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Terms of Service

Legal terms and conditions.

Last updated: March 2026

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern access to and use of the VoteChain websites, applications, APIs, and related services (collectively, the “Service”). The Service is operated by Deepsink Partners Technologies (company registration K2021909044, VAT 4410303871), with its principal place of business in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa (“Deepsink”, “we”, “us”, “our”). The VoteChain name and brand refer to our product.

Important: These Terms are not legal advice. You are responsible for ensuring that your use of the Service complies with laws, regulations, bylaws, and internal rules that apply to you, your organisation, or any vote you run.

1. Agreement and acceptance

By creating an account, accessing, or using the Service—including through our website, authenticated product, official mobile applications, or APIs—you agree to these Terms and to the policies incorporated by reference below. If you do not agree, you must not use the Service.

Incorporated by reference (as updated from time to time):

Where the Service records acceptance of a specific terms version (for example via registration or in-app flows), that record supplements but does not replace these Terms.

2. The Service

VoteChain provides software for community and organisational decision-making, including (depending on your plan and configuration) tools for groups or communities, voting topics, ballots, invitations, proxy voting where enabled, notifications (such as email or push), reporting, API access for authorised clients (including our mobile app), subscriptions and billing where offered, and integrations with sign-in or payment providers.

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue features; we do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation. We are not a law firm, electoral authority, or certification body.

3. Eligibility and accounts

  • We do not impose a minimum age on use of the Service. Parents, guardians, and schools remain responsible for supervising minors and for compliance with local laws that may apply to children’s use of online services.
  • You must provide accurate registration information and keep credentials secure. You are responsible for activity under your account unless you notify us promptly of unauthorised use.
  • If you administer an organisation or community on the Service, you represent that you have authority to bind that entity where applicable, and you are responsible for how your members and delegates use the Service.

4. Communities, user content, and conduct

Organisers and communities may set their own rules where the Service allows it. We do not oversee every interaction or vote. We may, but are not obligated to, monitor, review, remove, or restrict content or accounts to protect users, the platform, or to comply with law.

You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, and display content you submit only as needed to operate, secure, and improve the Service.

5. Acceptable use

You must comply with our Acceptable Use Policy. You may report concerns via Report abuse or security@votechain.app.

6. Voting integrity and legal responsibility

You must not coerce voters, buy or sell votes, share credentials to evade controls, use synthetic or misleading identities, or attempt to bypass security, rate limits, or access rules.

The Service provides tooling only. You and your organisation are solely responsible for whether a vote is lawful, fair, properly authorised, and binding under your constitution, contract, statute, or electoral rules. We make no representation that any outcome will be legally enforceable in any jurisdiction.

7. API, mobile application, and security

API access and mobile apps may require tokens or credentials. You must keep secrets confidential, not reverse engineer the Service to circumvent security, and not use the Service to scrape or harvest data except as expressly permitted. We may apply rate limits and technical measures to protect the platform.

8. Third-party services

The Service may integrate sign-in providers (such as Google or Apple where enabled), payment processors (such as Payfast where enabled), email delivery providers, hosting and infrastructure providers, bot or abuse protection (such as Cloudflare Turnstile where enabled), push notification services for mobile devices, and other subprocessors described at a high level in our Privacy Policy. Their terms and privacy notices apply to your use of their services. We are not responsible for third-party services beyond reasonable integration.

9. Fees, trials, and payments

Paid plans, trials, renewals, taxes, and refunds (if any) are as shown at checkout or in your account. Payments are processed by independent payment partners. You authorise us and our partners to charge applicable fees. Failed payments may result in suspension or downgrade of features. Chargebacks and payment disputes are subject to partner rules and these Terms.

10. Intellectual property

We and our licensors own the Service, VoteChain branding, and related intellectual property. Except for the limited rights to use the Service under these Terms, no rights are granted. If you believe material on the Service infringes your rights, contact legal@votechain.app with sufficient detail for us to assess your notice.

Feedback you provide may be used by us without obligation to you, except where law prohibits.

11. Disclaimers

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Service is provided “as is” and “as available”. We disclaim all warranties, whether express, implied, or statutory, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement.

We do not warrant that the Service will meet your requirements, be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free, or that results will be accurate or reliable.

No fiduciary or agency relationship is created by these Terms.

12. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law:

  • We exclude liability for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, and for loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, data, or business opportunities, arising from or related to the Service or these Terms, whether or not we were advised of the possibility.
  • Our aggregate liability for any claim arising from or related to the Service or these Terms shall not exceed the greater of (a) the total fees paid by you to us for the Service in the twelve (12) months before the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) ZAR 500 (five hundred South African rand), except where liability cannot be limited under applicable law (for example gross negligence or wilful misconduct, where recognised).

13. Indemnity

You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Deepsink, its affiliates, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your content or conduct; (c) your violation of these Terms or applicable law; (d) a vote or decision you run using the Service, including allegations that the vote was unlawful or unfair; or (e) your violation of third-party rights. We may assume exclusive defence and control of any matter subject to indemnification, at your expense.

14. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate access to the Service immediately where we reasonably believe there is risk of harm, legal exposure, or breach of these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy. You may stop using the Service at any time. Provisions that by their nature should survive (including intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnity, governing law, and disputes) survive termination. Data handling after closure—including how account deletion interacts with voting records and anonymisation—is described in the Privacy Policy.

15. Changes to the Terms

We may update these Terms by posting a revised version and updating the “Last updated” date. Your continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms, except where applicable law requires additional consent. If we materially change Terms that affect API or app users, we may also publish a new terms version identifier through our API or product surfaces.

16. Privacy and data protection

Our Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, and share personal information. By using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read that policy.

17. Cross-border data storage and processing

Please read this section carefully. It explains where your personal data may be stored and processed.

We process personal information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA) and, where applicable, the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (PAIA) for requests relating to access to records, and, where applicable, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

17.1 Storage and transfers

Depending on where you reside, your personal information may be stored and processed outside of your home country. Our primary hosting and processing locations for personal data are intended to be in the Republic of South Africa and the European Union (EU). Where processing occurs in the EU, GDPR applies. Arrangements for cross-border flows may rely on section 72 of POPIA, adequacy decisions, Standard Contractual Clauses, or other safeguards as described in our Privacy Policy.

We may also use service providers (for example email, payments, or security) in other countries where necessary to operate the Service; where required, we use appropriate safeguards as described in our Privacy Policy.

17.2 What you consent to

By registering for, accessing, or continuing to use the Service, you explicitly and voluntarily consent, where applicable, to:

  • The transfer of your personal information outside your country of residence;
  • The storage and processing of your personal information in South Africa, the EU, and with subprocessors as described in our Privacy Policy;
  • The application of GDPR-aligned standards to processing that falls within the GDPR’s scope, as described in our Privacy Policy.

For South African users, this consent is given in accordance with section 72 of POPIA where the recipient jurisdiction or safeguards meet applicable requirements.

17.3 If you do not consent

If you do not agree to cross-border processing as described, you must not use the Service. You may contact support@votechain.app regarding deletion, subject to legal retention needs.

18. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, without regard to conflict-of-law rules that would require another law to apply. You consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in South Africa for disputes arising from or relating to these Terms or the Service, except where mandatory law gives you a right to bring proceedings elsewhere (for example certain EU consumer rights).

POPIA governs the processing of personal information as set out in our Privacy Policy; PAIA may apply to requests for access to records we hold. Where applicable, the GDPR also applies as described in our Privacy Policy.

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