Terms and conditions of use
These terms and conditions of use (“Terms”) together with the privacy provisions in Section H below (“Privacy Policy”) form a legally binding agreement (“Agreement”) between you and us (“PinBrief”, “We”, “Us”, “Our”).
PinBrief — Brief news, pinned to your place. We provide short news briefs (approximately 60 words per story), optionally ranked by location, from licensed third-party sources and, in later phases, from community reporters in your area.
Please read these Terms carefully. Questions: [email protected] or our Contact Us page. Summary errors: [email protected].
A. Definitions and interpretation
1. Capitalized terms not defined elsewhere in this Agreement shall mean as follows:
(a) “Service” means the PinBrief website at pinbrief.com, any mobile application, and related services owned or operated by Us.
(b) “Syndicated Content” means news briefs derived from third-party publishers (e.g. licensed APIs or RSS) with source name and link-back to the original article where required.
(c) “Local Report” means user-submitted geotagged stories (text, image, or short video) from community reporters, published only after human moderation where that feature is available.
(d) “Trust Label” means a community assessment on a Local Report — Verified, Unverified, Disputed, or Misleading — applied by trained verifiers. Trust Labels are not legal verdicts and We do not use the term “fake news” on the Service.
(e) “Sponsored Content” means paid promotional cards clearly marked “Sponsored” or similar, distinct from news and Local Reports.
(f) “User”, “You”, or “Your” refers to any person who accesses or uses the Service.
2. Any reference to the singular includes the plural and vice versa. Headings are for convenience only.
B. Your approval
1. You approve of and accept the Agreement by accessing or using the Service from any device.
2. You can accept the Agreement only if:
(a) You are at least 13 years old (or the minimum age required in your country for online services);
(b) You are a natural person of legal age to consent, or a juristic person with authority to contract; and
(c) You are not barred from using the Service under applicable law.
3. If You submit Local Reports or register as a reporter or verifier, additional age or approval requirements may apply (typically 18+).
4. Do not use the Service if You do not understand, approve of, or accept this Agreement in its entirety.
C. Provision of the Service
1. What PinBrief is. The Service delivers a card-based feed of very short news stories. PinBrief is a discovery and summary layer — not a replacement for full articles at original publishers.
2. Intermediary. PinBrief operates as an intermediary under applicable law (including the Information Technology Act, 2000 and rules thereunder in India). We do not host full third-party articles unless We have a license or legal permission. Original publishers remain responsible for their content.
3. Syndicated Content. We collect headlines and permitted metadata from licensed sources, produce brief summaries, and show source name plus “Read more at [Source]” (or equivalent) on each syndicated card. If You follow a link, You leave PinBrief and third-party terms apply.
4. Near You and maps. The Service may show a “Near You” feed, distance labels, or map pins based on optional location or a city You select. Location may be stored coarsely (e.g. rounded to about one kilometre) to protect privacy. Where local density is low, We may show city-level or national stories and indicate that in the interface.
5. Local Reports (when available). Community stories are attributed to named reporters (e.g. “brief by [Name] · [Area]”). They are not auto-published; human moderators review submissions before they appear. PinBrief is the platform; the reporter is credited as the contributor, not PinBrief as the original author.
6. Trust Labels (when available). Independent verifiers may vote on Local Reports. Labels reflect community assessment only — see Section J. They do not mean a court, government, or PinBrief has made a legal finding.
7. Sponsored Content. Sponsored cards may appear in the feed, labelled clearly. They are not news editorial and do not affect how syndicated or Local Report cards are selected.
8. Third-party links. The Service may link to sites We do not control. We do not endorse linked content and are not liable for accuracy, safety, or privacy practices on third-party sites.
9. Changes. We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service or these Terms. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance where permitted by law.
D. Your agreement with PinBrief
1. A violation of this Agreement may result in legal liability. Nothing herein confers rights on any third party.
2. If any provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain valid.
3. Our failure to act on a breach does not waive Our right to act on subsequent breaches.
E. Using the Service
1. You will use the Service only for purposes permitted by (a) this Agreement; and (b) applicable law in the country from which You use the Service.
2. PinBrief grants You a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable right to access and use the Service for personal, non-commercial reading unless We agree otherwise in writing.
3. You will not scrape, bulk-download, mirror, or resell the feed or summaries except as permitted by law or Our written consent.
4. Accounts. If You register (e.g. as a reader, reporter, or verifier), You are responsible for accurate information, password security, and all activity under Your account. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.
5. Third-party publisher content remains theirs. Local Reports remain subject to the license You grant Us in Section K.
F. Restrictions on your use
1. You agree that You will not upload, publish, transmit, or share any information (including through Local Reports, if enabled) that:
(a) belongs to another person and to which You have no right;
(b) is defamatory, obscene, invasive of privacy, harassing, hateful, or unlawful;
(c) is harmful to children;
(d) infringes copyright, trademark, or other proprietary rights;
(e) violates any law for the time being in force;
(f) is patently false or misleading, or misstates facts in a way likely to harm others;
(g) names private individuals as criminals without verified public interest and evidence;
(h) impersonates another person or misrepresents Your affiliation with PinBrief;
(i) threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign States, or public order, or incites any cognisable offence;
(j) contains malware or code designed to disrupt systems; or
(k) is morphed media or impersonation in electronic form targeting an identifiable individual.
