Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using Treetag ("the Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use the Service. Treetag is a community platform for discovering, tagging, and caring for trees in Charlton Kings and the surrounding area.

2. User Accounts

To access certain features of the Service, you must register for an account. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and to keep your account credentials secure. You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.

You must be at least 13 years old to create an account. By registering, you confirm that you meet this requirement. We do not require email verification at this time, but we reserve the right to verify your identity or email address at any point.

3. User-Generated Content

Treetag allows users to submit observations, photographs, tree data, and other content ("User Content"). By submitting User Content, you grant Treetag a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use, display, reproduce, and distribute that content in connection with the Service, including on public tree profile pages and the interactive map.

You retain ownership of your User Content. You are solely responsible for ensuring your content does not infringe any third-party rights, is accurate, and complies with applicable law. Photographs you upload may be publicly visible on tree profiles.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Post content that is harmful, offensive, misleading, or deliberately inaccurate
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Service or other users' accounts
• Submit false or fabricated tree observations or health reports
• Use the Service for any commercial purpose without prior written consent
• Scrape, crawl, or harvest data from the Service in an automated manner
• Manipulate the points or leaderboard system through fraudulent activity
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service or its infrastructure

For full details on expected behaviour, prohibited content, and enforcement, please see our Acceptable Use Policy.

5. Tree Adoption & Guardianship

The "adopt a tree" and guardianship features are symbolic and do not confer any legal ownership, property rights, or responsibilities over any physical tree. Users who adopt a tree voluntarily commit to monitoring and reporting on that tree's condition through the Service.

Treetag is not responsible for the physical condition of any tree. Do not attempt to perform tree surgery, treatment, or removal based on observations made on the platform. Contact your local council for tree-related concerns.

6. Points & Gamification

The Service awards points for activities such as submitting observations, tagging trees, and contributing photos. Points are used for community leaderboards and have no monetary value. They cannot be exchanged, transferred, or redeemed outside the platform. We reserve the right to adjust point values or reset points if abuse is detected.

7. QR Codes

Trees on the platform may be assigned physical QR codes that link to their digital profile. Tampering with, removing, or vandalising QR codes placed on or near trees is prohibited. QR codes remain the property of the Treetag project.

8. Third-Party Data

The Service may incorporate data from third-party sources such as iNaturalist for biodiversity records. Such data is provided under its original licence terms and Treetag makes no claims of ownership over it. Attribution will be provided where required.

9. Limitation of Liability

Treetag is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind, express or implied. We do not guarantee the accuracy of tree data, species identification, health assessments, or user observations. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Treetag and its contributors shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Service.

10. Termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account at any time for violations of these Terms or for any behaviour that harms the community. You may delete your account at any time through your account settings. Upon deletion, your personal data will be removed in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

11. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Continued use of the Service after changes are published constitutes acceptance of the new Terms. We will notify users of significant changes via the platform.

12. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes arising from or relating to the Service shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

13. Contact

If you have any questions about these Terms, please email us at [email protected].