Old Terms | Virtalica

Terms of Service

The following terms and conditions (“Terms”) govern all use and access to the services, client software and websites (“Services”) provided by Private Machines Inc. (“CipherPlane” or “CipherLocker” or “CipherQuery” or “CipherRack” or “CipherCluster” or “CipherPlane” or “CipherBucket” or “we” or “us”). The Services are offered subject to your acceptance without modification of all of the terms and conditions contained herein and all other operating rules, policies and procedures (including, without limitation, our Privacy Policy, and our DMCA Policy) that may be published from time to time on this site (collectively, the “Agreement”).

Please read this Agreement carefully before accessing or using the Services. By accessing or using any Services, you agree to become bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement. If you do not agree to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement, then you should not and may not access or use any Services. If these Terms are considered an offer, acceptance is expressly limited to these Terms.

The Services are not directed to children younger than 13, and Services are only offered to users 13 years of age or older. If you are under 13 years old, please do not register to use or access the Services. Any person who registers as a user, provides us their personal information, or otherwise accesses the Services, represents that they are 13 years of age or older.

Payment and Renewal. Optional paid Services such as extra storage, are available (any such Services, an “Upgrade”). By selecting an Upgrade you agree to pay the monthly or annual subscription fees indicated for the Upgrade. Payments will be charged on a pre-pay basis on the day you sign up for an Upgrade and will cover the use of that service for a monthly or annual subscription period as indicated. Upgrade fees are not refundable unless legally required. You are responsible for applicable taxes, and we will charge taxes when required to do so.

Downgrades. Your Upgrades will remain in effect until cancelled or terminated under this Agreement. If you don’t pay for your Upgrades on time, we reserve the right to suspend it or reduce your Services to free levels (“Downgrade”).

Automatic Renewal and Fee Changes. Unless you notify us before the end of the applicable subscription period that you want to cancel an Upgrade, your Upgrade subscription will automatically renew and you authorize us to collect the then-applicable annual or monthly subscription fee for such Upgrade (as well as any taxes) using any credit card or other payment mechanism we have on record for you. Upgrades can be canceled at any time by notifying us. Fees in effect may change but you will receive advance notice of changes via a message to the account email address.

Your Credentials. By the very nature of the Services, often we do not have access to your data, encryption keys, share keys, public keys, passwords or any other credentials required to access and use Services. If your credentials are lost, all your data stored online is lost and cannot be recovered. It is your responsibility to safeguard your credentials (including but not limited to your passwords, and encryption keys), ensuring that others do not have access to them. If you are unable or unsure in your ability to secure your credentials, you may want to consider periodically backing up your credentials elsewhere.

Your Data. While we cannot decrypt your data, we do need to store it, back it up, share it as needed, and otherwise process it to provide the Services. You hereby provide us and other third parties we work with, the necessary permissions to do those things.

Intellectual Property and Software. This Agreement does not transfer to you any of Private Machines Inc. or third party intellectual property, and all right, title and interest in and to such property will remain (as between the parties) solely with Private Machines Inc. The Services are protected by trademark, copyright, and other US and foreign laws. Private Machines Inc., and all other trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with Services are trademarks or registered trademarks of Private Machines Inc. or Private Machines Inc.’s licensors. Other trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with the Services may be the trademarks of other third parties. Your use of the Services grants you no right or license to reproduce or otherwise use any Private Machines Inc. or third-party trademarks. The Services may allow you to download client software (“Software”) which may update automatically. Under this Agreement, Private Machines Inc. grants you a limited, nonexclusive, nontransferable, revocable license to use the Software, for the sole purpose of accessing the Services. Additional third party or open source components may be added to the Software from time to time and you agree to be bound by any applicable licenses; some of their provisions may override some of these Terms. Further, you agree to not modify, adapt, translate, reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble or create a derivative work based upon the Software. You agree to not duplicate the Software or provide it to others.

Termination. We may terminate your access to all or any of the Services at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately. If you wish to terminate this Agreement or your Private Machines Inc. account (if you have one), you may simply discontinue using it. We reserve the right to terminate your account if you haven’t accessed our Services for more than a year, but not before providing notice to you via the email address associated with your account. All provisions of this Agreement which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.

Disclaimer of Warranties. The Services are provided “as is”. Private Machines Inc. and its suppliers and licensors hereby disclaim all warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Neither Private Machines Inc. nor its suppliers and licensors, makes any warranty that the Services will be error free or that access thereto will be continuous or uninterrupted. You understand that you access and use Services at your own discretion and risk.

