Terms of Use

Effective: February 1, 2023
Last Updated: March 7, 2023

Hush Inc., (“Hush” or “we”) provides the Hush website, mobile application, and other online products and services (we call these the “Services”). By using the Services, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use (“Terms”). If you do not agree to these Terms, including the mandatory arbitration provisions in Section 13, do not access or use the Services.

If Hush makes changes to these Terms:

  1. We may inform by posting a notice on the Services or updating the “Last Updated” date above, for those of you who live outside the EEA, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, including if you live in the United States, OR
  2. We will inform by posting a notice on the Services or updating the “Last Updated” and “Effective” dates at least 30 days before the date the changes become effective, for those of you who live in the EEA, United Kingdom, or Switzerland

In either of the cases (i) and (ii) above, by continuing to access or use the Services on or after the Effective Date of the updated Terms, you agree to be bound by the updated Terms. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop accessing and using the Services before the changes become effective.

SECTION 1: AUDIENCE AND ACCOUNTS

To use the Services or submit any information to Hush:

  1. You must be at least 17 years of age, AND
  2. Over the minimum age required by the laws of your country of residence.

By using the Services, you agree to:

  1. Maintain the security of your account by not sharing your password (if you have an account with a password) or any other access credentials with others, and by restricting access to your account and your computer(s) or mobile device(s);
  2. Promptly notify Hush if you discover or otherwise suspect any security breaches related to the Services; and
  3. Take responsibility for all activities that occur under your account and accept all risks of unauthorized access.

You understand that you are responsible for all data charges you incur by using the Services.

SECTION 2: USER CONTENT

The Services allow you and other users to create, post, send and store content, including messages, text, photos, and other materials (we call these “User Content”). You agree not to post, store, create or otherwise publish or send through the Services any User Content that violates our Community Guidelines, which we may update from time to time. Hush has the right to delete or remove any User Content that we, in our sole discretion, view as in violation of these Terms or our Community Guidelines or for any other reason.

If you submit or post User Content to the Services, you grant Hush a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, and fully sub-licensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display your User Content in any media (now known or later developed), including in connection with Hush’s marketing and promotional activities. You agree that this license includes the right for Hush to make User Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals for the syndication, broadcast, distribution or publication on the Services or on other media and services. You further grant Hush the right to publicly display your username in connection with User Content.

You understand that User Content may be displayed publicly. Hush does not control, take responsibility for or assume liability for any User Content or any loss or damage related to User Content.

You may only post User Content that:

  1. Is non-confidential;
  2. You have all necessary rights to post to the Services;
  3. Is accurate and not misleading or harmful in any manner; and
  4. Does not and will not violate these Terms, our Community Guidelines or any applicable law, rule or regulation of your country of residence.

In connection with the User Content submitted to Hush (we call these “User Submissions”), you affirm, represent, and/or warrant that:

  1. You own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to use and authorize Hush to use all patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights in and to any and all User Submissions to enable inclusion and use of the User Submissions in the manner contemplated by the Services and these Terms of Use; and
  2. You have the written consent, release, and/or permission of each and every identifiable individual person in the User Submission to use the name or likeness of each and every such identifiable individual person to enable inclusion and use of the User Submissions in the manner contemplated by the Services and these Terms of Use.

In connection with User Submissions, you further agree that you will not:

  1. Submit material that is copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or have permission from their rightful owner to post the material and to grant Hush all of the license rights granted herein;
  2. Publish falsehoods or misrepresentations that could damage Hush or any third party;
  3. Submit material that is unlawful, obscene, defamatory, libelous, threatening, pornographic, harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, violate any law, or is otherwise inappropriate;
  4. Post advertisements or solicitations of any businesses;
  5. Impersonate another person.

