Acceptable Use Policy

This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") governs your use of the EQUA Finance cloud-based enterprise resource planning platform (the "Platform") provided by Equa Finance Ltd. ("Equa Finance", "we", "us", "our"). This AUP is incorporated into and forms part of our Terms of Service.

By accessing or using the Platform, you agree to comply with this AUP. Equa Finance reserves the right to suspend or terminate access for any Customer or Authorized User who violates this AUP. All capitalized terms not defined herein have the meanings assigned to them in the Terms of Service.

1. General Conduct Standards

1.1 Lawful Use

You shall use the Platform only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms, all applicable laws, regulations, and industry standards. You must comply with all applicable Nigerian laws, including but not limited to:

• The Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020;
• The Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act;
• The Nigeria Tax Act 2025;
• The Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023;
• The Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022;
• The Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022;
• The Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015;
• The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Act;
• The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulations;
• All other applicable federal, state, and local government regulations.

1.2 Accurate Information

You are responsible for ensuring that all information entered into the Platform is accurate, complete, and not misleading. This includes but is not limited to:

• Financial records, journal entries, and account balances;
• Invoice details, customer information, and payment records;
• Tax calculations, filing data, and Tax Identification Numbers;
• Organization registration details and business information;
• User account information and contact details.

1.3 Professional Responsibility

The Platform is a tool to assist with financial management and compliance. You remain fully responsible for your financial records, tax obligations, and regulatory compliance. The Platform does not constitute legal, tax, accounting, or financial advice. You should consult qualified professionals for such advice.

2. Prohibited Activities

2.1 Financial Crimes and Fraud

You shall not use the Platform to:

• Engage in or facilitate money laundering, terrorist financing, or the proceeds of crime;
• Create fraudulent financial records, invoices, receipts, or other documents;
• Facilitate tax evasion, tax fraud, or the filing of false tax returns;
• Inflate or deflate revenues, expenses, assets, or liabilities for fraudulent purposes;
• Create fictitious transactions, customers, vendors, or employees;
• Facilitate embezzlement, misappropriation of funds, or breach of fiduciary duty;
• Generate fraudulent credit notes, refunds, or payment records;
• Circumvent financial controls, approval workflows, or audit trails;
• Facilitate bribery, corruption, or kickback schemes;
• Engage in any form of securities fraud, insider trading, or market manipulation.

2.2 Unauthorized Access and Security Violations

You shall not:

• Access, attempt to access, or probe any part of the Platform, its systems, or networks beyond your authorized scope;
• Circumvent, disable, or interfere with any security features, access controls, or authentication mechanisms of the Platform;
• Access another Customer's Organization, data, or account without explicit authorization;
• Share your account credentials with unauthorized persons;
• Use stolen, borrowed, or falsified credentials to access the Platform;
• Intercept, monitor, or tamper with data transmissions to or from the Platform;
• Exploit any vulnerability in the Platform for unauthorized purposes (if you discover a vulnerability, please report it to security@equafinance.com);
• Use the Platform to scan, probe, or test the vulnerability of any external system or network;
• Deploy or transmit any virus, worm, trojan horse, ransomware, spyware, or other malicious code through the Platform;
• Attempt to reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or derive the source code of the Platform.

2.3 System Abuse and Performance Interference

You shall not:

• Use automated scripts, bots, scrapers, crawlers, or similar technology to access the Platform except through the authorized API with valid authentication;
• Generate excessive API requests, database queries, or data exports intended to degrade Platform performance or availability;
• Intentionally overload, flood, or disrupt the Platform's infrastructure, servers, or networks (Denial of Service);
• Interfere with other Customers' use or enjoyment of the Platform;
• Use the Platform to mine cryptocurrency or perform computationally intensive tasks unrelated to the Platform's intended purpose;
• Store excessively large files or datasets that are unrelated to your financial management activities;
• Circumvent rate limits, usage quotas, or storage limitations imposed by your Subscription plan.

2.4 Intellectual Property Violations

You shall not:

• Copy, reproduce, modify, adapt, or create derivative works of the Platform, its code, design, or documentation;
• Sell, resell, sublicense, distribute, or otherwise make the Platform available to third parties who are not Authorized Users under your Subscription;
• Use the Platform as a white-label, OEM, or service bureau offering without Equa Finance's prior written consent;
• Remove, obscure, or alter any proprietary notices, trademarks, or branding on the Platform;
• Benchmark, evaluate, or test the Platform for the purpose of building a competing product or service;
• Upload content that infringes any third party's intellectual property rights, including copyrighted materials, trademarks, or trade secrets.

2.5 Harmful Content

You shall not use the Platform to store, transmit, or process:

• Content that is defamatory, libelous, obscene, pornographic, or sexually explicit;
• Content that promotes hatred, violence, discrimination, or harassment based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other protected characteristic;
• Content that is threatening, intimidating, or constitutes bullying or cyberstalking;
• Content that violates any person's privacy or publicity rights;
• Spam, unsolicited bulk communications, or phishing content;
• Content that promotes illegal activities or provides instructions for illegal conduct.

2.6 Tax Filing Specific Prohibitions

When using the Tax Filing module, you shall not:

• Submit knowingly false, misleading, or incomplete tax returns to any tax authority;
• Use the Platform to manipulate or fabricate tax calculations, deductions, or credits;
• File tax returns on behalf of organizations or individuals without proper authorization;
• Use sandbox/test environments to generate fraudulent filing confirmations or references;
• Tamper with filing status responses, authority references, or acknowledgment numbers;
• Use another organization's Tax Identification Number (TIN) or credentials for filing.

