Last updated: 2nd May 2016
Please read these Terms of Service carefully. By registering for an account or by accessing or using the services, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service and all Terms incorporated by reference. If you do not agree to all of these terms, do not access or use the CrowdGuard Services.
These Terms of Service (“Terms”) apply to your access to and use of any website, mobile application or other offline, online or mobile product or service (collectively, the “Services”) of CrowdGuard International Association and it’s national and regional chapters (“CrowdGuard,” “we” or “us”). If you are using the Services on behalf of any entity, you represent and warrant that you are authorised to accept these Terms on such entity’s behalf and that such entity will be responsible for your violation of these Terms. Failure to use our Services in accordance with these Terms may result in, among other things, termination or suspension of your rights to use the Services and may subject you to legal action by CrowdGuard and/or severe civil and/or criminal penalties.
We reserve the right to make changes or modifications to these Terms, or any policy or rule of our Services, at any time and in our sole discretion. If CrowdGuard makes changes to these Terms, we will provide notice of such changes, including by revising the date at the top of these Terms. Your continued use of our Services following the posting of changes or modifications will constitute your acceptance of such changes or modifications. Accordingly, you should frequently review these Terms and applicable policies and guidelines to understand the terms and conditions that apply to your use of the Services.
Please refer to our Privacy Policy for information about how CrowdGuard collects, uses and discloses information about our users. In addition, by accessing or using our Services, you agree to adhere to the Community Rules.
Please contact us with any questions regarding these Terms. You can contact us by mail at CrowdGuard International Association, Viaduktstrasse 93-95, 8005 Zürich, Switzerland, or by email at policies [at] crowdguard.org.
1. ELIGIBILITY, REGISTRATION AND ACCOUNT
In order to access certain areas and features of our Services, you will need to register for an account using either your email address or your login credentials from a third-party social media site. If you register with your email address, you agree to create a unique password that you do not use with any other online product or service. By registering for an account, you further agree to (a) provide accurate, truthful, current and complete information; (b) maintain and promptly update your account information upon any changes; (c) maintain the security of your account by protecting your password and restricting access to your account; (d) promptly notify CrowdGuard if you discover or otherwise suspect any security breaches related to the Services; and (e) take responsibility for all activities that occur under your account and accept all risks of any authorised or unauthorised access.
2. THIRD PARTY TERMS
CrowdGuard may offer the opportunity to purchase products and services from third parties. You acknowledge that such products and services are offered and sold to you by one or more third parties. For more information, please refer to the applicable third party’s terms of sale and privacy policy.
3. INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER USERS
3.1 You Have Sole Responsibility When Interacting with Other Users. Our Services provide a platform for users to learn and connect with one another to request and provide help in emergencies. CrowdGuard is not a party to, has no involvement or interest in, makes no representations or warranties as to, and has no responsibility or liability with respect to any communications, transactions, interactions, disputes or any relations whatsoever between you and any other users, person, community or organisation. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users of our Services. We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to monitor interactions between you and other users of our Services.
Remember, the CrowdGuard Services are just a platform that enable you to communicate and interact with other people. We are not a security service provider, nor do we provide emergency services, help services or any of this kind. We do not guarantee by any means that help is provided as this it fully dependent on the willingness of the users, and might be further affected by technical issues. CrowdGuard users – asking for help and/or confirming to help – are acting upon individual capacity, are fully responsible for rendered or not rendered acts of help irrespective of the outcome, and are solely responsible for taking out any insurance as required by law or deemed necessary or purposeful. You are aware that CrowdGuard users are not selected by any professional qualification, and thus no such standards ought or should be applied. We cannot be responsible for the interactions that you have with other users, so please use good judgment and keep safety in mind when you use our Services.
3.2 Identity Verification. We cannot and do not confirm each user’s identity. Although we provide tools intended to assist with identity verification, such as our vetting process, community affiliation and mobile device verification (as described in Section 3.3), you are solely responsible for determining the identity and suitability of others with whom you may interact through our Services. CrowdGuard does not represent or warrant that our tools are sufficient to determine whether it is appropriate for you to interact with another user. Further, we do not endorse any persons or communities who use or register for our Services. We do not necessarily investigate or verify any user’s reputation, conduct, morality, criminal background, or any information users may submit to the Services. We encourage you to take precautions when interacting with other users.
