Terms of Service

1. Acceptance and Formation of Contract

These Terms of Service (“Terms”), together with the Privacy Policy incorporated herein by reference, constitute a binding legal agreement between the User (“you” or “your”) and Huddle (“Huddle”, “we”, “our” or “us”) governing access to and use of the Huddle event-networking service (the “Service”). By clicking “Sign in with LinkedIn” or by otherwise accessing the Service, you signify your unconditional acceptance of these Terms. This electronic acceptance constitutes a valid contract under Section 10A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. If you do not agree to these Terms in their entirety, you must not access or use the Service.

2. Operator Information

The following information is published in compliance with Rule 5 of the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 and Rule 3 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021:

• Operator: Abhinav Ayyagari, sole proprietor;
• Principal place of operation: Republic of India;
• Grievance Officer and authorized contact: ayyagariabhinav21@gmail.com;
• Nature of service: a hosted networking platform for events, as further described in Clause 3.

3. Description of the Service

The Service enables authorized organizers to create event rooms accessible by means of a join code or QR code. A User who authenticates by means of LinkedIn OpenID Connect and is admitted to an event room may view the profiles of other admitted members, navigate to their LinkedIn profiles, and receive announcements issued by the organizer. The Service is provided to Users free of charge as at the effective date of these Terms; any introduction of fees shall be effected by way of an amendment to these Terms in accordance with Clause 17.

4. Eligibility

By accessing or using the Service, you represent and warrant that:

• You are at least sixteen (16) years of age;
• You possess the legal capacity to enter into a contract under the law applicable to you;
• You maintain a valid LinkedIn account registered in your true and correct name;
• You will provide accurate and current information, in particular your LinkedIn vanity username;
• Your access to and use of the Service does not contravene any law applicable to you.

5. User Account

5.1 Authentication

The Service authenticates Users exclusively by means of LinkedIn’s “Sign in with LinkedIn” OpenID Connect flow. Huddle does not receive, request or store the User’s LinkedIn credentials.

5.2 Account security

The User is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of the account and for all activities undertaken through it. The User shall promptly notify the Grievance Officer of any unauthorized use of the account or any other breach of security.

5.3 Account closure

The User may at any time close the account by means of the in-application “Delete my account” function, the consequences whereof are set out in Clause 13 and in the Privacy Policy.

6. Acceptable Use

6.1 Permitted use

The User may use the Service solely for bona fide professional and educational networking at events the User legitimately attends, for displaying accurate information concerning the User, and for navigating to other Users’ LinkedIn profiles in order to connect on LinkedIn.

6.2 Prohibited conduct and content

In accordance with Rule 3(1)(b) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, the User shall not host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share any information that:

• Belongs to another person and to which the User does not have any right;
• Is defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, invasive of another’s privacy (including bodily privacy), insulting or harassing on the basis of gender, libellous, racially or ethnically objectionable, or otherwise inconsistent with or contrary to the laws in force;
• Is harmful to a child;
• Infringes any patent, trademark, copyright or other proprietary right;
• Deceives or misleads the addressee about the origin of a message or knowingly communicates information that is patently false or grossly offensive;
• Impersonates another person;
• Threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, or causes incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence;
• Contains a software virus or any other computer code, file or program designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer resource.

The User shall further refrain from: (a) scraping, crawling, harvesting or any automated extraction of attendee lists, profiles or analytics; (b) transmitting unsolicited communications using contact information obtained through the Service; (c) attempting to circumvent, probe or compromise the security of the Service; (d) creating fictitious accounts; and (e) using any data sourced from LinkedIn in a manner inconsistent with LinkedIn’s User Agreement and API Terms of Use.

7. Event Rooms and Organizer Responsibilities

7.1 Joining an event room

By submitting a request to join an event room, the User consents to the visibility of the User’s profile, as described in the Privacy Policy, to other approved members of that event room.

7.2 Obligations of event organizers

A User acting as an event organizer represents and warrants that the organizer is authorized to create and administer the event in question and that the organizer has a lawful basis under applicable data-protection law to upload any personal data of participants to the Service, including without limitation team-lead electronic mail addresses, team names and group identifiers. Huddle shall bear no liability arising from the unlawful disclosure of personal data by an event organizer.

7.3 Announcements

An event organizer may issue announcements to members of the relevant event room. By joining an event room, the User consents to the receipt of such announcements within the Service.

