Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms form a binding agreement between you and the owner of the synapsehubs.net domain (the “Operator”). They apply together with the Privacy Policy, the Content License Guide, and any notice shown in the product that refers to them. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

If you use Synapse for a company or other legal entity, you confirm that you have authority to bind it, and “you” includes that entity.

2. Definitions

• Service — the Synapse website, APIs, apps and related features.
• Member Content — anything a member submits: projects, files, problems, solutions, comments, posts, messages, profile data, reports and appeals.
• Public Content — Member Content made visible to other members or visitors.
• Soft-hide — making content inaccessible to the public while keeping it in storage, for example while its author is suspended.

3. Eligibility & Age

• You must be at least 16 years old, or the age of digital consent where you live if higher, unless a parent or guardian has agreed to these Terms for you.
• You must not be barred from using the Service under the laws that apply to you, and must not have been permanently suspended from Synapse before.
• You must provide accurate registration information and keep it up to date.

4. The Service

Synapse lets members publish projects, post problems and solutions, join groups, message each other, and use investor and company profiles to network. We may add, change, limit or remove features at any time. Some features (for example large uploads or the workspace editor) may be limited by size, rate, or account trust level to keep the service reliable for everyone.

We work to keep the Service available but do not promise uninterrupted operation. Maintenance, upgrades, network problems and events beyond our control can cause downtime.

5. Accounts & Security

• You are responsible for everything done through your account and for keeping your password and devices secure. Use a unique password and enable two-factor authentication.
• Tell us promptly if you suspect unauthorized access. We may sign out all sessions and require a password reset.
• One person, one account. You may not sell, rent or transfer an account, or create accounts to evade a suspension or a block.
• We may verify your email address and may refuse or remove addresses that appear disposable, abusive or fraudulent.

6. Identity, Handles & Public IDs

Display names, @handles and public IDs are how members recognise each other. You may not impersonate a person, company or brand, use a name intended to deceive, or use names that are hateful, sexual, or that promote violence. Handles are first-come, first-served and may be reclaimed if unused, misleading, or in breach of these Terms. Verified badges are granted only after review and can be removed if the underlying claims prove false.

7. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Break the law or use the Service to plan or commit a crime.
• Harass, threaten, stalk, dox or incite violence against anyone, or target people because of who they are.
• Post spam, run engagement schemes, mass-message people, or use the Service to send unsolicited commercial communications.
• Upload malware, exploit code aimed at users, phishing pages, or anything designed to damage or gain unauthorized access to systems or accounts.
• Scrape, crawl, or copy the Service at a rate or in a way that burdens it, or bypass rate limits, access controls or moderation.
• Manipulate likes, views, trust levels, rankings, reports or verification, including with bots or coordinated accounts.
• Probe, scan or test the vulnerability of the Service except as allowed under “Security Research”.
• Misrepresent your identity, affiliation, credentials, the state of a project, or funding you have or have not received.
• Use the Service to solicit or offer investments, securities or payments in a way that breaks the law that applies to you.

8. Prohibited Content

We remove, and may report to authorities, content that:

• sexually exploits or endangers minors, or contains non-consensual intimate imagery;
• contains credible threats, glorifies violence or terrorism, or promotes self-harm;
• infringes intellectual property or trade-secret rights;
• exposes private information (addresses, IDs, financial data, private messages) without consent;
• is fraudulent, deceptive or a scam, including fake projects, fake investors, and fake verification;
• is malicious software or links to it;
• is illegal where you or the Operator are located.

9. Moderation, Trust & Soft-Hide

To keep Synapse safe we use automated checks, member reports and human review. Depending on severity and history we may block a save, warn you with a deadline to fix something, reduce a piece of content’s visibility, remove it, or suspend an account temporarily or permanently. Members earn a trust level from age of account, contributions and clean history; trust affects ranking and some limits, and can go down after violations.

While an account is suspended, its public content may be soft-hidden: it stays in storage but is not shown. If a group owner is suspended, that group is frozen until the suspension is lifted. Automated systems make mistakes — see “Suspension, Appeal & Termination” for how to challenge a decision.

10. Your Content & License to Us

You keep ownership of everything you upload. To operate the Service you grant the Operator a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable (only to service providers acting for us, such as hosting and network providers) license to host, store, back up, cache, reproduce, resize, transcode, display and distribute Member Content as needed to run and promote the Service — for instance to show a project to other members, to build link-preview cards, and to show a page preview when its link is shared elsewhere. This license lasts while the content is on the Service and for a reasonable time afterward in backups, and ends for anything you delete, except for copies others have lawfully made under the project’s license.

You confirm that you have all rights required to upload the content and to grant the licenses in these Terms, that it does not infringe or violate anyone’s rights, and that any open-source components you include are used in line with their licenses. Your employer or client may own what you create at work — check before you post it.

We do not use your content to train third-party AI models. Feedback and suggestions you send about the Service may be used by us without obligation to you.

