Last updated 25 May 2019
At Citizen OS we believe that informed, rational and transparent decision making is the basis for peaceful and productive cooperation in any field of life and that people are happiest in communities, where such decision making is practiced. We recognize that we can only realize this vision through your Apps and tools, bringing our supercool functionality to your specific contexts and User groups around the world.
We’re excited that you’ve chosen to develop on Citizen OS Platform. We are working hard to create an ecosystem that supports your development time and effort in the best possible way. The API is a foundation of that ecosystem, so if you feel at any time that it doesn’t meet your needs or you have ideas for improving it, we are grateful for and will consider all feedback and suggestions.
We thrive on open dialogue and sincerely wish that common sense and good spirit will guide our cooperation. Hope you’ll have an awesome time using the API!
The Citizen OS API Terms of Use (the Terms) are made and entered into by and between Sihtasutus (a foundation) Citizen OS, a company established and registered under Estonian Commercial Code with registry code 90014709 (Citizen OS or we, us, our) and you (Developer or you).
We refer to the Terms, our Terms of Use, our Privacy and Cookies Policy and any other terms, rules, or guidelines on our services collectively as our “Legal Terms”.
By using the Citizen OS API (COS API) token (the Token) and accessing COS API, you are confirming that you have read and understood the Legal Terms and will agree to, respect and abide by them.
These Terms acts as a legal contract between us by providing and using the COS API. As we are a company registered in the Republic of Estonia, then this Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the Republic of Estonia, regardless of your country of origin or where you access the COS API.
You will see terms in our Terms that are capitalized. These terms have meanings as described in the Definitions section below.
USE OF THE COS API
Registration of Use
To access COS API, you will first need to register your application with us by writing to info@citizenos.com. When you’ve done that, we’ll issue you with a Token. Your Token is required for all calls to the COS API.
Your Token
Your Token is only for you and the people working on your application, website, or software product (the App) that you have empowered to use the Token. Please make sure you keep your Token a secret. You must not allow other people to use your Token. If your Token is lost, stolen or you believe that your Token has been used without your permission, you’ll need to tell us immediately. You must not use or attempt to use another person’s Token, unless you are working on their App and she/he has empowered you to use the Token.
API License
Citizen OS grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use our COS API. This license has the sole purpose of enabling you to use and enjoy the benefit of the COS API in the manner permitted by the Terms.
Revoking Your API Access
If we have a reason to believe that you are acting in breach of the Legal Terms or if we object to your use of the COS API for other motivated reasons, we will notify you and ask you to stop the breaching behavior. If you fail to comply with this request, we have the right to revoke your access to the COS API by invalidating your Token. Once you have restored compliance to the Legal Terms, have informed us thereof and we are satisfied with the fix, we will restore your Token or provide a new one.
In case of a severe breach of the Legal Terms or where a breach compromises the security of the Citizen OS Platform or Users thereof, we may revoke your access to the COS API as a protective measure and notify you post factum. Please do not attempt to circumvent revoking API access and obtain a new Token for the same App or behavior, as this is strictly prohibited and may result in us having to take legal action against you (which we really would rather not do).
Changes to the COS API
Citizen OS is still evolving and we need the flexibility to occasionally make changes to the COS API. We are currently not using COS API versioning, so all changes are made to the existing COS API. If and when we introduce COS API versions that are non-backwards compatible, we will maintain the previous version of the COS API for one (1) year, unless we notify otherwise.
We realize that changes to the COS API, which are non-backwards compatible, are very inconvenient for our development community. We therefore endeavor to make all updates to the COS API backwards compatible. When this is not possible, we will give sufficient prior notice via our public communication channels. You should adapt your App to use the most up-to-date version of the COS API promptly following notification by Citizen OS. Smaller, backwards compatible updates to the COS API may be made without notice, but if we add substantial functionality, we will notify the developer community, so you can update your App to make use of the update.
You can also suggest changes or create them yourself, using the Citizen OS API project in Github. You can find our long-term development plans at the same location. Our Github project should be the main channel for communicating about bugs and developments. However, you can also notify us of bugs, make development suggestions or service enquiries by writing to support@citizenos.com.
