1. Acceptance of Terms
By accessing or using My Digital Sovereignty Community ("the Platform," "Service," "we," "us," or "our"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not use the Platform.
These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("User," "you," or "your") and My Digital Sovereignty Ltd, the operator of My Digital Sovereignty Community.
Important: Please read these Terms carefully before using the Platform. By creating an account or using our services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy.
2. Eligibility
2.1 Age Requirements
You must meet the following age requirements to use the Platform:
- Minimum Age: You must be at least 13 years old
- Parental Consent: Users aged 13-16 in the European Union must have parental or guardian consent
- Legal Capacity: You must have the legal capacity to enter into binding contracts in your jurisdiction
2.2 Geographic Restrictions
The Platform is available globally, subject to local laws. By using the Platform, you confirm that your use complies with all applicable laws in your jurisdiction.
2.3 Verification
We reserve the right to verify your eligibility at any time. Providing false information about your age or identity is grounds for immediate account termination.
3. Account Registration and Security
3.1 Account Creation
To use most features of the Platform, you must create an account by providing:
- A valid email address
- Your full name (or display name)
- A secure password meeting our minimum requirements
- Agreement to these Terms and our Privacy Policy
3.2 Account Security
You are responsible for:
- Maintaining the confidentiality of your password
- All activities that occur under your account
- Notifying us immediately of any unauthorized access or security breach
- Ensuring your account information is accurate and up-to-date
3.3 Account Transfer
Accounts are personal and non-transferable. You may not sell, transfer, or share your account credentials with others.
3.4 Multiple Accounts
You may create accounts in multiple communities (tenants), but each account must use a valid email address and comply with these Terms.
4. Community Guidelines
My Digital Sovereignty Community is designed to foster respectful, constructive interactions. All users must adhere to the following guidelines:
4.1 Respectful Conduct
- Treat all community members with respect and dignity
- Engage in constructive dialogue, even when disagreeing
- Respect diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and beliefs
- Use welcoming and inclusive language
4.2 Appropriate Content
- Share content relevant to your community's purpose
- Ensure uploaded files comply with copyright and licensing requirements
- Mark sensitive content with appropriate warnings
- Respect privacy by not sharing others' personal information without consent
4.3 Constructive Participation
- Contribute meaningfully to discussions
- Provide constructive feedback and criticism
- Help new members feel welcome
- Report violations of these guidelines to community administrators
5. Prohibited Activities
The following activities are strictly prohibited on the Platform:
Illegal Content and Activities
- Uploading, sharing, or promoting illegal content
- Violating any local, national, or international laws
- Facilitating illegal activities or transactions
- Sharing content that infringes copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights
Harmful Content
- Hate speech, discrimination, or harassment based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected characteristics
- Threats of violence or harm to individuals or groups
- Content promoting self-harm or suicide
- Explicit sexual content or pornography (except in age-restricted, properly labeled communities)
- Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) - zero tolerance, immediate reporting to authorities
- Graphic violence or gore
Abusive Behavior
- Harassment, bullying, or stalking other users
- Doxxing (sharing private information without consent)
- Impersonating others or misrepresenting your identity
- Manipulating or deceiving other users
Platform Abuse
- Spamming, flooding, or excessive automated posting
- Attempting to access other users' accounts or data
- Circumventing security measures or access controls
- Reverse engineering, decompiling, or attempting to extract source code
- Denial-of-service attacks or other attempts to disrupt service
- Using automated scripts or bots without explicit permission
Commercial Exploitation
- Unsolicited advertising or commercial promotions (unless permitted by community administrators)
- Pyramid schemes, multi-level marketing, or get-rich-quick schemes
- Selling access to the Platform or user data
Consequences: Violation of these prohibitions may result in content removal, account suspension, or permanent ban. Illegal activities will be reported to law enforcement authorities.
6. Intellectual Property
6.1 Your Content
You retain full ownership of all content you create and upload to the Platform ("User Content"), including:
- Stories, posts, and comments
- Photos, videos, and audio recordings
- Documents and files
- Profile information
6.2 License to Platform
By uploading User Content, you grant My Digital Sovereignty Community a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to:
- Store, display, and transmit your content to other community members
- Create backups for disaster recovery purposes
- Generate thumbnails and previews
- Perform technical operations necessary to provide the Service
Important: This license is limited to operating the Platform and does not grant us rights to sell, distribute, or use your content for other purposes. The license terminates when you delete your content or account.
