Terms of Use

1. Acceptance of Terms

By creating an account on Foral or using any part of the platform, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. If you do not agree, please do not use the platform.

2. Platform Description

Foral is a free-to-play civic engagement and fantasy sports platform where users build portfolios of Portuguese municipalities and earn points based on real-world public indicators. The platform also includes civic participation features such as case reporting, feedback submissions, petitions, and advocacy tools.

3. Accounts

You must provide a valid email address and create a password to register. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials. You must not share your account or create multiple accounts.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms, at our discretion and following our moderation procedures.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree to use the platform in good faith and in compliance with applicable law. You must not:

• Submit false, misleading, or defamatory content
• Impersonate another person or entity
• Attempt to manipulate scoring, leaderboards, or voting systems
• Use automated tools (bots, scrapers) to access the platform without authorisation
• Harass, threaten, or discriminate against other users
• Upload malicious files, viruses, or harmful content
• Circumvent security measures, access restrictions, or rate limits
• Use the platform for any illegal purpose

5. Civic Submissions and Petitions

When you submit civic cases, feedback, or petitions, you represent that the content is truthful and made in good faith. Civic submissions may be visible to other users and to municipal authorities as part of the platform's transparency features.

Petitions created on Foral are public by design. By signing a petition, you consent to your username being associated with that petition. Petition creators are responsible for the accuracy and legality of petition content.

We reserve the right to moderate, edit, or remove civic content that violates these terms or our Community Rules.

6. User Content and Intellectual Property

You retain ownership of content you create on Foral. By submitting content (civic cases, feedback, petition text, comments), you grant Foral a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to display, distribute, and store that content as part of the platform's operation.

The Foral platform, including its design, code, scoring algorithms, and branding, is our intellectual property. You may not copy, modify, or redistribute any part of the platform without permission.

7. Free-to-Play and No Prizes

Foral is free to play. There are no cash prizes, entry fees, or monetary rewards. Leaderboard rankings and scores are for entertainment and civic engagement purposes only. This platform does not constitute gambling or a game of chance under Portuguese law (RJO/SRIJ regulations).

8. Moderation

We moderate content to maintain platform quality and legal compliance. Moderation decisions may include content removal, account warnings, temporary suspension, or permanent bans. Our moderation process includes an appeals mechanism — see our Community Rules for details.

We maintain an audit trail of moderation actions in compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA).

9. Disclaimers

Foral is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not guarantee that the platform will be available at all times, that scores or data will be error-free, or that civic submissions will result in any particular outcome.

Municipality scores are calculated from publicly available data and may not reflect the complete picture of a municipality's performance. Scores should not be used as the sole basis for any decision.

Governance meeting digests and transcription summaries are generated automatically using AI and are not official municipal records. They may contain transcription errors, misattributed speakers, or incomplete information. Private citizens mentioned in meetings are anonymized. For official records, consult the municipality directly.

10. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Foral and its operators shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from your use of the platform, including but not limited to loss of data, reputation, or opportunities.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for fraud, gross negligence, or any liability that cannot be excluded under Portuguese law.

11. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms of Use from time to time. We will notify registered users of material changes. Continued use of the platform after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.

12. Governing Law

These Terms of Use are governed by and construed in accordance with Portuguese law. Any disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Portugal.