Hush does not endorse any User Submissions or any opinion, recommendation, or advice expressed therein, and Hush expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with User Submissions. Hush does not permit copyright infringing activities and infringement of intellectual property rights on its Services, and Hush will remove all Content and User Submissions if properly notified that such User Content or User Submissions infringes on another’s intellectual property rights. Hush reserves the right to remove Content and User Submissions without prior notice. Hush will also terminate a User’s access to it’s Services, if they are determined to be a repeat infringer. A repeat infringer is a User who has been notified of infringing activity more than twice and/or has had User Submissions removed from the Services more than twice. Hush may remove such User Submissions and/or terminate a User’s access for uploading such material in violation of these Terms of Use at any time, without prior notice and at its sole discretion.

You understand that when using the Services offered by Hush, you will be exposed to User Submissions from a variety of sources, and that Hush is not responsible for the accuracy, usefulness, safety, or intellectual property rights of or relating to such User Submissions. You further understand and acknowledge that you may be exposed to User Submissions that are inaccurate, offensive, indecent, or objectionable, and you agree to waive, and hereby do waive, any legal or equitable rights or remedies you have or may have against Hush with respect thereto, and agree to indemnify and hold Hush, its Owners/Operators, affiliates, and/or licensors, harmless to the fullest extent allowed by law regarding all matters related to your use of the Services.

  1. Hush permits you to link to materials on the Services for personal, non-commercial purposes only. Hush reserves the right to discontinue any aspect of the Services at any time.
  2. The Services are developed by Hush Inc. and do not have any affiliation with the content creators/content providers/Users.
SECTION 3: ACCEPTABLE USE OF THE SERVICES

You agree that your use of the Services will not violate any law, contract, intellectual property or other third-party right or constitute a tort, and that you are solely responsible for your conduct while on the Services and you use the Services at your own risk. You further agree not to:

  1. Use the Services in any manner that could inhibit other users from fully enjoying the Services or that could damage or impair the functioning of the Services;
  2. Engage in any discriminatory, defamatory, hateful, harassing, abusive, obscene, threatening, physically dangerous, or otherwise objectionable conduct;
  3. Attempt to indicate that you have a relationship with Hush or that Hush has endorsed you or any products or services;
  4. Send any unsolicited advertising or promotional materials or collect the email addresses or other contact information of other users from the Services for the purpose of sending commercial messages;
  5. Attempt to reverse engineer any aspect of the Services or do anything that might circumvent measures employed to prevent or limit access to any area, content or code of the Services (except as otherwise expressly permitted by law);
  6. Use or attempt to use another’s account without authorization from such user and Hush;
  7. Develop any third-party application that interacts with the Services without Hush’s prior written consent;
  8. Use any automated means or interface not provided by Hush to access the Services;
  9. Use the Services or the Service Materials (defined below) for anything other than their intended purpose or in a way that violates our Community Guidelines.
SECTION 4: ACCEPTABLE USE OF THE SERVICES

All copyrights and trademarks which are not the property of Hush, that are used or referred to on the Services are the property of their respective owners.

The Hush logos and any other product or service name or slogan contained in the Services are trademarks of Hush and its suppliers or licensors. Unless otherwise indicated, the Services and all content and other materials on the Services, including, without limitation, the Hush logos and all designs, text, graphics, pictures, videos, information, data, software, sound files, other files (collectively, the “Service Materials”) as well as their selection and arrangement are the proprietary property of Hush or its licensors or users and are protected by U.S. and international copyright, trademark and other laws. Except as explicitly stated in these Terms, Hush does not grant any express or implied rights to use the Service Materials.

You are granted a limited, non-transferable and revocable license to access and use the Services and Service Materials for your personal, non-commercial use. This license is revocable at any time.

SECTION 5: THIRD-PARTY CONTENT

The Services may include links and other content owned or operated by third parties, including advertisements and social “widgets” (we call these “Third-Party Content”). You agree that Hush is not responsible or liable for Third-Party Content and that you access and use Third-Party Content at your own risk. Hush has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third party. In addition, Hush will not and cannot censor or edit the content of any third-party site. Your interactions with Third-Party Content are solely between you and the third party providing the content. When you leave the Services, you should understand that Hush’s terms and policies no longer govern and that the terms and policies of those third-party sites or services will then apply.

