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Element Terms of Use.
PLEASE READ THIS TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS PLATFORM
1. What's in these Terms of Use?
These Terms of Use tell you the rules for using Element.io software and services (collectively, our
platform). Our software and services may be hosted by us or a third-party organisation (which
may or may not be a direct customer of Element).
These Terms of Use are aimed at any individuals using the platform, whether those individuals are
themselves direct customers of Element, or are granted access to the platform by a customer of
Element.
2. Who we are and how to contact us
The Element platform is provided by Element Creations Limited formerly known as New Vector
Limited (a company registered in England and Wales under company number 10873661, with
registered office at 10 Queen Street Place, London, United Kingdom, EC4R 1AG), its French
subsidiary: Element Software SARL, its U.S. subsidiary: Element Software Inc, its German
subsidiary: Element Software GmbH and their agents (trading as Element) (hereinafter referred to
as "We" or “Us”).
We are a limited company.
To contact us, please email [email protected].
3. By using our platform you agree to comply with these Terms of
Use
By using our platform, you confirm that you accept these Terms of Use and that you agree to
comply with them. You must be at least 16 years old to use our platform.
If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, you must not use our platform.
You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access our platform through your
internet connection are aware of these Terms of Use and other applicable terms and conditions,
and that they comply with them.
4. There are other terms that may apply to you
These Terms of Use refers to the following additional terms, which also apply to your use of our
platform:
● Our Privacy Policy, Element Privacy Policy.
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● Our Cookie Policy, Element Cookie Policy, which sets out information about the cookies on
our platform.
If you are using our services, the terms relevant to you in our Legal section https://element.io/legal
will apply.
If you are using the platform because an organisation for which you work or with which you are
associated has purchased services from us, or an organisation has otherwise granted you access
to their instance of the platform, there may be additional requirements for you to comply with set
out in our contract with that organisation. Generally this will be the entity whose homeserver is
running the platform. Further, that organisation may impose its own requirements and terms on you
when using our platform that you should comply with. The organisation in question should notify
you of such requirements and terms.
5. We may make changes to these Terms of Use
We may amend these Terms of Use from time to time. Every time you wish to use our platform,
please check these Terms of Use to ensure you understand the terms that apply at that time.
These Terms of Use were most recently updated on 10 November 2023.
6. We may suspend or withdraw our platform
We do not guarantee that our platform, or any content on it, will always be available or be
uninterrupted. We may suspend or withdraw or restrict the availability of all or any part of our
platform for business and operational reasons. We will try to give you reasonable notice of any
suspension or withdrawal.
7. You must keep your account details safe
If you choose, or you are provided with, a password, encryption keys, or any other piece of
information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential.
You must not disclose it to any third party and you must store it securely.
You should make use of cross-signed device verification for devices accessing your account and
minimise the number of verified devices by periodically reviewing and removing unused, lost or
stolen devices.
We have the right to deactivate and/or delete your account and password, at any time, if in our
reasonable opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these Terms of Use.
If you know, or suspect that anyone other than you knows, your password or encryption key, you
must promptly notify the manager of your homeserver. If we are the manager, contact us at
[email protected].
8. Open-Source Commitment
Element is a software company that supports and incorporates Open-Source Software
components into its software, with the platform (excluding such software that is proprietary to
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Element and not made available as Open-Source Software) being made available as Open-Source
Software in accordance with the applicable open-source licence terms as referenced in the source
code repository accessible via the Element website.
Nothing in these Terms of Use in respect to any Open-Source Software component provided by us
is intended to conflict with the applicable open-source licence, and in the event of any conflict the
applicable open-source licence shall prevail.
9. How you may use material on our platform
We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in our platform, and in the
material published on it. Those works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the
world. Except in respect of those parts of the platform made available as Open-Source Software,
all such rights are reserved.
Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of content on our platform must
always be acknowledged (except where the content is user-generated).
Except in respect of those parts of the platform made available as Open-Source Software, you
must not use any part of the content on our platform for commercial purposes without obtaining a
licence to do so from us or our licensors.
If you copy, download, share or repost any part of our platform in breach of these Terms of Use,
your right to use our platform will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy
any copies of the materials you have made.
10. Do not rely on information on this platform
The content on our platform is provided for general information only. It is not intended to amount to
advice on which you should rely. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking,
or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our platform.
We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the
content on our platform is accurate, complete or up to date.
11. We are not responsible for platforms we link to
Where our platform contains links to other sites or platforms and resources provided by third
parties, these links are provided for your information only. Such links should not be interpreted as
approval by us of those linked sites or platforms or information you may obtain from them.
We have no control over the content of those sites, platforms or resources.