Uptime
COS API is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. Even though we make our best effort to ensure maximum uptime, since the COS API is provided for the time being free of charge, we guarantee no uptime nor accept any liability for downtime.
As soon as we find out, that the COS API is down or critically malfunctioning, we will do everything reasonably in our power to restore it and to inform our developer community of downtime via our public communication channels at the earliest possibility. We are also working on setting up status.citizenos.com, so you will be able to constantly see the uptime figures and status for our service. You can notify us of any disruptions you are experiencing in our service by writing to support@citizenos.com.
However, please understand, that we use cloud-based service providers for our servers, databases, storage and load balancing, so our uptime depends on their uptime (they have promised 99.95% uptime) and sometimes restoring the COS API may not be in our hands.
Fair Use
There are no specific rate limits to using COS API. The number of API calls by your App should not exceed a reasonable fair use limit. If they do and/or endanger our ability to provide services to our Users, we will notify you. We reserve the right to define specific rate limits (number and frequency of API calls) at our discretion at any time, giving reasonable prior notice to our development community. You should, therefore, design your App to operate as efficiently as possible.
CONTENT AND PRIVACY
User Content
Remember, it’s not your content nor Citizen OS’ content. All User Content on the Citizen OS Platform is owned by the User that created or uploaded it, regardless of the App or interface used to do it, and we must respect their rights at all times. Your App must not allow unidentified or anonymous users to create or upload any information; otherwise you are in breach of the Terms and must stop using COS API.
If the User has given explicit opt-in consent to make his/her User Content public, such User Content shall be considered public content (the Public Content). If the User has not given such consent, the User Content must be treated as private and confidential (the Private Content). All information relating to the User, or that might be used to identify the User, including but not limited to name, profile picture, username, password, digital signatures, votes cast and personal identity code, must be treated as personal data (the Personal Data) and fall under relevant data protection legislation.
You must not claim or attempt to claim ownership of any User Content, misrepresent yourself, your company or your App as being the owner of the User Content, or attempt to use, license or exploit any User Content on your own behalf or on behalf of any third party. When displaying or distributing User Content via your App, you must ensure that such User Content is always correctly attributed to the User, allowing for the exception described in Attributions section below. You must not use the COS API to upload User Content, create accounts, create topics, add groups, like or make comments on behalf of a User, unless those actions are specifically and deliberately initiated by the User via an authenticated use of your App. You must not use the COS API to impersonate any User. All requests for authenticated access to a User’s Citizen OS account must be made via the “Connect with Citizen OS” webview OAuth process. Apps are not permitted to store Personal Data or User Content from multiple Users in a single account. Each User must be able to authenticate and upload User Content from his/her own account.
You must always respect the usage restrictions set by Users, and in particular, you must not do any of the following things (or authorize or allow others to do them):
Please also bear in mind that all User Content available over the COS API has been created and uploaded by Users. We expect all of our Users only to upload content to which they own or control the relevant rights, but we cannot give you any guarantee that this will always be the case.
Personal Data and Privacy
We believe that all Users have a right to know what data is collected about them and how this data will be used. We expect anyone using the COS API to be equally transparent with respect to their collection and use of Personal Data.
We expect you to have a privacy policy in place which explains how you collect, store, process, transfer and use any Personal Data. Your privacy policy should adopt standards that are at least the same as in our Privacy and Cookies Policy when it comes to storage and use of Personal Data, and you must ensure that you comply with your privacy policy and relevant privacy and data protection legislation applicable to you at all times (in particular, any use of email addresses that our Users have chosen to share must be in line with relevant anti-spam laws).
We do not allow storage of Personal Data outside of European Economic Area or an area that is not recognized as providing the same level of data protection. If your servers are located or moved to such areas, you need to notify us immediately to negotiate an acceptable solution.
You must not request access to more Personal Data than you actually need for the effective operation of your App, and must not retain Personal Data for longer than is reasonably necessary. Make sure you look after the Personal Data you receive from Users, ensuring that the data is stored securely and is safe from unauthorized disclosure or loss.
