Acceptable Use Policy

Effective Date: July 18, 2026
Last Updated: July 18, 2026
Version: 1.0 (clean rewrite of November 17, 2023 version)

This Acceptable Use Policy (the “AUP“) governs your access to and use of the emotilink mobile application, website, provider portal, and all related technology and services (the “Platform“), operated by emotilink, LLC (“emotilink,” “we,” “our“). The AUP applies to all users of the Platform, including individuals using the Platform to seek telecounseling services (“Users” or “Clients“) and licensed mental health professionals using the Platform to deliver telecounseling services (“Providers“). Capitalized terms not defined in this AUP have the meanings given in the emotilink Terms of Service (Users), the emotilink Terms of Service (Providers), or the emotilink Privacy Policy.

This AUP is incorporated by reference into your agreement with emotilink and is binding on you as a condition of your continued use of the Platform. Violation of this AUP may result in suspension or termination of your account, removal of content, and where applicable, referral to law enforcement, professional licensing boards, or other appropriate authorities.

1. General Conduct Standards

You agree to access and use the Platform only for lawful purposes and only in a manner consistent with this AUP, the Terms of Service applicable to you, the Privacy Policy, and all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

You shall not access or use the Platform:

(a) for any unlawful or fraudulent purpose;
(b) in any manner that contravenes the Terms of Service or any other emotilink policy;
(c) in any manner that infringes, misappropriates, or otherwise violates the intellectual property, privacy, publicity, contractual, or other rights of any person;
(d) in any manner that violates any applicable professional licensing requirement, code of ethics, or regulatory obligation;
(e) for the benefit of any third party not authorized under the Terms of Service;
(f) in any manner that interferes with another person’s use of the Platform; or
(g) under a false name, pseudonym, or misrepresented identity, except as expressly permitted by the Platform’s anonymous-User features as described in the Privacy Policy.

2. Prohibited Content

You shall not post, upload, transmit, store, share, or display through the Platform any content that:

(a) is unlawful, fraudulent, defamatory, libelous, threatening, harassing, intimidating, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, sexually explicit (other than as clinically necessary in the course of treatment), or that incites or promotes violence against any person;
(b) constitutes child sexual abuse material, exploits or endangers a minor, or is intended to facilitate contact with a minor for unlawful purposes;
(c) is obscene, pornographic, or grossly offensive;
(d) constitutes harassment, stalking, bullying, or intimidation;
(e) violates the privacy or publicity rights of any person;
(f) infringes any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or other intellectual property right;
(g) constitutes unsolicited commercial communication (“spam”), promotional material for goods or services not offered by emotilink, or chain letters;
(h) contains personal contact information of any other person without that person’s prior written consent;
(i) impersonates any person or misrepresents your relationship with any person or entity;
(j) makes false or misleading statements about emotilink, any Provider, any User, or any third party;
(k) discloses, or could reasonably be used to disclose, the identity of another User who has elected to use the Platform anonymously;
(l) constitutes or facilitates the sale or transfer of regulated substances, prescription medications, weapons, or other unlawful goods; or
(m) is otherwise objectionable as determined by emotilink in its reasonable discretion.

3. Prohibited Technical Conduct

You shall not, and shall not attempt to:

(a) modify, adapt, translate, reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to derive source code, algorithms, file formats, or non-public APIs from the Platform;
(b) introduce or transmit any virus, worm, Trojan horse, ransomware, spyware, adware, keystroke logger, time bomb, malware, or other malicious or harmful code to the Platform;
(c) interfere with, disrupt, overload, or impair the Platform or its underlying infrastructure, including by means of denial-of-service attacks, flooding, spamming, or excessive automated requests;
(d) gain or attempt to gain unauthorized access to any User account, Provider account, emotilink system, server, network, or data, whether by password mining, social engineering, brute-force, exploit, or any other means;
(e) use any robot, scraper, web spider, crawler, harvester, or other automated means to access, monitor, copy, scrape, or collect any portion of the Platform or any data on it, except for technologies emotilink expressly authorizes;
(f) remove, alter, obscure, or circumvent any copyright notice, trademark notice, attribution, watermark, security mechanism, access control, or other protective measure on or in the Platform;
(g) probe, scan, test, or stress-test the vulnerability of the Platform without emotilink’s prior written authorization;
(h) bypass, disable, or attempt to bypass or disable any authentication mechanism, rate limit, or other control;
(i) use the Platform to attack, intrude into, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to any system or data outside the Platform; or
(j) use the Platform from any device, network, or location for which use is prohibited under applicable export control or sanctions laws.

4. Session and Communication Conduct

Telecounseling sessions and other communications conducted over the Platform are governed by specific conduct standards:

(a) No recording. You shall not record, capture, transcribe, screen-grab, or otherwise store any portion of any telecounseling session, including video, audio, chat, or other content exchanged with another User or with a Provider, except where (i) both parties to the session have expressly consented in writing through the Platform, or (ii) the recording is expressly required and authorized by applicable law and the recording party complies with all applicable notice and consent requirements.