12. User-generated content is not approved by us
This platform may include information and materials uploaded by other users of the platform,
including to social media pages, video-sharing platforms, bulletin boards and chat rooms. This
information and these materials have not been verified or approved by us. The views expressed by
other users on our platform do not represent our views or values.
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13. How to complain about or report content hosted by Element
If you become aware of any material hosted on Element servers that could comprise or be
connected to child sexual abuse or exploitation or that could comprise terrorist content or be
connected to terrorism, you may contact us on [email protected].
Please note that we have limited ability to moderate hosted cloud customers content (we cannot
amend or delete content or suspend users) as we are generally not provided with access to such
content by the customer.
If we receive any such complaint about content, we shall contact the customer with the details
provided to us, and this shall be the extent of the action we can be required to take.
14. How to complain about or report content not hosted by Element
If you wish to complain about any other content not hosted on Element servers, including self
hosted customers, please also contact us on [email protected].
Please note that we have limited ability to moderate content or users in any way (we cannot amend
or delete content or suspend users) as we are generally not provided with access to such content
by the owner of the homeserver hosting the platform.
If we receive any such complaint about content, we shall contact the owner of the homeserver with
the details provided to us, and this shall be the extent of the action we can be required to take.
In some circumstances we may be able to (but shall not be obliged to) render certain homeservers
as unsearchable or apply a “not safe for work” or “NSFW” filter against said homeserver or room.
15. Our responsibility for loss or damage suffered by you
15.1. Whether you are a consumer or a business user:
● We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do
so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the
negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors and for fraud or fraudulent
misrepresentation.
● Different limitations and exclusions of liability will apply to liability arising as a result of the
supply of any services by Element, which will be set out in the relevant terms and
conditions that apply to the services being provided: https://element.io/legal.
15.2. If you are a business user:
● We exclude all implied conditions, warranties, representations or other terms that may
apply to our platform or any content on it.
● We will not be liable to you for any loss or damage, whether in contract, tort (including
negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, even if foreseeable, arising under or in
connection with:
○ use of, or inability to use, our platform; or
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○ use of or reliance on any content displayed on our platform.
In particular, we will not be liable for:
○ loss of profits, sales, business, or revenue;
○ business interruption;
○ loss of anticipated savings;
○ loss of business opportunity, goodwill or reputation; or
○ any indirect or consequential loss or damage.
15.3. If you are a consumer user:
Please note that we only provide our platform for domestic and private use. You agree not to use
our platform for any commercial or business purposes, and we have no liability to you for any loss
of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.
16. Uploading content to our platform
Whenever you make use of a feature that allows you to upload content to our platform, or to make
contact with other users of our platform, you must comply with the sections below headed
Prohibited uses and Content standards.
You warrant that any such contribution does comply with those sections, and you will be liable to
us and indemnify us for any breach of that warranty. This means you will be responsible for any
loss or damage we suffer as a result of your breach of warranty.
You retain all of your ownership rights in your content, and any third-party shall retain ownership
rights in their content that is uploaded to the platform, but you are required to grant us a limited
licence to use, store and copy that content and (if federation is enabled for your server) to
distribute and make it available to third parties, including other users of our platform. The rights
you licence to us are described in Rights you are giving us to use material you upload. You must
also ensure that you have the right to upload content to the platform.
We also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any content
posted or uploaded by you to our platform constitutes a violation of their intellectual property
rights or of their right to privacy.
We have the right to remove any posting you make on our platform if, in our opinion, your post
does not comply with the sections below headed Prohibited uses and Content standards.
You are solely responsible for securing and backing up your content.
You must not upload any material that could incite a terrorist offence, solicit any person to
participate in terrorist activities, provide instruction on any method or technique for committing a
terrorist offence or threaten to commit a terrorist offence.
17. Prohibited uses
You may not use our platform:
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● In any way that breaches any applicable local, national or international law or regulation.
● In any way that is unlawful or fraudulent or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or
effect.
● For the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors in any way.
● To bully, insult, intimidate or humiliate any person.
● To send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does not
comply with the section below headed Content standards.
● To transmit, or procure the sending of, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or
promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation (spam).
● To knowingly transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses, Trojan
horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful
programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any
computer software or hardware. In any way that involves child sexual exploitation or abuse.
● To upload terrorist content.
You also agree:
● Not to reproduce, duplicate, copy or re-sell any part of our platform in contravention of
these Terms of Use.
● Not to access without authority, interfere with, damage or disrupt:
○ any part of our platform;
○ any equipment or network on which our platform is stored;
○ any software used in the provision of our platform; or
○ any equipment or network or software owned or used by any third party.
18. Interactive services
The services provided on our platform are generally interactive, including, without limitation:
● Video-sharing facilities.
● Chat rooms.
