Terms of Use

1. About These Terms

These Terms of Use ("Terms") form a binding agreement between you and Citizen Social Contract ("CSC", "we", "us", "our"). By accessing or using the CSC website, civic tools, publications, Civic Assistant, donation pages, workshops or any other service offered through citizensocialcontract.org (the "Platform"), you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these Terms.

If you do not agree, please do not use the Platform.

2. Our Mission

CSC publishes civic education and public-interest content to strengthen informed citizenship, transparency and democratic participation across Africa. All content is provided for educational, civic-awareness and public-interest purposes.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 16 years old to create accounts, subscribe, donate or submit content. Workshops and educational programmes for younger learners are delivered through schools, guardians or accredited partner organisations.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree to use the Platform lawfully, respectfully and in good faith. You will not:

• Misuse, attack, probe, scrape or attempt to gain unauthorised access to CSC systems.
• Submit false, misleading, defamatory, harassing, discriminatory or unlawful content.
• Impersonate CSC, any CSC representative, public official or other person.
• Upload viruses, malware or any code intended to disrupt the Platform or its users.
• Use the Platform to incite violence, hatred, electoral manipulation or disinformation.
• Interfere with the civic, educational or accountability purpose of the Platform.

CSC reserves the right to remove content and restrict access for any breach of these standards.

5. The CSC Civic Assistant

The CSC Civic Assistant is an AI-powered tool that provides plain-language civic information on government, public services, rights and responsibilities. It is intended as a starting point for civic learning.

The Civic Assistant does not provide legal, medical, financial, tax, immigration or other professional advice. Information may occasionally be incomplete or out of date. Always verify important matters with the relevant institution, qualified professional or official government source before taking action.

CSC is not liable for any decision taken solely on the basis of Civic Assistant responses.

6. Civic Tools and Data

CSC publishes accountability tools such as the spending tracker, citizen reports, scorecards and governance maps. These tools synthesise public-interest information from government publications, budget documents, civic submissions and other sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.

CSC strives for accuracy but does not warrant that all data is complete, current or error-free. Tools are provided for civic-education purposes and should not be used as the sole basis for legal, regulatory or commercial decisions.

7. Contributions and Submissions

When you submit research, reports, articles, photographs, citizen observations or any other material to CSC ("Submissions"):

• You retain ownership of and intellectual property rights in your Submission.
• You grant CSC a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable licence to review, edit for clarity, store, reproduce, translate and — where appropriate — publish your Submission with attribution as part of CSC's civic mission.
• You confirm that the Submission is your own work (or properly licensed), does not infringe any third-party rights and complies with applicable law.
• You agree that CSC may decline to publish or may remove Submissions at its sole editorial discretion.

8. Intellectual Property

All CSC-originated content — including the CSC name, logo, wordmarks, publications, research, designs, illustrations, photography, video, code and editorial materials — is owned by CSC or its licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark and other applicable laws.

You may share, quote and reuse CSC educational content for non-commercial civic, journalistic or academic purposes with clear attribution to "Citizen Social Contract (CSC)" and a link back to the source page. For commercial use, redistribution at scale or use of the CSC brand, please contact us.

9. Donations

Donations to CSC support civic education, public accountability, community programmes and the development of independent civic technology. By donating, you confirm that:

• The funds are your own and lawfully obtained.
• You authorise CSC and its payment processor (Stripe) to charge the amount you have specified.
• Donations are voluntary and, unless required by law, non-refundable. Where a donation is made in error (e.g. duplicate or incorrect amount), please contact us within 14 days and we will work in good faith to resolve it.
• CSC commits to using all donations to advance its civic mission and to publish summary impact information periodically.

CSC is not a registered tax-exempt charity in every jurisdiction; donors should consult local tax advisers regarding any potential deductibility.

10. Volunteering and Partnerships

Volunteers, contributors and partner organisations engage with CSC on the basis of a separate written or email agreement that supplements these Terms. Volunteering does not create an employment relationship and is not compensated, except for agreed expenses where applicable.

11. Privacy

Our handling of personal information is described in the Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

12. Third-Party Links

The Platform may link to government portals, partner organisations, research papers and other third-party resources. CSC does not control these sites and is not responsible for their content, accuracy or privacy practices.

13. Disclaimers

The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. CSC does not warrant uninterrupted, secure or error-free operation of the Platform.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, CSC, its trustees, staff, volunteers, partners and suppliers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special or punitive damages, or for loss of profits, revenue, data or goodwill, arising out of or in connection with your use of the Platform.

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law.

15. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless CSC and its representatives from any claims, losses, damages or expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your misuse of the Platform, your Submissions or your breach of these Terms.

16. Suspension and Termination

CSC may suspend or terminate your access to all or part of the Platform at any time, without notice, if you breach these Terms or engage in conduct that harms CSC, its mission or its community.

17. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Mandatory consumer-protection rights available to you in your country of residence are not affected. Any dispute that cannot be resolved amicably will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts of Lagos, Nigeria.

18. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in our work, technology or the law. Material changes will be communicated on this page and, where appropriate, by email. Continued use of the Platform after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

19. Contact

Questions, feedback or notices regarding these Terms should be sent to:

Citizen Social Contract (CSC)
Website: citizensocialcontract.org
Email: contact@citizensocialcontract.org