Acceptable Use Policy

1. Purpose and Scope

This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") sets out the mandatory conditions under which you may access and use POPS Notebook ("the Application"), a digital tactical reference and operational support tool for UK Public Order and Public Safety (POPS) officers.

By creating an account, signing in, or otherwise using the Application, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by this AUP. If you do not agree, you must not use the Application.

This AUP supplements, and does not replace, your force's own IT Acceptable Use Policy, Code of Ethics, and any information security directives issued by your Force Information Assurance lead or Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO).

2. Authorised Users

The Application is intended exclusively for serving UK police officers, police staff, and authorised contractors who hold a valid operational role within a UK police force. You must only register using your personal email address for authentication; your force-issued email is used solely for operational status verification and is never persisted in plaintext.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activities that occur under your account. You must not share your credentials with, or allow access to the Application by, any other person.

3. Data Ephemerality

Operational data — including serial rosters, deployment plans, NDM logs, and tactical sketches — is stored locally on your device in ephemeral browser cache. This data is subject to an automatic 24-hour Time-to-Live (TTL) and is never synchronised to a central cloud database.

You must delete all operational rosters and serial data at the conclusion of the deployment or shift. Data must not be retained on this device longer than is operationally necessary. The Application provides a manual clear function; you must use it before going off duty.

• Operational caches auto-expire after 24 hours regardless of manual deletion.
• Encrypted officer profiles and broadcast messages are subject to the same 24-hour TTL.
• No operational planning data is written to the cloud — all caches are device-local.
• During active deployments, a session PIN gate enforces local data protection: three failed PIN attempts trigger an automatic wipe of all local operational data, independent of network connectivity.

4. Zero-Export Rule

You agree not to screenshot, photograph, screen-record, or attempt to export operational data from this Application to any personal messaging service, social media platform, unapproved device, or external storage.

The Application enforces this through a screenshot-detection guard that blurs content when a screenshot or screen recording is detected. Attempting to circumvent this guard is a breach of this AUP and may constitute a disciplinary or criminal offence.

• Do not copy or paste roster data into personal messaging applications.
• Do not photograph the screen with a secondary device.
• Do not use screen-mirroring or casting tools while operational data is displayed.
• QR-code sharing of tactical sketches is permitted only between verified officers in physical proximity.

5. Right to Wipe

By using this Application on a personal device (BYOD) or force-issued device, you consent to the force remotely wiping the Application's local data container and its associated cached data in the event of device loss, theft, termination of your role, or revocation of your access.

Remote wipe is achieved through the Application's ephemeral cache architecture: an administrator-initiated suspension of your account immediately prevents access to all force-scoped data, and all local caches expire automatically within 24 hours.

6. Incident Reporting

Loss of the device on which the Application is installed, or any suspected unauthorised access to the Application or your account, must be reported to your Force IT Service Desk within 2 hours of discovery.

You must also notify your Force Information Assurance lead if you believe that operational data may have been exposed. Failure to report promptly may result in disciplinary action and increases the risk to operational security.

7. BYOD Device Requirements

If you access the Application on a personal device, that device must meet the following minimum security requirements, aligned to National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) BYOD guidance:

• The device must not be jailbroken (iOS) or rooted (Android).
• The operating system must be supported and have received security patches within the last 6 months.
• The device must have a screen lock (PIN, biometric, or pattern) enabled.
• Device encryption must be enabled (default on modern iOS and Android).
• During active deployments, officers must set a 4-digit session PIN when prompted. This protects operational data against device seizure in signal-denied environments (e.g. Faraday bag). Three failed attempts will trigger an automatic local data wipe.
• The Application should be run within a Mobile Application Management (MAM) container where the force provides one.

8. Prohibited Activities

You must not use the Application to:

• Store, process, or transmit information classified above OFFICIAL, including SECRET or TOP SECRET material.
• Store personal data that is not strictly necessary for your operational role (e.g., victim details, informant identities, or sensitive intelligence).
• Attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, or otherwise extract the Application's source code or encryption keys.
• Use the Application in any manner that could interfere with, disrupt, or negatively affect the operational integrity of a police deployment.
• Attempt to access data belonging to a force other than your own.

9. Enforcement and Sanctions

Breaches of this AUP may result in immediate suspension of your account, revocation of access to all force-scoped data, and referral to your Force Professional Standards Department.

Serious or repeated breaches may result in permanent termination of access and, where appropriate, referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) or criminal investigation.

POPS Notebook, Inc. reserves the right to suspend or terminate access to any user or force at any time to protect the security, integrity, or operational safety of the Application and its users.