3.3 Our Verification Tools. Our verification tools are intended merely to confirm that another user acknowledges you or that a mobile device corresponds to information given at registration. While this is one of many ways to reduce the risk of misconduct by a user, it is not a guarantee of any user’s identity or good faith.
3.4 Release. Because our Services are merely a platform, in the event that you have a dispute with one or more users, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law you release us (and our officers, directors, members, employees, agents, affiliates and ambassadors) from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes.
4. USER CONDUCT AND CONTENT
The Services include interactive areas where you or other users can create, post or store content, messages, materials, data, information, text, music, sound, photos, videos, graphics or other items or materials on the Services (collectively, “User Content”). You are solely responsible for your use of such interactive areas and agree that your use of these areas is at your own risk.
4.1 User Content Restrictions. You are solely responsible for any User Content that you submit, post or transmit via our Services. You agree not to post, upload to, transmit, distribute, store, create or otherwise publish through the Services, User Content that we believe, in our sole discretion:
(a) is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, harassing, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, or that would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national or international law;
(b) contains sexually explicit content or is otherwise obscene, indecent, lewd, suggestive or sexually exploitative of minors;
(c) may disparage any ethnic, racial, sexual or religious group by stereotypical depiction or is otherwise abusive or inflammatory;
(d) depicts the use of illicit drugs;
(e) contains offensive language or images or is otherwise objectionable;
(f) incites violence or characterises violence as acceptable, glamorous or desirable;
(g) contains unsolicited promotions, political campaigning, advertising or solicitations, without our prior written consent;
(h) contains private or personal information about another person, unless its part of the CrowdGuard assistance, flagging, reporting, testimony or vetting processes, or such person has agreed to the disclosure of this information;
(i) contains viruses, corrupted data or other harmful, disruptive or destructive file viruses, cancel bots, Trojan horses, harmful code, flood pings, denial-of-service attacks, packet or IP spoofing, manipulation of geographical location, forged routing or electronic mail address information or similar methods or technology;
(j) may infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party. By posting User Content, you represent and warrant that you have the lawful right to distribute and reproduce such User Content; or
(k) would constitute, encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offence or violate the rights of any third party. CrowdGuard is not responsible for any User Content that you or other users post, transmit or store through the Services. We have no obligation to post User Content from you or anyone else and we may, in our sole discretion, edit, remove or delete any User Content without notice. If you become aware of User Content that violates these Terms, you may notify of us such content by using the reporting tools provided on our Services. Enforcement of these Terms, however, is solely in our discretion and the absence of enforcement in some instances does not waive of our right to enforce the Terms in other instances. In addition, these Terms do not create a private right of action on the part of any third party or any reasonable expectation that the Services will not contain any content that is prohibited by such rules.
4.2 User Conduct. By accessing or using the Services, you agree to act responsibly, exercise good judgment and comply with the Community Rules. In addition, you agree not to:
(a) use the Services in violation of any applicable law or regulation, including promoting or encouraging any illegal activity;
(b) infringe the rights of any third party, including without limitation, intellectual property, privacy, publicity or contractual rights;
(c) use the Services in any manner that could interfere with, disrupt, negatively affect or inhibit other users from fully enjoying the Services or that could damage, disable, overburden or impair the functioning of the Services in any manner;
(d) use our Services in connection with the distribution of spam (which we define as unsolicited bulk e-mail or any other unsolicited messages of a commercial, religious, romantic, political or other nature not within the intended purposes of the Services);
(e) stalk, intimidate, threaten, bully or otherwise harass or cause discomfort to any other user of our Services;
(f) collect or store any information about any other users other than as explicitly permitted on our Services;
(g) use our Services for any commercial purpose whatsoever, unless with prior written consent from CrowdGuard;
(h) register for more than one user account;
(i) impersonate any person or entity, or falsify or otherwise misrepresent yourself or your affiliation with any person or entity, whether by providing or omitting to provide information;
(j) circumvent or attempt to defeat any security or verification measure relating to use of the Services;
(k) assist any third party in doing any of the foregoing.
