Terms of Service
The rules and agreement for using the Discussions platform
1.Agreement to Terms
These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you and Discussions ("Company," "we," "us," or "our") governing your access to and use of the discussions.world website, mobile applications, and all related services (collectively, the "Platform").
By creating an account or using the Platform, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.
2.Who May Use the Platform
- You must be at least 13 years of age to use the Platform
- If you are between 13 and 17, you must have parental or guardian consent
- You must have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement
- You must not be prohibited from using the Platform under applicable law
- One account per person — creating multiple accounts to circumvent restrictions is prohibited
3.What the Platform Is
Discussions is a participatory research engine. The Platform enables structured public discourse and converts that discourse into research-grade intelligence products. When you participate — posting comments, voting in polls, responding to surveys, engaging with topics — your behavioral data becomes part of the research record.
By participating in any project on the Platform, you acknowledge and consent to this use of your aggregated, de-identified data.
4.Account Registration
- You must provide accurate and complete information when creating an account
- You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials
- You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account
- You must notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account at legal@discussions.world
- We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that provide false information
5.User Content
5.1 Your Content
You retain ownership of the content you post on the Platform (comments, messages, photos, survey responses). By posting content, you grant Discussions a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, store, display, reproduce, and include that content in research outputs and Platform operations.
5.2 Content Standards
You agree not to post content that:
- Is false, misleading, or defamatory
- Is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, or discriminatory
- Infringes any intellectual property, privacy, or other rights of any person
- Contains malware, viruses, or any harmful code
- Constitutes spam, commercial solicitation, or unauthorized advertising
- Reveals private information about another person without their consent
- Impersonates any person or entity
- Is sexually explicit or involves minors in any inappropriate manner
5.3 Content Moderation
We reserve the right to remove any content that violates these Terms or that we determine, in our sole discretion, is harmful to the Platform or its users. We are not obligated to monitor all content but may do so.
6.Research Participation and Data Use
6.1 Consent to Research
The Platform operates under the Causal Temporal Participation Framework (CTPF), a structured research methodology. Participation constitutes informed consent to the collection and analysis of your behavioral data as described in our Privacy Policy and these Terms.
6.2 Anonymization
Research outputs are aggregated and de-identified before any disclosure to third parties. Individual participants are never identified in research products. Your voluntary self-description labels (e.g., professional background) may appear as categorical signals in aggregated analysis.
6.3 Expert Participation
If you are designated as a subject matter expert within a project, your contributions are tagged as expert-sourced in the research record. This designation is disclosed to you at the time it is applied. Expert-sourced contributions carry additional analytical weight in research outputs.
6.4 Consent Withdrawal
You may withdraw consent to research participation at any time through your account privacy settings. Withdrawal applies to future data collection. Data already incorporated into completed research products cannot be retroactively removed from those products as individual re-identification in de-identified aggregates is not technically feasible.
7.Token Economy
7.1 Tokens
The Platform uses a token system for certain premium features including AI-powered queries, document generation, data exports, and research paper generation. Tokens are purchased with real currency and have no cash value.
7.2 Pricing
- Starter Pack: 50 tokens for $5.00
- Standard Pack: 200 tokens for $15.00
- Pro Pack: 500 tokens for $30.00
Token pricing is subject to change with 30 days notice to existing users.
7.3 Token Use Costs
- AI query: 1 token
- Document generation: 5 tokens
- CSV export: 10 tokens
- JSON export: 25 tokens
- Research paper generation: 15 tokens
7.4 Refunds
Token purchases are non-refundable except where required by applicable law. If you believe tokens were incorrectly charged or consumed, contact us at legal@discussions.world within 30 days.
7.5 Subscription Plans
- Free: Limited participation, basic features
- Pro: $15/month — expanded participation limits, priority access
- Business: $99/month — full platform access, research outputs, token allocation
Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled before the renewal date. You may cancel at any time from your account settings.
8.Prohibited Conduct
You agree not to:
- Attempt to circumvent, disable, or interfere with Platform security features
- Use automated tools, bots, or scrapers to access or extract Platform data
- Attempt to reverse engineer, decompile, or extract source code from the Platform
- Create fake accounts or manipulate participation data
- Use the Platform to conduct research on other users without their knowledge beyond the disclosed Platform research framework
- Interfere with other users' enjoyment of the Platform
- Use the Platform for any unlawful purpose
- Attempt to access accounts or data belonging to other users
- Systematically download or copy Platform content
9.Intellectual Property
9.1 Platform IP
The Platform, including its software, design, methodology, and branding, is owned by Discussions and protected by applicable intellectual property law including USPTO Provisional Patent Application No. 63/999,190. You may not copy, reproduce, or create derivative works from any part of the Platform without express written permission.
9.2 CTPF Methodology
The Causal Temporal Participation Framework (CTPF) is a proprietary research methodology developed by Discussions. Use of the Platform does not grant you any license to the methodology itself.
9.3 Research Outputs
Research intelligence products generated from Platform data are owned by Discussions. Buyers and licensees of research products receive a limited license to use those products for internal purposes only unless otherwise specified in a separate agreement.
10.Privacy
Your use of the Platform is subject to our Privacy Policy, available at discussions.world/privacy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference.
11.Third-Party Services
The Platform integrates with third-party services including Cloudflare (infrastructure), Stripe (payments), Mapbox (mapping), and GDELT (news data). Your use of these services within the Platform is subject to their respective terms of service. We are not responsible for the practices of third-party services.
12.Disclaimers
The Platform is provided 'as is' and 'as available' without warranties of any kind, express or implied. We do not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components.
The Platform is a research and discourse tool. Discussions, poll results, and sentiment data on the Platform reflect participant opinions and do not constitute professional advice of any kind including legal, medical, financial, or political advice.
13.Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Discussions shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the Platform, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Our total liability to you for any claim arising from these Terms or your use of the Platform shall not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim, or (b) $100.
14.Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Discussions and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from your use of the Platform, your content, or your violation of these Terms.
15.Termination
We may suspend or terminate your account at any time for violation of these Terms, conduct harmful to other users or the Platform, or for any other reason at our discretion with or without notice.
You may terminate your account at any time through your account settings. Upon termination, your right to use the Platform ceases immediately. Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination will survive, including intellectual property provisions, disclaimers, and limitations of liability.
16.Governing Law and Disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States. Any dispute arising from these Terms or your use of the Platform shall be resolved through binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association, except that either party may seek injunctive relief in court for intellectual property violations.
You waive any right to participate in a class action lawsuit or class-wide arbitration.
17.Changes to Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by email and by posting a notice on the Platform at least 14 days before changes take effect. Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance.
18.Contact
Questions about these Terms:
- Email: support@discussions.world
- Website: discussions.world/terms