Hushmesh Terms of Service
Preview Phase
Effective date: July 4, 2020
Hushmesh, Inc. (“the Company” or “we”) is a Delaware public benefit corporation. The Company’s public benefit purpose is “to develop, deploy, operate and promote neutral solutions that enable and foster digital trust, data security and privacy.”
Hushmesh products and services (“Services”) include: the Hushmesh “Trustee,” which is a personal cryptographic server; smartphone applications; cloud-based service management and database software; web and browser-based demo applications; our company websites; and Hushmesh code that may be integrated by relying parties in their own applications and websites to access Hushmesh services. For additional information about the Hushmesh system, please see hushmesh.com and mesh.in.
These user terms and conditions apply to your use of Hushmesh Services, and by using our Services you agree to these terms.
1.Minimum Age.
You must be at least 13 years old to use our Services.
2.Privacy and Data Use.
Please read our Privacy Policy below, which is incorporated into these user terms, to understand what data is collected and how it is used and safeguarded.
3.Purchases.
If you purchase any item, such as a Trustee, from us, such purchases will be governed by terms presented at the time of purchase. To make a purchase, you will need to provide the information necessary to process an order, such as your shipping address and the billing information needed to pay for such order. Payment may be by credit card or other means supported on the site. By submitting payment information, you authorize us to charge the applicable payment method and you represent that you will not use any credit card or other form of payment with us unless you are authorized to do so.
4.Legal and Acceptable Use.
You must follow any policies made available to you within the Services.
You agree to use our Services only for legal, authorized, and acceptable purposes. You will not use (or assist others in using) our Services in ways that: (a) violate or infringe the rights of Hushmesh, our users, or others, including privacy, publicity, intellectual property, or other proprietary rights; (b) violate any applicable laws.
You must not (or assist others to) access, use, modify, distribute, transfer, or exploit our Services in unauthorized manners, or in ways that harm Hushmesh or our Services or systems. For example you must not (a) gain or try to gain unauthorized access to our Services or systems; (b) disrupt the integrity or performance of our Services; (c) create identities on our Services through unauthorized or automated means; (d) collect information about our users in any unauthorized manner; or (e) attempt to gain unauthorized access to another user’s identity or information.
If you are a "white hat" ethical hacker and would like test the security of the Hushmesh system, you are welcome to contact us at info@hushmesh.com. Since Hushmesh is still in a preview phase, we are not offering a bug-bounty program at this time. Any hacking attempts without our explicit authorization are considered hostile and will be referred to law enforcement.
5.Intellectual Property Rights
Hushmesh grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use any code incorporated into any Trustee purchased hereunder in order to access and use the Services in accordance with these terms. Any code incorporated in the Trustee is also covered by the applicable open source or third-party end user license agreement accompanying the Trustee. Hushmesh and its third-party suppliers retain all right, title, and interest in the intellectual property rights incorporated in the Trustee and other Services. Hushmesh reserves all rights not expressly granted under this Agreement.
You own the information you encrypt with the Trustee and store or transmit through the Services. You grant Hushmesh a limited license as necessary to process and transmit the information, to manage and improve the Services, to prevent harm to Hushmesh and other users of the Services, and as otherwise permitted by the Privacy Policy. You understand and agree that Hushmesh has no responsibility for what happens to any information that you have transmitted or enabled access through our Services to any third party, including relying parties.
6.Feedback and Support
Hushmesh welcomes your feedback concerning the functionality and performance of the Services (including identifying potential errors and improvements). You agree that Hushmesh will have an irrevocable and unrestricted right to use any and all feedback in its sole discretion without payment or obligation of any kind.
Hushmesh has no obligation to provide support for or continuity of Services and will do so only in its discretion.
7.Third Party Services
The Hushmesh Services may allow you to access and use the services offered by third-party relying parties. When you access a third-party’s services, their terms of service and privacy policy will govern your use of those services.
8.Disclaimer of Warranties
YOUR USE OF HUSHMESH SERVICES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING DISCLAIMERS.