2.7 AI Assistant Specific Prohibitions

When using the AI Assistant module, you shall not:

• Attempt to extract, manipulate, or exploit the AI model's underlying training data or algorithms;
• Use the AI Assistant to generate fraudulent financial advice, false analysis, or misleading reports;
• Submit intentionally misleading prompts designed to produce harmful or inaccurate outputs;
• Use AI-generated outputs as the sole basis for material financial, tax, or legal decisions without independent professional verification;
• Attempt to use the AI Assistant to process or generate content that violates any other provision of this AUP.

3. Resource Usage and Fair Use

3.1 API Rate Limits

API access is subject to rate limits based on your Subscription plan. Exceeding rate limits may result in temporary throttling of your API requests. Persistent or intentional exceeding of rate limits may result in account suspension. Current rate limits are documented in the API Documentation.

3.2 Storage Limits

Storage usage is subject to limits based on your Subscription plan. You are responsible for managing your storage usage within your allocated limits. Equa Finance will notify you when you approach your storage limit. Exceeding your storage limit may result in restrictions on uploading new data until storage is freed or your plan is upgraded.

3.3 Fair Use of Shared Resources

The Platform is a shared infrastructure serving multiple Customers. You agree to use the Platform's resources responsibly and not engage in activities that disproportionately consume shared resources (compute, memory, bandwidth, database connections) to the detriment of other Customers.

4. Security Requirements

4.1 Account Security

You are required to:

• Use strong, unique passwords for all user accounts (minimum 8 characters with a mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters);
• Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all administrator accounts;
• Promptly revoke access for users who are no longer authorized (e.g., terminated employees, departed contractors);
• Regularly review and audit user access permissions within your Organization;
• Report any known or suspected security incidents to security@equafinance.com immediately;
• Keep your systems, browsers, and devices up to date with security patches.

4.2 API Security

When using the Platform's API, you are required to:

• Securely store API keys and authentication tokens — never embed them in client-side code, public repositories, or unencrypted storage;
• Rotate API keys periodically and immediately upon suspected compromise;
• Use HTTPS for all API communications;
• Implement appropriate error handling that does not expose sensitive information;
• Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning API permissions.

4.3 Integration Security

When configuring third-party integrations (tax authority connectors, payment processors, etc.), you are required to:

• Use production credentials only in production environments and sandbox credentials only in sandbox/test environments;
• Protect integration credentials with the same level of care as your account password;
• Regularly review and rotate integration credentials;
• Monitor integration activity for unauthorized or unexpected behavior.

5. Monitoring and Enforcement

5.1 Monitoring

Equa Finance reserves the right to monitor usage of the Platform to ensure compliance with this AUP. Monitoring may include analysis of usage patterns, API access logs, security event logs, and automated detection of anomalous activity. Monitoring is conducted in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

5.2 Investigation

Equa Finance may investigate any suspected violation of this AUP. During an investigation, we may temporarily suspend access to the Platform or specific features to prevent further harm. We may cooperate with law enforcement and regulatory authorities in the investigation of suspected illegal activities.

5.3 Enforcement Actions

Violations of this AUP may result in one or more of the following actions, at Equa Finance's sole discretion:

• Warning: A written notice identifying the violation and requesting corrective action;
• Feature Restriction: Temporary or permanent restriction of access to specific Platform features;
• Account Suspension: Temporary suspension of your account pending investigation or corrective action;
• Account Termination: Permanent termination of your account and deletion of your data in accordance with the Terms of Service;
• Legal Action: Referral to law enforcement or regulatory authorities and/or initiation of legal proceedings;
• Reporting: Reporting suspected financial crimes to the relevant Nigerian authorities, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), or the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

5.4 Appeal Process

If you believe that enforcement action has been taken against your account in error, you may submit an appeal by contacting compliance@equafinance.com within fourteen (14) days of receiving notice of the action. Appeals will be reviewed by a senior member of the Equa Finance compliance team who was not involved in the original decision. You will receive a written response within fourteen (14) days of submitting your appeal.

6. Vulnerability Disclosure

6.1 Responsible Disclosure

If you discover a security vulnerability in the Platform, we encourage you to report it responsibly. Please send details of the vulnerability to security@equafinance.com and include:

• A description of the vulnerability and its potential impact;
• Steps to reproduce the vulnerability;
• Any proof-of-concept code or screenshots (if applicable).

6.2 Safe Harbor

Equa Finance will not pursue legal action against security researchers who discover and report vulnerabilities in good faith, provided that they:

• Do not access, modify, or delete data belonging to other Customers;
• Do not disrupt the availability or performance of the Platform;
• Do not publicly disclose the vulnerability before Equa Finance has had a reasonable opportunity to address it (minimum 90 days);
• Comply with all applicable laws during their research.

7. Reporting Violations

If you become aware of any activity that violates this AUP, please report it immediately to:

• General AUP violations: compliance@equafinance.com
• Security incidents: security@equafinance.com
• Suspected financial crimes: compliance@equafinance.com
• Data protection concerns: dpo@equafinance.com

All reports will be treated confidentially and investigated promptly.

8. Changes to This Policy

Equa Finance reserves the right to modify this AUP at any time. Material changes will be communicated via email and/or a prominent notice on the Platform at least fourteen (14) days before they take effect. Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date of any changes constitutes acceptance of the revised AUP.

9. Contact Information

For questions about this Acceptable Use Policy, please contact:

Equa Finance Ltd.
Email: compliance@equafinance.com
Security: security@equafinance.com
Lagos, Nigeria