● Bulletin boards.
We are under no obligation to oversee, monitor or moderate any part of our platform, and we
expressly exclude our liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of our platform by a user
in contravention of our content standards.
19. Content standards
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These content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to our platform
(“Contribution”), and to any interactive services associated with it.
The content standards must be complied with in spirit as well as to the letter. The standards apply
to each part of any Contribution as well as to its whole.
A Contribution must:
● Be accurate (where it states facts).
● Be genuinely held (where it states opinions).
● Comply with the law applicable in England and Wales and in any country from which it is
posted.
A Contribution must not:
● Be defamatory of any person.
● Be obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory.
● Bully, insult, intimidate or humiliate.
● Promote sexually explicit material.
● Include child sexual abuse material.
● Promote violence.
● Promote discrimination based on race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation,
gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability or disease.
● Infringe any copyright, database right or trademark of any other person.
● Be likely to deceive any person.
● Breach any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of
confidence.
● Promote any illegal content or activity.
● Be in contempt of court.
● Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or
needless anxiety.
● Be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person.
● Impersonate any person or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person.
● Encourage behaviour prejudicial to health or safety.
● Encourage behaviour grossly prejudicial to the protection of the environment.
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● Cause physical, mental or moral detriment to persons under the age of 18.
● Directly exhort such persons to purchase or rent goods or services in a manner which
exploits their inexperience or credulity.
● Give the impression that the Contribution emanates from us, if this is not the case.
● Advocate, promote, incite any party to commit, or assist any unlawful or criminal act such
as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.
20. Breach of this policy
When we consider that a breach of these Terms of Use has occurred, we may take such action as
we deem appropriate.
Any breach may result in our taking all or any of the following actions:
● Immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use our platform.
● Immediate, temporary or permanent removal of any Contribution uploaded by you to our
platform.
● Issue of a warning to you.
● Legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis
(including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the
breach.
● Further legal action against you.
● Disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is
necessary or as required by law.
We exclude our liability for all action we may take in response to breaches of these Terms of Use.
The actions we may take are not limited to those described above, and we may take any other
action we reasonably deem appropriate
21. Rights you are giving us to use material you upload
When you upload or post content to our platform (including contributions to our GitHub repository
and error reports you submit to us), you grant us the following rights to use that content:
● a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable licence to use, reproduce, distribute,
prepare derivative works of, display, and perform that user-generated content solely in
order to provide our services and make the platform available, to expire when the user
deletes the content from the platform;
● a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable licence for other users to use the
content for their purposes.
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22. We are not responsible for viruses and you must not introduce
them
We do not guarantee that our platform will be secure or free from bugs or viruses. You agree not to
exploit any errors or bugs you discover when using our platform. You agree to report any such
vulnerabilities you discover to [email protected].
You must not submit excessive or vexatious error reports to us.
You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and
software to access our platform. You should use your own virus protection software.
You must not misuse our platform by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs
or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain
unauthorised access to our platform, the server on which our platform is stored or any server,
computer or database connected to our platform. You must not attack our platform via a
denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack.
By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act
1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will
cooperate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach,
your right to use our platform will cease immediately.
23. Rules about linking to our platform
You may link to our home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not
damage our reputation or take advantage of it.
You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or
endorsement on our part where none exists.
You must not establish a link to our platform in any site or platform that is not owned by you.
We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice.
The site or platform in which you are linking must comply in all respects with the content standards
set out in these Terms of Use.
If you wish to link to or make any use of content on our platform other than that set out above,
please contact [email protected].
24. Which country's laws apply to any disputes?
these Terms of Use, its subject matter and formation (and any non-contractual disputes or claims)
are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which you are incorporated (where you are a
business) or in which you have your main residence (where you are a consumer), provided that,
you are located in (a) the Americas (in which case the laws of New York shall apply); (b) Germany;
or (c) France and rest of Europe. In all other cases, the laws of England and Wales shall apply. We
both agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the jurisdiction in which you are
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incorporated (where you are a business) or in which you have your main residence (where you are
a consumer) provided that you are located in (a) the Americas (and in which case the place of
jurisdiction shall be New York); (b) Germany; or (c) France and rest of Europe. In all other cases,
the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction.
25. Our trademarks are registered
You are not permitted to use our trademarks without our approval, unless they are part of material
you are using as permitted under section 9. How you may use material on our platform.
26. Document History
● 2025, October 24: UK entity name change update.
● 2023, November 10: Renaming to Terms of Use
● 2023, June 23: Format changes. (Version 2.0.1)
● 2022, December 21: Major policy update derived from user terms of service. (Version
2.0.0)
● 2020, July 13: User terms of service drafted. (Version 1.0.0)
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