explaining why it believes its use of the content is lawful or authorised. We will consider the counter-statement and may restore the content where it is appropriate to do so.

7.4 A VA's own external services

A VA may run its own website, domain or other services outside the platform. vAMSYS does not host those and is not responsible for content or conduct that takes place outside the Services.

§8 Suspension, restriction and enforcement

We want vAMSYS to be a safe, fair place for everyone. To keep it that way, we sometimes have to restrict, suspend or remove access. This section explains when we may do that, how we do it, and what you can do if you think we have got it wrong. Where a term in this section applies differently to a paying Owner than to a free User or Pilot, we say so.

8.1 What the rules are, and what can break them

These Terms and the AUP apply to everyone who uses the Services — Users, Pilots, VA Staff and Owners alike.

We may restrict, suspend or remove access where:

• you breach these Terms or the AUP (including the one-account rule in §3.4);

• you gave us false or misleading information when you registered, or you are using a false, fake or borrowed identity;

• your conduct or account presents a risk to the Services, to us, to other users, or to a third party (for example, security risks, abuse, fraud or attempts to evade a restriction); or

• we are required to act by law or by a binding legal process.

A short summary of the AUP. The AUP sets out in full what is and is not allowed. In broad terms, it prohibits: illegal content and conduct (including content that is a priority offence — see §7.2); harassment, hate, threats and abuse of other users or of Team vAMSYS; impersonation, fraud and deception; spam, scraping and unauthorised data harvesting; attempts to break, overload, probe or gain unauthorised access to the Services; sharing accounts or evading restrictions; and content that infringes someone else's rights. This list is a summary only and is not exhaustive — the AUP is the authoritative, governing document on acceptable use, and this summary does not limit it. The AUP forms part of these Terms, and we will link to it wherever it is referenced.

8.2 How enforcement works (and the role of automated systems)

Decisions are made by people. Any decision to restrict, suspend, remove or terminate a User, Pilot, VA Staff member, Owner or Virtual Airline (VA) is made by Team vAMSYS — a real person, on review. Automated systems do not decide, on their own, to restrict someone who is not already subject to a decision.

What automated systems do. Our automated systems give effect to and protect decisions a person has already made — principally, to stop a restricted user from evading a restriction, and to detect and prevent multiple or fake accounts. Where we detect that a restricted user is accessing the Services or creating a new account, or that an account is linked to a restricted account or to an attempt to evade a restriction, our systems may apply the restriction to that access or account automatically. We do not disclose how our detection works.

The reach of a restriction. Because a User account and its Pilot memberships are one identity, restricting a User extends to that person's Pilot memberships. Where we take action against a VA, we may remove it from public view, suspend it, or — where the Owner is in breach — terminate the subscription (see the Virtual Airline Owner Terms §3.11 for refunds, and the for-cause/no-fault distinction in the Virtual Airline Owner Terms §3.13).

We are not obliged to disclose our detection methods, to prove our case to you, to request or accept identity documents, or to reinstate access. Following any human review (§8.3), our decision is final and at our reasonable discretion, applied on the information available to us and the criteria in these Terms and the AUP.

Where a restriction is applied automatically, this does not reduce the safeguards in §8.3: we still tell you that you are restricted, give the general category of reason, and provide a route to human review and to contest the decision. We may withhold how our detection works while still giving you that information about the decision itself.

Our enforcement is discretionary. Whether, when and how we enforce these Terms and the AUP is at our discretion. We are not obliged to act on every report or every breach, to take the same action in similar cases, or to enforce consistently between users or over time — we may act in whatever way we reasonably consider appropriate, or decide not to act. Choosing not to act, acting differently in different cases, or not acting straight away is not a waiver of our rights, sets no precedent, and does not limit our ability to act in any other case, or in the same matter later. This discretion is subject to three limits: (a) where the law requires us to act — for example, on illegal content under our online-safety duties (§7.2) — we will act as the law requires; (b) it does not change the specific protections for a paying VA's subscription (the for-cause and no-fault rules and notice in the Virtual Airline Owner Terms §3.13); and (c) we will not enforce, or decline to enforce, for an unlawful reason (for example, a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010).

