Ally Chat - Terms of Service

Last Updated: 2025-10-25

Welcome to Ally Chat! By accessing or using our application and services ("Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). Please read them carefully.

1. Our Service

Ally Chat is a free, open-source multi-player AI chat application provided on a best-effort basis. The Service is offered "as is" and "as available" with no guarantees of uptime, reliability, or continued operation. Any financial support provided by users is considered a donation to support the project and does not constitute a purchase of a service, nor does it create any consumer rights or service-level expectations.

2. Eligibility & Age Requirements

• You must be at least 16 years of age to use the Service.
• You must be at least 18 years of age to access any chat rooms or content designated as "NSFW" (Not Safe For Work) or for adults.
  By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you meet these age requirements.

3. User Conduct and Content Rules

You are solely responsible for your conduct and any content you submit. You agree to abide by the following rules:

A. General Rules for All Areas:

• No Illegal Content: You may not create, share, or engage with illegal content. This includes child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII). Violations will result in termination of access.
• No Doxxing or Harassment: You may not share the private information of others without their consent. Harassment, hate speech, or threatening behaviour towards other users is strictly prohibited.
• No Copyright Infringement: You may not share content that infringes on the intellectual property rights of others.

B. Rules for Public, SFW (Safe For Work) Rooms (e.g., the "Ally Chat" room):

• Content should be rated "MA15+" or lower according to Australian standards.
• No adult/NSFW content, including sexually explicit material
• No excessive violence or gore
• No hate speech or extreme political content
• Keep discussion and language appropriate for a general audience
• Be friendly and respectful in your engagement with other users

C. Rules for Public, NSFW (Not Safe For Work) Rooms (e.g., the "nsfw/nsfw" room):

• You must be 18+ to enter and participate.
• Do not incite or promote illegal acts.
• Shaming and hate speech are not permitted.
• Be friendly and respectful in your engagement with other users
• Different rooms may have different content guidelines; please follow them.
• Extreme content that might be disturbing to a large proportion of adult users is allowed in specific, clearly marked rooms only.

4. User Content and Rights

You retain all ownership rights to the original content you create and submit to the Service.

However, by submitting content to a group chat room, you grant Ally Chat a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display and distribute that content within the context of the Service. Content submitted to a group chat is persistent, and we do not guarantee the ability to remove your specific messages from group chat histories.

5. Privacy and Data

• Encryption: Communications with our servers are encrypted in transit (HTTPS). However, to facilitate the group chat nature of the service, data is not encrypted at rest on our servers.
• Data Privacy: We never sell your personal data and use it only to provide the service. Please note that some third-party AI providers we integrate with (e.g., OpenAI) may use conversation data to train future models. For users who prefer stricter privacy, we also offer providers like Venice that do not retain your data or use it for any purpose.
• Access Control: We use strong access control mechanisms to protect user privacy and the integrity of private rooms.

6. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. WE OFFER ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE DEVELOPERS OF ALLY CHAT DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, AND IN NO EVENT SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE.

7. Modification of Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. We will notify users of significant changes via an in-app message that provides a summary of the changes and a link to the updated document. Your continued use of the Service after receiving such notification constitutes your acceptance of the modified Terms.

8. Termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Service at our sole discretion, for any reason or for no reason, and without prior notice. Reasons for termination may include, but are not limited to, a breach of these Terms, illegal conduct, or operational or financial constraints of the Service.

Upon request following termination, we will provide you with a copy of your data from the Service, excluding any content that was determined to be illegal. While termination decisions are made at our discretion, users are welcome to contact us to discuss the possibility of restored access. We will consider such requests in good faith, though restoration of access is not guaranteed.

9. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Victoria, Australia.

We aim to be transparent regarding what we can and cannot offer to users. In this spirit, here is an AI review of our terms of service, highlighting any potentially concerning elements.

From a user's perspective, there are several points worth noting:

Potentially Concerning Elements:

1. The "as is" and "best-effort" nature means there are no guarantees of service reliability or uptime
2. Group chat messages are permanent with no guaranteed way to delete them
3. While communications are encrypted in transit, data is not encrypted at rest on their servers
4. The service can terminate access at any time without prior notice
5. The terms can be changed (though they do promise to provide notice)
6. Upstream AI model providers may use data for training purposes, which could raise privacy concerns
7. The broad disclaimer of liability means users have limited recourse if something goes wrong

Positive Elements:

1. Users retain ownership of their content
2. They don't sell user data
3. Clear age restrictions for different types of content
4. Transparent rules about acceptable content
5. Promise to provide data upon request after termination
6. Clear privacy and encryption policies
7. Straightforward content guidelines for both SFW and NSFW areas

Overall, while these terms are fairly standard for a free service, users should be particularly aware that their messages are permanent and that the service offers no guarantees. Users should also be mindful about sharing sensitive information given the data storage practices and upstream AI provider policies.