Limitation of Liability. In no event will Private Machines Inc., or its suppliers or licensors, be liable with respect to any subject matter of this Agreement under any contract, negligence, strict liability or other legal or equitable theory for: any special, indirect, incidental, exemplary, punitive, or consequential damages; the cost of procurement for substitute products or services; for interruption of use or corruption or loss of data, business, or profits – regardless of legal theory, whether or not Private Machines Inc. has been warned of the possibility of such damages, and even if a remedy fails of its essential purpose; or (iv) for any amounts that exceed the fees paid by you to Private Machines Inc. under this Agreement during the twelve (12) month period prior to the cause of action. Private Machines Inc. shall have no liability for any failure or delay due to matters beyond their reasonable control. The foregoing shall not apply to the extent prohibited by applicable law.

Several of the products, including CipherLocker™, CipherBucket™, CipherCluster™, CipherPlane™, CipherRack™, CipherQuery™, are in an ALPHA state and the versions that you are installing may be under active development, and as such may be broken. Therefore, please beware and use at your own risk! Do not process or store sensitive items using these products.

General Representations and Warranty. You represent and warrant that: (i) your use of the Services will be in strict accordance with this Agreement and with all applicable laws and regulations (including without limitation any local laws or regulations in your country, state, city, or other governmental area, regarding online conduct and acceptable content, and including all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside); and (ii) your use of the Services will not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party.

Acceptable Use Representations and Warranty. You represent and warrant that you will not:

violate the law in any way, including storing, publishing or sharing material that’s fraudulent, defamatory, or misleading;
violate the privacy or infringe the rights of others;
process, publish, or share materials that are unlawfully pornographic, indecent, or containing extreme acts of violence;
advocate bigotry or hatred based on race, religion, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual preference, disability, or impairment;
breach or attempt to breach, or otherwise circumvent any security mechanisms;
access areas of the Services you are not authorized to;
use Services using unauthorized software or credentials;
fraudulently gain or attempt to gain resources beyond the limits you are entitled to (such as additional storage capacity), including by fraudulently using promotions and referrals;
create multiple accounts — each user is entitled to a single account and the creation of multiple accounts for the purpose of gaining additional resources is expressly forbidden.
evaluate, test, or scan the vulnerability of any system or network related to the Services;
interfere with any part of the Services, including its network, systems and users, e.g., by sending malware or spam, or by overloading or flooding;
access, search, or create accounts related to the Services by non-traditional means or interfaces not made available publicly;
deceive or attempt to deceive by using a false identity or source-identifying information, including “IP spoofing”;
use Services in support of or in conjunction with any unsolicited communications;
advertise or promote services or products without authorization;
use the Services, directly or indirectly, to offer a competing service, or sell the Services themselves, without authorization;

We may review conduct of users for compliance with this Agreement but have no obligation to do so. We are not responsible for the content made available by users through the Services. Please evaluate carefully the suitability of anything you make available through the Services.

Copyright Infringement and DMCA Policy. As Private Machines Inc. asks others to respect its intellectual property rights, it respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that material accessible through our Services violates your copyright, you are encouraged to notify Private Machines Inc. in accordance with Private Machines Inc.’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) Policy. Private Machines Inc. will respond to all such notices, including as required or appropriate by removing the infringing material. Private Machines Inc. will terminate a user’s access to and use of the Services if, under appropriate circumstances, the user is determined to be a repeat infringer of the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of Private Machines Inc. or others. In the case of such termination, Private Machines Inc. will have no obligation to provide a refund of any amounts previously paid to Private Machines Inc.

Indemnification. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Private Machines Inc., its contractors, and its licensors, and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, arising out of your use of the Services, including but not limited to your violation of this Agreement.

Governing Law. Except to the extent applicable law, if any, provides otherwise, this Agreement, any access to or use of the Website will be governed by the laws of the state of New York, U.S.A., excluding its conflict of law provisions, and the proper venue for any disputes arising out of or relating to any of the same will be the state and federal courts located in Kings County, NY.

Disputes. We want to address any issues without a legal case. Before filing a claim, you agree to try to resolve the dispute informally by contacting legal@privatemachines.com. If a dispute is not resolved within 30 days, a formal proceeding may be initiated. Except for claims for injunctive or equitable relief or claims regarding intellectual property rights (which may be brought in any competent court without the posting of a bond), any dispute arising under this Agreement shall be finally settled in accordance with the Comprehensive Arbitration Rules of the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Service, Inc. (“JAMS”) by three arbitrators appointed in accordance with such Rules. The arbitration shall take place in New York, NY, in the English language and the arbitral decision may be enforced in any court. The prevailing party in any action or proceeding to enforce this Agreement shall be entitled to costs and attorneys’ fees.

