Terms of Service & Privacy Policy

TownClouds — Terms of Service

Last updated: 16th August 2026 · Version 1.0 (Free Service)

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a legal agreement between you ("you", "your", or "User") and John McGrath, a sole trader trading as TownClouds ("TownClouds", "we", "us", "our"), of [SERVICE ADDRESS], Northern Ireland, the operator of the TownClouds website-building platform (the "Service"), available at townclouds.com and any associated custom domains.

By creating an account, creating or managing a town site, or otherwise using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

The Service is currently provided free of charge. Paid subscription plans are not yet available. If and when they launch, they will be governed by separate Subscription Terms that you will be asked to accept at the point of purchase; these Terms will continue to apply alongside them.

Contact: info@townclouds.com

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1. Who These Terms Apply To

The Service allows any user to sign up and create a website for a town, village, or local community (a "Town Site") at townclouds.com/[townname] or a custom domain connected by the User. These Terms apply to:

• Town Owners — the individual or organisation that creates and administers a Town Site;
• any additional users a Town Owner grants access to manage a Town Site ("Collaborators"); and
• visitors who browse Town Sites without an account, to the extent stated in these Terms and our Acceptable Use rules.

If you create a Town Site on behalf of a local authority, community group, or business, you confirm you are authorised to do so and to bind that organisation to these Terms.

2. Accounts and Eligibility

You must provide accurate registration information and keep it up to date. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. Notify us promptly at info@townclouds.com if you suspect unauthorised access.

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. The Service is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly allow account creation by minors.

3. Town Ownership and Disputes

The person or organisation that first creates a Town Site is treated by TownClouds as its "Town Owner" and the administrator of record for that site. Being a Town Owner on TownClouds does not, by itself, confer any official, legal, or civic authority over the real-world town, village, or community named — it is administrative control of the website only.

3.1 Genuine community representation
Where a Town Site purports to represent an official body (for example a parish, town, borough, or county council), we may ask for reasonable evidence of authority to act on that body's behalf, and may suspend or reassign the Town Site if such evidence is not provided or is found to be false.

3.2 Ownership disputes
Where two or more parties dispute control of a Town Site (for example, a community group disputes a site created by an individual), TownClouds may, at its sole discretion and without liability, suspend the Town Site pending resolution, request supporting evidence from any party, or reassign administrative control where there is clear evidence of misrepresentation, abandonment, or fraud. TownClouds is not obliged to arbitrate community or civic disputes and may direct parties to resolve matters outside the Service.

3.3 Abandoned Town Sites
If a Town Owner's account is inactive for 12 consecutive months and we are unable to reach the Town Owner after at least two reasonable attempts to the email address on the account, we may mark the Town Site as unclaimed and permit a verified representative of that community to request administrative access, subject to our then-current verification process.

4. Your Content

"Content" means any text, images, logos, listings, event information, or other material you upload or submit to a Town Site.

4.1 You keep ownership
You retain all ownership rights in your Content. By submitting Content, you grant TownClouds a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, display, adapt (for formatting and technical purposes), and distribute your Content solely to operate, maintain, back up, and promote the Service. This licence ends when you delete the Content or close your account, except where copies are retained in routine backups for a limited period, or where retention is required by law.

4.2 Your responsibilities
You are solely responsible for your Content and confirm that you have all rights necessary to submit it, and that it does not infringe any third party's rights or applicable law.

4.3 Publishing other people's personal data
If you publish personal data belonging to other people on your Town Site — for example, a resident's name, phone number, email address, or photograph in a business listing or event notice — you are responsible for having a lawful basis to do so under data protection law, and for handling requests from those individuals to correct or remove that information. See our Privacy Policy for how responsibility is divided between you and TownClouds.

4.4 Acceptable use
You must not use the Service to submit Content that:

• is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, hateful, or discriminatory;
• infringes another party's intellectual property, privacy, or other rights;
• is fraudulent, misleading, or impersonates any person or organisation;
• contains malware or attempts to compromise the Service's security;
• is spam, or an unauthorised commercial listing unrelated to the local community; or
• violates any applicable law or regulation in the United Kingdom, Ireland, or the location of the relevant town.

We may remove Content, or restrict features, where we reasonably believe it breaches these Terms, without prior notice where urgency requires it.

4.5 Reporting Content
If you believe Content on a Town Site is unlawful or breaches these Terms, report it to info@townclouds.com with the page address and a description of the problem. We will review reports and act where appropriate.