8.3 Notice, and your right to human review

On any restriction, we will tell you: that you are restricted; the general category of reason for it (for example, "suspected ban evasion" or "multiple accounts"); and how to ask for a human to review it. Where the restriction is for something you can put right (for example, holding more than one account), we will, where relevant, tell you how to put it right.

You can ask for human review. If you believe an automated restriction, or any other enforcement decision, has affected you incorrectly, contact help@vamsys.co.uk and ask for human review. We review appeals. We do not commit to a fixed response time, but we aim to deal with appeals within a reasonable time. After review, our decision is final and at our reasonable discretion.

8.4 Free Users and Pilots: our discretion, and its limits

A Pilot membership is free, and a User account is free. We may suspend or terminate a free User's or Pilot's access at any time, for any reason or for no reason, including for any breach of these Terms or the AUP, or where we suspect ban evasion, a false or fake identity, or multiple accounts.

The one limit on this is the law: we will not terminate a free User or Pilot for a reason that is unlawful — for example, because of a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

8.5 Multiple accounts

The one-account rule (§3.4) is strict. Where we identify that one person holds more than one account, we may restrict or remove the duplicate account(s) on discovery. We show the affected user a notice explaining the restriction and how to put it right — usually by merging the accounts (which requires email confirmation from the account being merged in). Genuine, innocent duplication can normally be fixed this way; but we may act immediately, and we may terminate where there is deliberate evasion, serious or repeated breaches, or a false or fake identity. You may ask for human review under §8.3.

8.6 Interim measures while we investigate a VA

Where we reasonably suspect a breach or a risk by a Virtual Airline, we may take interim measures against that VA while we look into it — for example, removing it from public view, disabling pilot registration, restricting the visibility of pilot contact details, or suspending API access. When we do:

• we act proportionately to the suspected breach or risk;

• we give the Owner prompt notice that an investigation is underway and its general subject, unless doing so would prejudice the investigation or breach the law;

• the interim measure lasts a maximum of 30 days, after which it lapses or becomes a notified, reviewable decision; and

• the Owner may ask for human review (§8.3).

For individual Users and Pilots we do not use an investigation state — we make a prompt decision (and you may request human review under §8.3).

8.7 No evading a restriction

If you are restricted, you must not register or operate another account, or use any other means, to evade the restriction (see also §3.4). Evasion is itself a breach and may lead to further enforcement.

8.8 When a VA removes one of its own Pilots

A VA decides who flies for it (see §4). A VA may review, accept, reject or remove its own Pilots and decide whether a removed Pilot may rejoin — that is the VA's call, not ours.

But there is a floor. A VA must remove or bar a Pilot consistently with the AUP and the law — it must not, for example, remove or harass a Pilot for a discriminatory reason. Where a removal itself breaches the AUP or the law, vAMSYS may take enforcement action against the VA and its Owner under this §8 — up to suspending or removing the VA and, for a paying VA, terminating the subscription for cause. vAMSYS is not obliged to reinstate the Pilot.

Removal from one VA affects only that membership. A removed Pilot keeps their User account, keeps their personal data, and keeps their memberships at every other VA. None of this limits a VA's right to remove a Pilot who has breached the VA's rules, or to bar that Pilot from rejoining that VA.

8.9 Records we keep after enforcement

After we restrict, suspend, remove or terminate, we keep certain records so that enforcement actually works — to enforce these Terms, to prevent evasion and repeat breaches, to give effect to a VA's decision that a Pilot may not rejoin, and to comply with the law.

To prevent banned users from re-registering and to protect the platform and other users, we may retain minimal identifiers for as long as necessary to prevent ban evasion — including the IP address — rather than a full profile. We keep only what is necessary for that purpose (data minimisation), and we do not retain a full profile for this purpose. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in protecting the Services and our users from evasion and repeat abuse. Our handling of all such data is governed by the Privacy Policy.

