Terms of Use

What ask the world is

ask the world is a service where people can ask questions and other people can answer them. It is intentionally simple.

We do not promise that an answer is correct, useful, representative, or even human. ask the world is not designed to determine which answer is correct, and we do not rank answers by accuracy, popularity, authority, or expertise.

Answers are not verified facts

Responses are user-generated content. We do not verify the identity, humanity, expertise, qualifications, accuracy, completeness, or reliability of respondents or responses. Answers may be wrong.

Do not rely on an answer as professional medical, legal, financial, safety, emergency, or other expert advice. If a decision could materially affect your health, safety, finances, legal rights, or another person, use an appropriate qualified source instead.

No guaranteed audience

Submitting a question does not guarantee that anyone will answer it.

Maybe one. Maybe a hundred. Maybe a million. Maybe nobody.

We do not guarantee when a submitted question will become active, how many people will see it, how many people will answer it, or that the service will remain available for any particular period.

Temporary content

ask the world is intentionally ephemeral. Questions stop being publicly visible after their active period. Questions and answers may later be deleted according to the service’s retention rules.

ask the world is not a permanent storage service. If an answer matters to you, save or export it before it is deleted.

Private links

You may receive a private access link for a question you submit. Keep it private.

Anyone who obtains that access may be able to view or export the associated answers, report answers, or delete the question. You are responsible for keeping your private access information secure.

Your content

You retain whatever rights you have in questions and answers you submit.

By submitting content, you grant the operator of ask the world a limited, non-exclusive license to receive, store, process, reproduce, display, transmit, moderate, export, and delete that content as reasonably necessary to operate, secure, and provide the service.

This license does not transfer ownership of your content to ask the world. The license ends when the content is deleted from the live service, except to the extent copies remain temporarily in backups or security records, or retention is required by law.

What you may not submit

Do not use ask the world to submit or solicit:

• passwords, authentication codes, API keys, payment-card details, bank credentials, or other authentication or financial secrets;
• private or sensitive personal information about another person without an appropriate reason or permission;
• doxxing, stalking, targeted harassment, or credible threats;
• child sexual abuse material or sexual exploitation;
• content intended to facilitate serious violence or other serious illegal harm;
• scams, phishing, malware, spam, or deceptive schemes;
• content that infringes another person’s intellectual-property or privacy rights;
• malicious automated submissions or attempts to manipulate the service;
• content designed to evade safety, rate-limit, moderation, or security controls; or
• other content or activity that violates applicable law.

Do not include private or sensitive information unless you understand that it will be processed by the service. Links are not accepted in the current version.

Moderation

We may reject, block, hide, remove, restrict, or delete content when reasonably necessary for safety, privacy, abuse prevention, security, legal compliance, or operation of the service.

Moderation does not mean that we verify or endorse content that remains available. We are not obligated to determine whether every response is true, and the service does not promise to detect every harmful submission.

Automated use

We may limit or block bots, scraping, automated submissions, bulk requests, or other automated activity that interferes with the service or undermines its intended human-oriented experience.

Our ability to detect automated activity is imperfect. We do not guarantee that every question or answer comes from a human.

Analytics and technical operation

We use technical infrastructure and basic aggregate analytics to operate, secure, understand, and improve the service. The use of Vercel Web Analytics does not mean that we verify the identity or behavior of individual respondents.

Availability

The service is provided on an evolving basis and may change, become unavailable, experience errors, or be discontinued. We do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation.

Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use ask the world. If the law where you live requires a higher minimum age to use the service without parental consent, that higher age applies.

Intellectual property

Except for user-submitted content, the ask the world service, software, design, branding, and other materials provided by us are owned by or licensed to the operator of ask the world and are protected by applicable intellectual-property laws.

These Terms do not give you ownership of the service or its branding.

Copyright and rights complaints

If you believe content submitted through ask the world infringes your copyright, privacy, or other legal rights, email hello@askthe.world and identify the content and the basis for your request.

Restricting access

We may restrict access to the service or particular functionality when reasonably necessary to prevent abuse, protect users or infrastructure, comply with law, or enforce these Terms.

Because accounts are not required, restrictions may use technical measures rather than account suspension.

Disclaimer

To the extent permitted by law, ask the world is provided “as is” and “as available.”

We do not make warranties about the accuracy, reliability, availability, security, or suitability of the service or user-generated responses. Nothing in these Terms excludes warranties or rights that cannot legally be excluded.

Limitation of liability

To the extent permitted by applicable law, the operator of ask the world will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the service or reliance on user-generated responses.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability where doing so would be unlawful.

Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as the service changes. When we make material changes, we will update the date at the top of this page.

Contact

Questions about these Terms, content, or legal rights can be sent to hello@askthe.world.