This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP," also called our Usage Policy) sets the rules for using Featured. It supplements and is incorporated by reference into our Terms of Service ("Terms"), and capitalized terms have the meaning given in the Terms. If this AUP conflicts with the Terms, the Terms control.
This AUP applies to everyone who can submit Inputs to or otherwise use the Services, including through an API key, an MCP connection, or any access you pass through to your own clients, end users, or other third parties. If you give others access to the Services, you are responsible for their compliance with this AUP.
The examples in each section are illustrative, not exhaustive. Because generative AI and its risks keep evolving, we may update this AUP from time to time by posting a revised version. If we believe you have violated this AUP, we may take any action described in Section 5, including throttling, suspending, or terminating your access, and blocking or modifying Outputs.
1. Universal Standards (everyone, every use)
You must also comply with the acceptable-use policies of the AI providers that power the Services, which we may pass through to you. In addition, you may not use the Services to do, attempt, facilitate, or encourage any of the following:
- Illegal or seriously harmful activity. Break the law; infringe intellectual-property, privacy, or publicity rights; threaten, harass, defame, or incite violence or hatred against people; promote suicide, self-harm, or disordered eating; or develop weapons or attack critical infrastructure or computer systems (including malware or unauthorized access).
- Endanger minors. Create, solicit, or distribute child sexual abuse material (AI-generated or not), sexualize or groom minors, or otherwise exploit or endanger anyone under 18. We report apparent child sexual abuse material to the appropriate authorities.
- Sexual content. Generate pornographic or sexually explicit content.
- Deception and fraud. Engage in fraud, scams, phishing, plagiarism, or other deceptive practices; create or spread misinformation or fabricated "news"; or produce synthetic media that impersonates a real person or organization in a way likely to mislead about authenticity.
- Others' privacy. Surveil, profile, or track people without authorization; build facial-recognition or biometric-identification databases; compile or scrape personal information without a lawful basis; or expose private information (doxxing).
- Elections. Generate or spread voting disinformation, suppress voters, or impersonate candidates, officials, or government entities. Transparent public-affairs and advocacy communications are permitted.
- High-stakes decisions without human review. Use Output to make or materially drive decisions with legal or similarly significant effects on a person — employment, housing, credit, insurance, education, healthcare, or legal matters — without qualified human review (see Section 3).
- Platform abuse. Reverse engineer or extract the Services' source code or models; scrape or extract data or Output except as permitted; circumvent rate limits, AI Consumption Budgets, or safeguards; resell the Services without authorization; or use the Services or Output to build or train a competing model.
2. Media and PR Standards (the rules that make Featured work)
Because Featured connects you with journalists, publishers, and the public, these standards protect the integrity of that ecosystem. In addition to Section 1, you may not:
Impersonate or fabricate identity. Impersonate, or falsely claim to represent, any person or organization, or misrepresent your identity, authority, affiliation, qualifications, or the source of a communication; or create or pose as a fake or fabricated expert, source, journalist, or outlet. Acting on behalf of a client or principal you are authorized to represent, and accurately disclosing that relationship where required, is permitted.
Fabricate substance. Fabricate or falsify quotes, credentials, expertise, affiliations, statistics, or facts in any Submission, pitch, profile, or published content.
Astroturf or hide who's behind a message. Engage in astroturfing or coordinated inauthentic activity, or misrepresent the source, independence, or sponsorship of communications. Disclose material connections where the law (for example, FTC endorsement and advertising rules) requires.
Spam the press. Send deceptive, misleading, bulk, or low-quality unsolicited outreach to journalists or others, or use any outreach feature to send commercial or marketing messages where the feature is intended for newsworthy communications. You are solely responsible for complying with anti-spam and data-protection laws for any outreach you send.
Disrespect journalist and publisher rules. Disregard a Journalist/Publisher's stated rules, embargoes, "not for reproduction" designations, or attribution requirements.
Misuse media data. Harvest, repurpose, or redistribute journalist requests, queries, contact information, or other Third-Party Content except as the Services expressly permit, and use media-contact information only for legitimate, lawful purposes.
3. High-Risk Uses (human review and disclosure required)
Some uses carry an elevated risk of harm. For these, you must keep a qualified human in the loop and be transparent that AI was involved. You remain responsible for the accuracy, legality, and appropriateness of anything you publish, send, or rely on.
Publishing AI-generated media or PR content. Because Featured can generate content that you publish or distribute externally (pitches, bylined articles, press materials, audits), a qualified person must review Output for accuracy and appropriateness before it is published, sent to a journalist, or otherwise disseminated. Where required by law or by a recipient's rules, disclose that AI was used to help produce the content.
Other regulated, high-stakes domains. If you use the Services in connection with legal, medical, financial, insurance, employment, housing, or academic-testing/admissions decisions, a qualified professional in that field must review the relevant content or decision before it is finalized or acted upon. The Services and Output are not legal, medical, financial, or other professional advice (see Terms Section 6.5).
4. Additional Guidelines
Disclose AI to people who interact with it. If you use the Services to power a consumer-facing chatbot or other interactive agent, tell users they are interacting with AI rather than a human, at least at the start of each session.
Agentic Workflows and Actions. Workflows and Actions you direct the Services to take must comply with this entire AUP. You are responsible for the actions you instruct the Services to perform on your behalf.
API, MCP, and pass-through access. If you access the Services programmatically (including via an API or MCP connection) or make them available to your own end users, you and they must comply with this AUP and the Terms, and you must not circumvent metering, rate limits, or safeguards.
Do not submit sensitive or regulated data. Consistent with the Terms and our Privacy Policy, do not submit sensitive or regulated data — for example, government identifiers (such as Social Security numbers), financial-account or payment-card numbers, protected health information, or special-category data under the GDPR — unless we have agreed in writing to support it.
5. Enforcement and Reporting
We may, but are not obligated to, monitor and review use of the Services and investigate suspected violations of this AUP. If we believe you have violated this AUP, we may take any action we consider appropriate — including issuing warnings, removing Content, throttling or limiting usage, blocking or modifying Outputs, suspending or terminating your access, and referring suspected unlawful activity to authorities — as further described in the Terms (including the termination provisions in Section 13).
If you encounter content or behavior that you believe violates this AUP, or Output you believe is inaccurate, biased, or harmful, please report it to support@featured.com or use the in-product feedback controls (such as a thumbs-down) where available.
This AUP is part of the Terms. We may update it as our Services and the associated risks evolve; the current version is always posted at featured.com/acceptable-use. Your continued use of the Services after an update takes effect means you accept the updated AUP.