Terms of Use & Privacy Policy

1) Who we are

These Terms of Use (the "Terms") govern your access to and use of the GoVote mobile application, website(s), and related services (collectively, the "Service"), provided by GoVote LLC.

If you are using the Service on behalf of a business, you represent that you have authority to bind that business and these Terms apply to that business.

2) Acceptance of Terms

By creating an account, accessing, or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

3) Eligibility & Account

• Age: You must be at least 13 years old. If you are under 18, you must have permission from a parent or guardian.
• Account security: Keep your login details confidential. You are responsible for all activity under your account.
• Accurate information: You must provide accurate information and keep it updated.

4) The Service

GoVote allows users to vote and comment on public figures (e.g., celebrities, companies, politicians, countries) and view aggregated results. We may add, change, suspend, or remove features at any time.

Content retention: We may set retention periods for user content (e.g., comments) and may remove content without notice for operational, legal, or safety reasons.

5) Your Content & Licence to Us

You may submit content, including comments, text, images, profile data, and other material ("User Content").

• Your rights: You retain ownership of your User Content.
• Licence to us: You grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, and sublicensable licence to host, store, reproduce, modify (e.g., formatting/display), distribute, publish, and otherwise use your User Content to operate, improve, and promote the Service. This licence ends when your User Content is deleted from our systems, except where we have used it within created materials or where retention is required by law, for security, auditing, dispute resolution, or backup purposes.
• Feedback: If you provide feedback or ideas, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable licence to use them without compensation.

6) Your Responsibilities (You Own Your Comments)

You are solely responsible for your User Content and your use of the Service. You agree that you will not post, upload, transmit, or otherwise make available any content that:

• Violates any law (including defamation, harassment, hate speech, terrorism/violent content, exploitation, or threats).
• Infringes any third-party rights (privacy, publicity, intellectual property).
• Is misleading or fraudulent, including impersonation.
• Contains personal data of others without their consent.
• Is spam, advertising, or solicitation not expressly permitted by us.
• Attempts to manipulate votes (e.g., multiple accounts, automation/bots, coordinated brigading) or interfere with Service operations.
• Contains malware or attempts to gain unauthorised access to systems.

You indemnify and hold harmless the Company and its affiliates from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including legal fees) arising out of or in any way connected with your User Content or breach of these Terms.

7) Our Role; Moderation & Takedown

We are an online platform that hosts User Content. We do not pre-screen all content and do not endorse any User Content. We may, but are not obligated to, monitor or remove User Content at our discretion.

• Reporting: You can report content you believe violates these Terms via an in-app report button or email. We will take appropriate action which may include removal, restriction, or referring matters to law enforcement.
• Repeat infringers: Accounts that repeatedly violate these Terms may be suspended or terminated.

8) Data Use & Privacy (Summary)

Your privacy is important. Please read our Privacy Policy for full details. This section summarises key points relevant to Terms.

• Personal Data: We collect and process personal data as described in our Privacy Policy and in accordance with applicable law (including UK GDPR/Data Protection Act 2018, as applicable).
• Anonymised/aggregated data: We may create and use de-identified, pseudonymous, or aggregated data derived from your use of the Service for analytics, research, improving the Service, and industry reporting.
• Sharing with third parties: We may share aggregated or de-identified data with third parties for analytics, research, or commercial purposes. We will not share direct identifiers such as your email address or internal user ID for these purposes and we will not share your exact date of birth; where age information is relevant, we may share only age or age band (e.g., 18-24) in aggregated or de-identified form. We may share personal data with processors (e.g., cloud hosting, analytics, content delivery, fraud prevention) under contracts requiring appropriate safeguards.
• Advertising & analytics: We may use analytics and limited advertising technologies as described in the Privacy Policy. You can manage certain preferences in the app or device settings where available.
• Your choices: You may access, correct, or delete certain information and exercise rights as described in the Privacy Policy.

9) Law Enforcement & Legal Requests

We fully cooperate with law enforcement consistent with applicable law. We may preserve and disclose information about you or your account if we believe it is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with the law or a valid legal process; (b) protect any person's safety; (c) address fraud, security, or technical issues; or (d) protect our rights or property. Where legally permissible, we may notify affected users of requests for their information.

10) Intellectual Property

The Service, including all software, design, text, graphics, logos, and other materials (excluding User Content), is owned by us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the Service, nor may you reverse engineer or attempt to extract the source code, unless laws prohibit those restrictions or you have our written permission.

11) Acceptable Use & Technical Restrictions

You agree not to:

• Access or use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of these Terms.
• Use automated means (scrapers, bots) except as permitted by an official API we provide.
• Overload or interfere with the proper working of the Service.
• Circumnavigate access controls or rate limits.
• Resell access to the Service without written permission.

12) Third-Party Services & Links

The Service may contain links to third-party websites or services. We are not responsible for those services, and your use of them may be subject to their terms and policies.

13) Disclaimers

The Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free, or that content will be accurate or reliable. Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

14) Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we shall not be liable for: (a) indirect, consequential, exemplary, incidental, punitive, or special damages; (b) loss of profits, data, goodwill, or anticipated savings; or (c) damages resulting from User Content or third-party conduct. Our total aggregate liability for any claim arising out of or relating to the Service or these Terms shall not exceed the greater of GBP 100 or the amounts you paid us (if any) for the Service in the 12 months preceding the claim.

15) Suspension & Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without notice, if you violate these Terms or we believe your use poses a risk to us, other users, or the Service. Upon termination, the licence granted to you under these Terms will cease.

16) Changes to the Service or Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will provide notice in-app. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

17) Governing Law & Disputes

These Terms and any non-contractual obligations arising out of or in connection with them are governed by the laws of England and Wales. You and we agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales, except that consumers may also bring claims in their local courts as required by applicable consumer law.

Before filing a claim, you agree to try to resolve the dispute informally by contacting us at contactus@go-vote.app.

18) App Store Terms

If you download the app from Apple App Store or Google Play, their terms also apply. Apple and Google are not responsible for providing maintenance or support for the app.

19) Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email contactus@go-vote.app.

20) Community Guidelines (Summary)

To keep GoVote safe and useful, you agree to follow these:

• Be lawful. Do not defame, harass, or incite violence.
• No hate or abuse. Do not attack people based on protected characteristics.
• No sexual exploitation or minors' content. Zero tolerance.
• No personal data of others. Do not post private information.
• No manipulation. No bots, multi-accounting to skew votes, or brigading.
• Report issues. Use the in-app tools to flag violations.

Violations may lead to content removal, account suspension, or referral to law enforcement.

21) Summary of Key Terms (Plain English)

• You are responsible for what you post. Don't break the law or others' rights.
• We may remove content and suspend accounts that break the rules.
• We use aggregated/de-identified data for analytics and may share that with third parties. We won't share your email or internal user ID for those purposes.
• We cooperate with law enforcement when legally required.
• The Service is provided "as is." Our liability is limited as described above.

By using GoVote, you agree to these Terms.