No Class Action. You may not bring a claim as a plaintiff or a class member in a class, consolidated, or representative action. Class arbitrations, class actions, private attorney general actions, and consolidation with other arbitrations are not allowed.

Changes. We are constantly updating our services, and that means sometimes we have to change the legal terms under which our services are offered. If we make changes that are material, we will let you know by posting on one of our blogs, or by sending you an email or other communication before the changes take effect. The notice will designate a reasonable period of time after which the new Terms will take effect. If you disagree with our changes, then you should stop using the Services within the designated notice period. Your continued use of the Services will be subject to the new Terms.

Notices. We may use the email address associated with your account to send you notices. It is your responsibility to maintain accurate account information, regularly check your email and make sure emails from us do not get filtered out by your system. Any communication from us to you shall be deemed given once sent to your account email address.

Translation. These Terms of Service were originally written in English (US). We may translate these Terms into other languages. In the event of a conflict between a translated version of these Terms of Service and the English version, the English version will control.

Miscellaneous. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between Private Machines Inc. and you concerning the subject matter hereof, and it may only be modified by a written amendment signed by an authorized executive of Private Machines Inc., or by the posting by Private Machines Inc. of a revised version. If any part of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, that part will be construed to reflect the parties’ original intent, and the remaining portions will remain in full force and effect. Private Machines Inc.’s failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of its right to do so later. A waiver by either party of any term or condition of this Agreement or any breach thereof, in any one instance, will not waive such term or condition or any subsequent breach thereof. Private Machines Inc.’s failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of its right to do so later. You may not assign any of your rights under these Terms, and any such attempt will be void. Private Machines Inc. may assign its rights under this Agreement without condition. This Agreement will be binding upon and will inure to the benefit of the parties, their successors and permitted assigns.

Privacy Policy

Private Machines Inc. is built around fully protecting the confidentiality of your data. By the very nature of our Services, we do not have access to your data, encryption keys, share keys, public keys, passwords or any other credentials required to access and use Services.

Principles. To provide access to the Services, we do need to know a minimal amount of personal and billing information about yourself. We always aim to minimize what we require in this process. We are guided by a few fundamental principles:

We don’t ask you for personal information unless we truly need it. (We can’t stand services that ask you for things like your gender or income level for no apparent reason.)
We don’t share your personal information with anyone except to comply with the law, develop our products, or protect our rights.
We don’t store personal information on our servers unless required for the on-going operation of one of our services.

Website Visitors. Like most websites, Private Machines Inc.’s websites collect non-personally-identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request. Private Machines Inc.’s purpose in collecting non-personally identifying information is to better understand how Private Machines Inc.’s visitors use its websites. From time to time, Private Machines Inc. may release non-personally-identifying information in the aggregate, e.g., by publishing a report on usage trends etc.

Private Machines Inc. also collects potentially personally-identifying information like Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Private Machines Inc. only discloses this information under the same circumstances that it uses and discloses personally-identifying information as described below.

Personally-Identifying Information. To provide Services, Private Machines Inc. may require to gather personally-identifying information from its users. The amount and type of information that Private Machines Inc. gathers depends on the nature of the interaction. For example, we may ask users who sign up for free Services to provide a username and email address.

For some Services you may decide to provide additional data – such as your list of contacts – to make it easier for you to share files, send messages and generally use the Services. We will store those contacts on our servers for you to use.

Some Services may provide access through other providers – for example by paying through a service such as Paypal, logging in using a Facebook account, or providing a different service access to your Services credentials etc. In such cases, please note that these parties may gain access to your information and the use thereof is governed by their privacy policies and terms.

Those who engage in paid transactions – by purchasing Upgrades for example – are asked to provide additional information, including as necessary the personal and financial information required to process those transactions. In each case, Private Machines Inc. collects such information only insofar as is necessary or appropriate to fulfill the purpose of the user’s interaction. Private Machines Inc. does not disclose personally-identifying information other than as described below. And visitors can always refuse to supply personally-identifying information, with the caveat that it may prevent them from engaging in certain activities.

Aggregated Statistics. Private Machines Inc. may collect statistics about the behavior of its Services users. For instance, Private Machines Inc. may monitor access rates and bandwidth utilization etc. Private Machines Inc. may display this information publicly or provide it to others. However, Private Machines Inc. does not disclose personally-identifying information other than as described below.

