Terms and conditions
Security and acceptable use policy
This page defines the general Royal Air Force (RAF) policy governing the use of its external internet resources by RAF staff and by general internet users.
All RAF information systems are liable to a recording and monitoring regime intended to maintain security and to ensure that the RAF internet service remains available to all users, which includes both automated and manual audit procedures to identify unauthorised attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Any information recorded is not used to identify individual users or their usage habits unless required for duly authorised security or law enforcement activities. Raw data logs are used and retained for no other purposes.
Websites
RAF websites are published under the authority of the Secretary of State for Defence, and contain information duly sanctioned for release to the general public. They are bound by the copyright regulations. Unauthorised attempts to upload information or change information on these services are strictly prohibited and are punishable under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
© Crown copyright 1996-2007
The RAF is a Crown body. The information it produces is Crown copyright and is administered by the its Intellectual Property Rights Group (IPRG), under delegated authority from the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO). For more information on Crown copyright, visit the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website.
The material featured on this site is subject to Crown copyright unless otherwise stated. All material may be downloaded to file or printer for the purposes of non-commercial research or private study. Any other proposed use of the material may be subject to a copyright licence. Licences are issued in accordance with the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005. The permission to reproduce Crown protected material does not extend to any material on this site which is identified as being the copyright of a third party. Authorisation to reproduce such material must be obtained from the copyright holders concerned.
If your requirements do not fall within the definition of non-commercial research or private study, please see the Copyright Licensing Information for further guidance on how to obtain permission to reproduce Crown copyright material created by the RAF.
The RAF encourages users to establish hypertext links to the site. You do not require our formal permission to do so.
Freedom of information
Supply of information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not give the person or organisation the automatic right to reuse the documents in a way that will infringe copyright, for example, by making multiple copies, publishing or issuing copies to the public.
Privacy statement
The RAF website does not store or capture personal information, but merely logs the user’s IP address which is automatically recognised by the web server. Our log files do not contain any personal information or information about which other sites you have visited.
We do not use cookies for collecting user information from the site and we will not collect any information about you except that required for system administration of the web server.
Other websites linked from this site do not necessarily follow the same policies and therefore we cannot be responsible for the content of these external sites.
Further information on your rights under the Data Protection Act 1998 can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website.
Glossary
Cookie
This is a message given to a browser program by a web server. The message is then stored by the browser in a text file. Each time the browser requests a page from the server, this message is sent back. A cookie’s main objective is to identify users and personalise their visit by customising web pages for them, for example by welcoming them by name next time they visit the same site. A site using cookies will usually invite you to provide personal information such as your name, email address and interests. In our case, however, we do not use cookies at all.
IP address
Every machine connecting to the internet has a four-number address (e.g. 146.9.80.88) which may or may not stay constant between sessions online. Many web users connect indirectly to the internet via an intermediary (proxy) server.
Log files
Every time our website is accessed, an entry is made in the web server’s log file. This tells us broadly where an access is coming from, when it was made, which file was requested and whether the request was successful or not. It usually does not allow us to identify individual users. The data is used to assess usage levels and spot technical problems (such as broken pages or web server errors).
Web server
This is the machine on which the RAF website is physically located, which delivers (serves up) web pages to your computer.
Hyperlinking
Hyperlinking to our site
You do not have to ask permission to create a link to pages hosted on this site. We do not object to you linking directly to the information that is hosted on our site. However, we do not permit our pages to be loaded into frames on your site. The RAF pages must load into the user’s entire window.
Hyperlinking by us to external sites
The RAF is not responsible for the content of external websites and therefore it is the RAF’s general policy not to link to non-MOD websites, i.e. those which sit outside the raf.mod.uk domain. Where exceptions are made, we will first investigate the site’s current content but we cannot be held responsible for the current or future content or reliability of the linked websites. Listing should not be taken as an endorsement of any kind. We cannot guarantee that these links will work all of the time and the RAF accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists. The links are provided ‘as is’ with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them and, as such, we have no control over the availability or content of the linked pages.
All RAF internet mail servers are configured to prevent their use as open mail relays, and any attempt by non-authorised personnel to use such servers will be treated as misuse. Any suspected abusive email from a genuine or forged RAF address should be reported to your local RAF Security Department.
The practice of sending unsolicited bulk mail (‘spam’) or email floods (‘mailbombing’) to RAF addressees may be considered as an attempt to cause a denial of service, and as such will be considered as a serious security matter that may therefore be pursued with the postmaster of the originating address.
Contact us
If you have a query about any of the above, please write or email to the following:
RAF Reserves Webmaster
Directorate of Recruitment & Selection
Royal Air Force
PO Box 1000
Cranwell
Sleaford
Lincolnshire
NG34 8GZ
email: RAF Reserves Webmaster