Terms of Use — ReadHive

By using ReadHive, you agree to these terms. Please read them — they're written in plain language and cover how the app works, what you can and can't do, and how we handle things if something goes wrong.

1. Who We Are

ReadHive is operated by Naseema / ReadHive ("we", "us", "our"), based in Canada. You can contact us at readhive.ca@gmail.com.

2. Who Can Use ReadHive

You must be at least 13 years old to use ReadHive. By creating an account, you confirm that you meet this requirement. If we become aware that a user is under 13, we will delete their account and associated data promptly.

By using ReadHive, you confirm that you have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms in your jurisdiction.

3. Your Account

You are responsible for keeping your account credentials secure. Do not share your password with anyone. You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.

Your handle must be unique and cannot impersonate another person or brand. We reserve the right to reclaim handles that violate these terms.

You may delete your account at any time from the app settings. On deletion, your personal data will be removed within 30 days.

4. What ReadHive Is

ReadHive is a community platform for sharing book verdicts — Own It, Borrow It, or Skip It. Verdicts are opinions, not professional recommendations. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any verdict, whether community-generated or AI-generated.

AI-generated verdicts (labelled "The Internet Says") are produced by third-party AI and are provided for entertainment and reference purposes only. They should not be taken as authoritative reviews.

5. Your Content

When you cast a verdict or interact with the app, you grant ReadHive a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display and use that content within the app, including in community feeds like The Buzz.

You are responsible for the verdicts and content you submit. You agree not to submit content that is:

False, misleading, or defamatory
Hateful, abusive, or harassing
In violation of any third-party rights
Spam or commercially motivated without our permission

We reserve the right to remove content that violates these terms without notice.

6. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

Attempt to reverse engineer, decompile, or extract source code from the app
Use automated tools to scrape, crawl, or collect data from ReadHive
Create fake accounts or manipulate vote counts
Interfere with or disrupt the app or its servers
Use ReadHive for any unlawful purpose
Attempt to access another user's account

7. Affiliate Links

ReadHive includes links to book retailers such as Bookshop.org, Indigo, and Libby. These are affiliate links — if you click through and make a purchase, ReadHive may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Affiliate relationships do not influence verdicts.

8. Intellectual Property

All ReadHive branding, design, code, and original content is owned by ReadHive and protected by applicable intellectual property laws. You may not reproduce, copy, or distribute any part of the app without our written permission.

Book titles, covers, and metadata displayed in the app are the property of their respective publishers and rights holders. ReadHive uses this data under fair use and via licensed APIs for informational purposes.

9. Third-Party Services

ReadHive uses third-party services including Firebase, Anthropic, Google Books API, Open Library, and the New York Times Books API. Your use of ReadHive is also subject to the terms of these services where applicable. We are not responsible for the practices or content of third-party services.

10. Disclaimers

ReadHive is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not guarantee that the app will be error-free, uninterrupted, or that verdicts will be accurate or suitable for your purposes.

We are not liable for any decisions you make based on verdicts, AI-generated content, or any other information in the app.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, ReadHive and its operators shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from your use of the app, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

12. Termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account at any time if you violate these Terms or engage in conduct that we determine, in our sole discretion, is harmful to ReadHive, other users, or third parties.

You may stop using ReadHive at any time by deleting your account.

13. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For significant changes, we will notify you within the app. Continued use of ReadHive after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms.

14. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict of law principles.

15. Contact

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at readhive.ca@gmail.com.