Protection of Certain Personally-Identifying Information. Private Machines Inc. discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only to those of its employees, contractors and affiliated organizations that (i) need to know that information in order to process it on Private Machines Inc.’s behalf or to provide Services, and (ii) that have agreed not to disclose it to others. Some of those employees, contractors and affiliated organizations may be located outside of your home country; by using Services, you consent to the transfer of such information to them. Private Machines Inc. will not rent or sell potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information to anyone. Other than to its employees, contractors and affiliated organizations, as described above, Private Machines Inc. discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only in response to a subpoena, court order or other governmental request, or when Private Machines Inc. believes in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of Private Machines Inc., third parties or the public at large. If you are a registered user of one of Private Machines Inc.’s Services and have supplied your email address, Private Machines Inc. may occasionally send you an email to tell you about new features, solicit your feedback, or just keep you up to date with what’s going on with Private Machines Inc. and our products. We expect to keep this type of email to a minimum. If you send us a request (for example via a support email or via one of our feedback mechanisms), we reserve the right to publish it in order to help us clarify or respond to your request or to help us support other users. Private Machines Inc. takes all measures reasonably necessary to protect against the unauthorized access, use, alteration or destruction of potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information.

It is important to note that information like your name and email address – and any additional information you may want to make available – may be provided to other users of the Services.

Cookies. A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns. Private Machines Inc. uses cookies, pixel tags and other technologies to help Private Machines Inc. identify and track users, their usage of Private Machines Inc.’s Services or websites, and their Services or websites preferences. Private Machines Inc. visitors who do not wish to have cookies placed on their computers should set their browsers to refuse cookies before using Private Machines Inc.’s websites, with the drawback that certain features of Private Machines Inc.’s websites may not function properly without the aid of cookies.

Retention. We will keep your information for as long as needed to provide you the Services, but we will delete it if your account is deleted. Please note that there may be a delay in deleting this information, and we may retain the information if necessary to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce agreements.

Business Transfers. If Private Machines Inc., or substantially all of its assets, were acquired, or in the unlikely event that Private Machines Inc. goes out of business or enters bankruptcy, user information would be one of the assets that is transferred or acquired by a third party. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur, and that any acquirer of Private Machines Inc. may continue to use your personal information as set forth in this policy.

Ads. Ads appearing on any of our websites or Services may be delivered to users by advertising partners, who may also set cookies. These cookies allow the ad server to recognize your computer each time they send you an online advertisement to compile information about you or others who use your computer. This information allows ad networks to, among other things, deliver targeted advertisements that they believe will be of most interest to you. This Privacy Policy covers the use of cookies by Private Machines Inc. and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.

Privacy Policy Changes. Although most changes are likely to be minor, Private Machines Inc. may change its Privacy Policy from time to time, and in Private Machines Inc.’s sole discretion. Private Machines Inc. encourages visitors to frequently check this page for any changes to its Privacy Policy. Your continued use of the Services after any change in this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of such change.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) Policy

As Private Machines Inc. asks others to respect its intellectual property rights, it respects the intellectual property rights of others. The text of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, may be found on the U.S. Copyright Office website at http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf.

If you believe that material available through our Services infringes on your copyright(s), please notify us by providing a DMCA notice. Upon receipt of a valid and complete notice, we will remove the material and make a good faith attempt to contact the user who originated the material by email.

Please be advised that you may be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys’ fees) if you materially misrepresent that material or activity is infringing. We have and will seek to collect those damages.

Your DMCA notice will be forwarded to the party that made the material available, and also may be sent to third parties such as ChillingEffects.org.

Please follow these steps to file a notice. (1) If possible, first contact the user originating the material directly. Send a comment with your complaint to the user, to see if the matter can be resolved directly between you and the user. (2) If the issue cannot be resolved directly with the user, send your complaint to our designated agent at dmca@privatemachines.com. You must include the following:

A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf;
An identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed;
A description of the nature and exact location of the material that you claim to infringe your copyright, in sufficient detail to permit Private Machines Inc. to find and positively identify that material.
Your name, address, telephone number and email address;
A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

As required by the DMCA, we have a policy to take any actions we deem appropriate in our sole discretion, including the removal of the challenged material or the termination of users we deem to be repeat infringers. Although we won’t share the specifics of our repeat infringer policy (we don’t want anyone to game the system, after all), we believe that it strikes the right balance of protecting the rights of copyright owners as well as protecting legitimate users from wrongful termination. Please note that notices that are successfully countered, rejected on fair use grounds, or deemed to be fraudulent are not counted against a user.