Legal Information

1. Definitions

• Howl Chat / Howl / Service: The Howl Chat website, application, and related services.
• User / you: Anyone who accesses or uses the Service.
• Account: The authenticated profile used to access the Service.
• Content: Messages, files, media, and other materials submitted or shared through the Service.
• Room: A shared space for members to communicate and collaborate.
• Corner: A focused sub-channel within a Room.
• DM: A direct message between two users, including encrypted DM requests.
• Commission: A request, offer, or transaction for creative work facilitated through the Service.

4. Moderation Rules and Protocol

Howl Chat is built for collaborative communities. We enforce our Terms to keep rooms safe and productive. Prohibited content or behavior includes:

• Harassment, hate, threats, or incitement of violence.
• Non-consensual sexual content, sexual exploitation, or any sexual content involving minors.
• Sharing personal data without consent (doxxing) or impersonation.
• Illegal goods or services, fraud, or malware distribution.
• Spam, abuse of reporting systems, or automated scraping of the service.
• Copyright infringement or other IP violations.

Protocol

• Intake: Reports can be submitted via email at contact@howl-chat.com.
• Triage: We assess urgency, preserve relevant evidence, and prioritize high-risk reports.
• Review: We evaluate context and may review encrypted DMs using a server-side escrow key when necessary to investigate a report or comply with law.
• Action: Possible actions include content removal, warnings, temporary restrictions, or account suspension/termination.
• Appeal: Users may request review by replying to the notice or contacting support with additional context.

5. Copyright and Artist IP Ownership

You retain ownership of the content you create and upload to Howl Chat. By using the service, you grant Howl a limited, non-exclusive license to host, store, transmit, and display your content solely to operate the platform and deliver the service.

For commissions and creative work shared through Howl:

• Artists retain copyright in their work unless a separate written agreement transfers ownership.
• Buyers receive a license to use deliverables as agreed with the artist (scope, territory, and purpose).
• You must have rights to any reference materials, third-party assets, or trademarks you upload.
• We may remove or disable access to content that is reported and verified as infringing.

6. Consumer Protection and Refunds (Australia and EU)

Nothing in our Terms limits your rights under applicable consumer law.

Australian Consumer Law (ACL)

If you are an Australian consumer, our services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the ACL, including that services will be provided with due care and skill and be fit for purpose. If a major failure occurs, you may be entitled to a refund or re-supply. For a minor failure, we may offer a remedy such as re-supplying the service.

EU Consumer Rights

If you are in the EU, you have statutory rights regarding digital services. If the service is not in conformity, you may have the right to have it brought into conformity, to a proportionate price reduction, or to terminate the contract and receive a refund. For digital services, the 14-day withdrawal right may not apply once you have requested immediate performance and acknowledged that the right is lost.

Commissions and Marketplace Activity

Commission arrangements are primarily between the buyer and the artist. We provide the platform and may facilitate communication or payment flow, but we are not a party to the creative services contract. Any refunds for commissioned work are governed by the agreement between the parties, unless consumer law requires otherwise.

7. Child Safety and Online Harm

Howl Chat is not intended for children under 13, and users must be at least 13 or have verifiable parental consent. We have zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or exploitation.

• We remove and report CSAM to relevant authorities when required by law.
• We may preserve evidence and suspend accounts associated with grooming or exploitation.
• If you encounter urgent safety concerns, contact local law enforcement in addition to reporting to us.

8. Data Retention and Security Practices

We retain data only for as long as needed to provide the Service, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Key practices include:

• Rooms and messages: We aim to keep up to 24 months of room messages available; older content is pruned, subject to backups or legal holds.
• Direct messages: DM envelopes, requests, and timestamps are stored so participants can access recent history.
• Attachments: Files and media are retained until deleted by the uploader or removed for compliance.
• Commission records: Commission posts and billing ledger data are retained for operational, tax, and dispute purposes.
• Profile data: Account profile details remain until updated or deleted.
• Security logs: Diagnostic and security logs are retained for short periods and rotated or aggregated.

We implement reasonable technical and organizational safeguards, including TLS in transit, access controls, monitoring, encrypted DM envelopes, and secure key handling for the DM escrow system. No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Cookies and Tracking

Howl Chat uses minimal cookies and local storage to operate the Service:

• Service cookie: A small cookie (for example howl_rt_id) helps keep real-time connections stable.
• Local storage: We store user preferences and encryption keys in your browser to support settings and encrypted DMs.

We do not use third-party advertising cookies in the app experience. If we introduce additional tracking technologies, we will update our Privacy Policy and this page.

10. Third-Party Services

We rely on third-party services to deliver the Service. These providers may process data under their own privacy terms:

• Auth0: Authentication and identity services.
• Kill Bill: Billing and payment infrastructure for commissions.
• Hosting providers: Compute, storage, and networking infrastructure (such as Hetzner).
• Fonts and assets: The marketing site may load web fonts or assets from third-party CDNs.

11. Privacy and Data Protection (GDPR, Australian Privacy Act, CCPA)

Our Privacy Policy explains what data we collect and how we use it. The information below summarizes key rights under major privacy frameworks.

GDPR (EU/EEA/UK)

• Rights to access, correct, delete, restrict processing, object, and data portability.
• Right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
• Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
• We generally rely on contract performance, legitimate interests, consent, and legal obligations as applicable.

Australian Privacy Act

• Rights to access and correct personal information held about you.
• We handle complaints in line with the Australian Privacy Principles and the OAIC process.

CCPA/CPRA (California)

• Rights to know, access, correct, and delete personal information.
• Right to opt out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell personal information).
• Right to limit the use of sensitive personal information where applicable.
• No discrimination for exercising CCPA rights.

To exercise any of these rights, email contact@howl-chat.com. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

12. Dispute Resolution, Choice of Law, and Arbitration

We encourage you to contact us first to resolve any concerns informally. If a dispute cannot be resolved, the governing law and venue provisions in our Terms of Service apply.

Unless we agree otherwise in writing, disputes are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia, and must be brought in the courts located in New South Wales. We do not require mandatory arbitration unless both parties agree or applicable law requires a different process.

13. Limitation of Liability

The Service is provided on an \"as is\" and \"as available\" basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Howl disclaims warranties and limits liability as described in our Terms of Service, including limitations for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages and loss of data or profits.

14. Contact

For legal notices, safety concerns, or privacy requests, email contact@howl-chat.com.

15. Changes and Notice

We may update this Legal Information page as our product, policies, or legal obligations evolve. Updates will be posted here with a revised "Last updated" date.

If we make material changes, we will provide additional notice as required by law, such as through in-app messaging or email when we have a verified address on file.