Your App must not include any caching functionality, or otherwise be designed to cache, or persistently store any Personal Data or User Content, other than downloading or storing of User Content specifically and deliberately initiated by the User.
You must delete all Personal Data you have collected from a User upon request by that User, and when the User deauthorizes your App or closes his/her account with you.
Government Access
We will deal with all government data access requests on your behalf. You simply forward the request to us. You shall not knowingly allow or assist any government entities, law enforcement, or other organizations to conduct surveillance or obtain data using your access to the COS API.
Our vision is about open, inclusive discussions, societies and decision making. Therefore, you do not have the right to display, distribute or otherwise make available Personal Data, User Content or your App to any person or entity that you reasonably believe will use it to violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. You will not conduct and your App will not provide analyses or research that isolates a small group of individuals or any single individual for any unlawful or discriminatory purposes.
COMMERCIAL USE AND CHARGES FOR API
Use of the COS API is permitted for some commercial purposes. You may charge or ask donations for your App. However, you may not sell, rent, lease, sublicense, redistribute, or syndicate access to the COS API.
Access to the COS API is currently provided to you free of charge, but Citizen OS reserves the right start charging a fee for API use after January 1, 2018.
We’ll let you know at least six months in advance if we intend to start charging. All API clients, who have a valid Token on 01.01.2018, will not be charged any API use fees for at least six months from the date of notification.
You may place advertisements on and around your App. However, you may not:
a) place any advertisements within User Content or any other data uploaded into Citizen OS servers by your App;
b) allow third parties to use Personal Data or User Content you have received via the COS API for purposes of targeting advertisements.
ATTRIBUTION AND BRANDING
Attribution
When displaying User Content, you must ensure that your App:
An exception to the attribution rule number 1 stated above shall be made in cases when the User has created Public Content and has later deleted his/her Citizen OS account. In such cases, the Public Content shall be depersonalized and the content unattributed from the identifiable person of the User and replacing the attribution with an anonymous placeholder name, such as “Citizen###”, where ### stands for a number. Retaining the Public Content may be necessary for clarity of a discussion that has already taken place or for purposes of further processing the legislative proposals by the deleted User.
API Provider Notification
If you build an App on COS API, we ask you to also include a visible API provider notification on the main page of your App’s user interface, as recognition of the years of work we’ve put into creating the COS API. The API provider notification should include the following:
Citizen OS Marks
Citizen OS Marks and all of its content are protected by international, European Union and Estonian copyright laws and by trade dress, trademark, unfair competition and other relevant laws. The rights granted by these Terms do not include any general right to use Citizen OS Marks with respect to your App. However, subject to these Terms, we’re happy if you use certain Citizen OS Marks as described in the Terms. These rights apply on a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable basis, without any right to sub-license, and may be revoked by Citizen OS at any time.
We may occasionally provide buttons, logos and other branding elements featuring certain Citizen OS Marks for use within your app, including for the purposes of some of the attributions required above. We will let our developer community know, when such elements become available.
In addition to the API Provider Notification, you are welcome to use the name “Citizen OS” or our logo in other places and contexts, too, in order to describe the fact that your App connects to Citizen OS via the COS API. Please do not use our name in a way that takes unfair advantage of our goodwill or reputation. Also, you must not make any suggestion, directly or indirectly, that your App is an official Citizen OS app or is endorsed by Citizen OS, unless we have specifically agreed on this. The same applies to press releases.
To keep things clear for our Users, you must not use any Citizen OS Marks, or any confusingly similar mark, as the name or part of the name of your App (for example, “CitizenOSglobal”), or as part of any logo, icon or branding for your App. You must also not operate your App from any domain that includes the word “Citizen OS” or any obvious derivation or misspelling of the word “Citizen OS”, or from any domain that is likely to cause an end user to believe that your App originates from, or is endorsed by Citizen OS.
If we choose to feature your App on our website (which we don’t guarantee to do), you agree that we may use the name of your company and/or the name and logo of your App for this purpose. We may also use your company and App name and logo in presentations, reports, case studies, marketing materials and similar documentation for as long as you make use of the COS API.
