Terms of Service

1.Who May Use The Tide

You must be at least 13 years old to create an account or use The Tide.

If you are under the age of majority where you live, your parent or legal guardian may be required to consent to your use of the Service.

You may not use The Tide if:

• applicable law prohibits you from using the Service
• you are legally unable to agree to these Terms
• your account was previously permanently terminated for a serious violation of these Terms and we have not authorized your return
• you intend to use The Tide for an unlawful purpose

Additional eligibility requirements are described in our Eligibility Policy.

2.Your Tide Account

Some features of The Tide require an account.

When creating or maintaining an account, you agree to provide information that is accurate and not intentionally misleading.

You are responsible for:

• maintaining the security of your account
• protecting your login credentials
• activity conducted through your account
• keeping your account information reasonably current
• notifying us if you believe someone has accessed your account without authorization

You may not sell, transfer, rent, or provide access to your account to another person without our permission.

You may not create an account that impersonates another person or organization or intentionally misrepresents your identity or affiliation.

3.What You Can Do on The Tide

The Tide exists to encourage, document, celebrate, and inspire acts of kindness.

Depending on the features available, you may be able to:

• create a profile
• post photographs
• share stories about acts of kindness
• create captions and other content
• interact with posts
• comment on content
• follow or connect with other members
• discover acts of kindness
• participate in community activities or initiatives
• report inappropriate content
• use other social and community features we introduce

Features may change as The Tide evolves.

We may add, modify, suspend, or discontinue features at any time.

4.Your Content

The Tide allows users to upload photographs, stories, captions, comments, profile information, and other materials. We refer to these materials as “User Content.”

You Own Your Content

You retain ownership of the User Content you create and submit to The Tide.

These Terms do not transfer ownership of your User Content to us.

However, we need permission to use your content in order to operate The Tide.

The License You Give The Tide

When you upload, post, or otherwise submit User Content to the Service, you grant The Tide a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable, and sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, process, modify for technical purposes, transmit, display, distribute, and otherwise use your User Content as reasonably necessary to:

• operate The Tide
• display your posts to the audiences you select
• provide social and community features
• distribute content through our technical infrastructure
• resize, compress, format, or otherwise technically process photographs and videos
• protect and secure the Service
• moderate content
• improve the Service
• promote or demonstrate The Tide where permitted by your settings and applicable law

This license does not give The Tide ownership of your content.

The license generally ends when your User Content is deleted from our systems, except where continued retention is reasonably necessary for backups, legal obligations, security, enforcement, dispute resolution, or other purposes permitted by law.

5.Photographs and Other People

Acts of kindness happen in the real world. Photographs documenting those acts may include people other than the person uploading the photograph.

Before posting a photograph or other content involving another person, you are responsible for ensuring that you have the rights, permissions, or other lawful basis reasonably necessary to post and share that content.

You may not upload or use photographs to:

• invade another person's privacy
• harass, embarrass, intimidate, or threaten someone
• stalk another person
• exploit another person
• falsely represent another person's identity
• falsely imply another person's endorsement
• reveal highly sensitive personal information without authorization
• publish non-consensual intimate imagery
• violate another person's publicity or privacy rights
• otherwise violate applicable law

A person’s appearance in a photograph on The Tide does not mean that person uses The Tide, approved the photograph, endorsed the post, or endorsed The Tide.

6.People Who Do Not Have Tide Accounts

Someone does not need to have a Tide account to report a photograph or other content involving them.

If you believe content on The Tide depicts you or otherwise affects your privacy or legal rights, you may contact us at privacy@thetide.xyz.

Please provide enough information for us to locate the content, such as the username, post, link, screenshot, or other identifying information.

We may request reasonable information necessary to determine that you are the person depicted or are authorized to act on that person’s behalf.

We may remove, restrict, or otherwise take action regarding content when we determine that doing so is appropriate under our policies or required by law.

7.Your Responsibilities

When using The Tide, you agree to treat other people with respect and use the Service in a manner consistent with its purpose.

You are responsible for your conduct and the content you submit.

You represent that you have the rights necessary to submit your User Content and that your use of the Service and your User Content will not violate these Terms, our Community Guidelines, or applicable law.