4.3 User Content License. You own all of the User Content that you post to our Services. If you post User Content to our Services, you hereby grant us a perpetual (i.e. lasting forever), worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free and fully sublicensable (i.e. we can grant this right to others) license to use, reproduce, display, perform, adapt, modify, create derivative works from, distribute, have distributed and promote such User Content in any form, in all media now known or hereinafter created (including in emails or other communications to our users) to administer, operate, develop and otherwise provide the CrowdGuard Services. You represent and warrant that (a) you own and control all of the rights to the User Content that you post or you otherwise have the right to post such User Content to the Services; (b) the User Content is accurate and not misleading; and (c) the use and posting of the User Content you supply does not violate these Terms and will not violate any rights of or cause injury to any person or entity. If User Content contains information about you, our Privacy Policy will apply, and we encourage you to review this policy for information about how we can use and share such information.
5. SUBMISSIONS
Separate and apart from User Content, we welcome questions, comments, suggestions and ideas about CrowdGuard and our Services (“Submissions”). If you provide a Submission, whether by email or otherwise, you agree that it is non-confidential (unless CrowdGuard states otherwise in writing) and shall become the sole property of CrowdGuard. CrowdGuard shall own exclusive rights, including all intellectual property rights, and shall be entitled to the unrestricted use and dissemination of Submissions for any purpose, commercial or otherwise. You acknowledge that CrowdGuard is not obligated to provide acknowledgment or compensation to you in exchange for Submissions.
6. COPYRIGHT AND LIMITED LICENSE
Unless otherwise indicated, the Services and all content and other materials on the Services, including, without limitation, the CrowdGuard logo, and all designs, text, graphics, pictures, videos, information, data, software, sound files and other files, and the selection and arrangement thereof, (collectively, the “CrowdGuard Materials”) are the proprietary property of CrowdGuard or our licensors or users and are protected by Swiss and international copyright laws.
You are granted a limited, non-exclusive and non-sublicensable license to access and use the Services and CrowdGuard Materials; however, such license is subject to these Terms and does not include: (a) any resale or commercial use of the Services or the CrowdGuard Materials; (b) the distribution, public performance or public display of any CrowdGuard Materials; (c) modifying or otherwise making any derivative uses of the Services and the CrowdGuard Materials, or any portion thereof, unless modification or derivative use is specifically permitted under applicable law or provided for under separate terms; (d) use of any data mining, robots or similar data gathering or extraction methods; (e) downloading (other than the page caching) of any portion of the Services, the CrowdGuard Materials or any information contained therein, except as expressly permitted on the Services; or (f) any use of the Services or the CrowdGuard Materials other than for their intended purposes. Any use of the Services or the CrowdGuard Materials other than as specifically authorised herein, without the prior written permission of CrowdGuard, is strictly prohibited and will terminate the license granted herein. Such unauthorised use may also violate applicable laws, including without limitation copyright and trademark laws. Unless explicitly stated herein, nothing in these Terms shall be construed as conferring any license to intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication or otherwise. This license is revocable at any time.
7. REPEAT INFRINGER POLICY
CrowdGuard has adopted a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances and in CrowdGuard’s sole discretion, users who are deemed to be repeat infringers. CrowdGuard may also, in our sole discretion, limit access to the Services and/or terminate the accounts of any users who we believe may infringe any intellectual property rights of others, whether or not there is any repeat infringement.
8. COPYRIGHT COMPLAINTS
If you believe that anything on the Services infringes upon any copyright which you own or control, you may file a notification of such infringement with CrowdGuard International Association, Viaduktstrasse 93-95, 8005 Zürich, Switzerland, or by email to copyright [at] crowdguard.org.
Please note that if you knowingly misrepresent in your notification that the material or activity is infringing, you will be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees, incurred by us or the alleged infringer as the result of our relying upon such misrepresentation in removing or disabling access to the material or activity claimed to be infringing.
9. TRADEMARKS
“CrowdGuard” and “Crowdguard” are registered trademarks and wordmarks of CrowdGuard and may not be copied, imitated or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of CrowdGuard or the applicable trademark holder. You may not use any metatags or any other “hidden text” utilising “CrowdGuard” or any other name, trademark or product or service name of CrowdGuard without our prior written permission. In addition, the look and feel of the Services, including all CrowdGuard logos, any other CrowdGuard service name or slogan contained in the Services, page headers, custom graphics, button icons and scripts, are the service mark, trademark and/or trade dress of CrowdGuard and may not be copied, imitated or used, in whole or in part, without our prior written permission. All other trademarks, registered trademarks and wordmarks, product names and names or logos mentioned in the Services are the property of their respective owners. Reference to any products, services, processes or other information, by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, supplier or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof by us. Any authorised use of these trademarks and wordmarks must be in accordance with guidelines that CrowdGuard may provide you from time to time.