§9 Changes to the Services and availability

9.1 The Services will evolve

The Services change over time. We may add, change or remove features at any time, with or without notice, and we are not obliged to keep any particular feature. Beta and experimental features are provided "as is", may be less stable, and may change or be withdrawn at any time.

9.2 No uptime or service-level commitment

The Services are provided "as available". We do not give any uptime, availability or service-level (SLA) commitment, and we do not offer service credits. We do not guarantee that the Services will be uninterrupted or error-free, and they may be unavailable from time to time — for maintenance, updates, technical problems, or reasons beyond our reasonable control.

This statement does not exclude or limit the duty we owe consumers to provide the Services with reasonable care and skill, or any other statutory right you have (see §10).

9.3 Your data

We take reasonable measures to keep your data safe, but no service can promise that data will never be lost, corrupted or temporarily unavailable. You are responsible for keeping your own copies of anything important to you (and see the export rights in §11.9). Our liability in relation to your data is subject to §10 and to data-protection law — we do not try to exclude what the law does not allow us to exclude.

9.4 Third-party services

The Services connect to third parties we do not control — for example, Discord, flight-sim networks (such as VATSIM and IVAO), flight-planning tools (such as SimBrief and Navigraph), and our payment processor. We are not responsible for the availability, content, security or practices of those third parties, and your use of them is subject to their own terms. We may add, change or remove integrations.

9.5 Events beyond our control (force majeure)

We are not liable for any failure or delay caused by events beyond our reasonable control — for example, hosting, network or third-party failures; power or internet failures; cyber-attacks; natural disasters, fire or flood; epidemics; industrial action; or government action.

§10 Disclaimers and liability

10.1 The Services are provided "as is"

Except for the rights you have by law and the duties we cannot exclude, the Services are provided "as is" and "as available", and we exclude all implied warranties to the fullest extent the law allows (but see §10.2, which lists what we never exclude — including our duty to use reasonable care and skill).

10.2 What we never limit

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for:

• death or personal injury caused by our negligence;

• fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;

• any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited;

• your statutory rights as a consumer, including under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and our duty to provide the Services with reasonable care and skill; or

• our liability under data-protection law (the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025).

10.3 Our cap on liability

Subject to §10.2, and to the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability to you arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the Services — whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise — is limited to the greater of:

• (a) the fees actually paid to us for the relevant VA in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim; or

• (b) £100.

10.4 Losses we are not liable for

Subject to §10.2, we are not liable for any indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit.

We do not simply exclude liability for loss of your data. Instead: we take reasonable measures to protect your data (§9.3), you keep your own copies, and our liability for your data is subject to data-protection law (§10.2) and to the cap in §10.3 — but we do not exclude anything the law does not allow us to exclude.

An Owner's warranty for the names, branding and content the VA uses, and how liability is split on a change of Owner, are in the Virtual Airline Owner Terms §2.8 and §2.3.

§11 Data protection

We take data protection seriously. This section explains, in plain terms, who is responsible for what data, how we handle a data breach, where data may go, how marketing consent works, and the rights you have. The full detail lives in the Privacy Policy, the Cookie Policy and, for the data a VA receives from or shares with us, the Data Sharing Agreement. Those documents form part of these Terms and are published alongside them.

Throughout this section, the body that decides why and how personal data is processed is the controller; a body that processes personal data on a controller's behalf and on its instructions is a processor.

11.1 Who controls what (the controller map)

• vAMSYS is the controller of the personal data on the platform — both the data that identifies you (your name, email and linked accounts) and the operational data your activity creates within a VA (flights, points, rank, bookings, position reports and similar). We decide how this data is processed, and we are the only party able to correct, export or delete it.

• A VA does not control that data. When a VA awards points, sets its scoring rules, leaves a comment, or removes a registration, it is using the Services to run its community — not deciding how your personal data is processed.

