Terms of Service

Summary in plain language. Membership is a license to use CivicVault for legitimate public-interest work, not a transfer of rights.

1 · Membership

CivicVault is restricted to verified members: journalists, independent reporters, human rights defenders, activists, researchers, and eligible professionals. You agree your application information is truthful; impersonation is grounds for permanent removal.

2 · Acceptable use

• Do: journalism, human-rights work, research, lawful civic coordination, professional collaboration.
• Don't: threats, doxxing or stalking, harassment, spam or phishing, malware distribution, illegal activity, or trade in personal data.
• CivicVault may restrict accounts that violate these rules, with human review for consequential decisions and a documented appeal process.

3 · Your content and your keys

You keep ownership of your content. For end-to-end protected communications, keys live on your devices: you are responsible for safeguarding them. Lost device credentials may mean content cannot be recovered — that is the price of the design, not a defect.

4 · Service reality

• CivicVault works to protect confidentiality and availability but does not guarantee uninterrupted service.
• CivicVault does not guarantee absolute security or anonymity; see Security Principles.
• Disappearing messages reduce traces on CivicVault systems but cannot prevent screenshots, copying, or capture by a recipient.
• You use CivicVault within applicable law; CivicVault is subject to lawful jurisdiction (see Government Data Requests).

5 · Termination

You may close your account at any time. CivicVault may suspend or remove accounts for policy violations, legal requirements, or after human review of abuse reports, with notice where safe.

6 · Changes

Material changes to these terms will be announced in-product with reasonable notice in advance.