Version
Version 1.0 · English translation · 23 October 2026
Scope
This General Code of Conduct sets out the principles of professional cooperation with Trusted Lingo, particularly when translating personal, official and confidential documents. It supplements the Translator Terms of Service v1.3 and the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) v1.1, but does not replace them. It applies to Translators who expressly accept it during registration and to Assignments they accept. Applicable laws and mandatory professional obligations take precedence.
§ 1 Professionalism and Professional Independence
1.1 Translators shall act with care, reliability, respect and independent professional judgment. They shall accept only Assignments they can properly carry out in view of their qualifications, language combination, authorisation and available time.
1.2 The cooperation is non-exclusive. Translators decide for themselves which Assignments to accept; they remain free to organise their independent work within the agreed deliverables and deadlines. This Code does not create an employment relationship, any minimum availability or any obligation to accept Assignments.
1.3 Professional judgments concerning content, linguistic accuracy and necessary qualifications or reservations must not be distorted to satisfy commercial preferences.
§ 2 Professional Competence and Authorisations
2.1 Translators shall accurately state their language skills, subject-matter expertise, authorisations, sworn status and other qualifications. Changes to, and the expiry or restriction of, relevant authorisations shall be reported to Trusted Lingo without delay.
2.2 A Certified Translation may be issued only by a person authorised to do so under the applicable law and must be duly signed and/or accompanied by the prescribed certification statement. Being sworn as an interpreter alone does not automatically confer the authority to certify written translations.
2.3 Recognisable professional, legal or technical limitations shall be disclosed before accepting an Assignment or without delay after they become known. If proper performance is not possible, the Assignment must be declined or a mutually agreed solution arranged.
§ 3 Completeness, Accuracy and Quality
3.1 Source texts shall be reproduced completely and accurately in meaning and content. Particular care is required with names, dates, numbers, official annotations, seals, signatures, tables and ambiguous wording.
3.2 Illegible, missing or doubtful passages must not be invented, supplemented or concealed. They shall be identified in accordance with professional practice and, where necessary, referred through Trusted Lingo for clarification in good time.
3.3 Agreed terminology, formatting requirements and reference materials shall be taken into account insofar as they are compatible with factual accuracy and legal obligations. Apparent errors in instructions shall be raised.
3.4 Quality assurance includes an appropriate review before submission. Substantiated complaints shall be assessed objectively and handled in accordance with the Translator Terms of Service, particularly clause 15.
§ 4 Confidentiality, Data Protection and Document Security
4.1 Customer identities, documents, Assignment contents, personal data, communications, remuneration rates and internal business processes shall be kept confidential in accordance with the NDA v1.1, the Translator Terms of Service and applicable law.
4.2 Data may be processed only to the extent necessary for the accepted Assignment and permitted by law. Use for personal advertising, references, public posts, unauthorised training datasets or other private purposes is prohibited.
4.3 The Translator’s data-protection role depends on the actual activity and shall be documented before access to customer data where required. Where processing is carried out on behalf of another party, Annex 1 to the Translator Terms of Service and documented instructions apply; where the Translator acts as an independent controller, the applicable statutory duties apply.
4.4 Paper documents and digital files must be protected against loss and unauthorised access. Return, deletion, statutory retention and handling of backup copies are governed by the applicable agreements and law.
§ 5 Use of Software, AI and Third Parties
5.1 External generative AI, public machine-translation services, cloud-based CAT tools and third-party-operated translation memories must not be used with confidential or personal Assignment data without Trusted Lingo’s prior approval in Text Form. Technical approval does not replace any necessary lawful basis under data-protection law.
5.2 Automatically generated or software-assisted work products must be fully reviewed for professional accuracy by a suitably qualified person. Responsibility for the result and professional-law requirements for personally certified translations remain unaffected.
5.3 Disclosing Assignments or data to assistants, reviewers or subcontractors requires the necessary prior approval and suitable confidentiality and data-protection arrangements. Unauthorised disclosure is prohibited.
§ 6 Impartiality and Conflicts of Interest
6.1 Translators shall treat content and the persons concerned with respect, regardless of origin, language, nationality, sex or gender, religion, disability, age, sexual identity or other personal characteristics. Discrimination, harassment, offensive communication and intentional distortion of content are prohibited.
6.2 Circumstances that could impair independence, reliability or lawful performance of an Assignment, such as personal involvement or a material conflict of interest, shall be disclosed before acceptance or without delay after becoming known. The Assignment shall be declined where necessary.
6.3 Translators shall not accept improper benefits or request payments from End Customers for Trusted Lingo services that have not been agreed.
§ 7 Deadlines, Communication and Cooperation
7.1 Accepted deadlines are binding. Missing pages, unclear instructions, technical problems and foreseeable delays must be reported without delay through approved channels so that a solution can be agreed. Changes to deadlines require the prescribed agreement.
7.2 Contact with End Customers shall generally take place through Trusted Lingo; direct coordination or delivery is permitted where expressly provided for or authorised in the Assignment. Information about other customers or translators must not be disclosed in that process.
7.3 Questions, criticism and corrections shall be handled objectively and professionally. Assignment-specific communications shall take place only through the agreed secure channels.
§ 8 Prohibited Conduct and Incident Reporting
8.1 Prohibited acts include, in particular, forged or manipulated certifications, misleading claims about authorisations, intentional omissions or fabrications, unauthorised disclosures, circumvention of approved access methods and sharing of login credentials.
8.2 Security and data-protection incidents, including reasonably suspected loss or unauthorised access, shall be reported without delay, where possible within 24 hours of becoming aware of them, to admin@trustedlingo.com. The Translator concerned shall assist with necessary investigation and containment.
8.3 Legally protected reports to competent authorities, courts or professional bodies, and reports under applicable whistleblower-protection law, remain fully permitted.
§ 9 Consequences of Breaches
9.1 In the case of specific and serious breaches of duty, Trusted Lingo may, within the framework of the Translator Terms of Service and applicable law, initiate clarification, remedial action, proportionate temporary suspension of access or termination of the cooperation. The Translator concerned shall be given an opportunity to respond insofar as legally possible and compatible with security requirements.
9.2 Liability and remuneration are governed exclusively by applicable law and the agreements in force. This Code contains no contractual penalties, no predetermined damages and no automatic forfeiture of remuneration already earned.
§ 10 Application, Amendments and Electronic Acceptance
10.1 This Code supplements the Translator Terms of Service v1.3 and the NDA v1.1. In case of conflict, mandatory law and the data-protection agreements applicable to the specific processing activity take precedence; this Code changes neither remuneration terms nor the allocation of liability set out in the Translator Terms of Service.
10.2 This Code applies after express electronic acceptance. Trusted Lingo records the accepted version, the time of consent and the associated Translator account. An amendment applies to future Assignments only after renewed active consent, unless mandatory law provides otherwise. Silence does not constitute consent.
10.3 German law applies, subject to mandatory provisions. Jurisdiction is governed by the statutory rules and the Translator Terms of Service. The English version serves comprehension; the German version prevails in the event of differences in interpretation, to the extent legally permissible.
Acceptance
Acceptance wording: “I have read and agree to Trusted Lingo’s General Code of Conduct (Version 1.0).”
Note: This Code does not replace any data-processing agreement required by law or confer authority to certify official translations.