Terms of Service

Welcome to the Star Sailors community! These terms help us maintain a respectful, scientific environment where everyone can contribute to real space exploration and discovery.

Effective: July 27, 2025Applies to all users

Community Guidelines Summary

Be Respectful

Treat fellow explorers with kindness and scientific curiosity

Stay Scientific

Keep content factual, educational, and research-focused

Follow Laws

Comply with applicable laws and platform policies

🤝 Agreement to Terms

By creating an account or using Star Sailors, you agree to these Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree with any part of these terms, please don't use our platform.

🔬 Our Mission

Star Sailors is a citizen science platform that connects space enthusiasts with real astronomical research. Your contributions help scientists discover new planets, asteroids, and cosmic phenomena. These terms ensure our community remains focused on this important work.

👥 Community Code of Conduct

✅ We Encourage

Scientific discussion about your discoveries

Helpful comments that improve data quality

Educational content about astronomy and space

Constructive questions about observations

Collaborative research with other users

Sharing knowledge and learning from others

Reporting bugs or suggesting improvements

Celebrating discoveries made by community members

Following scientific methods in classifications

Respectful disagreement backed by evidence

❌ Prohibited Content & Behavior

Harassment or bullying of any kind

Hate speech based on identity or beliefs

Spam or irrelevant content unrelated to astronomy

False or misleading scientific information

Personal attacks on other users

Inappropriate sexual content or imagery

Violent or threatening language

Copyright infringement or plagiarism

Deliberate misinformation or conspiracy theories

Commercial advertising without permission

⚠️ Enforcement

We reserve the right to remove content or suspend accounts that violate these guidelines. Our approach is always educational first:

1. First offense: Warning and education about community standards

2. Repeated issues: Temporary suspension with explanation

3. Severe violations: Permanent account suspension

📝 Your Content & Our Rights

Content You Create

  • • You retain ownership of comments, classifications, and other content you create
  • • You're responsible for ensuring your content is accurate and appropriate
  • • You grant us permission to display, store, and use your content within the platform
  • • Your scientific contributions may be included in research datasets (anonymized)

Platform Rights

  • • We can moderate, edit, or remove content that violates these terms
  • • We may use your contributions for scientific research and publication
  • • We can improve our algorithms using anonymized user interaction data
  • • We reserve the right to suspend accounts for terms violations

🌟 Research Contributions

Your discoveries and classifications contribute to real scientific research! When your work is included in research papers or datasets, you'll be credited as part of the Star Sailors community. Individual contributors may be acknowledged in major discoveries.

🛠️ Platform Usage & Restrictions

Acceptable Use

  • • Use the platform for its intended scientific purpose
  • • Make good faith efforts to classify accurately
  • • Respect other users and their contributions
  • • Report bugs and technical issues responsibly
  • • Follow all applicable laws and regulations

Prohibited Activities

  • • Attempting to hack, exploit, or break the platform
  • • Creating multiple accounts to manipulate results
  • • Automated classification without explicit permission
  • • Selling or transferring your account to others
  • • Interfering with other users' ability to use the platform

⚖️ Legal Requirements & Disclaimers

🌍 Compliance with Laws

By using Star Sailors, you agree to comply with all applicable laws, including:

• International copyright and intellectual property laws

• Local data protection and privacy regulations

• Content moderation and community standards

• Export control and scientific data sharing rules

• Terms of service for third-party integrations

• Platform-specific policies (Google Cloud Platform, etc.)

⚠️ Service Disclaimers

• Star Sailors is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind

• We don't guarantee the accuracy of astronomical data or user classifications

• The platform may experience downtime, data loss, or technical issues

• Scientific results are subject to peer review and may change over time

• We're not liable for decisions made based on platform data

📋 Google Cloud Platform Compliance

Star Sailors operates on Google Cloud Platform and complies with their Acceptable Use Policy. This includes restrictions on illegal content, harassment, and technical abuse. Content that violates Google's policies may result in service suspension.

🚪 Account Termination

Your Right to Leave

• You can delete your account at any time through your profile settings

• Account deletion removes your personal information from our systems

• Your scientific contributions may remain in anonymized research datasets

• We'll process deletion requests within 30 days

When We May Suspend Accounts

• Repeated violations of community guidelines

• Attempts to harm the platform or other users

• Legal requirements or law enforcement requests

• Technical security concerns or abuse

📞 Questions & Updates

Have Questions?

If you have questions about these terms, need to report content, or want to discuss community guidelines, we're here to help.

Email us at: liam@skinetics.tech

Terms Updates

We may update these terms as the platform evolves. We'll notify users of significant changes and give you time to review them before they take effect.

Current version: 1.0 (July 27, 2025)
Next review: January 2026

Together, we explore the cosmos responsibly and respectfully.