10. HYPERLINKS
You are granted a limited, non-exclusive right to create a text hyperlink to the Services, provided such link does not portray CrowdGuard or any of our services in a false, misleading, derogatory or otherwise defamatory manner and provided further that the linking site does not contain any illegal material or any material that is offensive, harassing or otherwise objectionable. This limited right may be revoked at any time. You may not use a CrowdGuard logo or other proprietary graphic of CrowdGuard to link to the Services without the express written permission of CrowdGuard. Further, you may not use, frame or utilise framing techniques to enclose any CrowdGuard trademark, logo or other proprietary information, including the images found on the Services, the content of any text or the layout/design of any page or form contained on a page of the Services without CrowdGuard’s express written consent. Except as noted above, you are not conveyed any right or license by implication, estoppel or otherwise in or under any patent, trademark, copyright or other proprietary right of CrowdGuard or any third party.
11. THIRD-PARTY CONTENT
In using our Services, you may be exposed to content from other users, affiliated communities or third parties (“Third-Party Content”), either on our Services or through links to third-party websites. We do not control, endorse or adopt any Third-Party Content and shall have no responsibility for Third-Party Content, including without limitation material that may be misleading, incomplete, erroneous, offensive, indecent or otherwise objectionable. You must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, Third-Party Content, including without limitation, profiles of other users of our Services. We incorporate Google Maps into the Services as a convenience to you. By using this feature of the Services, you agree to be bound by Google’s Terms of Use.
12. TERMINATION
If you are in breach of these Terms, or any other policies or community standards we have in place from time to time, we may, in our discretion at any time: (a) terminate your access to our Services, (b) deactivate or delete your account and all related information and files in such account and/or (c) bar your access to any of such files or Services. In any of these instances, you are not permitted to register for another CrowdGuard account without our prior written permission.
In rare circumstances, when we feel it is necessary to protect the safety or the well being of the CrowdGuard community, we will remove a user’s account from our Services. We don’t take this decision lightly, but it is sometimes required.
13. DISCONTINUANCE OF SERVICES
We may, in our discretion and without liability to you, with or without prior notice and at any time, modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, any portion of our Services.
14. USER’S REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
14.1. You hereby represent and warrant that you have the full power and authority to enter into and perform under these Terms. If you are using our Services on behalf of any entity, you represent and warrant that you are authorised to accept these Terms on such entity’s behalf.
14.2. You hereby represent and warrant that you will use our Services in a manner consistent with any and all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations.
14.3. You hereby represent and warrant that you will not use the Services if the laws of your country prohibit you from doing so in accordance with these Terms (for example, if you are not allowed to provide the types of personal information that we require or if you are prohibited from participating in certain Internet activity). By using the Services, you represent and warrant that such use will not violate, or cause us to violate, the laws of your country.
15. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
15.1. If you use our services, you do so at your sole risk. Our services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we expressly disclaim, and you waive, all other warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including, without limitation, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement as to the services, including the information, content and materials contained therein.
15.2. We do not represent or warrant that (a) our services will meet your requirements; (b) our services will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; (c) any information that you may obtain through our services will be accurate or reliable; (d) the quality of any products, services, information or other material purchased or obtained by you through our services will meet your expectations; (e) any information you provide or we collect will not be disclosed to third parties; or (f) any errors in any data or software will be corrected.
15.3. If you access or transmit any content through the use of our services, you do so at your own discretion and your sole risk. You are solely responsible for any loss or damage arising out of such access or transmission; therefore, you should use industry-recognised software to detect and disinfect viruses from any download.
15.4. No data, information or advice obtained by you in oral or written form from us or through or from our services will create any warranty not expressly stated in these terms.
16. LIMITS ON LIABILITY
16.1. Subject to applicable law, in no event shall CrowdGuard, or our users, officers, directors, members, employees, agents, affiliates or ambassadors be liable for any special, indirect or consequential damages, including, but not limited to loss of health or loss of life, or to loss of use, loss of profits or loss of data, whether in an action in contract, tort (including but not limited to negligence) or otherwise, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages, arising from or relating to: (a) the use or inability to use our services; (b) the cost of replacement of any goods, services or information purchased or obtained as a result of any information obtained from or transactions entered into through or from our services; (c) disclosure of, unauthorised access to or alteration of your content; (d) damages for loss or corruption of data or programs, service interruptions or procurement of substitute services, even if we know or have been advised of the possibility of such damages; (e) statements, conduct or omissions of any service providers or other third party on our services; (f) your or anyone else’s conduct or acts in connection with the use of the services; or (g) any other matter arising from, relating to or connected with our services or these terms.