• A VA is a controller only where it holds personal data itself: (a) when it invites people by giving us their name and email (Pilot Invite, below); (b) when it receives your data through the Pilot API (with your consent) or takes data off the platform into its own systems (see §11.5–§11.6 and the Virtual Airline Owner Terms §6); and (c) when, with your consent, it sends you marketing through our export facility — the VA is the controller of the marketing it sends (see §11.4).

vAMSYS and a VA are separate, independent controllers — never joint controllers, and vAMSYS does not act as a VA's processor. If any specific activity were ever genuinely joint, we would say so and set out the arrangement.

Pilot Invite. A VA can invite people by giving us their name and email address. The VA is responsible for that data and confirms it has the right to provide it to us; we use it to create the User (and Pilot) account and to send the invitation, after which we control that account as above.

Pilot identity data stays with the User. Becoming a Pilot does not transfer ownership of your data to the VA. A VA can view your data to operate its roster, but it cannot edit, export or own it; that remains vAMSYS-controlled.

"Public display name". A Pilot chooses how their real name is displayed within the platform and through the Operations API, in one of a few formats: their full name, their first name with last initial, or their first name only. Every format shows the real first name — the display name is not a free pseudonym. Email addresses and other contact details are never exposed through the Operations API (see §11.5 and the Virtual Airline Owner Terms §6).

11.2 How a VA may use Pilot data

A VA may access Pilot data only to operate the VA. A VA must not extract, copy, scrape, harvest or compile Pilots' emails or identity data, by hand or by automated means, and must not use Pilot data for marketing or for any purpose beyond operating the VA — except through vAMSYS's consented marketing-export facility (§11.4).

A VA may use Pilot data to send operational, safety and security communications that are part of running the VA (for example, account, safety or security notices) — this is permitted as operating the VA. Only marketing requires consent (§11.4). If a VA moves Pilot data into its own systems, it becomes an independent controller of that data and must have its own privacy policy and handle it lawfully.

The moment a VA exports or uses Pilot data outside vAMSYS, or for its own purposes, that VA becomes an independent controller of that data and is solely responsible for it. Where we suspect misuse, we may restrict access and suspend or terminate the VA (§8).

11.3 Personal-data breaches

If we become aware of a personal-data breach and it is likely to result in a high risk to people's rights, we — as controller of the personal data on the platform — will notify the affected users and the relevant data protection supervisory authority as and where the law requires. Where a breach on our side affects data a VA has received from us (which the VA holds as its own controller), we will notify that VA without undue delay — our target is within 72 hours of becoming aware — so the VA can meet its own obligations.

11.4 Marketing-export consent

A Pilot can choose to receive marketing from a specific VA, but only through our consent facility:

• the consent screen names the specific VA the Pilot is consenting to hear from;

• consent is recorded per VA (it is granular, not a blanket opt-in across all VAs);

• consent is freely given and freely withdrawable.

vAMSYS provides the consent and opt-out mechanics; the VA, as controller of the marketing it sends, is responsible for including an unsubscribe option in every message and for complying with marketing law.

11.5 The Operations API and the Pilot API (data protection)

We offer two APIs. The full operating terms — the flows, token lifetimes and revocation — are in the Virtual Airline Owner Terms §6 (API Terms); here we cover the data-protection points.

• Operations API — returns VA-level operational and pilot-administration data, including a Pilot's chosen display format of their real name (full name, first name with last initial, or first name only — never a pseudonym, and the real first name is always shown). It never exposes emails or other contact details. The personal data it exposes remains subject to §11.1-§11.2.

• Pilot API — where a VA wants to build a companion service that needs a Pilot's identity or contact details, the supported route is the Pilot API: a pilot-authenticated OAuth 2.0 Authorization Code flow with PKCE (Proof Key for Code Exchange), branded "Login with vAMSYS". The Pilot signs in, sees the scopes requested, and consents. Basic identity is always required as the minimum scope; the Pilot sees what they are sharing. As an alternative to disclosing contact details, vAMSYS can deliver a specific operational message to a Pilot through the platform. The technical terms for this API are in the Virtual Airline Owner Terms §6.2.

