populus.social Terms of Service
Last updated: 28 September 2026
populus.social is a deal between you and us, Initiative Economics B.V. (KVK 42072679, Rotterdam, Netherlands). These terms set out that deal: what we promise you, and what we ask of you in return. By activating a populus.social account you agree to them. We wrote them in plain language on purpose.
Open-source software gives you incredible freedom and transparency. However, you still have to entrust your data to us, the party operating the services for you. That is why this written agreement is important: it is binding for both you and us, and it sets out how we manage and protect your data.
The deal
You can be several people in public. In return, we know who you are. You can create several pseudonyms and use each of them on as many of our services as you like. Your legal name is shown only where you choose to disclose it. Nothing we pass on lets other members, or the services themselves, link your pseudonyms to each other or to you. What you reveal yourself, for example a photo of yourself or your name in a post, is your own choice and can make that link. In return, we verify your identity once, when you activate your account, and keep it privately. This is what makes populus.social a safe, encouraging place to talk: nobody is anonymous, and nobody is exposed. We reveal who is behind a pseudonym only when the law requires us to.
You will never see an ad from us. In return, you pay for a subscription. We don’t show advertising, we don’t sell or share your data with third parties unless you separately and explicitly agree, and we don’t group or target members for marketing. We don’t need to, because you are our customer, not our product. The subscription is what pays for the service.
You control what you disclose about yourself. In return, you don’t lie. Nothing about you reaches a service unless you choose to disclose it, and you can choose to disclose it less precisely (for example, “18 or over” instead of your date of birth). When you assert something about yourself, we stand behind it, so it has to be true. Verified information, such as your date of birth, can’t be overwritten with a value of your own: your choice is to keep it undisclosed or to disclose a true statement. Where a field lets you choose your own value, such as a display name, that is self-expression, but it must not be used to impersonate anyone or to deceive.
You can speak freely. In return, you take responsibility for what you say. populus.social is a space for real conversation, with no algorithm tuned to reward outrage. Freedom of expression is protected here, but it is not absolute: you keep to the law and to the rules of each service you use.
You can have many pseudonyms. In return, you are one person with one account. You can have several pseudonyms. Your account itself is yours alone: you don’t share it, sell it, or run it on someone else’s behalf. If you break this rule, we disable your account and won’t accept a new activation from you.
You can leave at any time. In return, leaving means leaving. When your subscription ends, your account is suspended, and for 30 days you can return by redeeming a new ticket. After that grace period, your personal data is deleted as described in our privacy policy. You can also ask us to delete your data at any time, through our contact form, and we will. We keep no other copies; data in our backups is overwritten as the backups roll over. Keeping copies of your own content is your responsibility.
Services covered
These terms apply to every populus.social service. Individual services can add terms of their own, which apply alongside these; where the two differ, the service’s own terms apply to that service. Currently:
- Feed (our Mastodon instance): Feed terms of service, covering acceptable use, moderation, and enforcement on Feed.
Eligibility and your account
You must be at least 16 years old to hold an account. Access is by invitation or ticket. Keep your sign-in credentials safe; you are responsible for what happens under your account unless it was used without your fault.
Subscriptions and tickets
A subscription is activated by redeeming a ticket, which runs for a fixed term. There is currently one subscription, which includes every populus.social service. The term is shown to you before you acquire a ticket. Nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer, including any right of withdrawal.
Availability and changes
We work to keep populus.social available and secure, but we can’t guarantee uninterrupted service. We may develop, change, or retire features over time. We will tell you at least 30 days before any material change to these terms takes effect; if you don’t agree with it, you can end your subscription before then.
Suspension and termination
You can end your subscription at any time. We may suspend or close an account for a serious or repeated breach of these terms or of a service’s own terms. When we do, we will tell you why, and you can object by contacting us. Your objection will be reviewed by a person.
Liability
We are liable to you as Dutch and EU law requires, and we don’t limit liability for damage caused by our intent or gross negligence. Beyond that, and to the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for content that other members publish. Nothing in these terms limits your mandatory rights as a consumer.
Governing law and contact
These terms are governed by Dutch law. Disputes go to the competent court in Rotterdam, without taking away the protection you have under the law of the EU country where you live. Questions about these terms: corporate@initiativeeconomics.com.