By using the Website, you expressly relieve Hush and any third-party provider, and their respective affiliates and the officers, directors, employees and agents of the foregoing, from any and all claims, causes of action, costs, damages and expenses of any type and nature whatsoever, arising out of or related to such content or from any and all liability arising from your use of any third-party website and the content thereof. Accordingly, you must read the terms and conditions and privacy policy of each other website that you visit from the Services or from whom content is posted on the Services. Where possible and as required, we will post a citation or other reference to the source and all User Submissions must cite to third party materials.

SECTION 6: FEEDBACK AND OTHER SUBMISSIONS

Separate from the User Content, you may submit questions, comments, feedback, suggestions, and other information regarding the Services (we call these “Other Submissions”). You acknowledge and agree that the Other Submissions are non-confidential and will become the sole property of Hush. You agree to execute any documentation required by Hush to confirm such assignment to Hush.

SECTION 7: COPYRIGHT COMPLAINTS

Hush respects the intellectual property of others. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify Hush’s Designated Agent.

DMCA #: DMCA- 1044283

E-Mail Address: legal@hush.ac

Please see 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3) for the requirements of a proper notification. You should note that if you knowingly misrepresent in your notification that the material or activity is infringing, you may be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees, incurred by Hush or the alleged infringer as the result of Hush’s relying upon such misrepresentation in removing or disabling access to the material or activity claimed to be infringing.

SECTION 8: INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER USERS

Hush provides a platform for users to communicate and interact with one another. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users and Hush has no responsibility or liability with respect to any online or offline interactions. We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to monitor interactions between you and other users of our Services. Please use your best judgment and keep safety in mind when you use the Services and interact with other users.

SECTION 9: INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Hush, its independent contractors, service providers and consultants, and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents (collectively, “Hush Parties”), from and against any claims, damages, costs, liabilities and expenses (including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to:

  1. Your use of the Services;
  2. Any User Content, User Submissions or Other Submissions you provide;
  3. Your violation of these Terms;
  4. Your violation of any rights of another; or your conduct in connection with the Services.
SECTION 10: DISCLAIMERS

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the services and service materials are provided on an “as is” basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, except as expressly provided to the contrary in a writing by Hush. Hush disclaims all other warranties, express or implied, including, without limitation, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement as to the services and service materials. Hush does not represent or warrant that the services or service materials are accurate, complete, reliable, current or error-free. Hush is not responsible for typographical errors or omissions relating to pricing, text or photography. While Hush attempts to make your access to and use of the services safe, Hush cannot and does not represent or warrant that the services or its servers are free of viruses or other harmful components; therefore, you should use industry-recognized software to detect and disinfect viruses from any download.

SECTION 11: LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

You assume all risk arising from your use of the Services, including but not limited to all of the risks associated with any online or offline interactions with other users. You agree to take any and all necessary precautions when interacting with other users.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall Hush or the Hush Parties be liable for any direct, special, indirect, incidental, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, or any other damages of any kind, including but not limited to loss of use, loss of profits or loss of data, whether in an action in contract, tort (including but not limited to negligence) or otherwise, arising out of or in any way connected with the use of or inability to use the services or the service materials, including without limitation any damages caused by or resulting from reliance on any information obtained through the services or that result from the online or offline conduct of you or anyone else in connection with the services (including without limitation bodily injury, death or property damage), mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files or user content, errors, defects, viruses, delays in operation or transmission or any failure of performance, whether or not resulting from acts of god, communications failure, theft, destruction or unauthorized access to Hush’s records, programs or services. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall the aggregate liability of Hush or the Hush Parties, whether in contract, warranty, tort (including negligence, whether active, passive or imputed), product liability, strict liability or other theory, arising out of or relating to the use of or inability to use the services or to these terms exceed any compensation you pay, if any, to Hush for access to or use of the services, or, if you have not paid expertise for the use of any services, the amount of $25.00.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages, so some or all of the exclusions and limitations in this section may not apply to you depending on your country of residence.

