Terms of Service

By accessing or using The Human Network ("the Platform"), operated by Alexander McIndoe ("we," "us," "our"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.

You must be at least 18 years old to use The Human Network. By creating an account, you represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years of age. If we learn that a user is under 18, we will terminate their account immediately.

The Human Network is currently invite-only. You must have a valid invite code from an existing member to create an account. Invite codes are limited, non-transferable once claimed, and expire if not used within 24 hours. We reserve the right to revoke invite access at any time.

• You must authenticate via a supported sign-in provider (Google or Apple) and may register a WebAuthn passkey for biometric verification.
• You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and devices.
• You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.
• You must not impersonate another person or create intentionally misleading accounts.
• One person, one account. Automated accounts, bots, and scripts are not permitted.
• You must choose a handle that does not infringe on trademarks or the rights of others.

You retain ownership of the content you create on The Human Network. By posting content, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to display, distribute, store, and reproduce your content solely as necessary to operate and improve the Platform. This licence ends when you delete your content or your account, except for content that has been shared or reposted by others.

You agree not to post content that:

• Is illegal under United States federal or Washington State law.
• Is threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, or constitutes bullying.
• Contains sexually explicit material or exploits minors in any way.
• Infringes on the intellectual property rights of others.
• Contains spam, malware, phishing links, or deceptive content.
• Is generated entirely by AI and presented as human-authored without clear disclosure.
• Promotes violence, self-harm, or dangerous activities.
• Violates the privacy of others (e.g., posting someone's personal information without consent).

Certain actions on the Platform (posting, messaging, reporting, deleting content) require biometric verification via WebAuthn (FaceID, TouchID, or device PIN). By using these features, you acknowledge that:

• Biometric data is processed entirely on your device and is never transmitted to our servers.
• We store only cryptographic public keys, not biometric data.
• You may revoke your passkey at any time through your device settings.

Direct messages are private between participants. Messages are automatically deleted from our active database after 30 days. Archived copies are retained for up to 1 year for safety and compliance purposes, then permanently purged. You control who can message you through your DM policy settings.

The Human Network is built on authentic human connection. To protect the community:

• Users may report content they believe violates these terms.
• Users may flag content they believe is AI-generated.
• Posts receiving multiple reports may be flagged for review.
• Users may block other users to prevent interactions.
• We reserve the right to suspend or ban accounts that violate these terms, with or without notice.
• Bans may be temporary or permanent, applied at the account or email level.
• Platform administrators may review your publicly visible activity (posts, likes, follows, reposts) to investigate potential violations. Private messages and browsing behaviour are never accessed by administrators.
• All moderation actions are recorded in a permanent audit log. Removed content is preserved internally for appeals and legal compliance but hidden from public view.

To ensure platform stability and prevent abuse, we enforce rate limits on actions including posting, messaging, reporting, media uploads, and account changes. Exceeding these limits will result in temporary throttling. Systematic attempts to circumvent rate limits may result in account suspension.

You may upload images and videos to the Platform subject to the following constraints:

You must own or have the right to use any media you upload. We reserve the right to remove media that violates these terms.

Your feed is personalised based on who you follow, which topics you subscribe to, your engagement patterns (likes and replies), and content-type preferences. Posts are ranked using time-decay scoring and engagement signals. Content flagged as AI-generated receives a small ranking penalty. We do not use external behavioural data or third-party profiles for personalisation.

We collect anonymous, aggregated analytics (such as page views and feature usage counts) that cannot be linked to any individual user, as well as limited authenticated analytics as described in our Privacy Policy. We do not use third-party analytics services, advertising pixels, or tracking cookies.

We respect intellectual property rights. If you believe content on The Human Network infringes your copyright, you may submit a takedown notice to legal@thehumannetwork.social containing:

1. A description of the copyrighted work you claim is being infringed.
2. A description of where the infringing material is located on the Platform (e.g., a URL or post ID).
3. Your contact information (name, address, email, phone number).
4. A statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorised by the copyright owner.
5. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorised to act on their behalf.
6. Your physical or electronic signature.

We will respond to valid DMCA notices by removing or disabling access to the allegedly infringing content. Repeat infringers will have their accounts terminated.

The Human Network name, logo, design, and underlying software are the property of Alexander McIndoe. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works of any part of the Platform without prior written permission.

Self-service account deletion is coming soon. In the meantime, you may request account deletion by emailing legal@thehumannetwork.social. Upon deletion, your personal data will be removed within 30 days in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Alexander McIndoe and The Human Network shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits, data, or goodwill, arising out of or in connection with your use of the Platform, whether based on warranty, contract, tort (including negligence), or any other legal theory, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Our total aggregate liability for any claims arising from your use of the Platform shall not exceed the amount you have paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim, or $100 USD, whichever is greater.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Alexander McIndoe and The Human Network from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from: (a) your use of the Platform; (b) content you post; (c) your violation of these terms; or (d) your violation of any rights of another.

Please read this section carefully — it affects your legal rights.

You and Alexander McIndoe agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these terms or the Platform shall be resolved through binding individual arbitration, rather than in court, except that either party may bring claims in small claims court if eligible.

• Arbitration will be conducted by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules.
• Arbitration will take place in Washington State, or remotely at your election.
• Class action waiver: you agree to resolve disputes only on an individual basis. You waive any right to participate in a class action, class arbitration, or representative proceeding.
• The arbitrator's decision will be final and binding, and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.

These terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Washington, United States, without regard to conflict of law principles.

If any provision of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

We may update these terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by posting a prominent notice on the Platform. Your continued use of The Human Network after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated terms. If you do not agree to the updated terms, you must stop using the Platform.

Questions about these terms? Contact us at legal@thehumannetwork.social.

The Human Network uses the following open datasets to power school and location autocomplete in user profiles:

• IPEDS — Institutional characteristics for US colleges and universities, published by the National Center for Education Statistics. Public domain (US Department of Education).
• GeoNames — US city names and populations from the GeoNames geographical database, licensed under CC BY 4.0. We filter and transform the dataset but have not modified individual records.