2. You will not attempt to manipulate Trust Labels, moderation queues, leaderboards, or geo-ranking through fake accounts or coordinated abuse.
3. You will not remove or obscure Sponsored or Trust Label disclosures on content displayed by the Service.
G. Intellectual property
1. The PinBrief name, logo, user interface, and original materials are owned by Us or Our licensors.
2. Syndicated summaries are derivative briefs; underlying articles and trademarks belong to respective publishers. You may not republish summaries as if they were the full original article.
3. We respect intellectual property. Report copyright concerns to [email protected] with Your name, the work claimed, the PinBrief URL, and a good-faith statement — see our Contact Us page.
H. Privacy
1. This Privacy Policy explains how We treat personal data when You use the Service. By using the Service, You agree to such processing as described here.
2. Data We may collect: usage and device data; optional coarse location or manual city; account details if You register; media and GPS metadata if You submit Local Reports; and information You send when contacting Us.
3. How We use it: to operate and improve the Service (including feed ranking and summary quality), moderate content, respond to grievances, and comply with law. We do not sell personal data.
4. Processors: We use service providers (e.g. cloud hosting, CDN, analytics, and AI summarization tools such as Google Gemini) under contractual safeguards.
5. India (DPDP Act, 2023): You may contact Our Grievance Officer at [email protected] for grievances regarding personal data. You may request access, correction, or erasure subject to applicable law and Our legal retention needs.
6. Global: Depending on Your location (including the EU/UK or California), You may have additional privacy rights. Contact [email protected].
7. We use reasonable security measures; no method is completely secure.
I. AI-generated summaries
1. Many syndicated briefs are produced with automated tools (including artificial intelligence such as Google Gemini), sometimes with human review. They target about 60 words and are not full articles.
2. AI summaries may be incomplete, outdated, or wrong. Always verify important facts at the original source before You act on health, financial, legal, or safety information.
3. If a summary misrepresents a source, contact [email protected] with the story link. We aim to review and correct or remove material errors promptly.
4. PinBrief is not liable for decisions You make based solely on a summary without checking the source.
J. Local reports, moderation, and trust labels
1. Moderation. Local Reports pass human moderation before publication. We may reject, edit for length or clarity, or remove content that violates law or these Terms.
2. Trust Labels. When enabled, trained verifiers may assign one of: Verified, Unverified, Disputed, or Misleading. Labels reflect verifier consensus, not a legal judgment. PinBrief will never label content “fake news” in the product.
3. Disclaimer. Community assessment — not a legal judgment. Trust Labels help readers; they are not court findings or guarantees of truth.
4. Verifiers must follow Our guidelines, avoid conflicts of interest, and may lose verifier status for repeated inaccurate votes or abuse.
5. Reporting. You may report any card through in-app tools (when available) or email [email protected].
K. Your content (reporters and contributors)
When Local Report submission is available and You upload stories, photos, or video (“Your Content”):
1. You represent that You own or have rights to Your Content and that it is accurate to the best of Your knowledge.
2. You grant PinBrief a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, adapt (e.g. resize), publish, and display Your Content on the Service and for reasonable promotion of PinBrief, for as long as it is published or required for legal and audit purposes.
3. You agree that We may moderate, label, or remove Your Content under these Terms.
4. You will not submit content that violates Section F.
L. Limitation of liability and indemnification
1. Your use of the Service is at Your own risk. To the maximum extent permitted by law, PinBrief shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or loss of profits or data, arising from use of the Service, summaries, Trust Labels, or third-party links.
2. You may stop using the Service at any time.
3. You shall indemnify PinBrief against claims arising from Your Content or breach of this Agreement, to the extent permitted by law. Mandatory consumer rights in Your jurisdiction are not affected where they cannot be waived.
M. No warranties
The Service and all content (including Syndicated Content, Local Reports, Trust Labels, and Sponsored Content) are provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or non-infringement, to the fullest extent permitted by law.
We do not warrant uninterrupted operation, error-free summaries, or that Trust Labels are complete or final.
N. Governing law and dispute resolution
1. If You use the Service from any location, You are responsible for compliance with local laws.
2. This Agreement is governed by the laws of India. Courts at Pune, Maharashtra shall have jurisdiction, subject to mandatory consumer forums and non-waivable rights in Your country of residence.
3. Disputes shall first be raised in writing to [email protected] within 30 days for good-faith resolution.
O. Notices
PinBrief may post notices on the Service or send email to Your registered address. Notices are deemed received within 3 days of posting or sending where permitted by law.
P. General disclaimer
Content may contain errors or become outdated. PinBrief may change the Service without prior notice.
YOU EXPRESSLY REPRESENT THAT YOU WILL NOT USE THE SERVICE IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND AND AGREE TO ALL TERMS HEREIN.
Your dealings with advertisers or Sponsored Content providers are solely between You and them. PinBrief is not responsible for their products, services, or claims.
Nothing in this Agreement makes PinBrief a news publisher of third-party syndicated articles; We aggregate and summarize with attribution as permitted.
Q. Grievance Officer (India)
For content, privacy, or platform grievances under applicable Indian law, write to Our Grievance Officer at [email protected] with:
- Your name
- Email id
- Contact number
- URL of the content concerned (if any)
- Brief description of the grievance
We aim to acknowledge within 48 hours and resolve within 15 days where applicable. Postal address: PinBrief, Pune, Maharashtra, India — details on Contact Us.
Last updated: June 2026