THE HUSHMESH SERVICES ARE UNDER DEVELOPMENT. DATA ENCRYPTED WITH THE TRUSTEE OR STORED OR TRANSMITTED THROUGH THE SERVICES MAY BE CORRUPTED OR LOST. DO NOT USE THE HUSHMESH SERVICES TO STORE ANY INFORMATION THAT IS ESSENTIAL OR THAT IS NOT BACKED UP ELSEWHERE.
WE PROVIDE OUR SERVICES ON AN “AS IS” BASIS WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND FREEDOM FROM COMPUTER VIRUS OR OTHER HARMFUL CODE. HUSHMESH DOES NOT WARRANT THAT ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED BY US IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR USEFUL, THAT OUR SERVICES WILL BE OPERATIONAL, ERROR-FREE, SECURE, OR SAFE, OR THAT OUR SERVICES WILL FUNCTION WITHOUT DISRUPTIONS, DELAYS, OR IMPERFECTIONS. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SERVICES, ACTIONS, OR INFORMATION (INCLUDING CONTENT) OF THIRD-PARTY USERS OR RELYING PARTIES. YOU RELEASE HUSHMSH AND ITS AFFILIATES, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, PARTNERS, AND AGENTS (TOGETHER, “HUSHMESH PARTIES”) FROM ANY CLAIM, COMPLAINT, CAUSE OF ACTION, CONTROVERSY, OR DISPUTE (TOGETHER, “CLAIM”) AND DAMAGES, KNOWN AND UNKNOWN, RELATING TO, ARISING OUT OF, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH ANY SUCH CLAIM YOU HAVE AGAINST ANY THIRD PARTIES .
9.Limitation of Liability for our Services
HUSHMESH AND ITS SUPPLIERS AND DISTRIBUTORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR LOST PROFITS, REVENUES, OR DATA, FINANCIAL LOSSES, OR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO OUR SERVICES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBLITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
THE TOTAL LIABILITY OF HUSHMESH AND ITS SUPPLIERS AND DISTRIBUTORS, FOR ANY CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO OUR SERVICES WILL NOT EXCEED $100.
THE LAWS OF SOME STATES OR JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES, SO SOME OR ALL OF THE EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS SET FORTH ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY IN OUR TERMS, IN SUCH CASES, THE LIABILITY OF HUSHMESH PARTIES AND THEIR SUPPLIERS AND DISTRIBUTORS WILL BE LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. IN ALL CASES, HUSHMESH PARTIES AND THEIR SUPPLIERS AND DISTRIBUTORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE THAT IS NOT REASONABLY FORESEEABLE.
10.Copyright Notices
If you are a copyright owner or an agent thereof and believe, in good faith, that any materials on the Service infringe upon your copyrights, you may submit a notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (see 17 U.S.C. 512) (the “DMCA”) by sending the following information in writing to our designated copyright agent at [notice address]:
- The date of your notification;
- A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
- A description of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;
- A description of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to enable Hushmesh to locate the material;
- Information reasonably sufficient to permit Hushmesh to contact you, such as an address, telephone number and/or email address;
- A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law; and
- A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
11.Modification and Termination
You can stop using our Services at any time.
We may also suspend or discontinue a Service altogether. In addition, from time to time, we may add or remove functionalities or features, and some of our software may update automatically on your Trustee device.
We may modify these terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes to the law or changes to our Services. We will post notice of modifications to these terms on this page and in connection with any applicable Service. Changes will not apply retroactively and will become effective no sooner than fourteen days after they are posted, except that changes addressing new functions for a Service or changes made to comply with law will be effective immediately. If you do not agree to the modified terms for a Service, you should discontinue your use of that Service.
12.Electronic Communications
You consent to receive communications from us electronically, such as e-mails, texts, and mobile push notices. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.
13.Government End Users
If you are a U.S. Government end user, any licenses are to you as a "Commercial Item" as that term is defined in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (see 48 C.F.R. § 2.101), and the rights we grant you to hereunder are the same as the rights we grant to all others under these terms and conditions.
14.General
You agree to resolve any Claim you have with us relating to or arising out of our Services or these terms exclusively in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, or a state court in Alexandria, Virginia. You also agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating all such Claims. The laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia govern these terms, as well as any Claims which might arise between us, without regard to conflict of law provisions, and without application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the Sale of Goods.
