Terms of Service

1. Acceptance

These Terms govern your use of realhandles.com and the RealHandles service, operated by David V. Kimball LLC. By using the service you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

2. What RealHandles is

RealHandles is a tool that lets you generate a cryptographic key, prove control of your online accounts and domains, and publish a portable signed proof linking them to one person. Your key is the root of trust; our login and any domain are conveniences, not the identity.

3. Acceptable use

• You may only verify or claim accounts, domains, organizations, and servers that you actually control or are authorized to represent.
• No impersonation. Do not claim to be another person or organization, and do not add accounts that are not yours in a way designed to mislead.
• Do not use the service unlawfully, infringe others' rights, or attempt to abuse, overload, or circumvent the verification, handle-reservation, or anti-squatting mechanisms.
• Do not use the service to harass, defraud, or endanger others.

4. Verification is best-effort

A "Verified" status means an automated first-party check (such as OAuth, an author-bound post, a platform lookup, or domain control) passed at a point in time. A "Claimed" status is self-asserted and not verified by us. We do not warrant that any account genuinely belongs to any person, that verifications remain accurate over time, or that the service will be available or error-free. Do your own diligence; use the independent verifier to check any proof yourself.

5. Your key and your content

• You are solely responsible for your signing key and its backup. Because we never hold your private key, we cannot recover or reset it. If you lose it and your backup, you lose the ability to update your proof.
• You retain ownership of your content. You grant us the permission needed to store and publicly display your profile data and signed manifest as part of operating the service.

6. Handles and names

Usernames are subject to our reservation rules, where shorter or protected handles require a matching verified proof. A handle does not grant you any trademark or property right beyond use of the service. We may reclaim, suspend, or reassign a handle obtained through fraud or impersonation, or that infringes another party's rights.

7. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate access for violation of these Terms, impersonation or abuse, or where required by law. You may stop using the service and request deletion at any time (see the Privacy Policy). Your independently hosted signed proofs are unaffected by termination.

8. Disclaimers

The service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation.

9. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, David V. Kimball LLC will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data, or goodwill, arising from your use of or inability to use the service. Our total liability for any claim relating to the service is limited to the amount you paid us for it, which for a free service is zero.

10. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless David V. Kimball LLC from claims arising out of your misuse of the service or violation of these Terms or the rights of others.

11. Changes

We may update these Terms. Material changes are reflected by the date above, and continued use after an update means you accept the revised Terms.

12. Governing law and contact

These Terms are governed by the laws of Texas, USA, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Questions: davidvkimball.com/contact.