11. Project Licenses Between Members

When you publish a project you choose a license (for example MIT, Apache-2.0, GPL, Creative Commons, All Rights Reserved, or none). That license — not these Terms — governs what other members and visitors may do with your work, and is a separate legal relationship between you and them. Synapse shows the license and links to its text but is not a party to it and does not verify that you hold the rights you claim. Changing a license affects future recipients only; copies obtained under an earlier open license remain under that license. Read the Content License Guide before choosing one.

12. Groups & Collaboration Spaces

• Group owners control settings, admit or remove members and may delete posts in their group. Owners are responsible for the conduct they allow and must follow these Terms.
• An owner may permanently delete the whole group, which removes its posts and memberships; this cannot be undone from the product.
• Private groups are visible only to members. Public groups appear in discovery subject to trust and soft-hide rules.
• Workspaces and shared editing keep revision history so changes can be reviewed and reverted. Anything you contribute to someone else’s workspace is licensed as their project’s license provides.

13. Messages, Notifications & Email

By using Synapse you agree to receive in-app notifications about activity that concerns you (comments, replies, mentions, likes, follows, messages, group and workspace activity) and service emails such as verification codes and password resets. You can turn most notification types off in Settings; security and account emails cannot be turned off while your account is active. Blocked members cannot notify you. We do not send marketing email.

Direct messages are private between participants and encrypted at rest, but are not end-to-end encrypted: they can be reviewed if a report is filed, or where the law requires.

14. Links & Third-Party Content

The Service shows links and previews of pages hosted by others. We do not control or endorse those pages, and previews may be out of date or inaccurate. You use third-party sites at your own risk and under their terms. Signing in with Google is governed by Google’s terms and privacy policy for that step.

15. API & Automated Access

Our APIs exist to power the Synapse apps. You may not use them for automated bulk collection, to build a competing dataset, or to circumvent limits. Search-engine and link-preview crawlers that respect robots.txt are welcome. We may throttle or block traffic that harms the Service.

16. Security Research

If you find a vulnerability, please report it privately through Feedback or the contact address below before disclosing it, do not access data that is not yours, do not degrade the service, and give us reasonable time to fix it. Good-faith research that follows these rules will not be treated as a violation of these Terms.

17. Platform Intellectual Property

The Synapse name, logos, interface design, documentation and platform software (as distinct from Member Content) belong to the Operator or its licensors. These Terms give you no right to use Synapse branding without written permission. Open-source components in the software stay under their own licenses. Member project licenses do not change the license of the platform.

18. Copyright Notices & Takedowns

Synapse respects intellectual property and expects members to do the same. If you believe content on Synapse infringes your copyright (including under the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Thai Copyright Act B.E. 2537, and similar laws), send a notice using Report → Copyright or to the Operator through the in-app Report form (choose “Copyright”) that includes:

• your name, address, email and telephone number, and an electronic or physical signature;
• identification of the copyrighted work you claim is infringed;
• the exact location of the material (URL or public ID) so we can find it;
• a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorized by the owner, its agent or the law;
• a statement that the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury where applicable, that you are the owner or authorized to act for the owner.

On receiving a valid notice we will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the material, tell the member who posted it, and record the notice. Knowingly false notices can create liability for damages and legal costs.

19. Counter-Notices & Repeat Infringers

If your content was removed and you believe that was a mistake or that you have the right to use it, you may send a counter-notice containing:

• your name, address, email, telephone number and signature;
• identification of the removed material and where it appeared;
• a statement, under penalty of perjury where applicable, that you believe in good faith that it was removed by mistake or misidentification;
• your consent to the jurisdiction of the courts in your location, and to accept service of process from the person who sent the original notice.

We will pass the counter-notice to the complainant. Unless the complainant tells us within 10 business days that they have started legal action, we may restore the material. Accounts that are repeatedly and verifiably found to infringe will be terminated.

20. Trademarks & Other IP

Complaints about trademarks, trade dress, privacy of publicity or similar rights should identify the right, the contested use and your authority to complain, and can be sent through the same channels. Synapse hosts member content and does not pre-clear uploads for conflicts with third-party rights.

21. Payments, Donations & Sales

Payments are processed by Stripe. Synapse never sees or stores card numbers or bank details, does not hold members’ money, and is not a bank, payment institution, broker, exchange or escrow agent. Investments and fundraising for equity are not offered through Synapse.

How payments work

• A member may add paying accounts (cards) and receiving accounts (Stripe Connect accounts). Opening payment settings requires two-factor authentication; every payment needs a valid authenticator session and an explicit confirmation of the amount and these terms.
• A project owner may switch on donations and/or a fixed-price sale and choose which receiving account is paid. A payment goes directly from the payer’s card to the chosen receiving account through Stripe. Synapse currently charges no platform fee; if that ever changes, the fee will be shown before you pay.
• Each successful payment produces a receipt with a unique number that both parties can download. Totals shown on a project are calculated by the server from confirmed payments only and cannot be edited by members.

