Read this first. This document is a contract between you and UsChat. It limits what we promise about the service, caps our liability, and (for users in jurisdictions where this is permitted) requires that most disputes be resolved through individual arbitration rather than in court or as part of a class action. If any of that is not acceptable to you, please do not use UsChat.
These Terms govern your use of UsChat — including our website, our mobile and desktop applications, our messaging and file-sharing features, any self-hosted deployment tools we provide, and any related products (collectively, the Service). By creating an account or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy.
If you are using UsChat on behalf of an organization, you confirm that you have authority to bind that organization, and "you" in these Terms refers both to you personally and to that organization.
UsChat is operated by [Legal entity name, jurisdiction of incorporation] (referred to as "UsChat," "we," "us," or "our"). Our goal is straightforward: give people a place to communicate that respects their privacy. We do not run advertising on the Service, and we do not sell user data. [Describe your revenue model — paid plans, enterprise licensing, self-hosted deployment licenses, etc.]
You must be at least [13 / 16 / 18] years old to use UsChat, and old enough to give valid consent to the processing of personal data under the laws of the country where you live. If a parent or guardian is permitted by local law to consent on your behalf, that adult is responsible for your use of the Service.
We may suspend or close any account that we believe belongs to someone below the eligible age.
When you create an account, you are responsible for:
Because UsChat is end-to-end encrypted, we cannot recover lost accounts or lost content for you. If you lose access to all of your devices and your recovery material, the data tied to that account is gone for good. We strongly recommend signing in on more than one device and keeping a written copy of your recovery key somewhere physically secure.
You must notify us promptly at security@uschat.com if you suspect your account has been compromised.
You own what you create. Anything you upload, send, or store through UsChat — messages, files, images, voice notes, profile content — remains yours.
You grant UsChat a limited, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, copy, transmit, display, and process your content only as needed to operate, maintain, secure, and improve the Service, and to develop new features. This license is not a backdoor: end-to-end encrypted content remains unreadable to us, and the license does not give us the ability to access encrypted content or to use it for advertising, training, or resale.
The license ends when you delete the content or your account, except where we are required to retain backups or logs for a limited period for security or legal reasons.
You are responsible for your content. You confirm that you have the rights to anything you share through the Service and that doing so does not violate any law or anyone else's rights.
You agree not to:
We may suspend, restrict, or terminate accounts that we reasonably believe are violating these rules, are under investigation, or are putting other users or the Service at risk.
A great deal of what you encounter on UsChat is created and shared by other users. They — not UsChat — are responsible for that content.
We are not obligated to monitor or pre-screen user content, and in most cases we cannot, because content is end-to-end encrypted. For unencrypted content (such as content in clearly marked public areas, if any), we may, but are not required to, review and remove material that we reasonably believe is unlawful or violates these Terms or our policies.
If you operate UsChat on your own infrastructure under a self-hosting license, you are the operator of that deployment. You are responsible for hosting, security, backups, user management, and compliance with applicable law on that instance, and you indemnify us for claims arising out of how you run it. These Terms continue to govern any use you make of our hosted services, software updates, or downloadable clients.
Some account information may be cryptographically committed to a public log or similar structure that is, by design, append-only. Once published, those entries cannot be deleted or rewritten — they can only be revoked by appending a new entry that supersedes them. This is a security feature: it prevents anyone (including us) from quietly altering history. Be deliberate about what you publish.
[Adjust or remove this section if UsChat does not actually use a public, append-only mechanism. Do not leave language describing functionality you do not have.]
UsChat and its licensors own all rights in the Service that are not expressly granted to you. Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of any of our software, branding, designs, or documentation.
Some components of UsChat are released under open source licenses; those components are governed by the terms of the relevant license, which take precedence over these Terms to the extent they conflict. A list of open source components and their licenses is available at [link].
You may not use the UsChat name or logo without our written permission.
We respond to credible notices of copyright infringement and will, where appropriate, remove material and terminate accounts of repeat infringers. If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, you can submit a notice following the procedure at [link]. If you receive a takedown that you believe is mistaken, you can file a counter-notice through the same page.
We may send you messages related to the Service — security alerts, billing notices, scheduled-maintenance announcements, important policy updates. These are part of the Service and you cannot opt out of them while you have an active account. Other messages, such as product news, are optional and you can turn them off in your settings.
We are continually improving UsChat. We may add, change, or retire features, and some software components may update automatically on your devices. If we discontinue a feature you depend on, we will give reasonable advance notice and, where practical, a way to export your data, except in cases where doing so is not possible (for example, urgent security action).
You may stop using UsChat at any time. You can also delete your account from inside the app, which removes your account and the content tied to it on a rolling basis (some encrypted backups and logs may persist briefly).
We may suspend or terminate your access if you breach these Terms, if your account is involved in suspected misconduct, if continuing to provide service would expose us to legal risk, or if we discontinue the Service. Sections of these Terms that by their nature are meant to survive termination — including ownership, disclaimers, liability limits, dispute resolution, and miscellaneous — will survive.
We may update these Terms. If we make material changes, we will give at least fourteen (14) days' notice through the app, by email, or by a prominent notice on our website before the changes take effect, except for changes required by law or that relate to a brand-new feature, which may take effect immediately. Continued use of the Service after the new Terms take effect means you accept them. If you do not accept them, stop using the Service before the effective date.
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, USCHAT, ITS AFFILIATES, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, AND LICENSORS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, AND ANY WARRANTY ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE.
WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT YOUR CONTENT WILL ALWAYS BE PRESERVED OR RECOVERABLE.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of certain warranties; in those places, the disclaimers above apply only to the maximum extent permitted by local law.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, USCHAT AND THE PEOPLE AND COMPANIES IT WORKS WITH WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, GOODWILL, DATA, OR CONTENT, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE — REGARDLESS OF THE LEGAL THEORY AND EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) [USD 50 / the amount you have paid us in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim] OR (B) THE MINIMUM AMOUNT REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
These limits apply even if a remedy in these Terms fails of its essential purpose. Where applicable law does not permit a particular limitation, that limitation does not apply to you, but the others remain in effect.
If you use the Service on behalf of a business or in violation of these Terms, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless UsChat and its affiliates, officers, employees, and agents from any third-party claim, demand, loss, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of that use or violation.
Most disputes can be sorted out quickly. Before filing a formal claim, please contact us at legal@uschat.com with a description of the issue and the resolution you are looking for. We will make a good-faith effort to resolve it within [60] days.
Read this section carefully. Where permitted by applicable law, any dispute that cannot be resolved informally will be settled by binding individual arbitration, not by a court, and not as part of a class, collective, or representative action.
This Section does not apply where it is unenforceable under local law (for example, certain consumer protections in the EU, UK, and several other jurisdictions). In those cases, you keep all rights granted by your local law.
These Terms are governed by the laws of [jurisdiction], without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Where arbitration does not apply or is unenforceable, you and UsChat agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in [jurisdiction], except where mandatory consumer-protection law gives you a different forum.
Any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service must be brought within one (1) year of the date the claim first arose, unless local law requires a longer period. Claims not brought in time are permanently barred to the extent the law allows.
If you choose to add a phone number to your account, you consent to receiving text messages from us related to verification and account recovery. Standard message and data rates from your carrier may apply.
You can stop these messages at any time by replying STOP to a verification text; we will send a single confirmation that you have been unsubscribed. Reply HELP or contact support@uschat.com if you have questions. Carriers are not liable for messages that are delayed or not delivered.