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Terms & Conditions

Welcome to Pastelink.net. If you continue to browse and use this website, you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions of use, which together with our privacy policy govern Pastelink.net's relationship with you in relation to this website. If you disagree with any part of these terms and conditions, please do not use our website.

Pastelink.net features an unmoderated collection of text and hyperlinks added by anonymous users from across the world. Pastelink.net does not endorse any content or links found within our servers and will not hesitate to remove any content which is found to be in breach of the conditions outlined on this page, once brought to our attention.

The term 'Pastelink.net' or 'Pastelink' or 'us' or 'we' or 'our' refers to the owner of this website. The term 'you' refers to the user or viewer of our website.

The following types of content MAY NOT be posted or linked to on Pastelink.net:

  • Stolen login details
  • Stolen password lists
  • Stolen source code
  • Data obtained through illegal hacking
  • Copyrighted material
  • Banking details, credit card information
  • Personal information about anyone except yourself
  • Spam links
  • Material containing depictions of child abuse

The use of this website is subject to the following terms of use:

  • The content of the pages of this website is for your general information and use only. It is subject to change without notice.
  • This website uses cookies to monitor browsing preferences via Google Analytics.
  • Neither we nor any third parties provide any warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy, timeliness, performance, completeness or suitability of the information and materials found or offered on this website for any particular purpose. You acknowledge that such information and materials may contain inaccuracies or errors and we expressly exclude liability for any such inaccuracies or errors to the fullest extent permitted by law.
  • Your use of any information or materials on this website is entirely at your own risk, for which we shall not be liable. It shall be your own responsibility to ensure that any products, services or information available through this website meet your specific requirements.
  • This website contains material which is owned by or licensed to us. This material includes, but is not limited to, the design, layout, look, appearance and graphics. Reproduction is prohibited other than in accordance with the copyright notice, which forms part of these terms and conditions.
  • All trade marks reproduced in this website which are not the property of, or licensed to, the operator are acknowledged on the website.
  • This website includes links to other websites. These links are provided by anonymous third parties, who have no connection to us and have not been verified. All links within Pastes on Pastelink.net are unmoderated unless we have been requested to review them. They do not signify that we endorse the website(s). We have no responsibility for the content of the linked website(s).
  • Your use of this website and any dispute arising out of such use of the website is subject to the laws of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Online Safety Bill 2023

Under the UK's 2023 Online Safety Bill, Pastelink is classified as a Category 3, multi-risk service. All harm risks have been assessed as either none, low or medium.

Protection from illegal content

Users of Pastelink are protected from illegal content through our moderation, which consists of the following:

  • Automatic removal based on keywords
  • Flagging of posts for manual review based on keywords
  • Handling of reports submitted on Pastelink directly by users
  • Handling of reports sent to our email address listed on the contact page.
  • Review of reports sent to third parties (such as Google), which are then relayed on to us.

As Pastelink does not have a comprehensive listing page, or any more advanced forms of content discovery, it is highly unlikely that a person will stumble across illegal content on this platform.

The page found at the URL /recent contains posts created by users that have requested that their posts appear there. This extra step is aimed at ensuring illegal content (most importantly CSAM or financial scams) do not appear here. For the year of 2024, no reports were received about a page in this list containing illegal content, allowing us to conclude that it is an effective system.

Pastelink is a text only site, allowing users to upload plain text containing hyperlinks. The only risk therefore is that this text could include something dangerous, or a hyperlink could lead to a dangerous web page.

Types of Illegal Content

These are the different types of illegal content that we identify and protect against.

  • Terrorism: To date, Pastelink has never had an issue with users posting terrorism related content. This is in contrast to some similar services, who have publicised their issues in this area. We therefore recognise the potential and continue to be aware that we may need to identify and remove such content at any point in the future. However, the lack of images on Pastelink seems to be a deterrance, as terrorism content is commonly paired with related imagery.
  • CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material): As Pastelink does not permit images, image based CSAM is not possible. Our focus is therefore on CSAM URLs, or any page seeming to promote child sexual abuse. We have over 1000 keywords for this type of content and all pages are scanned regularly. Any users found to be sharing this content have their accounts closed immediately. Any content posted from the same IP address is checked and if similar, removed. We are highly responsive to reports from the Internet Watch Foundation and provide them with further information when requested in order to help them take down more CSAM content online.
  • Financial Scams: We have a large list of keywords for pages that appear to be promoting some form of financial fraud or scam and automatically remove content where appropriate.
  • Grooming: We consider Pastelink to be very low risk for grooming, as there is no way to communicate with the creators of posts. There also seem to be no children using this service.
  • Other: Pages attempting to sell illegal drugs or any firearms are shut down when discovered. People may request an informal takedown of any page that infringes on their personal privacy that we comply with without further question.

Removal of Illegal Content

Following a report, Pastelink acts swiftly to evaluate and take action. Reports can take the form of an email sent directly, or through the contact forms on the relevant pages.

The outcome of such reports is either full removal of the reported content, or a decision to not take action based on the assessment of the content. In some cases (such as with CSAM content), the posting user's account may be closed. Also, posts created by the same IP addresses may also be removed.

Identification of illegal content

Pastelink utilizes many means for the identification and removal of illegal content:

  • Keyword Scanning: Pastelink has collected a list of over 1000 terms that imply certain types of illegal content. Some of these trigger an automatic removal, while others create a ticket for a manual review of that page. In the case of automatic removals, the pages are subsequently manually reviewed, typically within 24 hours.
  • Flagged Page Trimming: As keyword scans can create an overwhelming number of posts to review, due to a high false positive rate on some terms, we then trim the lists based on certain critera. For example, the presence of certain terms with certain keywords regularly implies a false positive.
  • AI Based Trimming: Once a page has been flagged but not automatically removed, we send the content to an open source LLM (one that does not record inputs or use the data for any further training), to get a score on how dangerous the post appears to be. If this is beyond a threshold, the post is automatically removed. If below a threshold, it is trimmed from the review list.
  • User Reports: Any user report we receive is handled quickly and approprate actions are taken, which may include the removal of the reported content.

Complaints Procedure

A person may make a complaint to us via the contact form, or to our email supplied on the contact form. Complaints intended to trigger a removal of content should be made by using the appropriate form.

We will look to address all complaints within 3 business days. We will prioritise reports of certain illegal content, particularly CSAM and fraud.

After a decision has been made, we will take appropriate action on the content in question. The complainer will be replied to with a breakdown of the actions taken, or a request for further information.

In the case of non content related complaints, we will look to address the issue and resolve the case with the complainer by responding to them as required.

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