publication/artifacts/policies/hubzilla/hubzilla_terms_of_service.md

---
artifact: hubzilla-terms-of-service
version: 1.0-draft
status: draft
publication_cid: null
supersedes: null
---

# Hubzilla Terms of Service

## 1. Scope

These Terms apply only to the Hubzilla service provided as part of the Civic Infrastructure.

They govern creation and use of Hubzilla accounts, access to Hubzilla channels and facilities, and material submitted through the Hubzilla service.

They do not govern the Civic Infrastructure as a whole or separately operated infrastructure, services, repositories, publication systems, mail systems, or evidentiary systems.

## 2. Private Network

This Hubzilla service is a private network.

It is not intended to operate as a general public social-media platform or unrestricted public forum.

Participation is voluntary.

Access is provided for people who want to explore or participate in the civic purposes supported through this Hubzilla installation.

## 3. Provisional Accounts

A visitor may create a provisional Hubzilla account using the visitor's own email address.

A provisional account exists so the visitor can:

- inspect the Hubzilla service;
- ask questions about the SASE process;
- explain what they want to accomplish through the Civic Infrastructure;
- determine whether they wish to become a Participant.

A provisional account is not a SASE Participant account.

Provisional accounts are deleted every second Friday as part of the normal operation of this Hubzilla service.

Deletion on that schedule is not disciplinary action and does not imply misconduct.

Material kept only in a provisional account should not be considered permanent storage.

## 4. SASE Participant Accounts

A qualifying Kane County resident may receive a `sase*` account through the SASE process.

The account is issued through the returned SASE and is used for continuing participation through Hubzilla.

A Participant may retain the original `sase*` account that was issued.

The Participant does not receive a replacement account every six months merely because residency must be revalidated.

## 5. Six-Month Revalidation

Continued Participant standing requires revalidation through the SASE process every six months.

The purpose of the SASE renewal is to establish that the Participant continues to qualify as a Kane County resident.

Account identity and current Participant standing are separate.

A Participant may therefore retain the same Hubzilla account while periodically re-establishing current standing.

Expiration of current standing does not erase the historical use of that account.

## 6. Account Responsibility

Users are responsible for protecting access to their Hubzilla accounts.

Accounts should not be transferred or knowingly used by another person as though that person were the account holder.

Hubzilla can establish that an authenticated account was used. Authentication alone does not establish who physically operated a device at a particular moment.

## 7. Use of the Hubzilla Service

The Hubzilla service may be used for communication, discussion, questions, channels, civic collaboration, and other purposes consistent with the function of this private network.

Users may not use the service to:

- impersonate another user;
- interfere with operation of the Hubzilla service;
- obtain unauthorized access;
- conduct unauthorized automated scraping or collection;
- transfer or sell account access;
- use the service as an unrelated mass-advertising or bulk-distribution platform.

These restrictions exist to preserve the intended function of the private Hubzilla network.

## 8. Hubzilla Content and Durable Evidence

Content appearing in Hubzilla is not automatically a permanent or immutable Civic Infrastructure record.

Posts, messages, files, channels, account information, federation, and other ordinary Hubzilla functions remain subject to the normal operation of the Hubzilla service.

Some material may separately enter a Civic Infrastructure evidentiary or publication process.

When that occurs, the separate process—not ordinary presence in Hubzilla—determines the status and durability of that material.

Users should therefore distinguish between ordinary Hubzilla content and material deliberately published or preserved elsewhere as durable evidence.

## 9. Availability

The Hubzilla service is provided as an operating network service and may occasionally be unavailable because of maintenance, technical failure, network conditions, software changes, or security requirements.

Delivery of messages, federation, notifications, or other network activity cannot be guaranteed.

Users remain responsible for retaining copies of material they consider important unless that material has separately entered an identified durable publication or evidentiary process.

## 10. Account Administration

Routine account administration may include:

- creation of provisional accounts;
- scheduled deletion of provisional accounts;
- establishment of SASE Participant accounts;
- revalidation of Participant standing;
- account maintenance;
- technical restrictions necessary to operate or protect Hubzilla.

Scheduled lifecycle actions are administrative operations rather than findings of misconduct.

## 11. Responsibility for User Statements

Users remain responsible for statements, submissions, and other material they intentionally place into Hubzilla.

Operation of the Hubzilla service does not mean that the Civic Infrastructure adopts, verifies, or endorses statements made by individual users.

## 12. These Terms

These Terms describe use of this Hubzilla service.

Changes to these Terms are made by issuing a replacement version rather than silently rewriting the existing published version.

Prior published versions may remain available as part of the Civic Infrastructure publication history.

The applicable version may be identified by publication date, cryptographic hash, IPFS CID, or other publication metadata.