11.6 The Pilot API: the VA is the controller of what it receives

A VA using the Pilot API:

• must provide a link to its own privacy policy, which is shown to the Pilot on the consent screen. That URL must be present and must resolve before consent can proceed;

• that privacy policy must, at a minimum, tell Pilots: the controller's identity and contact details; what data is collected or received (including via the Pilot API); why, and the lawful basis; who the data is shared with; how long it is kept; the Pilot's rights and how to exercise them; how international transfers are handled; and how to complain (including to a data protection supervisory authority).

vAMSYS does not review, verify or endorse the contents of a VA's privacy policy — but the Owner warrants that it is compliant (including with the laws of the Pilots' own countries). At the consent screen, the Pilot is told what categories of data the VA will receive. Once a Pilot consents and the VA receives the data, the VA is an independent controller and is solely responsible for it. Where we suspect misuse, or where the required privacy policy is missing or inadequate, we may suspend or revoke the VA's API access.

11.7 Third-party tools and API credentials

A VA is responsible for keeping its API credentials secure. If a VA gives a third-party tool access to either API — for example by sharing its Operations API credentials, or by letting the tool act through its Pilot-API integration, the VA is fully responsible for that third party as if for its own acts — including how the third party handles, stores and uses the data. That third party is engaged by the VA, not by vAMSYS. The VA must ensure the third party is bound by appropriate terms and processes personal data lawfully (with controller/processor obligations flowing down the chain). We may suspend or revoke API access, including where credential-sharing causes or risks misuse.

11.8 International transfers, sub-processors and Team vAMSYS

International transfers. vAMSYS is based in the UK and processes personal data in the UK and the European Economic Area (EEA). To run the Services, personal data may be shared with our sub-processors. Where any personal data is processed outside the UK/EEA — for example, by our payment processor — we rely on UK adequacy or, where a destination is not covered by adequacy, on the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, with appropriate safeguards. The regions and providers we use, and the mechanisms we rely on, are described in our Privacy Policy and Data Sharing Agreement.

Sub-processors. We use sub-processors to provide the Services (for example, hosting and payment processing). We maintain a list of sub-processors and will notify VAs of material changes, with a reasonable opportunity to object. The detail is in our Privacy Policy and Data Sharing Agreement.

Team vAMSYS accounts. Team vAMSYS hold full-access support accounts — the elevated access needed for support and moderation across VAs. Like all accounts, their sign-ins are recorded in our access logs. This is disclosed in the Privacy Policy, and we prefer identifiable accounts for Team vAMSYS members.

11.9 Your rights, and your data when you leave

Your rights. As a data subject you have rights under the UK GDPR, including the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, data portability and objection. To exercise a right, contact help@vamsys.co.uk. For your data on the platform, vAMSYS is the controller and will action your request. Where your request concerns data a VA holds in its own systems (for example, data it received through the Pilot API or by export), the VA is the controller of that copy; we will direct you to the VA and assist as far as we reasonably can.

Your data when you leave. A User can obtain a copy of their own personal data (a data-subject access request) by contacting help@vamsys.co.uk. What an Owner can export about their VA when a subscription ends — and what is not exportable in bulk (such as Pilots' personal data or the roster) — is set out in the Virtual Airline Owner Terms.

11.10 Age and age-assurance

The Services are for adults (18+); we ask you to self-declare your age (§2). We carry out a data-protection impact assessment and an age-assurance assessment, documented with the Privacy Policy.

§12 Governing law, disputes, complaints and ADR

12.1 Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms, and any dispute arising out of or in connection with them or the Services, are governed by the laws of England and Wales. If a dispute cannot be resolved, the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction.