If you do not comply with these terms, and we do not take action right away to enforce our rights, this does not waive any of our rights or restrict our ability to enforce such rights in the future.
If it turns out that a particular term is not enforceable, this will not affect any other terms, which shall be construed to give as full import to these terms as possible.
15.Contact
Hushmesh, Inc.
Attn: Legal Notices
2137 Haycock Road
Falls Church, VA 22043
info@hushmesh.com
Hushmesh Privacy Policy
Preview Phase
Effective date: July 4, 2020
Hushmesh, Inc. (“the Company” or “we”) is a Delaware public benefit corporation. The Company’s public benefit purpose is “to develop, deploy, operate and promote neutral solutions that enable and foster digital trust, data security and privacy.”
Hushmesh products and services (“Services”) include: the Hushmesh “Trustee,” which is a personal cryptographic server; smartphone applications; cloud-based service management and database software; web and browser-based demo applications; our company websites; and Hushmesh code that may be integrated by Relying Parties in their own applications and websites to access Hushmesh services.
Our privacy policy describes how we collect, use and share your personal information. This policy applies to the preview phase of the Hushmesh Services. Some of the privacy and security features and functionality we are developing are not available in the preview phase. We will publish a new privacy policy when Hushmesh becomes available to users who are not involved in the preview phase.
Information we collect about you
We collect personal and non-personal information about you. Personal information, such as your name, allows us to identify you. We cannot identify you through non-personal information, such as the make and operating system of your smartphone. When we store personal information with non-personal information, we treat everything as personal information.
We collect information about you in several ways.
Hushmesh website: When you visit our website at www.hushmesh.com we automatically collect and log information about you and your device. Some of this information is collected automatically. For example, when you visit our website we log your IP address, computer operating system type, browser type, browser language, the website you visited before browsing to our site, pages you viewed, how long you spent on a page, access times and information about your use of and actions on our site.
Our website uses various tracking technologies, including “cookies,” beacons, tags, and scripts. These technologies help us measure and understand how you and others use our website.
Mesh profile: To enroll on the mesh you must give us your mobile phone number, email address, and a name by which you would like us to refer to you. The information you give to us during enrollment becomes part of your mesh profile. Parts of this profile will be visible to others. Although the information will not be displayed, your profile will be searchable by the members of the mesh who already know your email address or phone number.
Hushmesh smartphone application (“Mesh In Preview”): When you download the Hushmesh application to your smartphone and begin your enrollment, you will give us permissions to access certain features on your phone. Please note that we cannot change some of the language requesting permissions because it is generated automatically by your phone’s operating system. Please visit our FAQ page at hushmesh.com/faq to learn more about how we use your permissions. We also collect information about the make, model, operating system and other characteristics of your phone.
Operating a Trustee: To purchase or receive a Trustee from us you must give us financial information to complete the purchase, if applicable, and a physical address for delivery of the Trustee to you. When you link a Trustee to your smartphone, the Trustee will collect and store information about your phone. Your Trustee will also store a cryptographic key necessary to connect you with websites or applications when you mesh in. In order to ensure that your Trustee is operating properly, our system will collect, store and monitor data about the wireless network to which your Trustee is connected. The Trustee will store the password necessary to connect and reconnect to the wireless network as needed.
Meshing in: When you mesh in, our Service will collect and store information about the website or application with which it establishes a trusted connection. This may include the time and date, website URL, and other elements normally contained in server access logs. We do not collect or store any information about the content of the website or application you mesh into, or about your activity there. Your activity on non-Hushmesh websites or mobile applications is governed by the privacy policies of those websites or applications.
Hushmesh test apps: We have created some test applications, such as Hushsafe, so that testers can experience meshing in and interacting with apps on the mesh. We will monitor the use of these apps as part of the preview phase. Any data you provide to our test app(s) is stored encrypted and can only be viewed by you. However, please remember that all data will be deleted and all encryption keys will be changed at the end of the preview phase, including data and encryption keys associated with our test apps.
Relying Party application registration: When you register a test website or a mobile application on the mesh, you must first enroll on the mesh and create a profile.