6.3 Platform Intellectual Property
The Platform itself, including all software, designs, text, graphics, logos, and trademarks, is owned by My Digital Sovereignty Ltd and protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.
You may not:
- Copy, modify, or create derivative works of the Platform
- Use our trademarks or branding without written permission
- Remove or alter copyright or proprietary notices
6.4 Copyright Infringement
We respect intellectual property rights and comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). If you believe content on the Platform infringes your copyright:
- Email legal@mysovereignty.digital with:
- Your contact information
- Description of the copyrighted work
- URL of the infringing content
- Statement of good faith belief
- Statement under penalty of perjury that information is accurate
- Your physical or electronic signature
- We will investigate and remove infringing content within 24-72 hours
- Repeat infringers will have their accounts terminated
7. Tenant Administration
7.1 Tenant Administrator Roles
Each community (tenant) has one or more administrators with elevated privileges, including:
- Managing member accounts (invite, remove, ban users)
- Setting community-specific rules and guidelines
- Moderating content and enforcing community standards
- Configuring features and privacy settings
- Exporting community data
7.2 Tenant Administrator Responsibilities
Tenant administrators must:
- Comply with these Terms and our Privacy Policy
- Enforce community guidelines fairly and consistently
- Respond to user reports and complaints
- Respect user privacy and data protection rights
- Maintain accurate records of moderation actions
7.3 Platform Oversight
While tenant administrators manage their communities, My Digital Sovereignty Community reserves the right to:
- Intervene in cases of Terms violations
- Remove content that violates laws or these Terms
- Suspend or terminate tenant communities that violate these Terms
- Access tenant data for security, legal, or technical support purposes (as described in our Privacy Policy)
8. Content Moderation
8.1 Automated Moderation
We use automated systems to detect and prevent prohibited content, including:
- Spam detection and filtering
- CSAM detection (PhotoDNA, hash matching)
- Malware and virus scanning
8.2 User Reporting
Users can report content or behavior that violates these Terms. Reports are:
- Reviewed by community administrators first
- Escalated to Platform staff for serious violations
- Handled confidentially to protect reporter privacy
8.3 Enforcement Actions
Depending on the severity and frequency of violations, we may:
- Warning: First-time minor violations
- Content Removal: Delete violating content
- Temporary Suspension: 7-30 day account suspension
- Permanent Ban: Account termination with no reinstatement
- Legal Action: Report to law enforcement for illegal activities
8.4 Appeals
If you believe a moderation action was taken in error, you may appeal by:
- Emailing appeals@mysovereignty.digital within 14 days
- Providing your account details and explanation
- Awaiting review by an independent moderator (response within 7 business days)
9. Data Ownership and Export
9.1 User Data Ownership
As stated in our Privacy Policy, you own all content you create. We are merely custodians providing infrastructure.
9.2 Community Data Ownership
Community data (collective content created by all members) is owned by the community, managed by tenant administrators.
9.3 Data Export Rights
You have the right to export your data at any time:
- Personal Export: Your individual content in JSON format
- Community Export: Tenant administrators can export all community data
- File Downloads: All uploaded files in original formats
- Timeline: Exports provided within 30 days of request
9.4 Data Deletion
You have the right to delete your account and data at any time:
- Soft deletion: Recoverable for 30 days
- Permanent deletion: After 30 days, data is irrecoverably deleted
- Backup retention: Data removed from backups within 7 days
10. Service Availability
10.1 No Uptime Guarantee
We strive for 99.9% uptime but do not guarantee uninterrupted service. The Platform may be unavailable due to:
- Scheduled maintenance (announced 48 hours in advance)
- Emergency security updates
- Hardware failures or technical issues
- Force majeure events (natural disasters, cyberattacks, etc.)
10.2 Maintenance Windows
Scheduled maintenance typically occurs during low-traffic periods (2-4 AM UTC) and lasts no more than 2 hours.