5. Platform Administration and Suspension

TownClouds operates a single platform serving every Town Site. To keep the Service safe, lawful, and reliable, our platform administrators may:

• temporarily take a Town Site offline (unpublish it) without deleting its content or data, where we reasonably believe there is a problem with the account, a breach of these Terms, a legal request, or a risk to the Service or others;
• continue to allow the affected Town Owner to log in and correct the issue while the site is offline, unless doing so would be inappropriate in the circumstances (for example, a legal or safety matter);
• restore the Town Site once the issue is resolved.

We will make reasonable efforts to notify the Town Owner when we take a site offline and explain the reason, except where notice is not appropriate (for example, ongoing investigations or legal restrictions). This administrative suspension is distinct from account termination under Section 9.

6. Free Service

The Service is provided free of charge. We do not currently charge for any feature, and no payment details are collected.

6.1 Advertising
The free Service includes advertising. By using the free Service, you acknowledge and agree that we may display advertising on Town Sites, including yours. In doing so:

• we will obtain any consent required under data protection and privacy law before setting advertising cookies or similar technologies;
• we will determine the placement, format, and frequency of advertising, and all advertising revenue will belong to TownClouds; and
• we will give reasonable notice by email or in-app notice of any material change to how advertising appears on the Service.

You may not sell, place, or display your own advertising on your Town Site without our prior written permission. Listings for genuine local businesses within your community are part of the Service and are not treated as advertising for this purpose.

6.2 Future paid plans
We may introduce paid plans in future. If we do:

• existing free features will not be withdrawn without reasonable notice;
• paid plans will be governed by separate Subscription Terms accepted at the point of purchase; and
• you will never be charged without having explicitly agreed to those terms.

Because the Service is free, we give no commitment as to availability, feature set, or continuity beyond what is stated in these Terms.

7. Custom Domains

Custom domains are not available on the free Service. Town Sites on the free Service are available at townclouds.com/[townname] only.

Custom domain support may be offered as part of a future paid plan. If it is, you will be responsible for registering, renewing, and correctly configuring that domain, and TownClouds will not be responsible for domain registration fees, expiry, or third-party registrar issues.

8. Service Availability

We aim to keep the Service available but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation. We may suspend the Service, in whole or part, for maintenance, upgrades, or reasons beyond our reasonable control, and will give notice where reasonably practicable.

We may discontinue the Service or any part of it. If we decide to withdraw the Service entirely, we will give you at least 30 days' notice and a reasonable means of exporting your Content before it is deleted.

9. Suspension and Termination

We may suspend or terminate your account or Town Site if you materially breach these Terms and do not remedy the breach within a reasonable period after notice — or immediately, without notice, for serious breaches, illegal activity, or risk to the Service or other users.

You may close your account at any time via the dashboard or by contacting info@townclouds.com. On termination, your right to use the Service ends; we will handle your data on closure as described in our Privacy Policy.

10. Disclaimers

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including as to merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

We do not warrant that Town Site Content is accurate, complete, or up to date. Content is created and controlled by Town Owners, not TownClouds, and we do not endorse or verify it.

11. Limitation of Liability

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes our liability where it would be unlawful to do so, including for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any liability that cannot be excluded under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 or other applicable consumer protection law.

Subject to that, and given that the Service is provided free of charge:

• we shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential loss, or for loss of profits, revenue, business, data, or goodwill arising from your use of the Service; and
• our total aggregate liability for all claims arising from these Terms or the Service shall not exceed £100.

You are responsible for keeping your own copies of any Content that matters to you.

12. Indemnity

If you use the Service other than as a consumer — for example, on behalf of a business, community organisation, or public body — you agree to indemnify and hold TownClouds harmless from claims, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your Content, your breach of these Terms, or your misuse of the Service, except to the extent caused by our own breach or negligence.

This section does not apply to consumers acting outside the course of a business.

13. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Where changes are material, we will give at least 14 days' notice by email or an in-app notice before they take effect. Continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not accept the changes, you may close your account.

14. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms and any dispute arising from them are governed by the law of Northern Ireland, and the courts of Northern Ireland have exclusive jurisdiction.

If you are a consumer resident elsewhere in the United Kingdom or in the Republic of Ireland, nothing in this section deprives you of the protection of mandatory consumer-protection rules of the country where you live, or of your right to bring proceedings in your local courts where applicable law gives you that right.

15. Contact

Questions about these Terms: info@townclouds.com

John McGrath, trading as TownClouds
Belfast, Northern Ireland

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End of Terms of Service.

