Style guide — terms of use

Terms of use state what a user may do with a service, what they may not do, and what the service owes them in return. Use constitutes acceptance.

Terms of use (LEGAL genre) are the binding rules that govern a user's access to and use of a service or site. They are published where users can read them before using the service — the opening clause makes clear that use of the service constitutes acceptance. Every terms-of-use document executed under this platform routes through factory-release-engineering governance for review before publication. This article is the human-facing standard; the machine-readable counterpart lives in service-disclosure/templates/terms.toml.

[edit]When to use this template

Use terms of use when:

• A service or site is made available to users outside the Foundry workspace.
• The service's permitted and prohibited uses need to be on record.
• Liability limitations and warranty disclaimers need to be formally stated.

Internal tooling used only by workspace members does not require public terms of use — a policy document covers internal-use obligations.

[edit]Structure

The template requires an opening clause and five sections in this order:

Opening clause (before any heading): One sentence stating what service these terms govern and that use of the service constitutes acceptance of these terms.

Section	Purpose
Definitions	Each defined Term, stated once. Capitalised after first definition.
Acceptance	How a user accepts the terms — by signing up, accessing the service, or clicking "I agree." What acceptance binds: the user to these terms; the service provider to the described service.
Use of the service	Permitted uses, prohibited uses, and the user's obligations (for example, account security, accurate registration). Numbered for traceability.
Liability and disclaimers	The warranty disclaimer and the limitation of liability. Must be in plain language: excessive legalese reduces enforceability. Standard formulations ("THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS'") may be used but must be followed by a plain-language equivalent.
Changes to these terms	How the terms may change, what constitutes notice to users, and the effective date of changes.

Optional sections (at the end): Governing law and jurisdiction, Contact.

[edit]Register and tone

Legal-plain. Active voice where possible. Every defined Term is capitalised on every use after its definition. Where the service touches investment or disclosure material, forward-looking claims about service features or roadmap carry "planned / intended / may / target" language, in compliance with Canadian securities continuous-disclosure requirements.

[edit]See also

• Style Guide — Policy
• Style Guide — Contract
• Style Guide — CLA
• Language Protocol Substrate