Code of ethics

1. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE

TrustRating.ai ("TrustRating", "we", "our", or "us") is fully committed to conducting business in an honest, ethical, transparent, and lawful manner. This Code of Ethics reflects our commitment to maintaining the highest ethical standards across our directory ecosystem. Guided by our core values, these principles are designed to help our team, our registered merchants, and our consumer reviewers do the right thing—setting a clear, unwavering expectation for appropriate conduct.

2. WHO IS COVERED BY THIS CODE?

This policy applies globally to everyone who interfaces with our brand: our internal employees, contractors, platform users, consumer reviewers, and registered businesses (collectively referred to as our "Community"). We strictly train our workforce to exercise strong ethical judgment, and we expect an identical standard of integrity from every participant in our Community.

3. TRUSTRATING.AI CORE VALUES

Our corporate vision is to be a premier, unfiltered, and reliable trust intelligence platform. Achieving this vision relies entirely on upholding our core operational values:

• Customer-Centric Focus: We obsess over solving consumer and business problems, using transparent trust as our guide. Our customers include paying merchants, free profile users, readers, and reviewers alike.
• Uncompromising Integrity: We do the right thing, even when it is difficult. We don’t just host trust; we actively earn it by delivering on our promises and remaining objective.
• Positively Human: Behind every rating is a real human experience. We care about our Community, embrace diversity, and treat everyone with empathy and dignity.
• Accountability and Impact: We deliver on our commitments to drive a positive impact, focusing on continuous growth, platform safety, and service excellence.
• Winning Together: We operate as one collaborative team. We perform at our absolute best when we embrace collective strengths, share constructive feedback, and look out for one another.

4. GUIDING PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE

4.1 Customer-Centric Focus

• We never compromise on trust for short-term financial or operational gain.

• We dedicate ourselves to understanding the evolving needs of both buyers and businesses, striving constantly to surpass their data integrity expectations.

4.2 Uncompromising Integrity

• We expect everyone in our Community to comply strictly with local laws and regulations, using sound judgment and common sense.

• Our internal teams must conduct themselves professionally, ensuring our products, ratings, and insights are displayed in a fair, honest, and transparent manner.

• We maintain total operational independence from both consumers and businesses. We actively avoid and mitigate any real or perceived conflicts of interest.

• We prioritize information security, handling personal data and utilizing artificial intelligence models responsibly in strict compliance with our Privacy Policy and Data Processing Agreement.

4.3 Positively Human

• We do not tolerate aggressive behavior, coercive language, threats, or abuse of any kind between reviewers and business accounts. Unlawful conduct will be immediately reported to relevant law enforcement authorities.

• We value diversity, equal opportunity, and inclusion. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for harassment, bullying, or unlawful discrimination at work, at work-related events, or across our public message boards.

• We require all platform users to contribute respectfully. Hateful or discriminatory behavior is strictly prohibited, as detailed in our Guidelines for Reviewers and Business Terms.

4.4 Accountability and Impact

• We lean into a strong bias for action, setting high ambitions for platform safety and directory accuracy.

• We take complete ownership of our milestones. We embrace procedural failures not as setbacks, but as valuable opportunities for corporate learning, optimization, and structural growth.

4.5 Winning Together

• We prioritize the long-term reputation and health of the TrustRating.ai Community over personal or individual business interests.

• We protect confidential data and intellectual property, look out for the safety of our peers, and never attempt to cover up operational misconduct or review manipulation.

5. TECHNOLOGY-ASSISTED MODERATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY

To scale these ethical commitments fairly, TrustRating.ai utilizes a hybrid model combining automated algorithmic processing (AI and machine learning) with manual human review teams. Our automated systems objectively flag review manipulation, fraudulent content, and automated spam patterns. Our human moderation compliance desk evaluates appeals, reviews transaction proofs, and ensures absolute platform equity. No algorithmic framework or human intervention will ever be deployed to deliberately favor a business or suppress authentic customer experiences.

6. FAILURE TO COMPLY

We take breaches of this Code of Ethics exceptionally seriously. Depending on the severity of the violation:

• For Platform Users and Businesses: A breach may result in immediate account suspension, permanent profile deactivation, termination of premium subscription contracts without a refund, or appropriate legal and remedial actions.

• For Internal Staff: Any employee found violating these ethical standards will be subject to internal disciplinary proceedings, up to and including immediate termination of employment.

7. REPORTING CONCERNS AND WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION

Every member of our Community is responsible for upholding this Code. If you notice a violation, fraudulent review patterns, business extortion, or unethical behavior, you are expected to report it immediately to our compliance desk.

We provide dedicated "Speaking Up" communication channels, including the ability to file reports anonymously. TrustRating.ai strictly prohibits retaliation of any form against an individual who openly reports a conduct concern in good faith, even if the underlying investigation finds the concern to be unsubstantiated.

8. AMENDMENTS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Our Legal and Corporate Compliance team is the sole custodian of this Code of Ethics. This document is audited and reviewed at least annually to ensure strict alignment with international regulatory developments and platform policies, with updates published immediately on this portal.