Terms of Use
DRAFT — for legal review before public (App Store) launch. Written for an Australian operator. Priority review items: §13 (consumer law / liability), §8 (complaints handling / defamation exposure), and the CC BY-SA share-alike position in §9.
MicDrop is operated by Guy Hudson ("we", "us"), based in New South Wales, Australia. By creating an account or using MicDrop you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree, don't use MicDrop.
1. What MicDrop is
MicDrop lets you record short audio clips ("drops") tied to real-world locations, and listen to drops left by others when you are physically nearby. Some drops are created by MicDrop itself from openly licensed sources such as Wikipedia and Open Plaques, and are clearly labelled ("seeded stories"). MicDrop is currently a beta service distributed through Apple's TestFlight.
2. Who can use it
You must be at least 13 years old, or the minimum age of digital consent in your country if higher. By using MicDrop you confirm you meet this requirement.
3. Your account
Accounts are anonymous by default — a random identifier, with an optional display name and profile picture. You're responsible for what happens through your account on your device. You can delete your account and all associated data at any time in Profile → Delete account & data; deletion is permanent.
4. Your content
- You own your recordings. By publishing a drop you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, process, and play it to other users at its location, for as long as the drop exists — that licence is what makes the app work, and it ends when you delete the drop or your account (except for copies already lawfully heard or as needed for legal compliance).
- Public means public. Anyone at a drop's location can hear it. Your display name is shown with it, unless you mark the drop anonymous — in which case "Anonymous" is displayed, though we retain the link between the drop and your account for moderation and legal purposes.
- You're responsible for your content, including having the rights to everything in it (voices, music, other people's words).
5. Recording other people
Do not record identifiable people without their consent. In many places — including Australian states such as NSW under surveillance-devices legislation — recording a private conversation without consent is a criminal offence. You are solely responsible for complying with the recording and privacy laws where you record. Drops that capture other people without consent may be removed and can lead to account termination.
6. Rules of conduct
Don't use MicDrop to publish or do anything that is: illegal; defamatory; harassing, hateful, or threatening; sexually explicit; violent or glorifying violence; deceptive or impersonating another person; or an invasion of someone's privacy. Don't publish content you don't have rights to (including recorded music). Don't spam, scrape the service, probe or interfere with its systems, misrepresent your location, or attempt to bypass location-based access controls or rate limits.
7. Physical safety and locations
MicDrop involves moving through the real world. You use it at your own risk:
- Stay aware of your surroundings. Never use MicDrop while driving, cycling, or in any situation requiring your attention.
- A drop's location is not an invitation. Drops may be placed on or near private property, hazardous terrain, or restricted areas. The presence of a drop does not mean you have permission to be there — do not trespass, and obey all laws, signage, and local restrictions.
- Locations are user-supplied and GPS-based; they may be inaccurate. We are not responsible for where users choose to place drops.
8. Moderation, reporting, blocking, and complaints
- You can report any drop and block any creator in the app. Reported content may be hidden automatically pending review.
- We may remove content or suspend/terminate accounts that we reasonably believe break these Terms or the law, with or without notice.
- Complaints (including defamation and copyright): email guy@findmicdrop.com identifying the drop (title and location), your relationship to the content, and the reason for the complaint. We review complaints promptly and remove content that breaks these Terms or that we are required to remove by law. Copyright owners should include the work infringed and a statement of good-faith belief that the use is unauthorised.
9. Seeded stories and third-party content
Drops labelled as seeded stories are adapted from openly licensed sources — Wikipedia articles (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open Plaques records (public domain, PDDL 1.0) — and voiced with AI text-to-speech. Attribution, source links and the applicable licence are shown on each such drop, and adaptations are made under the relevant licence. Seeded stories are provided for general interest, may contain inaccuracies, and are not advice of any kind.
10. The service and its providers
MicDrop is a beta: features may change, break, or be discontinued at any time, and drops may occasionally be unavailable, mislocated, or lost. We rely on third-party providers to run the service (hosting, AI text generation, speech synthesis); some processing occurs outside Australia, as described in the Privacy Policy.
11. Our intellectual property
The MicDrop app, name, logo, design, and software are ours or our licensors'. These Terms don't grant you any rights in them beyond using the app as intended.
12. Feedback
If you send us feedback or suggestions (including through TestFlight), we may use them without restriction or obligation to you.
13. Disclaimers and liability
- Australian Consumer Law: Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any consumer guarantee, right, or remedy under the Australian Consumer Law or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded. Where we are permitted to limit our liability for breach of a non-excludable guarantee, our liability is limited, at our option, to resupplying the service or paying the cost of resupply.
- Subject to the above, MicDrop is provided "as is" and, to the maximum extent permitted by law, we exclude all other warranties and are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, loss of data, or loss arising from user content, your reliance on drop locations, or your physical activities while using the app.
- To the extent permitted by law, if your content or your breach of these Terms causes a third-party claim against us, you are responsible for the reasonable costs and damages arising from that claim.
14. Apple
These Terms are between you and us, not Apple. Apple has no obligation to provide support or maintenance for MicDrop and is not responsible for addressing claims relating to it. Apple is a third-party beneficiary of these Terms and may enforce them against you.
15. Termination
You can stop using MicDrop at any time; deleting your account removes your data as described in the Privacy Policy. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms. Sections that by their nature should survive (content licence for existing lawful copies, liability, complaints, governing law) survive termination.
16. Changes
We may update these Terms. We'll change the date above and, for significant changes, tell you in the app. Continuing to use MicDrop after changes take effect means you accept them.
17. General
If part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between us about MicDrop. These Terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia, and disputes belong to the courts of New South Wales.
Contact: guy@findmicdrop.com