Terms of Service

By creating an account or using the Witness application ("Witness," "the app," "the platform"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, do not use Witness.

These Terms form a binding agreement between you and Witness Technologies, Inc. ("we," "us," "our"). We may update these Terms at any time. Continued use of Witness after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. We will notify you of material changes via in-app notification at least 14 days before they take effect.

You must be at least 13 years old to use Witness. If you are under 18, you represent that your parent or guardian has reviewed and agreed to these Terms on your behalf. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If we discover an account belongs to a child under 13, we will delete it immediately. Contact privacy@thewitnessapp.com if you believe a child under 13 has registered.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials. You must provide accurate information when creating an account. You may not impersonate any person, organization, or government entity. One person may not operate multiple accounts to circumvent moderation decisions. You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.

When you submit a report, post, photo, video, or any other content to Witness ("User Content"), you:

a. Represent that you are the original creator of the content or have the legal right to share it.

b. Represent that the content is accurate to the best of your knowledge and was captured at the location and time stated.

c. Grant Witness a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to store, display, distribute, transmit, and make available your User Content on the platform and in connection with operating the Witness service.

d. Retain full ownership of your original content. Witness does not claim ownership of what you create.

e. Understand that content you post publicly may be viewed, shared, and referenced by anyone, including journalists, researchers, and government entities.

f. Understand that if you opt into the Witness Content Licensing Marketplace, additional terms apply as set forth in Section 9 below.

You may not use Witness to:

• Submit false, fabricated, or deliberately misleading reports presented as genuine eyewitness accounts
• Post content you did not create or capture without proper attribution
• Harass, threaten, stalk, or dox any individual
• Coordinate real-world harmful action, as distinct from documenting real-world events
• Post, share, or link to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in any form
• Operate automated bots or scripts that generate or submit reports without explicit written permission from Witness
• Artificially manipulate trust scores or corroboration signals through coordinated inauthentic behavior
• Use Witness data or infrastructure to build facial recognition tools, biometric identification systems, or mass surveillance tools
• Circumvent rate limits, content moderation systems, or account restrictions
• Submit content intended to incite imminent violence against any specific person or group
• Impersonate Witness staff, moderators, or verified journalists
• Scrape, copy, or redistribute Witness data or interfaces without a written data license agreement

Violations may result in content removal, account suspension, or permanent termination without prior notice. Serious violations may be reported to law enforcement.

Witness uses a community-based trust scoring system. Trust scores are calculated based on factors including corroboration from other users, evidence quality, account history, and accuracy over time. Trust scores are not editorial endorsements by Witness. A high trust score does not mean content is definitively true. A low trust score does not mean content is false. The trust system reflects community signal and is not a substitute for your own judgment. Witness does not guarantee the accuracy of any report on the platform.

Witness moderates content through the following mechanisms:

a. Automated filtering for known illegal content categories, including child sexual abuse material and content matching known terrorist material databases.

b. Community flagging reviewed by Witness staff, with a 48-hour response commitment on appeals.

c. High-trust user moderation for preliminary labeling of flagged content.

d. Witness editorial review for borderline or disputed content.

We reserve the right to remove any content that violates these Terms or our Content Policy without prior notice. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that repeatedly violate these Terms.

Appeals: Email appeals@thewitnessapp.com within 48 hours of any moderation action. Include your account ID and a description of the action you are appealing.

Witness operates as an interactive computer service under 47 U.S.C. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. We are not the publisher or speaker of User Content submitted by users. We are not liable for content submitted by third parties. Our decisions to moderate, remove, or leave up content are discretionary and do not make us a publisher or transform User Content into our own speech.

The Witness Content Licensing Marketplace is an optional feature. You are not required to participate.

If you choose to opt into the marketplace:

a. You authorize Witness to present your eligible User Content to potential buyers, including news organizations, broadcasters, NGOs, documentary producers, academic researchers, insurance companies, and legal firms.

b. You retain full ownership of your content at all times. Witness facilitates transactions; it does not acquire ownership of your content.

c. You will receive 70% of the net licensing fee collected by Witness for each successful license of your content. Witness retains 30% as a platform fee. These percentages may be revised with 30 days notice to marketplace participants.

d. Only content that meets minimum trust score thresholds is eligible for marketplace listing. Witness reserves the right to set and adjust these thresholds.

e. You represent that you own all rights to content you list in the marketplace and that licensing it does not infringe any third-party rights.

f. Marketplace participation requires identity verification. Anonymous and pseudonymous account modes cannot participate in the marketplace.

g. You may opt out of the marketplace at any time. Opting out does not affect licenses already granted to buyers before your opt-out.

h. Witness does not guarantee that your content will sell or that any minimum revenue will be earned.

Witness is used in environments where reporting can be dangerous. We support reporter safety in the following ways:

• Your exact GPS coordinates are never publicly displayed. Only a reverse-geocoded location name is shown on your reports.
• You may choose to blur your reported location to city or region level before submitting.
• Pseudonymous and anonymous reporting modes are fully supported and are not a second-class experience.
• If you activate duress mode, recent activity may be obscured from public view at your request.

We do not build or permit third parties to build facial recognition tools on Witness data.

The Witness name, wordmark, logo, interface design, platform code, and all associated intellectual property are owned by Witness Technologies, Inc. You may not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from Witness intellectual property without written permission.

Witness may contain links to third-party websites or services. We are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or terms of any third-party service. Your use of third-party services is governed by their own terms and policies.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WITNESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF WITNESS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: RELIANCE ON ANY REPORT POSTED ON THE PLATFORM, LOSS OF DATA, PERSONAL INJURY, PROPERTY DAMAGE, OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO YOUR ACCOUNT. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING UNDER THESE TERMS SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) $100 USD OR (B) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO WITNESS IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Witness Technologies, Inc. and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of Witness, (b) User Content you submit, (c) your violation of these Terms, or (d) your violation of any third-party rights.

Any dispute arising from or relating to these Terms or your use of Witness shall be resolved through binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. You waive the right to participate in a class action lawsuit or class-wide arbitration. This arbitration clause does not apply to claims for injunctive relief or intellectual property disputes, which may be brought in court.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to conflict of law principles. For any claims not subject to arbitration, you consent to exclusive jurisdiction in the state and federal courts located in Delaware.

Witness may suspend or terminate your account at any time for violation of these Terms, with or without notice. You may delete your account at any time through the app settings. Upon termination, your license to use the platform ends immediately. Sections 4, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 survive termination.

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, Content Policy, and DMCA Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Witness Technologies, Inc. regarding the platform. If any provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force.

Legal notices: legal@thewitnessapp.com

Support: support@thewitnessapp.com

Appeals: appeals@thewitnessapp.com