Terms of Service

Effective date: 9 August 2026 Last updated: 9 August 2026

1. Agreement to these Terms

1.1 These Terms of Service (the "Terms") constitute a binding agreement between you and the Operators governing your access to and use of the Service. Capitalised terms used in these Terms have the meanings given to them in clause 2.

1.2 By accessing or using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these Terms and by the Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. If you do not agree, you must not access or use the Service.

1.3 The Service is operated independently and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with the School.

2. Definitions and interpretation

2.1 Definitions. In these Terms, the following terms have the following meanings:

"Ban" means the suspension or permanent termination of a User's access to the Service, in whole or in part, as described in clause 8.

"Channel" means the Telegram channel operated by the Operators through which Content may be published to an audience.

"Content" means any information, text, message, image, poll, survey or feedback response or other material that you submit, send, post or otherwise make available through the Service.

"Discussion Group" means the Telegram group linked to the Channel in which Users may post replies.

"Operators", "we", "us" or "our" means the group of individuals that operates the Service.

"Personal Data" has the meaning given to it in the Privacy Policy.

"Premium" means the paid features of the Service offered by the Operators from time to time, on the terms presented to you at the point of purchase.

"Privacy Policy" means the Operators' privacy policy, available at https://smuconfess.app/privacy, as amended from time to time.

"Prohibited Conduct" means the conduct described in clause 7 (Acceptable use).

"School" means Singapore Management University, the educational institution whose community the Service is intended for.

"Service" means the SMU Confess Telegram bot, together with the Channel, the Discussion Group, the Web Application and all related features, functions and materials made available by the Operators.

"Service Providers" has the meaning given to it in the Privacy Policy.

"Telegram" means the Telegram messaging platform operated by Telegram FZ-LLC and its affiliates, through which the Service is provided.

"User", "you" or "your" means any person who accesses or uses the Service.

"Verification" means the process by which a User confirms control of a School email address through an identity verification provider, and "Verified" is construed accordingly.

"Web Application" means the web-based interface made available by the Operators as part of the Service, including at https://smuconfess.app/bots/smu-confess/app.

2.2 Interpretation. In these Terms, unless the context requires otherwise:

(a) headings are for convenience only and do not affect their interpretation;

(b) the singular includes the plural and vice versa;

(d) the words "including", "includes" and "such as" are not words of limitation and are to be read as if followed by "without limitation";

(e) a reference to a statute, document or provision is to that statute, document or provision as amended, replaced or supplemented from time to time;

(f) "writing" and "written" include communication by electronic means; and

(g) a reference to a clause is to a clause of these Terms.

3. The Service

3.1 The Service enables members of the School community to submit Content anonymously, certain of which may be published to the Channel, and, where made available, to use additional interactive and paid features.

3.2 The Service is provided on an "as available" basis. We may modify, suspend, limit or discontinue the Service or any of its features, in whole or in part, at any time and without liability to you.

3.3 The Service may include advertising or sponsored content, including within or alongside Content. The manner in which such content is selected is described in the Privacy Policy.

4. Eligibility and Verification

4.1 The Service is intended for enrolled members of the School community.

4.2 Access to Telegram is subject to Telegram's own minimum-age requirement. By accessing or using the Service, you represent and warrant that you satisfy that requirement and that you are of sufficient age and legal capacity, under the laws applicable to you, to enter into these Terms and to consent to the Privacy Policy. We may suspend or terminate any account which we reasonably believe is held by a person who does not meet these requirements.

4.3 Certain features, including the submission and posting of Content, anonymous interaction with other Users, and the purchase of Premium, require Verification. Verification confirms only that you controlled the relevant School email address at the time of Verification; it does not verify your identity or your continuing enrolment, and does not create any affiliation between you, the Service or the School.

5. Anonymity

5.1 Content you submit is presented to other Users and to the audience of the Channel on an anonymous basis, and messages you exchange with other Users are relayed under a pseudonymous identifier rather than under your name or account.

5.2 You acknowledge that such anonymity operates only as between you and other Users or the audience of the Channel and is not absolute. As more fully described in the Privacy Policy, the Operators retain a record associating you with your Content, and authorised personnel may access the Content you submit and the messages you exchange.

5.3 You must not attempt to identify, de-anonymise, track or otherwise determine the identity of any other User.

5.4 Replies posted directly within the Discussion Group are anonymised on a best-efforts basis only, and such anonymisation may be delayed or may fail, as described in the Privacy Policy. For assured anonymity, you should use the anonymous facility provided by the bot.

6. Your Content and licence

6.1 As between you and the Operators, you retain such rights as you may have in your Content.

6.2 You grant the Operators a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable and sub-licensable (solely to our Service Providers) licence to host, store, reproduce, adapt, publish, display, relay, process and otherwise use your Content for the purposes of operating, providing, securing, analysing, improving and monetising the Service, including by selecting and displaying advertising or sponsored content within or alongside your Content, and to share your Content with the Service Providers referred to in the Privacy Policy. This licence continues for so long as your Content remains available through the Service or is retained in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

6.3 We may also generate and use aggregated or de-identified information derived from your Content and from your use of the Service, as described in the Privacy Policy.