Information requests, user support, and feedback: If you contact us for information or support, or to provide feedback to us, you must provide us contact information if you want us to respond to you.
How we collect information about you
We collect information about you in different ways.
- You give information to us directly, such as when you enroll on the mesh, buy a Trustee, or contact us for support.
- We collect information automatically through our products and services, such as when you visit our website, use our app, or mesh in.
- Sometimes someone else gives us information about you, such as when you mesh in to establish a secure session with a Relying Party, or when the testing environment gives us information about your activity with our app.
How we use information about you
Generally, we use your information in ways for which you have given us permission. We use your information to provide our products and services to you either directly or through our partners. We also use it to improve our products and services for all users.
When we share your information with others
We share your information when we have asked for and received your permission, to build and operate our products and services, and in other limited circumstances. We do not sell your personal data.
We share your data
- To allow you to become a mesh member. For example, during the enrollment process, third parties send out verification codes and emails on our behalf.
- To allow you to purchase a Trustee and to have it delivered to you. For example, we disclose your address to the service that delivers your device to you.
- To develop and operate our products and services. For example, we may use software developers who are not our employees to work on our mobile applications and databases.
- When the law requires it. We follow the law when we receive requests for information from a government or related to a lawsuit. When we receive requests like this, we'll only release your personal information if we have a good faith belief that the law requires us to do so, and we’ll notify you if we are permitted to do so. Nothing in this policy is intended to limit any legal defenses or objections that you may have to a third party's request to disclose your information.
- When we believe it is necessary to prevent harm to you or someone else. We will share your information if we have a good faith belief that it is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of you, our other users, Hushmesh, or the public.
- If our organizational structure or status changes: For example, if we are acquired or go bankrupt, we may pass your information to a successor.
How we store and protect your personal information
We implement physical, business and technical security measures to protect your information. However, please be aware that during the preview phase we will not implement all of the security features we expect to build.
If we learn of a security breach, we'll notify you so that you can take appropriate protective steps.
Your Information Choices
You can typically remove and reject cookies from our website with your browser settings. If you remove or reject our cookies, it could affect how our products work for you.
You may send requests about personal information to us via info@hushmesh.com. You can request to change contact choices, opt-out of our sharing with others, and update your personal information.
Our marketing emails tell you how to stop receiving future marketing communications from us (“opt out”). If you opt out, we may still send you non-marketing emails, such as emails about our business dealings with you.
What else you should know
Our service relies on cloud computing. This means that your information might end up on a computer in another country, and that country may have a different level of data protection regulation than yours. By giving us information, you consent to this kind of transfer of your information. No matter what country your information is in, we comply with applicable law and will also abide by the commitments we make in this privacy policy.
You must be at least 13 years old to use our Services. If you are under 13, you must not provide your personal information to us. If you are a parent and believe that your child who is under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us to have your child's information removed.
Specific statements for residents of the European Union, European Economic Area, and the State of California.
Our lawful bases for collecting and processing personal information under the European General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) include:
- Performing our contract with you: Enrollment on the mesh requires your agreement to our Terms of Service. We collect information as described in this privacy policy to enable you to securely mesh in to websites and applications.
- Legitimate interests: We receive technical and interaction data of users to improve the security and reliability of our services.
- Consent: Where we ask for your consent to process your information, you can always withdraw this consent.
You have the following rights under the GDPR and California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). We apply these rights to all our users, regardless of location.
- The right to know what personal data is collected
- The right to know if personal data is being shared, and to whom
- The right to access your personal data
- The right to exercise your privacy rights without being discriminated against
- In many cases, you can access, update, or delete your personal information directly from our product settings.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact us. We will do our best to resolve them. If we cannot, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
Contact Us:
Hushmesh Inc.
Attn: Privacy
2137 Haycock Road
Falls Church, VA 22043
info@hushmesh.com
Changes to this privacy policy
We plan to change this privacy policy when we complete the preview phase of our development and deployment. We don’t intend to keep your personal information beyond the preview phase. Once the preview phase is completed, we will delete all your personal information and ask you to re-enroll on the mesh under our new privacy policy.