(b) No third-party participation without consent. You shall not permit any third party to view, listen to, or participate in any telecounseling session except with the express prior consent of all parties to the session and (where the third party is a minor or otherwise lacks capacity) appropriate guardian or representative consent.

(c) No attempts to identify anonymous Users. Where another User has elected to use the Platform anonymously through the emotilink anonymous-User features, you shall not attempt to determine, infer, request, or pressure for disclosure of that User’s identity, except where the Provider has a clear legal or professional duty to obtain identifying information for clinical-records purposes or to respond to a genuine emergency.

(d) No sharing of session content. You shall not share, republish, post, or disclose any content from a telecounseling session outside the Platform without the express prior written consent of all parties to the session.

(e) No misuse of Provider contact information. Where a Provider’s name, professional credentials, or limited contact information is made visible through the Platform, you shall not use that information to contact the Provider outside the Platform for the purpose of (i) circumventing the Platform’s fee structure, (ii) inducing the Provider to terminate their relationship with the Platform, or (iii) any other purpose inconsistent with the Terms of Service.

(f) No misuse of User-shared information. Providers shall not use any information shared by a User during a session for any purpose other than the provision of professional services to that User, except as required by applicable law or as expressly authorized by the User.

5. Anti-Circumvention

You shall not use any information obtained through the Platform, including without limitation Provider profile information, scheduling availability, rates, or contact information, to (a) contract directly with a Provider outside the Platform in a manner that circumvents the Platform’s fee structure, (b) refer Users away from the Platform for sessions that would otherwise be conducted on the Platform, or (c) develop, support, or promote any competing service.

6. Crisis, Emergency, and Mandatory-Reporting Content

emotilink is not a crisis service or emergency mental health provider. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency or considering harming yourself or others, dial 9-1-1 or call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

You shall not use the Platform’s communication features (other than direct communication with your Provider during a scheduled session) to (a) communicate immediate threats of self-harm or harm to others, (b) communicate ongoing or imminent abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a minor or vulnerable adult, or (c) communicate any other content that constitutes a mandatory-reportable event under applicable law. Such communications should be made directly to a Provider during a session, to a Provider via the Platform’s secure messaging features where available, or to appropriate emergency services or mandatory-reporting authorities.

Where a Provider becomes aware during a session of an immediate risk of harm or of mandatory-reportable conduct, the Provider may activate emotilink’s emergency reporting features, which will result in disclosure of certain User information as described in the Privacy Policy.

7. Provider-Specific Restrictions

In addition to the general restrictions of this AUP, Providers shall not:

(a) deliver or attempt to deliver medical services (including the prescription of medication) through the Platform, except where expressly authorized by emotilink and the Provider holds the required medical licensure for the User’s jurisdiction;
(b) deliver services to any User the Provider knows or reasonably should know is located in a jurisdiction where the Provider is not licensed to deliver such services;
(c) deliver services to any User the Provider knows or reasonably should know is under the age of eighteen (18);
(d) make any clinical claim, diagnosis, recommendation, or representation that is inconsistent with applicable professional licensing standards or that the Provider is not qualified by license and training to make;
(e) use the Platform to advertise, promote, or solicit services other than the Provider’s own professional services as described in the Provider’s profile;
(f) misrepresent the Provider’s licensure, credentials, qualifications, experience, or good standing; or
(g) fail to disclose to a User any material limitation on the Provider’s ability to deliver the requested services.

8. Reporting Violations

If you become aware of any violation of this AUP, including (without limitation) suspicious activity on your account, attempted impersonation, harassment, distribution of unlawful content, or any threat to the safety of a User or Provider, please report it promptly to info@emotilink.com. emotilink will investigate reported violations and take such action as we determine appropriate under the circumstances.

9. Enforcement

emotilink may, at any time and in its reasonable discretion, take any of the following actions in response to a violation or suspected violation of this AUP:

(a) issue a warning;
(b) remove or restrict access to specific content;
(c) suspend or terminate the offending User’s or Provider’s account;
(d) refuse to honor scheduled appointments;
(e) refund or withhold payments as appropriate;
(f) cooperate with law enforcement, professional licensing boards, or other authorities, including by producing records and information pursuant to lawful process;
(g) pursue civil or other legal remedies; or
(h) take any other action emotilink determines is reasonable and appropriate under the circumstances.

emotilink’s decision not to take action in any particular instance shall not be construed as a waiver of its right to take action in any other instance.

10. Updates to This AUP

emotilink may update this AUP from time to time. Material changes will be communicated through the Platform or by other reasonable means, and the “Effective Date” and “Last Updated” dates above will be revised. Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date of any modification constitutes your acceptance of the modified AUP.

11. Contact

Questions about this AUP should be directed to:

emotilink, LLC
222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 1230
Chicago, IL 60654
info@emotilink.com
312-554-5812