SECTION 12: MODIFICATIONS TO THE SERVICES

Hush reserves the right to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Services, or any features or portions of the Services, without prior notice. You agree that Hush will not be liable for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Services, or any part of the Services.

SECTION 13: ARBITRATION

Please read this section carefully because it requires you to arbitrate disputes with hush and limits the manner in which you can seek relief from Hush.

Except for any dispute in which either party seeks to bring an individual action in small claims court or seeks injunctive or other equitable relief for the alleged unlawful use of copyrights, trademarks, trade names, logos, trade secrets, or patents, you and Hush waive your respective rights to a jury trial and to have any dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or the Services resolved in court. Instead, all disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services will be resolved through confidential and binding arbitration held in-person at Los Angeles, California (or, alternatively, via telephone or video conference) before and in accordance with the rules of JAMS, which are available on the JAMS website. You either acknowledge and agree that you have read and understand the rules of JAMS or waive your opportunity to read the rules of JAMS and any claim that the rules of JAMS are unfair or should not apply for any reason.

You and Hush agree that any dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or the Services is personal to you and Hush and that you and Hush will not commence against the other a class action, class arbitration or other representative action or proceeding.

As limited by the Federal Arbitration Act, these Terms and the JAMS rules, the arbitrator will have exclusive authority to make all procedural and substantive decisions regarding any dispute and to grant any remedy that would otherwise be available in court; provided, however, that the arbitrator does not have the authority to conduct a class arbitration or a representative action, which is prohibited by these Terms. The arbitrator may only conduct an individual arbitration and may not consolidate more than one individual’s claims, preside over any type of class or representative proceeding or preside over any proceeding involving more than one individual.

Any claim you may have arising out of or related to these Terms or the Services must be filed within one year after such claim arose; otherwise, your claim is permanently barred. You and Hush agree that you will notify each other in writing of any dispute within thirty (30) days of when it arises. Notice to Hush must be sent to legal@hush.ac.

SECTION 14: APPLICABLE LAW AND VENUE

These Terms and your use of the Services shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of California without resort to its conflict of law provisions. To the extent the arbitration provision in Section 13 does not apply (if ever), you agree that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to these Terms shall be filed only in the state and federal courts located in Los Angeles County, California and you hereby irrevocably and unconditionally consent and submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of such courts over any suit, action or proceeding arising out of these Terms.

SECTION 15: TERMINATION

You may terminate these Terms at any time and for any reason by deleting your User Account and discontinuing use of all the Services from Hush. If you stop using the Services without deleting your User Account, Hush reserves the right to deactivate your User Account due to prolonged inactivity.

Hush reserves the right, without notice and in its sole discretion, to terminate your license to use the Services and to block or prevent future your future access to, and use of the Services for any or no reason including for violating these Terms or our Community Guidelines.

The following sections will survive any termination of these Terms or of your User Account: Section 2: User Content, Section 3: Acceptable User of the Services, Section 9: Indemnification, Section 10: Disclaimers, Section 11: Limitation of Liability, Section 13: Arbitration, Section 14: Applicable Law and Venue, Section 15: Termination and Section 17: Miscellaneous.

SECTION 16: SEVERABILITY

If any provision of these Terms shall be deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these Terms and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

SECTION 17: MISCELLANEOUS

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any other agreements expressly incorporated by reference into these Terms, constitute the entire legally binding agreement between you and Hush regarding your access to and use of the Services. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not operate as a waiver of such right or provision. If any part of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the unenforceable part will be given effect to the greatest extent possible, and the remaining parts will remain in full force and effect. You may not assign or transfer any rights or obligations under these Terms without Hush’s prior written consent. Hush may, without restriction, assign any of our rights and obligations under these Terms, at its sole discretion, with 30 days’ prior notice. Your right to terminate these Terms at any time pursuant to Section 15 remains unaffected.

SECTION 18: CONTACT INFORMATION

Any questions, feedback, suggestions, comments about the Services offered by Hush may be shared at contactus@hush.ac.