8.What You May Not Do

You may not use The Tide to:

• threaten, stalk, bully, or harass another person
• promote or encourage violence
• exploit or endanger children
• post child sexual abuse material or other unlawful sexual content
• distribute non-consensual intimate imagery
• impersonate another person
• commit fraud or operate scams
• engage in phishing or identity theft
• deceive people for financial gain
• publish another person's highly sensitive private information without authorization
• infringe copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights
• promote unlawful goods, services, or activities
• distribute malware or malicious software
• send spam
• manipulate the Service through bots or unauthorized automation
• scrape or systematically collect information from the Service without authorization
• attempt to access another person's account
• circumvent security measures
• interfere with the operation of the Service
• attempt to reverse engineer the Service except where applicable law expressly permits it
• use The Tide for any purpose that violates applicable law

Additional standards are contained in our Community Guidelines.

9.Authentic Acts of Kindness

The Tide is built around authentic acts of kindness.

You should not intentionally fabricate an act of kindness in a manner designed to deceive the community.

You may not falsely claim that:

• you performed an act you did not perform
• another person performed an act they did not perform
• a photograph depicts an event that did not occur
• a person received assistance they did not receive
• an organization participated in or endorsed an activity when it did not

We understand that people tell stories from different perspectives and may remember events differently. This provision is directed at intentional deception, not ordinary mistakes, differences of opinion, humor, or good-faith storytelling.

10.Respect the People You Help

Kindness should not come at the expense of someone’s dignity.

Do not use The Tide to exploit, humiliate, demean, or unnecessarily expose vulnerable people for attention, recognition, engagement, or personal benefit.

When sharing an act of kindness involving another person, consider whether posting that person’s image, identity, circumstances, medical information, financial hardship, housing status, or other personal information could embarrass or harm them.

Where appropriate, ask permission before posting.

The Tide may remove content that we reasonably believe exploits or seriously compromises the dignity or privacy of another person, even when the underlying act was intended to be kind.

11.Community Moderation

The Tide may review content and activity to enforce these Terms and our Community Guidelines.

We may take actions including:

• removing content
• limiting the visibility of content
• disabling certain features
• issuing warnings
• temporarily restricting accounts
• suspending accounts
• permanently terminating accounts
• restricting future account creation
• preserving relevant information
• reporting conduct to appropriate authorities when required or permitted by law

We are not obligated to monitor every post, photograph, comment, message, or activity on the Service.

The fact that content appears on The Tide does not mean that we have reviewed, approved, verified, or endorsed it.

12.Reporting Content

We encourage members to report content that appears to violate these Terms or our Community Guidelines.

Where reporting tools are available, you may report content directly through the Service.

Privacy-related reports may also be submitted to privacy@thetide.xyz.

We may investigate reports and take whatever action we reasonably determine is appropriate.

Submitting a report does not guarantee that content will be removed.

13.Intellectual Property

The Tide respects intellectual property rights.

You may not upload content that infringes another person’s copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights.

If you believe content on The Tide infringes intellectual property rights that you own or are authorized to enforce, you may submit a notice to privacy@thetide.xyz.

We may remove allegedly infringing content and may terminate accounts of repeat infringers where appropriate.

14.The Tide's Intellectual Property

Except for User Content, The Tide and its licensors own or control the Service and its associated intellectual property. This includes, where applicable:

• software
• source and object code
• designs
• interfaces
• graphics
• logos
• trademarks
• trade names
• branding
• databases
• algorithms
• documentation
• other proprietary technology and materials

Subject to these Terms, we give you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Service for its intended purposes.

You may not use The Tide’s intellectual property except as permitted by these Terms or with our written authorization.

15.Feedback and Suggestions

We welcome ideas about how to make The Tide better.

If you voluntarily provide suggestions, ideas, feedback, or recommendations regarding The Tide, you agree that we may use that feedback without restriction or obligation to compensate you.

This does not transfer ownership of User Content that you post through the ordinary social features of The Tide.

16.Third-Party Services

The Tide may contain links to or integrate with websites, applications, payment providers, social networks, or other services operated by third parties.

We do not control those services.

Your use of third-party services may be governed by separate terms and privacy policies.

