Terms of Service

1. Agreement to Terms

Welcome to hlomo! These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the hlomo platform, website, and related services (collectively, the "Service"). By accessing or using our Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not access or use the Service.

These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and hlomo (Pty) Ltd, a company registered in South Africa (Registration: 2022/858088/07).

2. Definitions

• "Service" refers to the hlomo platform, including website, mobile applications, APIs, and AI features
• "User," "you," "your" refers to the individual or entity using the Service
• "Community" refers to a group of users organized through the Service
• "Content" refers to text, images, data, and other materials uploaded or generated through the Service
• "Community Leader" refers to users with administrative permissions for a Community

3. Eligibility

You must meet the following requirements to use the Service:

• Be at least 13 years of age (or the minimum age in your jurisdiction)
• Have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement
• Not be prohibited from using the Service under applicable law
• Provide accurate and complete registration information

By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you meet these eligibility requirements.

4. Account Registration and Security

4.1 Account Creation

To use certain features of the Service, you must create an account. You agree to:

• Provide accurate, current, and complete information
• Maintain and update your information to keep it accurate
• Maintain the security of your password and account
• Notify us immediately of any unauthorized access or security breach

4.2 Account Responsibility

You are responsible for all activities that occur under your account. You may not share your account credentials or allow others to access your account. We are not liable for any losses arising from unauthorized use of your account.

5. Acceptable Use Policy

5.1 Permitted Uses

You may use the Service to:

• Manage and engage with your communities
• Access community analytics and insights
• Use AI features to facilitate community interactions
• Share and collaborate with community members

5.2 Prohibited Uses

You may NOT use the Service to:

• Violate any applicable laws or regulations
• Infringe on intellectual property rights of others
• Transmit harmful, offensive, or illegal content
• Harass, abuse, threaten, or intimidate others
• Spam, phish, or engage in fraudulent activities
• Distribute malware, viruses, or harmful code
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to systems or accounts
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers
• Scrape, crawl, or collect data without permission
• Impersonate others or misrepresent your affiliation
• Use the Service for commercial purposes without authorization

6. User Content and Intellectual Property

6.1 Your Content

You retain all ownership rights to content you submit, post, or display through the Service ("Your Content"). By submitting Your Content, you grant hlomo a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, process, and display Your Content solely to provide and improve the Service.

6.2 Your Responsibilities

You represent and warrant that:

• You own or have necessary rights to Your Content
• Your Content does not violate any laws or third-party rights
• Your Content does not contain malicious code or harmful elements

6.3 hlomo's Intellectual Property

The Service, including its software, design, logos, trademarks, and all related intellectual property, is owned by hlomo and protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or reverse engineer any part of the Service without our express written permission.

7. Community Leaders and Administrators

If you are a Community Leader, you have additional responsibilities:

• Obtain proper consent before adding members to your Community
• Comply with applicable privacy laws when handling member data
• Set clear community guidelines and moderate appropriately
• Respect member privacy and data protection rights
• Not use the Service to contact members for unsolicited commercial purposes

8. Payment and Subscription Terms

8.1 Paid Services

Certain features may require payment. By subscribing to paid services, you agree to pay the applicable fees.

8.2 Billing

• Fees are billed in advance on a recurring basis (monthly/annually)
• All fees are in South African Rand (ZAR) unless otherwise stated
• You authorize us to charge your payment method on each billing cycle
• Price increases will be communicated at least 30 days in advance

8.3 Refunds

Fees are generally non-refundable except as required by law or at our discretion. You may cancel your subscription at any time, but you will not receive a refund for the current billing period.

8.4 Free Trials

We may offer free trial periods. At the end of the trial, you will be charged unless you cancel before the trial ends. We reserve the right to modify or discontinue free trials at any time.

9. Data and Privacy

Your use of the Service is subject to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. Please review our Privacy Policy to understand how we collect, use, and protect your information.

We comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and other applicable data protection laws.

10. Termination

10.1 By You

You may terminate your account at any time by contacting us at support@hlomo.com or using the account deletion feature in your settings.

10.2 By hlomo

We may suspend or terminate your account at any time if:

• You violate these Terms or our policies
• We are required to do so by law
• Your account has been inactive for an extended period
• Continuing to provide the Service creates risk or legal liability

10.3 Effect of Termination

Upon termination, your right to use the Service will cease immediately. We may delete your data in accordance with our data retention policies. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination (including intellectual property, disclaimers, and limitation of liability) will remain in effect.

11. Disclaimers

You use the Service at your own risk. We do not warrant that the Service will meet your requirements or that any errors will be corrected.

12. Limitation of Liability

OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR ZAR 1,000 (ONE THOUSAND RAND), WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages, so the above limitations may not apply to you to the extent prohibited by law.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless hlomo, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from:

• Your use of the Service
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any rights of another party
• Your Content or conduct on the Service

14. Dispute Resolution

14.1 Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of South Africa, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

14.2 Jurisdiction

You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in Cape Town, South Africa, for the resolution of any disputes.

14.3 Informal Resolution

Before initiating legal proceedings, you agree to first attempt to resolve any dispute informally by contacting us at legal@hlomo.com.

15. Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. We will notify you of material changes by:

• Sending an email to your registered email address
• Posting a notice on the Service
• Updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of these Terms

Your continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the changes, you must stop using the Service.

16. Miscellaneous

16.1 Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and hlomo regarding the Service.

16.2 Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

16.3 Waiver

Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not be deemed a waiver of such right or provision.

16.4 Assignment

You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your account without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms without restriction.

16.5 Force Majeure

We shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including acts of God, war, terrorism, riots, embargoes, or network failures.