These terms are written in plain language, so you can actually read them. They’re still a real agreement between you and Hearth.
Agreeing to these terms
These terms are the rules for using Hearth, in the browser at app.hearthchat.xyz, in the desktop app, or through bots and the developer API. By creating an account or using Hearth you agree to them, to our Community guidelines, and to how our Privacy policy says we handle your data. If you don’t agree, please don’t use Hearth.
Who can use Hearth
You must be at least 13 years old, or older if your country sets a higher age for using services like Hearth without a parent’s permission.
You can’t use Hearth if we’ve banned you before, or if the law where you live doesn’t allow it.
If you use Hearth for a club, school or company, you’re confirming you’re allowed to agree to these terms for it.
Your account
Give a real email address you can get mail at, and keep your password to yourself. You’re responsible for what happens on your account.
One person per account. Don’t sell, trade or share accounts, and don’t make new accounts to get around a ban or a block.
Don’t pretend to be another person, a brand or Hearth staff in a way that misleads people.
If you think someone else got into your account, change your password and tell us at hello@hearthchat.xyz.
Hearth is free
Hearth is free to use. Every feature and every theme is included, with no paid tiers or paywalls. If we ever offer something paid, it will be optional, and we’ll tell you clearly before you’re asked to pay for anything.
Acceptable use
Our Community guidelines explain the rules in more detail. In short, you may not use Hearth to:
share or ask for sexual content involving anyone under 18, or sexualize minors in any way. We remove it, ban the accounts, and report it to the authorities as the law requires;
break the law, or help anyone else break it, including selling illegal goods or services;
harass, bully, threaten or dox anyone, or encourage others to;
attack people for who they are (for example race, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity);
encourage or glorify violence, terrorism, self-harm or suicide;
share someone’s intimate images or private information without their permission;
spam, scam or phish, run fake giveaways, or spread malware;
break into accounts or systems, or attack, overload or scrape Hearth or the people on it;
post content you don’t have the rights to share.
Your content
What you post on Hearth is yours. To run Hearth we need your permission to store your content, copy it between our systems, show it to the people you shared it with (and to bots and moderators in those spaces, as explained in our Privacy policy), make link previews, and include it in your data download.
So you give Hearth a worldwide, free, non-exclusive license to do those things, only to operate and improve Hearth. It ends when you or a moderator delete the content, except for copies the Privacy policy says we keep, such as messages other people still see after you delete your account. We don’t use your content for advertising or to train AI.
You’re responsible for what you post, and you promise you have the right to post it.
Running a server
Anyone can create a server on Hearth. If you own or moderate one:
You’re responsible for keeping it within these terms and the Community guidelines, including what you allow your members to post.
You can set your own extra rules, as long as they don’t conflict with ours.
Use your moderation tools (removing messages, timeouts, kicks, bans, automod, reports) fairly and for the server’s purpose, not to harass people.
If you delete your account, the servers you own are deleted too, including everything in them.
We can step in on any server that breaks the rules, up to removing it.
Bots, webhooks and the API
If you build or add a bot or webhook, you’re responsible for what it does.
Bots may only use the messages and information they can see to do the job they were added for. Don’t collect, sell or reuse people’s data.
Keep bot tokens secret. Respect rate limits, and don’t use bots to spam, scrape, or get around the rules.
We may limit or remove bots, webhooks or API access that cause problems.
Moderation and enforcement
Server moderators enforce their server’s rules. Hearth staff enforce these terms everywhere on Hearth. If something breaks the rules we may remove it, limit features, suspend or ban the account, or remove a server. How we act depends on how serious it is, whether it keeps happening, and the risk to others.
We can’t watch everything and we don’t read private conversations by default, so reports are how we hear about most problems. If we ban your account and you think we got it wrong, email abuse@hearthchat.xyz and a person will look at it again.
Reporting a problem
To report a message or a person, open its menu or their profile and choose Report. Reports are private: the person you report isn’t told who reported them. Reports in a server go to that server’s moderators. For anything serious, or a problem with a whole server, email abuse@hearthchat.xyz.
If someone is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first.
Copyright
Respect other people’s copyrights and trademarks. If you believe something on Hearth infringes your copyright, email legal@hearthchat.xyz with:
your name and contact details;
the work you believe was copied;
a link to the message or content on Hearth, or enough detail for us to find it;
a statement that you believe in good faith the use isn’t authorized;
a statement that your notice is accurate and that you own the rights or are allowed to act for the owner;
your physical or electronic signature.
We’ll remove infringing content and tell the person who posted it, who can send a counter-notice if they think we made a mistake. We ban accounts that infringe again and again.
Hearth’s name and software
The Hearth name, logo, app and website belong to us. You can use the app as it’s meant to be used, but don’t copy our branding in a way that makes people think you are Hearth, and don’t try to get around our security or access rules.
Disclaimers
We work hard to keep Hearth running well, but it’s provided “as is” and “as available”. To the extent the law allows, we don’t promise that Hearth will always be available, free of bugs, or that content will never be lost. Keep your own copies of anything important; you can download your data at any time. We’re not responsible for what users, servers or bots post or do, though we act when the rules are broken.
Limitation of liability
To the extent the law allows, Hearth and the people who run it are not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, or for lost data, profits or goodwill, that come from using Hearth or not being able to use it. Because Hearth is free, our total liability for any claim about Hearth is limited to US$100. Some places don’t allow these limits, so they may not all apply to you, and nothing here limits rights you have under consumer protection law that can’t be waived.
Leaving or being removed
You can stop using Hearth and delete your account at any time in Settings → My account. We may suspend or end your access if you break these terms, if the law requires it, or if your account puts others or Hearth at risk. If we ever shut down Hearth entirely, we’ll give reasonable notice so you can download your data first. The parts of these terms that by their nature should continue after an account ends (like content licenses for copies others still see, disclaimers and limits of liability) still apply.
Changes to these terms
We may update these terms as Hearth changes. We’ll update the effective date at the top, and if a change is significant we’ll tell you through Hearth or by email before it takes effect. If you keep using Hearth after a change takes effect, you agree to the new terms. If you don’t, you can delete your account.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the United States, without regard to conflict of law rules. If the law where you live gives you the right to bring a claim in your own courts, nothing here takes that away.