16.2. We shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performing under these terms, whether or not such failure or delay is due to causes beyond our reasonable control.
16.3. In no event will our aggregate liability to you or any third party in any matter arising from or relating to our services or these terms exceed the sum of one hundred Swiss Francs (100 CHF).
16.4. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages. If you are a resident of such a jurisdiction or fall under its jurisdiction, you shall not use CrowdGuard.
17. INDEMNITY
You shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless CrowdGuard (and each of our users, officers, directors, members, employees, agents, affiliates and ambassadors) from any claim, demand, action, damage, loss, cost or expense, including without limitation reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of or relating to (a) your use of our Services; (b) any User Content or Submissions you provide; (c) your violation of these Terms; (d) your violation of any rights of another; or (e) your conduct in connection with the Services. Further, if you are using the Services on behalf of any community or entity, you represent and warrant that such community or entity agrees to indemnify you and CrowdGuard for violations of these Terms in accordance with this Section. If you are obligated to indemnify us, we will have the right, in our sole and unfettered discretion, to control any action or proceeding and determine whether we wish to settle it, and if so, on what terms.
18. REPORTING MISCONDUCT
If you interact with anyone through our Services who you feel is acting or has acted inappropriately, including but not limited to offensive, violent or sexually inappropriate behaviour, who steals from you or engages in any other disturbing conduct, we strongly encourage you to immediately report such person to the appropriate authorities and to us by flagging, reporting or appropriate vetting of the respective user or contacting us using the CrowdGuard Help Center. Please note that although we encourage you to report misconduct, we are not responsible or liable for our users’ actions, and we are not obligated to take any action.
19. DISPUTES
Please read the following paragraph carefully because it requires you to arbitrate disputes with CrowdGuard and it limits the manner in which you can seek relief. You and CrowdGuard agree to arbitrate any dispute arising from these Terms or relating to the Services, except that you and CrowdGuard are not required to arbitrate any dispute in which either party seeks equitable or other relief for the alleged unlawful use of copyrights, trademarks, trade names, logos, trade secrets or patents. Subject to any rights you may have under applicable law, arbitration prevents you from suing in court or from having a jury trial. You and CrowdGuard agree that you will notify each other of any dispute within thirty (30) days of when it arises, that you will attempt informal resolution prior to any demand for arbitration, that any arbitration will occur in Zurich, Switzerland and that arbitration will be conducted confidentially by the Swiss Chambers’ Court of Arbitration and Mediation in accordance with the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration. You and CrowdGuard also agree that the state or federal courts in Switzerland have exclusive jurisdiction over any appeals of an arbitration award and over any suit between the parties not subject to arbitration. Other than class procedures and remedies discussed below, the arbitrator has the authority to grant any remedy that would otherwise be available in court. Whether the dispute is heard in arbitration or in court, you and CrowdGuard will not commence against the other a class action, class arbitration or other representative action or proceeding.
20. MISCELLANEOUS
20.1 Assignment. You may not assign any of your rights or obligations under these Terms without prior written consent from CrowdGuard. CrowdGuard may assign any or all of its rights under these Terms, in whole or in part, without obtaining your consent or approval.
20.2 Entire Agreement. These Terms contain the entire agreement, and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, between the parties regarding their subject matter.
20.3 Waiver. Our failure or delay in exercising any right, power or privilege under these Terms shall not operate as a waiver thereof.
20.4 Severability. The invalidity or unenforceability of any of these Terms shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other of these Terms, all of which shall remain in full force and effect.
20.5 Headings. Headings of sections are for convenience only and shall not be used to limit or construe such sections.
20.6 Survival. Sections 3.1 (You Have Sole Responsibility When Interacting with Other Users, 3.4 (Release), 4 (User Conduct and Content), 5 (Submissions), 9 (Trademarks), 11 (Third-Party Content), 14 (User’s Representations and Warranties), 15 (Disclaimer of Warranties), 16 (Limits on Liability), 17 (Indemnity), 19 (Disputes), and this Section 20 (Miscellaneous) shall survive any termination or expiration of these Terms.