If you are a consumer resident outside England and Wales, you may also have the right to bring proceedings in your local courts, and you keep the benefit of any mandatory consumer protections of your country of residence.

12.2 Complaints and escalation

Please raise any complaint with us first: email help@vamsys.co.uk with the details. We will acknowledge your complaint and aim to resolve it within a reasonable time. Most issues are resolved quickly this way.

12.3 Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)

vAMSYS does not currently participate in a certified Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme. If that changes, we will say so here.

12.4 Data protection complaints

If you have a complaint about how we have handled your personal data, you can raise it with us at help@vamsys.co.uk (mark it as a data-protection complaint); we will acknowledge it within 30 days and respond without undue delay (see Privacy Policy §12). Nothing in these Terms affects your right to complain to a data protection supervisory authority — in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) — at any time.

§13 General

13.1 Changes to these Terms

We may change these Terms from time to time.

• Changes that adversely affect you. If a change to these Terms materially and adversely affects you, we give at least 30 days' notice — by email to Owners and in-product to Users — before it takes effect, and you may leave before it does: if you are an Owner, you may cancel your subscription without penalty and we will refund the pro-rated unused period (see the Virtual Airline Owner Terms §3.9 and §3.11); if you are a Pilot or VA Staff, you may stop using the Services and close your account (§3.7). If you keep using the Services after the change takes effect, the updated Terms apply.

• Favourable, neutral or minor changes. For changes that improve or do not adversely affect your position, or that are minor (clarifications, formatting, contact details), we may update the Terms and the 'Last updated' date; your continued use of the Services after the change takes effect counts as acceptance.

13.2 Entire agreement, severability and waiver

These Terms, together with the policies they incorporate (the Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, AUP and, where applicable, the Data Sharing Agreement), are the entire agreement between you and us about the Services. If any provision is found to be invalid or unenforceable, it is severed or read down so far as necessary, and the rest continues in force. If we do not enforce a right straight away, that is not a waiver of it.

13.3 Notices

We give notices to an Owner or VA Staff by email to the registered address (treated as a service communication) or through the VA admin dashboard. We give notices to a User or Pilot through the pilot dashboard or, where warranted, by email. Please keep your email address current and check these channels.

13.4 Feedback

If you send us feedback or suggestions, we may use them freely, without restriction or any obligation to you, and without payment or credit. We are under no obligation to act on, implement, or respond to any feedback or suggestion.

13.5 No partnership

Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, agency, employment or joint venture between you and us. Operating a VA does not make you our representative (see also the "Powered by vAMSYS" badge in §5.3).

13.6 Transfer of our business

We may assign or transfer these Terms, and our rights and obligations under them, to a successor — for example, on a merger, acquisition, reorganisation or sale of the business. That may include transferring your data to the successor, which will be bound by terms and a privacy regime that are at least equivalent to these. You may not assign or transfer your account or these Terms to anyone else without our consent.

13.7 If we discontinue the Services

We may discontinue the Services. Where we do so voluntarily and while solvent, we will give reasonable advance notice where practicable, so that VAs and Pilots can retrieve their data (see §11.9), and we will refund the pro-rated unused portion of any active paid subscription.

If the discontinuation is the result of insolvency, administration or liquidation, that situation is governed by insolvency law rather than this section, and we cannot guarantee notice or refunds. Nothing in this section affects any right you may have to recover a payment from your card issuer or payment provider, including where the Services were not provided.

13.8 Sanctions and export control

You warrant that you are not named on any applicable sanctions list, and that you are not located in a country or territory subject to comprehensive sanctions or embargo. We may suspend or terminate your access where necessary to comply with sanctions or export-control law.

13.9 Survival

The following survive termination of these Terms: intellectual property (§5), the content and data provisions (§6 and §11), the disclaimers and liability (§10), governing law and disputes (§12), and any provision that by its nature is intended to survive.

§14 Contact

vAMSYS LTD
71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom
Email: help@vamsys.co.uk
(Company number 09982167.)