Terms of Service

1. Eligibility and membership

• You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. Townie is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13.
• Townie is an invite-gated community intended for actual residents of Rowayton, CT. We reserve the right to verify residency, decline an invite code, or remove an account created on a false basis.
• You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity under your account.

2. Your content

You retain ownership of the posts, comments, photos, videos, and messages you submit (“Your Content”). By submitting Your Content, you grant Townie a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to host, store, reproduce, and display Your Content solely to operate the Service for your community. This license ends when you delete Your Content or your account, except where retention is required by law, for a limited backup period, or as described in our Privacy Policy.

3. Acceptable use

You agree not to use the Service to:

• Harass, threaten, defame, or impersonate any person;
• Post spam, unsolicited advertising, or content unrelated to the community's purpose;
• Post content that is unlawful, discriminatory, sexually explicit, or that incites violence;
• Attempt to access another member's account or non-public areas of the Service;
• Scrape, bulk-export, or resell content or member information without our written permission;
• Circumvent the invite-code or residency-verification system.

We may remove content, suspend, or terminate accounts that violate this section, with or without notice.

4. Moderation

Townie uses a combination of automated tools (including third-party AI moderation services) and human review to help identify content that may violate these Terms. Moderation decisions are made on a best-effort basis. You can appeal a moderation decision by contacting us.

5. Direct messages and private content

Direct messages and private photo albums are intended to be seen only by their intended recipients. We encrypt this content to protect it from unauthorized access to the underlying database. Authorized administrators of the Service may still access account content when reasonably necessary for content moderation, responding to a safety concern, complying with a legal obligation, or troubleshooting the Service. We do not access private content to sell it, advertise against it, or share it with third parties for their own purposes.

6. Termination

You may delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your account for violation of these Terms. Upon termination, Your Content may be retained for a limited period as described in our Privacy Policy, then deleted, except where retention is required by law or a separate written agreement.

7. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

The Service is provided “as is.” We do not guarantee the accuracy of anything posted by members, and we are not responsible for offline interactions or disputes between members. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Townie is not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Service.

8. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Connecticut. Before filing any formal claim, please contact us so we can attempt to resolve the issue informally.

9. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We'll notify active members of material changes before they take effect.