TownClouds — Privacy Policy

Last updated: 16th August 2026 · Version 1.0

This Privacy Policy explains how John McGrath, trading as TownClouds, collects, uses, and protects personal data when you use the TownClouds website-building service (the "Service"), including townclouds.com, individual Town Sites at townclouds.com/[townname], and any connected custom domains.

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1. Who We Are

Data controller: John McGrath, sole trader, trading as TownClouds
Address: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Contact for privacy matters: info@townclouds.com

TownClouds is the data controller for account and platform-level data described in this Policy.

How responsibility is divided

There are two different kinds of data on TownClouds, and different people are responsible for each:

• Your account data — your email address, login details, and usage of the dashboard. TownClouds is the data controller for this.
• Content published on a Town Site — for example, a resident's name and phone number in a business listing, or an organiser's contact details on an event notice. The Town Owner who published it is the data controller for that information. TownClouds hosts it on their behalf as a processor.

If you want personal information about you removed from a Town Site, contact that Town Site's owner first. If you cannot reach them, or they do not respond, contact us at info@townclouds.com and we will assist.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

2.1 Data you provide directly

• Account data: name, email address, and password (stored hashed, never in readable form).
• Town Site content: text, images, logos, listings, event details, and any contact information you choose to publish.
• Communications: messages you send us by email or through support forms.

We do not collect payment information. The Service is free and no payment details are requested or stored.

2.2 Data collected automatically

• Usage data: pages visited, actions taken in the admin dashboard, and timestamps.
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, device type, and similar technical identifiers.
• Server logs: retained for security and diagnostic purposes.
• Analytics data: collected via Google Analytics 4, but only where you have consented — see Section 7.

3. How We Use Personal Data and Our Legal Bases

Under UK GDPR, we rely on the following legal bases:

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have considered these against your rights and interests and concluded they do not override them. You may object to this processing at any time — see Section 8.

4. Who We Share Data With

We do not sell personal data. Advertising on the free Service may involve sharing limited technical data (such as device or browsing data) with advertising partners, subject to consent where required — see Section 7.

We may also share data with:

• professional advisers (legal, accounting) where necessary;
• authorities or third parties where required by law, to protect our rights, or to protect the safety of users or the public; and
• a successor entity in the event of a business transfer, subject to this Policy continuing to apply.

Note on public content: anything you or a Town Owner publishes on a Town Site is publicly visible to anyone who visits that page, and may be indexed by search engines. This is separate from the confidential handling of your account data.

5. International Data Transfers

Your account data and Town Site content are hosted in the Netherlands (Azure West Europe), within the European Economic Area. Transfers from the UK to the EEA are permitted under the UK's adequacy regulations, so no additional safeguards are required.

Google Analytics involves transfers to the United States. These rely on Google's certification under the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, and on the standard contractual clauses in Google's data processing terms. You can avoid these transfers entirely by declining analytics cookies.

6. Data Retention

We may retain data longer where required for legal, tax, or dispute-resolution purposes.

7. Cookies and Analytics

Essential cookies are required for the Service to work — keeping you logged in, maintaining your session, and security. These do not require consent.

Analytics cookies are set by Google Analytics 4 to help us understand how the Service is used. These are only set if you consent. You will be asked when you first visit, and rejecting is as easy as accepting.

Advertising cookies may be set by our advertising partners to display and measure ads on the free Service. Where these are not strictly necessary, they are only set if you consent, in the same way as analytics cookies.

Before launch: add a table listing each cookie by name, purpose, and duration. This is required under the UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

8. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you;
• correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
• erase your data ("right to be forgotten"), subject to legal exceptions;
• restrict or object to processing, including processing based on legitimate interests;
• port data you provided to us in a machine-readable format;
• withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.

To exercise any of these, email info@townclouds.com. We will respond within one month. We may need to verify your identity first.

Complaints: if you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority — ico.org.uk, or 0303 123 1113. If you are in the Republic of Ireland, you may also contact the Data Protection Commission — dataprotection.ie.

9. Children's Data

The Service is not directed at children, and accounts are restricted to those aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact us and we will remove it.

10. Security

We protect personal data using measures appropriate to the risk, including:

• encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS) across the Service;
• passwords stored hashed, never in readable form;
• access controls limiting who can reach production data;
• infrastructure security provided by Microsoft Azure.

No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a breach occurs that is likely to risk your rights and freedoms, we will notify the ICO within 72 hours and inform you without undue delay where required.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. Where changes are material, we will give reasonable notice by email or in-app notice before they take effect.

12. Contact Us

info@townclouds.com

John McGrath, trading as TownClouds
Belfast, Northern Ireland

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End of Privacy Policy.