Reporting a business: notice and action

Version 1 · Effective: 8 November 2026

What you can report

You can report any business profile in Avonao Business Circle (directory, Launchpad, business pages), including the apps listed on it, if you believe it is illegal or breaks our Acceptable Use Policy or Business Terms. You do not need an Avonao ID to report.

1. How to report (DSA Art. 16)

Use "Report this business" on the business's profile page. The form asks for:

• Reason: illegal content, scam or fraud, impersonation, intellectual property infringement, or other;
• Details (required, up to 4,000 characters): explain why you think the business is illegal or breaks our rules. Where you can, say which law, which page or app, and include links;
• Your email address (optional): we use it to confirm your report and tell you the outcome. If you leave it empty and are signed in, we use your account's email address.

[Note: Art. 16(2) also expects the reporter's name and a statement of good-faith belief. The form does not ask for them yet; see README N1.]

To prevent abuse, the form may show a bot check and accepts up to 10 reports per hour from one connection.

2. Confirmation

If we have your email address, you receive a confirmation at once with a reference number.

3. Review

A person at Avonao reviews every report, diligently, objectively and without undue delay. No automated means are used to detect or decide. Avonao may also review a business on its own initiative, for example when a new app goes live. [Founder: set a target time, e.g. within [5] working days; D26 decides who is notified of new reports.]

4. Decisions

Avonao can later lift a decision (reinstate a suspended business, relist an unlisted one) or record a note without changing anything. Every decision is recorded with its statement and kept even after the business is deleted.

5. Statement of reasons to the business (DSA Art. 17)

When Avonao unlists or suspends a business, every owner of the business receives an email, at the latest when the decision takes effect, that states:

• what changed and what it means for the profile and the apps;
• its scope and duration (worldwide, until Avonao lifts it);
• the facts and reasons (the statement written by the reviewer);
• whether it followed a report, and the reported reason, or Avonao's own review;
• that a person decided and no automated means were used;
• the ground: the Business Terms and Acceptable Use Policy and, where the business is found illegal, the law concerned;
• how to contest it (section 7);
• a reference number.

The reporter's identity is not shared with the business [Note: confirm; Art. 17 does not require it].

6. Outcome to the reporter (DSA Art. 16(5))

If we have your email address, you receive the outcome (no action, unlisted, or suspended), how to contest it, and the reference number.

7. How to contest a decision (DSA Art. 20 and 21)

Both the business and the reporter can contest a decision:

• Internal complaint: within six months of the decision, write to business-support@avonao.com and quote the reference number. It is free of charge. A person reviews the complaint and the decision, and we reply with a reasoned answer. If the complaint is justified, we reverse the decision without undue delay.
• Out-of-court dispute settlement: you can turn to any out-of-court dispute settlement body certified under DSA Art. 21. The European Commission publishes the list of certified bodies at digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu. We engage in good faith with the body you choose; its decision is not binding on either side, and you can still go to court.
• Courts: you can always go to court.

8. Misuse

We may, after a warning, stop processing reports from someone who frequently submits reports that are clearly unfounded (DSA Art. 23). [Not built; handled manually.]

9. Contact points

• Members of the public and businesses (DSA Art. 12): compliance@avonao.com, in English.
• Authorities, the European Commission and the Board (DSA Art. 11): compliance@avonao.com with "DSA authority" in the subject line, in English.
• Orders from authorities to act against illegal content or to provide information (DSA Art. 9, 10) are handled by the same address, compliance@avonao.com.

How this is built (for the founder; not part of the published page)

• Report: POST /api/v1/directory/b/:slug/report with reason, details, optional email and a Turnstile token when configured; only for public businesses; stored in reports.
• Decision: the founder decides through the coordinator (decision D21); new reports are emailed to id-business-reports@avonao.com (decision D26) with POST /internal/reports/:id/decision (dismiss, unlist, suspend plus a required statement up to 5,000 characters); later changes with POST /internal/orgs/:id/status. Recorded in moderation_actions; unlist adds a moderation_holds row.
• Emails: reportReceivedEmail, statementEmail, reportOutcomeEmail in src/lib/network.ts. A failed email never undoes a decision; the response says how many emails went out.
• Not built: notifying Avonao of new reports (decision D26), name and good-faith fields in the form, a dedicated complaints inbox or reply-to address, handling of manifestly unfounded reports, reporting to the DSA Transparency Database.