To the extent permitted by law, The Tide is not responsible for the availability, content, security, privacy practices, products, or conduct of third-party services.

17.Changes to the Service

The Tide is an evolving platform.

We may:

• introduce new features
• change existing features
• remove features
• change how content is displayed
• impose reasonable technical limitations
• temporarily suspend portions of the Service
• discontinue all or part of the Service

Where required by applicable law, we will provide appropriate notice of material changes.

18.Account Suspension and Termination

You may stop using The Tide at any time.

Where available, you may also delete your account through the Service.

We may restrict, suspend, or terminate your account if we reasonably believe:

• you violated these Terms
• you violated our Community Guidelines
• your activity creates a security risk
• your activity may expose The Tide or another person to legal liability
• your account is being used fraudulently
• your conduct seriously harms another member or the community
• we are required to do so by law
• continued access presents a material risk to the Service or others

For serious violations, termination may occur without advance notice where permitted by law.

19.What Happens When Your Account Ends

When your account is deleted or terminated, your right to use the Service ends.

User Content associated with your account may be deleted, de-identified, or otherwise handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Certain information may remain where reasonably necessary for:

• backups
• security
• fraud prevention
• legal compliance
• enforcement
• dispute resolution
• protection of the rights of The Tide or others

Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination will remain in effect.

20.The Tide Is a Platform

The Tide provides technology that allows people to share and discover acts of kindness.

Unless we expressly state otherwise, The Tide does not direct, supervise, verify, sponsor, or control acts of kindness posted by users.

Users are responsible for their own conduct.

You should exercise appropriate judgment before:

• meeting someone you encountered through The Tide
• traveling to participate in an activity
• providing personal information
• entering another person's property
• providing transportation
• giving money or valuable property
• participating in volunteer activities
• otherwise acting based on content you discover through the Service

The Tide does not guarantee the identity, intentions, conduct, statements, or safety of any user or person depicted on the Service.

21.No Professional Advice

Content available through The Tide is generally provided for social, informational, and community purposes.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, content on The Tide should not be considered legal, medical, financial, investment, tax, psychological, emergency, or other professional advice.

If someone requires professional or emergency assistance, they should contact an appropriate qualified professional or emergency service.

22.Service Disclaimer

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Service is provided “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE.”

We do not guarantee that:

• the Service will always be available
• the Service will be uninterrupted
• the Service will be error-free
• all content will be accurate
• every user is who they claim to be
• every act of kindness depicted is authentic
• content will always remain available
• the Service will be completely secure

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain warranty disclaimers, so portions of this section may not apply to you.

23.Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, The Tide and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, contractors, and service providers will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from or relating to your use of the Service.

This includes, where permitted by law, damages resulting from:

• User Content
• interactions with other users
• acts or omissions of other people
• loss of data
• unauthorized access
• interruption of the Service
• reliance on content available through the Service

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

24.Indemnification

To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless The Tide and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, and agents from claims, damages, liabilities, losses, and reasonable expenses arising from:

• your User Content
• your violation of these Terms
• your violation of applicable law
• your violation of another person's rights

This provision does not apply to the extent prohibited by applicable law.

25.Disputes and Governing Law

These Terms and disputes relating to them will be governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles, except where applicable law provides otherwise.

Any legal proceeding that is not subject to another valid dispute-resolution procedure will be brought in the appropriate courts located in New Castle County, Delaware, unless applicable law gives you the right to bring the proceeding elsewhere.

26.Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms as The Tide evolves.

When we make changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page.

If we make material changes, we may provide additional notice through the Service, by email, or through another appropriate method.

Your continued use of the Service after updated Terms become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms where permitted by applicable law.

27.Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our:

• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Community Guidelines
• Eligibility Policy
• Risk Disclosure
• any additional terms that expressly apply to particular features

constitute the agreement between you and The Tide regarding your use of the Service.

If a provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in effect to the extent permitted by law.

Our failure to enforce a provision does not waive our right to enforce it later.

You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our consent.

We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, restructuring, sale of assets, or similar transaction, subject to applicable law.

28.Contact Us

Questions regarding these Terms may be directed to:

Small Acts of Kindness. Endless Waves.