8. Intellectual Property

8.1 User content

The User retains all right, title and interest in and to the biographical statement, photographs, identifiers and links the User uploads to the Service (“User Content”). The User hereby grants to Huddle a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully sub-licensable licence to host, store, reproduce, modify (solely for technical purposes such as resizing) and display the User Content for the sole purpose of providing the Service to the User and to other admitted members of the relevant event room. Such licence terminates upon deletion of the account, subject to retention periods set out in the Privacy Policy.

8.2 LinkedIn data

Data made available through LinkedIn’s OpenID Connect interface remains subject to LinkedIn’s User Agreement and Privacy Policy and to the LinkedIn API Terms of Use. The User acknowledges that the resale, transfer or unauthorized use of such data is prohibited.

8.3 Huddle’s intellectual property

All right, title and interest in and to the Service, including all related software, designs, trademarks, trade names, service marks, logos and content, vests in Huddle. The User is granted no licence or other right in respect of any of the foregoing save as expressly set out in these Terms. The User shall not reproduce, modify, distribute, reverse-engineer, decompile or create derivative works of the Service or any component thereof.

9. Third-Party Services

The Service relies on third-party providers as identified in Clause 6.3 of the Privacy Policy. Where the User navigates away from the Service by means of an external hyperlink (including to LinkedIn or to a User’s personal website), the User does so at the User’s own risk and becomes subject to the terms and policies of the destination site. Huddle assumes no responsibility for the content or practices of third-party sites.

10. Disclaimers

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without warranties, conditions or representations of any kind, whether express, implied, statutory or otherwise, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy or uninterrupted operation. Huddle does not warrant that the Service will be free of errors or that defects will be corrected. Huddle does not endorse, verify or guarantee the accuracy of any User Content, and accepts no responsibility for the conduct of Users in their dealings with one another, whether on or off the Service. Nothing in the Service constitutes professional, legal, financial, medical or other advice.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the aggregate liability of Huddle to the User in respect of any and all claims arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the use of the Service, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), statute or otherwise, shall not exceed the greater of (a) the total amount paid by the User to Huddle in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, and (b) Indian Rupees One Thousand (INR 1,000). In no event shall Huddle be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, including without limitation lost profits, loss of business, loss of goodwill or loss of data, howsoever arising. Nothing in these Terms shall exclude or limit any liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, including the User’s rights under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

12. Indemnification

The User shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless Huddle and its proprietor, employees, agents and successors from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, proceedings, losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in connection with (a) any breach by the User of these Terms, (b) the User’s misuse of the Service, (c) the User’s violation of any law or regulation, or (d) the User’s infringement of any right of any third party, including without limitation any right of LinkedIn Corporation.

13. Suspension and Termination

The User may discontinue use of the Service and delete the account at any time by means of the in-application function referred to in Clause 5.3. Huddle may suspend or terminate access to the Service, with or without prior notice, where: (a) the User is in material breach of these Terms; (b) such suspension or termination is required by law or by order of a competent authority; or (c) Huddle reasonably considers it necessary to protect other Users or the integrity of the Service. Clauses 8, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15 shall survive the termination of these Terms.

14. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of India, without regard to its principles on conflict of laws. Subject to the User’s statutory rights under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (including the right to approach the consumer commission having jurisdiction over the User’s place of residence), the courts at Hyderabad, India shall have exclusive jurisdiction in respect of any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the Service.

15. Grievance Redressal

Complaints in respect of content, conduct, or these Terms shall be addressed to the Grievance Officer at ayyagariabhinav21@gmail.com. The Grievance Officer shall acknowledge such complaints within seventy-two (72) hours and shall endeavour to resolve content- and intermediary-related complaints within fifteen (15) days, as required by Rule 3(2) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and other complaints within thirty (30) days.

16. Force Majeure

Huddle shall not be liable for any delay in or failure of performance of its obligations under these Terms where such delay or failure results from causes beyond its reasonable control, including without limitation acts of God, natural disasters, epidemics, governmental action, war, civil unrest, telecommunications failures, power outages or interruptions in the services of third-party providers (including without limitation Supabase Inc. and Vercel Inc.).

17. General Provisions

Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect. Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between the parties in respect of the subject matter hereof, and supersede all prior agreements, communications and representations, whether oral or written. No waiver. A failure or delay by Huddle in exercising any right under these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of that right. Assignment. The User may not assign or transfer any of the User’s rights or obligations under these Terms without the prior written consent of Huddle. Huddle may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of substantially all of its assets. Amendments. Huddle may amend these Terms from time to time. Where an amendment is material, Huddle shall give not less than seven (7) days’ prior notice by in-application notification or by electronic mail. Continued use of the Service after the effective date of an amendment constitutes acceptance of the amended Terms.