GENERAL TERMS
Security and Prohibitions
There are a few general rules when it comes to use of the COS API:
Independent Development
While you and us pursue the same goals, we are nevertheless independent developers. You hereby acknowledge that Citizen OS may currently or in future develop apps and services that may be similar to or competitive with your App. Nothing in these Terms shall in any way limit, restrict or preclude Citizen OS from pursuing any of these, or any other, present or future business activities, opportunities or interests or from entering into any agreement or transaction with any person.
Confidentiality
Through your use of the COS API, you may come into contact with Confidential Information. As between you and Citizen OS, all Confidential Information remains the property of Citizen OS. You shall not use any of the Confidential Information except as strictly necessary for the development, testing and operation of your App, and you shall not disclose the Confidential Information or any part thereof to any third party. We undertake to do the same with respect to confidential information related to you and your App.
You shall take all reasonable precautions to prevent the unauthorized disclosure or dissemination of the Confidential Information, and if you are a company or other organization, you shall limit distribution of the Confidential Information to those of your employees who need to know the same in connection with the development, testing and operation of your App.
Within five days of a request from Citizen OS, and in any event of termination of this agreement created by these Terms, you shall delete Confidential Information from all of your networks and systems. This provision shall survive any termination of the agreement created by these Terms.
Liability for User Content
It is our goal to build a discussion and decision-making platform, where individual responsibility is paramount and the community participating in the discussion is able to self-moderate that discussion. We will therefore make available warnings for potentially offensive content, community moderation, User Content editing and deletion and every other tool we can think of, to allow Users to take responsibility for their own content. If you decide not to include some of that functionality in your App, the responsibility for that decision and its possible consequences rests with you.
We therefore exclude, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any and all liability which may arise from any User Content uploaded to the Citizen OS platform by Users, including, but not limited to, any claims for infringement of intellectual property rights, rights of privacy or publicity rights, any claims relating to publication of defamatory, pornographic, obscene or offensive material, or any claims relating to the completeness, accuracy, currency or reliability of any information provided by Users.
You hereby acknowledge and agree that:
Disclaimer
The COS API, the Citizen OS Platform, the Citizen OS Marks and all User Content and Personal Data accessed through or via the COS API, are provided “as is” and “as available” basis. While we use all reasonable endeavors to correct any errors or omissions on the Citizen OS Platform as soon as practicable once they have been brought to our attention, we make no promises, guarantees, representations or warranties of any kind whatsoever (express or implied) regarding the Citizen OS Platform, the COS API or any part or parts thereof, the Citizen OS Marks or any User Content or Personal Data, including, without limitation, any warranty of non-infringement, or any guarantee that any particular item(s) of User Content is, are or will be available on the Citizen OS platform and/or will be accessible via the COS API at any or all times or at all. Citizen OS does not warrant that any User Content is cleared for the use that you intend to make of it via your App and does not provide you with the benefit of any licenses (on a pass through basis or otherwise) that Citizen OS may have or obtain with respect to any User Content and any such benefit that might otherwise be granted or implied as a matter of law is hereby excluded. Citizen OS does not warrant that your use of the COS API will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the Citizen OS platform, the COS API, the User Content or Personal Data or any part or parts thereof, or the servers on which the Citizen OS platform operates are or will be free of viruses or other harmful components. Citizen OS does not warrant that any calls to the COS API or any transmission of User Content will be secure or that any elements of the Citizen OS platform designed to prevent unauthorized access, sharing or download of User Content will be effective in any and all cases, and does not warrant that your use of the Citizen OS Platform or the COS API is lawful in any particular jurisdiction.
Citizen OS and its subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, and assigns, and their respective employees, agents, directors and officers, specifically disclaim all of the foregoing warranties to the fullest extent permitted by law, together with any express or implied warranties regarding non-infringement, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
Where the law of applicable jurisdiction limits or prohibits the disclaimer of implied or other warranties as set out in the Terms, the disclaimers shall not apply to the extent that the law prescribes.
