Terms of Service

Welcome to Political Prisoner Watch (“we,” “us,” or “our”). By accessing or using our website, API, or any related services (collectively, the “Service”), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service (“Terms”). If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use the Service.

Political Prisoner Watch provides a platform for documenting, analyzing, and visualizing data related to political prisoners and human rights violations, primarily sourced from publicly available information provided by human rights organizations. Features include a searchable database, analytics tools, mapping, and an API for programmatic access.

The information provided through the Service is aggregated from external sources, primarily human rights organizations like OVD-Info and Political Prisoners Support. Memorial, often using automated methods to structure and standardize the data. While we strive for accuracy and timeliness, we do not independently verify every piece of information obtained from these sources.

Disclaimer: The data presented is intended for informational, research, and advocacy purposes only. It may contain errors or omissions inherent in the source material or introduced during processing. We make no warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the data. Users should always consult the original source links provided for verification. The Service does not provide legal advice.

Certain features, such as API access, require user registration. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account password and API keys. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or keys. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts or API keys for violations of these Terms or suspected misuse.

You agree to use the Service only for lawful purposes consistent with its intended use for human rights research, journalism, advocacy, and education. Prohibited uses include, but are not limited to:

• Systematic scraping or data harvesting beyond the intended use of the API or fair use principles.
• Attempting to gain unauthorized access to our systems or data.
• Using the Service to harass, defame, or endanger individuals.
• Misrepresenting the source or accuracy of the data obtained from the Service.
• Overloading or disrupting the Service or its infrastructure.
• Violating any applicable local, national, or international laws or regulations.

The underlying case data largely originates from third-party sources — primarily human rights organizations such as Political Prisoners Support. Memorial, OVD-Info, Viasna, and the Committee to Protect Journalists. That source material is not ours to license. It remains the property of, and subject to the terms and licenses of, its original publishers. Political Prisoner Watch owns the copyright only in the selection, coordination, arrangement, and enhancement of such content, and in the original content we create for the Service (the website design, software, translations, and analyses we produce).

Our CC BY-SA 4.0 license applies solely to Political Prisoner Watch’s own original contributions — our arrangement of the database, our software, our translations, and our analyses. It does not, and cannot, relicense the underlying source records. Where you reuse source-derived facts, you must observe the terms of the originating organization and attribute it directly. We do not claim ownership of any partner organization’s data, and a source organization may at any time request correction or removal of its data from the Service (see our Data Sources page).

You may use the data provided through the Service for non-commercial research, reporting, and advocacy purposes, provided you appropriately cite Political Prisoner Watch and, where possible, the original data source. Commercial use may require separate permissions from us or the original data providers.

The Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Political Prisoner Watch and its affiliates, officers, or volunteers shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits or revenues, whether incurred directly or indirectly, or any loss of data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses, resulting from (a) your access to or use of or inability to access or use the Service; (b) any conduct or content of any third party on the Service; (c) any content obtained from the Service; or (d) unauthorized access, use, or alteration of your transmissions or content.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, without notice, for conduct that we believe violates these Terms or is harmful to other users of the Service, us, or third parties, or for any other reason.

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States of America, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles. You agree that any dispute arising from or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the United States.

We may modify these Terms from time to time. We will notify users of significant changes by posting the new Terms on the website and updating the “Last Updated” date. Your continued use of the Service after such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms.

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us via the Contact page.