1. Acceptance of Terms
By creating an account or using the mothertree managed service (“Service”), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service (“Terms”). If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
These Terms govern your use of the managed service hosted at mother-tree.org. mothertree’s source code is available under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0), but these Terms apply only to the managed service, not to self-hosted instances of the software.
2. Service Description
mothertree is a secure, private collaboration platform. The Service provides end-to-end encrypted (“E2EE”) messaging, document collaboration, file sharing, and voice/video communication. By design, mothertree cannot access the content of your encrypted communications.
3. Account Registration and Security
You are responsible for:
- Providing accurate registration information
- Maintaining the security of your account credentials and encryption keys
- All activity that occurs under your account
Important: Because mothertree uses E2EE, we cannot recover lost encryption keys or decrypt your data if you lose access. You are solely responsible for safeguarding your keys and any recovery mechanisms.
4. Acceptable Use
Your use of the Service is subject to our Acceptable Use Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. You agree to comply with the AUP at all times.
5. Complaint and Enforcement Process
Because mothertree uses E2EE, we cannot independently inspect the content of your communications. Our enforcement process operates as follows:
- Complaint received: When we receive a complaint about your account or conduct, we will present the substance of the complaint to you.
- Response period: You have 14 days to respond with evidence addressing the complaint.
- Resolution: If you fail to respond within 14 days, or your response does not satisfactorily address the complaint, we may suspend or terminate your account.
We reserve the right to take immediate action — including suspension without prior notice — in cases involving imminent harm to persons, child sexual abuse material (CSAM), or threats to platform integrity.
6. Intellectual Property
mothertree’s source code is licensed under the AGPL-3.0. These Terms do not modify or restrict your rights under that license with respect to the source code.
You retain ownership of all content you create and share through the Service. By using the Service, you grant mothertree labs only the limited technical permissions necessary to operate the Service (such as transmitting encrypted data between participants).
7. Privacy
Your use of the Service is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which describes what data we collect, what data we cannot access, and how we handle your information.
8. Service Availability
We strive to maintain reliable service but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. The Service is provided on an “as available” basis. We may perform maintenance, updates, or modifications that temporarily affect availability.
9. Termination
By you: You may delete your account at any time.
By us: We may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, following the complaint process described in Section 5 except where immediate action is warranted.
Upon termination, your right to access the Service ceases. Due to E2EE, we cannot provide copies of your encrypted content after termination. You are responsible for exporting any data you wish to retain before account deletion.
10. Disclaimers
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
11. Limitation of Liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, MOTHERTREE LABS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE.
12. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make changes, we will:
- Publish the new version at a new versioned URL
- Provide reasonable notice (via email or in-app notification) before changes take effect
- Keep prior versions available at their original versioned URLs for reference
Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.
13. Contact
If you have questions about these Terms, contact us at info@mother-tree.org.