6.4 You represent and warrant that you own or have all rights necessary to submit your Content and to grant the licence in clause 6.2, and that your Content does not infringe the rights of any third party or contravene any applicable law.

6.5 You are solely responsible for your Content. We do not endorse any Content and assume no responsibility for it.

7. Acceptable use

7.1 You must not use, or attempt or facilitate the use of, the Service to engage in any of the following (the "Prohibited Conduct"). The following are illustrative and not exhaustive:

(a) harassment, threats, intimidation, stalking or bullying;

(b) doxxing or the disclosure of another person's private information, images or communications without consent;

(d) any sexual content involving, or any content that sexualises, minors;

(e) attempts to identify, de-anonymise or track other Users;

(f) spam, flooding, or the circumvention of rate limits or of any Ban or restriction, including through the creation of further accounts;

(g) commercial advertising, promotion, solicitation, or fraudulent or "for sale" content;

(h) automated, scripted or bulk interaction with the Service, or the scraping, harvesting or reverse engineering of the Service;

(i) impersonation of any person, the Operators or the School; and

(j) any conduct that is unlawful under the laws of Singapore or that infringes the rights of others.

7.2 Enforcement of these Terms is at the Operators' sole and absolute discretion. We are under no obligation to monitor Content or conduct, to act upon any particular instance of Prohibited Conduct, or to act consistently between cases, and we may take action in respect of conduct not expressly listed above. We do not warrant that any particular Content will be detected, reviewed or removed.

8. Moderation, suspension and termination

8.1 We may employ a combination of automated and human moderation in connection with the Service.

8.2 We may, at our sole and absolute discretion and without prior notice or liability, take any action we consider appropriate in respect of your access to or use of the Service, including issuing a warning, muting you, removing you from any session or feature, removing Content, and imposing a Ban.

8.3 Where you are subject to a Ban, your access to interactive features is prevented, any active anonymous sessions or memberships are terminated and the associated Content removed, and any paid entitlement is retained but rendered inaccessible for the duration of the Ban and is not refunded, its remaining term resuming if the Ban is lifted.

8.4 We may lift or reverse a Ban at any time at our sole discretion.

8.5 You may submit an appeal via https://forms.gle/tbKpnRxWT3FMdyDq7. We do not guarantee any response, timeframe or outcome.

9. Premium

9.1 We may offer Premium, payment for which is processed by a third-party payment processor. The price, the features included, the period of access and any applicable conditions will be presented to you before payment, and those terms will apply to your purchase.

9.2 We may change our pricing, plans and paid features at any time. Such changes will not affect access for which you have already paid.

9.3 Except where a refund is required by applicable law, or where we determine in our discretion that a charge resulted from a genuine error or technical fault attributable to us (such as a duplicate charge or a failure to deliver access), all payments are non-refundable. This clause does not affect any statutory rights you may have as a consumer.

9.4 The consequences of a Ban for paid entitlements are set out in clause 8.3.

10. Discounts and promotions

We may offer discounts, credits or promotions from time to time. Except as we may otherwise state, such benefits are non-transferable, have no cash value, are applied automatically, and may be varied or withdrawn at any time. We may withhold or reverse any benefit that we reasonably believe to have been obtained through abuse.

11. Third-party services

The Service relies on third-party services, including Telegram and providers of payment processing, identity verification, hosting, artificial-intelligence, email and cloud-storage services. Your use of those services may be subject to their own terms, for which we are not responsible. The manner in which Personal Data is shared with such providers is described in the Privacy Policy.

12. Disclaimers

12.1 The Service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranty of any kind, whether express, implied or statutory, to the fullest extent permitted by law, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.

12.2 We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free, or that Content will be monitored, retained or removed.

12.3 The Service is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the School.

13. Limitation of liability

13.1 To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Operators shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary loss or damage, or for any loss of data, loss of profits or loss of goodwill, arising out of or in connection with the Service, your Content, or the Content of any other User.

13.2 To the fullest extent permitted by law, the aggregate liability of the Operators arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the Service shall not exceed the amount, if any, paid by you to the Operators in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the liability.

13.3 Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

14. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Operators against any claims, demands, liabilities, damages, losses and expenses (including reasonable legal costs) arising out of or in connection with your Content, your use of the Service, or your breach of these Terms or of any applicable law or third-party right.

15. Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Singapore, and you submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Singapore in respect of any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the Service.

16. Changes to these Terms

We may amend these Terms from time to time. The current version, together with its effective date, will be made available at https://smuconfess.app/terms, and material changes will be brought to your attention through the Service where reasonable. Your continued use of the Service after an amendment takes effect constitutes your acceptance of the amended Terms.

17. General

17.1 These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and the Operators in relation to the Service.

17.2 If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

17.3 No failure or delay by the Operators in exercising any right shall operate as a waiver of it.

17.4 You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms. We may assign or transfer ours without restriction.

17.5 Nothing in these Terms creates any partnership, agency or employment relationship between you and the Operators.

17.6 A person who is not a party to these Terms has no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 2001 of Singapore to enforce any term of these Terms.

18. Contact

Email: contact@smuconfess.app
Requests / appeals form: https://forms.gle/tbKpnRxWT3FMdyDq7