Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Ghost Story Review mobile application (the "App") and any related services (collectively, the "Service"), operated by Ghost Story Review ("GSR," "we," "us," or "our"). By creating an account or otherwise using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference.

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

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or use the Service. The Service is not directed to, and is not intended for use by, anyone under 18. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years old and have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms.

2. Accounts

• You must provide a valid email address and accurate account information to register.
• You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.
• You must notify us promptly at the contact address in Section 16 if you suspect unauthorized use of your account.
• One person or entity may not maintain more than one account for purposes of abuse, evasion of a suspension, or manipulation of reviews.

3. User Conduct

By using the Service, you agree that you will not:

• Post content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, harassing, threatening, hateful, or that infringes another person's rights;
• Impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;
• Harass, bully, stalk, threaten, or send unwanted or abusive direct messages to another user;
• Post content that discloses another person's private information without consent (e.g., addresses of private residences, contact details) beyond what is reasonably necessary to describe a publicly accessible location;
• Upload photos or videos that you do not have the right to share, or that were taken in violation of another person's reasonable expectation of privacy;
• Use the Service to encourage or coordinate criminal trespassing, vandalism, or other illegal activity at any location;
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service, other users' accounts, or our systems;
• Use bots, scrapers, or automated means to access the Service except as permitted by us in writing;
• Upload viruses, malware, or other harmful code.

4. User-Submitted Content and License Grant

The Service lets you submit reviews, photos, videos, and "lore" entries about locations, and send direct messages to other users (collectively, "User Content"). You retain ownership of the User Content you submit.

By submitting User Content (other than direct messages, which are governed by Section 5), you grant GSR a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, reproduce, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, and create derivative works of that User Content (such as thumbnails or resized copies) for the purpose of operating, promoting, and improving the Service. This license continues for as long as the applicable User Content remains on the Service, and for a reasonable period afterward to allow for removal from backups, caches, and systems operated by our third-party processors.

You represent and warrant that you own or have the necessary rights to submit your User Content, and that it does not infringe or violate the rights of any third party.

4.1 Flickers

"Flickers" refers to two related things in the App. A Flicker is a short video you submit on its own, rather than attached to a review, post, or lore entry; it is its own kind of content, with its own likes and comments. The Flickers feed is a dedicated video feed within the App that gathers together any video on the Service — whether a standalone Flicker or video attached to a review, post, or lore entry — along with video submitted by other users.

The maximum length of a video may vary depending on where in the App it is submitted. As with other location-related content on the Service, GSR does not verify the accuracy of the location associated with any video, including through GPS or any other location-verification method.

5. Direct Messages and Harassment

The Service allows users to send direct messages to one another. Direct messages must comply with the conduct rules in Section 3. GSR does not routinely monitor the content of direct messages, but we may access, review, or preserve message content where reasonably necessary to investigate a report of harassment or abuse, enforce these Terms, or comply with a legal obligation, as described in our Privacy Policy.

By sending direct messages through the Service, you grant GSR a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, transmit, reproduce, and display those messages for the purpose of operating the Service — that is, delivering them to their intended recipient, retaining conversation history across your devices and the recipient's, and maintaining backups. This licence is limited to operating the Service and to the enforcement and legal purposes described in this Section; it does not permit GSR to publish your direct messages or use them to promote the Service. It lasts as long as the message remains on the Service, plus a reasonable period for removal from backups.

Where a direct message is reported to us, you additionally grant GSR the right to retain a copy of that message, and of a limited number of surrounding messages from the same conversation as they appeared at the time of the report, as part of our moderation record. That copy is retained for trust and safety purposes and, as described in our Privacy Policy, is not removed if the original message is later deleted or if either participant deletes their account.

If you receive harassing, threatening, or abusive messages from another user, you can report them to us using the contact information in Section 16. We may warn, restrict, suspend, or terminate the account of a user found to have violated this section, at our discretion.

6. Content Moderation and Removal

We may, but are not obligated to, review, screen, moderate, or remove User Content that we believe, in our sole discretion, violates these Terms or is otherwise objectionable. We are not responsible for User Content posted by others, and User Content does not reflect the views of GSR.

7. Reporting Content or Accounts

If you encounter content or behavior that violates these Terms, please report it using the contact information in Section 16, described further on our Contact page.

8. Suspension and Termination

We may suspend or terminate your account and access to the Service, with or without notice, if we believe you have violated these Terms, created risk or legal exposure for us or other users, or engaged in conduct we determine, in our sole discretion, to be harmful to the Service or its users. You may stop using the Service, or request deletion of your account, at any time as described in our Privacy Policy.

Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 17) will survive any termination of your account.

9. Intellectual Property

The Service, including its design, features, logos, and underlying software, is owned by GSR or its licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. Except for the limited license to use the App as intended, these Terms do not grant you any rights to GSR's trademarks, branding, or proprietary technology.

10. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE AND ALL USER CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ACCURACY OF CONTENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE, OR THAT ANY LOCATION, REVIEW, OR LORE ENTRY DESCRIBED THROUGH THE SERVICE IS ACCURATE, SAFE, OR LEGALLY ACCESSIBLE.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT VISITING ANY LOCATION REFERENCED IN THE SERVICE IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND THAT GSR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INJURY, LOSS, PROPERTY DAMAGE, OR LEGAL CONSEQUENCE ARISING FROM YOUR DECISION TO VISIT, ACCESS, OR ENTER ANY SUCH LOCATION.

11. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, GSR AND ITS OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SERVICE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, GSR'S TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US, IF ANY, IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM AROSE, OR (B) FIFTY U.S. DOLLARS ($50).

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

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless GSR and its officers, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your use of the Service, your User Content, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any rights of another person or entity.

13. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, United States, without regard to its conflict of law principles.

Informal resolution first. If a dispute arises out of or relating to these Terms or the Service, you agree to first contact us at support@ghoststoryreview.com and describe the dispute in reasonable detail. We will attempt in good faith to resolve it informally. Neither party may begin arbitration until 30 days after this notice is sent.

Binding individual arbitration. If the dispute is not resolved within 30 days, it will be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, as modified by this Section. The arbitrator's decision is final and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. The arbitrator, and not any court, has exclusive authority to resolve disputes about the interpretation, applicability, or enforceability of this arbitration agreement, except as stated below regarding the class action waiver.

Fees and location. If you initiate arbitration against GSR for a claim of $10,000 or less, GSR will pay all AAA filing, administration, and arbitrator fees, except that you remain responsible for any fees AAA assesses as a result of a claim the arbitrator determines to be frivolous. Arbitration will be conducted by telephone, videoconference, or written submission unless the arbitrator determines an in-person hearing is necessary. If an in-person hearing is required, it will take place in the county where you reside or at another location the parties agree to in writing.

Small claims. Either party may instead bring an individual claim in small claims court, provided the claim qualifies and remains in that court.

Class action waiver. All claims must be brought on an individual basis only. You and GSR waive any right to bring or participate in a class, consolidated, collective, or representative action, and the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims or preside over any form of representative proceeding. If this class action waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, then that claim, and only that claim, must proceed in court rather than in arbitration; the remainder of this Section continues to apply to all other claims.

Your right to opt out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement within 30 days of first accepting these Terms by emailing support@ghoststoryreview.com with the subject line "Arbitration Opt-Out" and including your name and the email address associated with your account. Opting out affects only this Section; the rest of these Terms, including the choice of Texas law, continues to apply. Opting out will not affect your access to the Service in any way.

14. Changes to These Terms

We may modify these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will update the effective date above and post the revised Terms at ghoststoryreview.com. Your continued use of the Service after a change becomes effective constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.

15. General Provisions

• Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and GSR regarding the Service.
• Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full effect.
• No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms is not a waiver of our right to do so later.
• Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent to:

support@ghoststoryreview.com

17. Copyright Policy and DMCA Notices

GSR respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects users of the Service to do the same. We respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), 17 U.S.C. § 512.

17.1 Designated Copyright Agent

Notices of claimed copyright infringement should be sent to our designated agent:

17.2 Notice of Claimed Infringement

If you believe material on the Service infringes a copyright you own or are authorized to represent, please provide our designated agent with a written notice containing all of the following:

1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple works are covered by a single notification, a representative list of those works;
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate it — for example, the username of the account that posted it and a description of where in the App it appears;
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and email address;
5. 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
6. 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.

A notice that does not substantially comply with all six requirements may not be effective.

17.3 Our Response

Upon receipt of a notice that substantially complies with Section 17.2, we will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the material identified. We will take reasonable steps to notify the user who submitted the material that it has been removed or disabled, and to provide that user with a copy of the notice.

17.4 Counter-Notice

If you believe your material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification, you may send our designated agent a written counter-notice containing all of the following:

1. Your physical or electronic signature;
2. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled, and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled;
3. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material; and
4. Your name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located — or, if your address is outside the United States, for any judicial district in which GSR may be found — and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided the original notification or an agent of that person.

17.5 Restoration of Material

If we receive a counter-notice that substantially complies with Section 17.4, we may provide a copy of it to the person who submitted the original notice and inform them that we may replace the removed material or cease disabling access to it. Unless that person notifies us that they have filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the allegedly infringing activity, we may replace the material or cease disabling access to it not less than ten (10) and not more than fourteen (14) business days after receipt of the counter-notice.

17.6 Repeat Infringers

We have adopted and will reasonably implement a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of users who are repeat infringers of copyright.

We record notices of claimed infringement that result in the removal or disabling of material. An account that accumulates repeated instances of such removals may be warned, restricted, suspended, or permanently terminated at our discretion, taking into account the totality of the circumstances, including the number and seriousness of the instances and whether any was withdrawn or resolved by an effective counter-notice. A single instance may result in termination where the infringement is egregious or wilful.

An account terminated under this Section may not be re-registered, and creating a new account to evade such a termination is a violation of Section 2.

17.7 Misrepresentations

Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material is infringing, or that material was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification, may be liable for damages, including costs and attorneys' fees. Do not make claims under this Section without a good faith belief in their accuracy.