Terms of Service

Last updated: 2024-12-17

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing CultureSherpa, you agree to these terms. If you disagree, please do not use the site. These terms may be updated; continued use constitutes acceptance.

2. Nature of Service

CultureSherpa is:

• Educational — Designed for learning about world cultures
• Non-commercial — No ads, no sales, no monetization
• Community-oriented — Open to corrections and contributions
• Respectful — Committed to cultural sensitivity

3. Content License

Compiled cultural content on CultureSherpa is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. This means you may:

• Share — Copy and redistribute the material
• Adapt — Remix, transform, and build upon the material

Under these conditions:

• Attribution — Give appropriate credit to CultureSherpa and original sources
• ShareAlike — Distribute adaptations under the same license

4. Cultural Sovereignty

We acknowledge that cultural knowledge belongs to communities, not databases. We commit to:

• Excluding sacred, secret, or restricted knowledge unless explicitly authorized
• Prioritizing community feedback and correction requests
• Removing content at a community's request
• Not claiming ownership of cultural knowledge itself

5. Accuracy Disclaimer

Cultural practices are dynamic, diverse, and regionally varied. Our content:

• Is compiled from publicly available sources with AI-assisted synthesis
• May contain generalizations that don't apply to all community members
• Should not be used as the sole source for medical, legal, or professional advice
• Is subject to human error and may require correction

See our full disclaimer for more details.

6. User Conduct

When using CultureSherpa, you agree not to:

• Use content to stereotype, discriminate, or harm cultural communities
• Misrepresent cultural information or claim false authority
• Commercially exploit content in ways that harm originating communities
• Attempt to access restricted areas or disrupt service
• Scrape content at scale without permission (see robots.txt)

7. Contributions

If you contribute corrections, feedback, or content, you grant us a non-exclusive license to use that contribution under CC BY-SA 4.0. You retain your own rights to your contribution.

8. Third-Party Content

We may link to external resources. We don't control third-party content and aren't responsible for their accuracy, availability, or privacy practices.

9. Limitation of Liability

CultureSherpa is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. We are not liable for any damages arising from use of this service, including but not limited to:

• Errors or omissions in cultural information
• Service interruptions or technical issues
• Actions taken based on content found here

10. Changes to Terms

We may modify these terms at any time. Material changes will be noted with an updated "Last updated" date. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.

11. Contact

For questions about these terms or to report concerns:

📧 admin@culturesherpa.org
🌍 cultural-community@culturesherpa.org (for cultural content concerns)

12. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the United States. Any disputes shall be resolved in the courts of the state where CultureSherpa operates.