Your responsibilities

• You are responsible for the accuracy of what you offer, for delivering what you sell, and for your own taxes, licences, consumer-law and reporting duties. Stripe may require identity and business verification before you can be paid.
• You may only use a card or account you are authorised to use. Fraud, money laundering, prohibited goods and services, or attempts to bypass limits result in immediate suspension and reporting where the law requires.
• Donations are voluntary gifts and confer no ownership, equity, profit share or right to future work unless the recipient separately agrees so in writing. Unless the recipient agrees or the law requires otherwise, donations are non-refundable. For sales, refunds are governed by the seller’s stated terms and applicable consumer law; disputes and chargebacks are handled through Stripe and the card issuer.

External funding links

Links to GitHub Sponsors, GoFundMe, Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Open Collective, Patreon, Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee and Liberapay take you to those sites. Synapse does not process, verify or guarantee anything paid there; their terms apply.

No advice, no guarantee

• Synapse does not provide financial, investment, tax or legal advice and does not vet, endorse or guarantee any project, claim, investor, company or outcome. Do your own diligence.
• Nothing on Synapse is an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities. A funding goal or “seeking investors” tag is informational.
• Never send money to someone who pressures you to pay off-platform. Report suspected scams.

Limits and availability

Up to seven paying accounts (five switched on at once) and five receiving accounts may be kept per member; a single donation is limited to 5,000 in the chosen currency. We may pause or restrict payment features to prevent fraud, comply with law, or at Stripe’s request, and payments depend on Stripe’s availability.

22. AI & Data Use

Members choose in Settings → AI & data whether AI systems may use their public content, category by category; every option is off by default and can be reset by switching it off. Operators of AI systems that access Synapse must identify themselves, respect these choices and the site’s robots rules, and must not use Synapse to build datasets from content whose author has not allowed it. Synapse does not sell member content to AI companies and does not use it to train third-party models. Members may request written evidence about access to their data ten days after switching a category on, using the process described in the Privacy Policy. Public documents (Privacy, Terms, licenses, documentation) may be read in full by anyone, including AI systems.

23. Suspension, Appeal & Termination

• By you — you can stop using Synapse and delete your account at any time in Settings.
• By us — we may warn, restrict, suspend or terminate accounts, and remove content, for breach of these Terms, legal requirements, risk to others, or extended inactivity. Where practical we tell you what happened and why.
• Appeals — a suspended member can submit an appeal with an explanation and evidence. A person reviews it, and we may reverse the decision.
• Effect — on termination your right to use the Service ends. Sections that by their nature should survive (content licenses already granted, disclaimers, liability limits, indemnity, disputes) survive.

24. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE AND ALL MEMBER CONTENT ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE”, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, AND UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OPERATION. We do not guarantee that content is accurate, safe, lawful or fit for your purpose, that files are free of malware, or that any member is who they say they are. Download and run files at your own risk. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain disclaimers, so parts of this section may not apply to you.

25. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE OPERATOR AND ITS AFFILIATES, PERSONNEL AND SERVICE PROVIDERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL OR OPPORTUNITY, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) THE SERVICE, MEMBER CONTENT, OR DEALINGS WITH OTHER MEMBERS. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM RELATED TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM (WHICH IS ZERO FOR A FREE ACCOUNT) AND USD 100. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law, such as for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by negligence.

26. Indemnification

You will defend and indemnify the Operator and its personnel against claims, damages, losses and reasonable legal fees arising from your Member Content, your breach of these Terms or the law, or your infringement of another person’s rights — except to the extent caused by the Operator’s own wrongdoing.

27. Dispute Resolution

Before starting a formal claim, please contact us and give us 30 days to try to resolve it informally. Disputes that cannot be settled will be handled in the courts described under “Governing Law”. To the extent the law allows, claims must be brought individually, not as a class or representative action, and within two years of when the claim arose. Consumers keep any mandatory rights they have under the law of the country where they live.

28. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms. For material changes we will update the date above and give notice in the product before they take effect (normally at least 14 days). If you keep using the Service after the effective date, you accept the new Terms; if you do not accept them, stop using the Service and delete your account.

29. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Kingdom of Thailand, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, and the competent courts of Thailand have exclusive jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory consumer protections that apply where you live.

30. General Provisions

• Entire agreement — these Terms, the Privacy Policy and referenced notices are the whole agreement about the Service.
• Severability — if a provision is unenforceable, the rest stays in force.
• No waiver — not enforcing a right is not giving it up.
• Assignment — you may not assign these Terms; the Operator may, including to a successor operator of the Service.
• Force majeure — neither side is liable for failure caused by events beyond reasonable control.
• Language — if this document is translated, the English version prevails where the law permits.

31. Contact

Questions about these Terms: use Feedback when signed in, or write to the Operator through the contact form on synapsehubs.net. Copyright notices: the in-app Report form (choose “Copyright”). Safety issues: use Report on the item or profile.