10.3 Service Modifications
We reserve the right to:
- Add, modify, or remove features
- Update the Platform's design or functionality
- Change pricing or subscription plans (with 30 days notice)
10.4 Discontinuation of Service
If we decide to discontinue the Platform, we will:
- Provide at least 90 days notice
- Assist with data export and migration
- Provide refunds for unused subscription periods
10.5 Storage Quota Policy
Your subscription plan includes a storage quota for all tenant-generated data. This quota covers:
- Files and Documents: Uploaded files, shared documents, and file attachments
- Media Content: Photos, videos, and processed media files (including thumbnails)
- Database Storage: Stories, comments, user profiles, chat messages, and notifications
- System Backups: Incremental backups of your data for disaster recovery
Excluded from Quota: System logs, database indexes, and platform infrastructure overhead are not counted against your storage limit.
Storage Limits by Plan:
- Passport (Free): 500 MB
- Community Basic: 5 GB
- Organization/Club: 10 GB
- Nonprofit: 20 GB
Quota Enforcement: When your storage reaches 95% of quota, uploads will be blocked until you upgrade your plan or delete content. You will receive notifications at 60%, 80%, and 95% capacity.
Monitoring: You can view your current storage usage and breakdown on your dashboard. Storage usage is calculated from:
- File storage via Nextcloud integration
- Media files stored in MongoDB GridFS
- Database collections containing your tenant's data
Overage Policy: If you exceed your quota, you will have 14 days to either upgrade your plan or reduce storage usage before access to upload features is restricted.
11. Termination
11.1 Termination by User
You may terminate your account at any time by:
11.2 Termination by Platform
We may suspend or terminate your account immediately if:
- You violate these Terms
- You engage in illegal activities
- Your account is involved in security incidents
- You fail to pay subscription fees (if applicable)
- You attempt to circumvent access controls or security measures
11.3 Effect of Termination
Upon termination:
- Your access to the Platform is immediately revoked
- Your content may be retained for up to 30 days (soft deletion) or deleted immediately (hard deletion)
- You may request a data export within 30 days of termination
- No refunds are provided for voluntary terminations
11.4 Survival
The following provisions survive termination: Intellectual Property, Limitation of Liability, Dispute Resolution, and any provisions that by their nature should survive.
12. Limitation of Liability
12.1 Disclaimer of Warranties
THE PLATFORM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
- Warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement
- Warranties that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure
- Warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of content
12.2 Limitation of Damages
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, MY DIGITAL SOVEREIGNTY LTD SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR:
- Indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages
- Loss of profits, revenue, data, or business opportunities
- Damages resulting from use or inability to use the Platform
- Damages from unauthorized access to your account or data
- Damages from errors, viruses, or other harmful components
Maximum Liability: Our total liability for any claims arising from these Terms or use of the Platform shall not exceed the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim, or $100 USD, whichever is greater.
12.3 User Responsibility
You are solely responsible for:
- Your use of the Platform and User Content
- Interactions with other users
- Compliance with applicable laws
- Backing up important data
12.4 Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless My Digital Sovereignty Ltd, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including legal fees) arising from:
- Your violation of these Terms
- Your violation of any law or third-party rights
- Your User Content
- Your use of the Platform
13. Dispute Resolution
13.1 Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand, without regard to conflict of law principles.
13.2 Informal Resolution
Before filing a formal dispute, you agree to contact us at legal@mysovereignty.digital to seek informal resolution. We will attempt to resolve disputes within 30 days.
13.3 Arbitration
If informal resolution fails, disputes shall be resolved through binding arbitration in Wellington, New Zealand, under the Arbitration Act 1996.
13.4 Class Action Waiver
You agree to resolve disputes on an individual basis only. You waive any right to participate in class actions, class arbitrations, or representative proceedings.
13.5 Exceptions
Either party may seek injunctive relief or enforcement of intellectual property rights in any court of competent jurisdiction.
14. Changes to Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make changes:
- We will update the "Last Updated" date
- We will notify you via email for material changes
- We will display a notice on the Platform for 30 days
- Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance
If you do not agree to updated Terms, you must stop using the Platform and may delete your account.
By using My Digital Sovereignty Community, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms of Service.