Limitation of Liability
Citizen OS and its subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, and assigns, and their respective employees, agents, directors, and officers, shall have no liability for any loss or damage arising from:
Notwithstanding any other provision of these Terms, Citizen OS’s total liability to you under these Terms, whether in contract, statute, tort or in any other circumstances shall not exceed fifty euros (€50) in aggregate.
Citizen OS shall not be liable for any direct, special, indirect, incidental, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, including without limitation lost revenues, profits, sales or business, loss of use or data, which may result from the use of, access to, or inability to use the COS API.
This limitation of liability shall apply regardless of whether (a) we knew or should have known about the possibility of such damages, or (b) the limited remedies provided in this section fail their essential purpose. This limitation of liability shall not apply to any damage that Citizen OS caused you intentionally in violation of the Terms or applicable law.
The provisions of this section allocate the risks under this agreement between the parties and parties have relied on these limitations in determining whether to enter into this agreement.
Indemnification
You hereby agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Citizen OS, its successors, assigns, affiliates, agents, directors, officers and employees from and against any and all claims, obligations, damages, losses, expenses, and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, resulting from:
Term and Termination
These Terms will go into effect on the date upon which you agree to them, by accessing or using the COS API, and will continue until terminated as set forth herein.
You may terminate the agreement created by your acceptance of these Terms at any time by notifying Citizen OS via email, whereupon Citizen OS will revoke your Token, or by simply discontinuing use of COS API.
Citizen OS may terminate the agreement created by your acceptance of these Terms at any time, and may revoke your Token at any time, in circumstances described in these Terms as determined by Citizen OS at its discretion. We may also suspend or discontinue the COS API at any time and for any reason, which will also constitute termination of these Terms by us.
On termination, all rights granted hereunder shall cease. You shall immediately cease all use of the COS API, shall remove any and all Citizen OS Marks from your App or any advertising, marketing and promotional materials related thereto, shall destroy all Confidential Information, and shall delete for good all User Content and Personal Data. We undertake to do the same with reference to your App.
The provisions of these Terms that are intended by their nature to survive termination will survive termination.
Miscellaneous
The Terms set forth the entire agreement and understanding of the parties relating to their subject matter and cancel and supersede any prior or contemporaneous discussions, agreements, representations, warranties, and other communications between them. No modification or amendment to the Terms shall be binding upon Citizen OS unless in a written instrument signed by a duly authorized representative of Citizen OS. You acknowledge that, in providing you access to and use of the COS API, Citizen OS has relied on your agreement to be legally bound by these Terms.
As a condition of your use of the COS API, you agree not to use the COS API for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by Legal Terms.
Use of the COS API by you is unauthorized in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions contained in this agreement.
You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment or agency relationship exists between you and Citizen OS as a result of this agreement.
If any part of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations specified above, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remainder of the agreement will remain in full force and effect.
You and we irrevocably consent to the exclusive and personal jurisdiction and venue of Harju County Court in Republic of Estonia with respect to any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms and agreement. A printed version of this agreement shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this agreement to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form.
Citizen OS may assign its rights and (where permissible by law) its obligations under these Terms, in whole or in part, to any third party at any time without notice, including without limitation, to any person or entity acquiring all or substantially all of the assets or business of Citizen OS. You may not assign your rights and duties hereunder, in whole or in part, to any third party without the prior written consent of Citizen OS. These Terms are not intended to give rights to anyone except you and Citizen OS, save that Users shall be entitled to enforce these Terms as third-party beneficiaries insofar as these Terms apply to any unauthorized use of their User Content, Personal Data or other proprietary rights.
We may revise the Terms from time to time. The changes will not be retroactive, and the most current version of the Terms, which will always be at available at our website, will govern our relationship with you. Other than for changes addressing new functions or made for legal reasons, we will notify you 30 days in advance of making effective changes to the Terms that impact the rights or obligations of any party to this Terms via our public communication channels. By continuing to access or use the COS API after those revisions become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised Terms.
The official contact address for any issues concerning these Terms is info@citizenos.com.