bancino.net Homeserver Agreement
This document is an official agreement between Jordan Bancino, the bancino.net homeserver operator,
and you, the user of this homeserver. It is my goal to make sure you understand these
terms fully, so I've done my best to write in plain English.
This document is heavily inspired by the matrix.org terms and conditions, privacy policy,
and code of conduct. It is written with the implied consent of matrix.org.
bancino.net.
By registering for an account on the homeserver, you agree to the privacy policy and terms and conditions stated in this document. If you do not agree with the contents of this document, do not register for an account on this homeserver. If you have already registered for an account before accepting the contents of this document, you may deactivate your account, or contact me so I can deactivate your account for you.
If you do not agree with the contents of this document, you are highly encouraged to check out some other public Matrix homeservers.
This is considered a living document. As such, it can change without prior notice to you. Please check it frequently and ensure that you are still in agreement before continuing your use of the homeserver. Your continued use of the homeserver is contingent on your acceptance of the latest version of this document.
This document is open to suggestions. If you have changes that you think should be made, feel free to reach out to me via email or Matrix—from another homeserver, of course. This document is intended to cover all users. As such, I do not cover special cases.
If you violate the terms of this document, you are no longer allowed to use this homeserver. I have the right to restrict or remove your access to the homeserver without prior notice at my sole discretion.
I do not claim any rights over any content posted or uploaded to the server. I will not be held liable should anyone that you have shared data—be it files or messages—copy or redistribute it, or violate the terms of use you may have imposed.
That being said, I wish to prevent spam and other abuse. I may remove messages, files, or entire rooms for any reason at my sole discretion. By posting content to the homeserver, you acknowledge that you have the right to post that content, and that I have the right to take it down for any reason.
You assume all responsibility for and risks associated with using my homeserver. I make no guarantees regarding the integrity of data you post. Additionally, you acknowledge that by using my homeserver, you may be exposed to content you find objectionable. You are more than welcome to report it to me, but I will apply these terms and conditions to the content as I see fit.
I make no guarantees that the homeserver will be accessible at all times. While I myself am heavily dependent on the homeserver and so strive to make sure it is always available, that is not always possible.
I am not liable for any failure to store your data. If the homeserver is somehow corrupted, and data is lost, I will do my best to resetore from backups and recover as much as I can, but I make no guarantees.
By using my homeserver, you agree that you will not:
Furthermore, when you are posting to public rooms, I request that you:
Note that I do not place most of these restrictions on private, end-to-end encrypted communications. Such restrictions are beyond my means to enforce, and while I would encourage you to act morally in all cases, both public and private, I cannot stop the consensual private exchange of any messages or files. I believe in digital freedom. This means not only my freedom, but your freedom too. I don't want unnecessary restrictions placed on me, so I strive not to place unnecessary restrictions on others either. The restrictions I have placed here are mainly to maintain a friendly and welcoming environment, and to ensure that my homeserver can interact meaningfully with other homeservers. I will not tolerate any behavior that could possibly land my homeserver on a blacklist. I am loaning you my resources, it is your job to respect them.
That being said, it is also my job to protect you. If you have received an unwanted or unwelcome message from someone you do not know, report it to me, so I can take the appropriate action against them.
Room aliases are on a first-come, first-serve basis, however, I reserve the right to claim ownership over any room alias on the homeserver that I wish. I may modify or remove room aliases as I see fit. But other than that, no restrictions to room aliases apply. Outside organizations or users cannot claim ownership of a room alias if it has been taken by someone else already. In cases where you want a taken room alias, you can try to contact the owner.
The Matrix protocol heavily utilizes encryption, which may be in violation of the local statutes of your country, state, or other authoritative governing body. It is your job to assess the risk in using the homeserver in places where it is unlawful to do so, however I believe that privacy and encryption are a fundamental right, so I will not terminate your use of the homeserver even if your use is unlawful due to the use of encryption or other privacy mechanisms under your local jurisdiction.
Users may post content that links to third parties. This does not imply an endorsement by me of those links or the content behind them. I have no control over them, so use your best discretion when taking links to third parties.
The homeserver is provided as is, without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement. In no event shall I be liable for any claim, damages, or other liability, whether in action of contract, tort, or otherwise, arising from, out of or in connection with the homeserver or the use of other dealings in the homeserver.
I offer no assurances that the homeserver will meet your requirements or remain uninterrupted, secure, or error-free. Furthermore, I do not guarantee that any errors or defects will be corrected, although as stated earlier, I depend on this homeserver just as much as you, so I'm certainly going to make sure things are working well.
As this is a service any user can register for, I do not control, endorse, or otherwise accept responsibility for any content posted here, except for my own. You use the homeserver at your own risk.
The only data that the homeserver collects and stores is data that is given willfully given to it in order to take advantage of the homeserver's functionality. This includes the Matrix username, password, display name, and any other account information. Generated information such as log files containing IP addresses are also kept, but are only reviewed in the event of a server malfunction or error, or to block an unruly user. No data is used to profile or otherwise attempt to identify users beyond what they use to identify themselves.
No data is sent to any third parties beyond what is required for the homeserver to function as intended. I run the homeserver on my own hardware, so it is as much under my control as possible. Of course, I can make no guarantees that my internet service provider is not capturing raw packet data, but they should not be able to get any personally identifiable information out of that because my Matrix server forces all traffic to be encrypted with TLS.
My server is powered by open-source software that has been heavily audited by a number of reputable parties to ensure security and privacy.
Note that Matrix is a federated protocol; so your data may be sent to other homeservers if you choose to send messages to users on those homeservers. Of course, that is entirely optional. If you keep all your communications on this homeserver, then absolutely none of your data gets sent anywhere else. But if you do choose to send messages to users on other homeservers, you should consult the privacy policies of those homeservers to see how they use your data.
I am the sole owner of my server infrastructure. I am the only person that has access to it, and I give you my word that, except when absolutely necessary to prevent abuse, I will not view, act on, or otherwise take advantage of any data stored on the homeserver. The reason I host the homeserver is that I don't trust any other means of communication. I don't trust other homeservers either. I've set out to create the most secure homeserver that I possibly can, and I want others to benefit from my efforts as well.
It is important to point out that all private messages are end-to-end encrypted by default. This means that my server does not even have access to the contents of these messages in the first place. The only rooms that are unencrypted are ones that are explicitly set to public at their creation time. Encryption is not necessary for these rooms because their contents are meant to be publicly available anyway. However, if you creat direct messages to other users, or private rooms, anything sent will be end-to-end encrypted.