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Terms of Use

Rules for using this platform — including strong protections for contributors and their stories.

Last updated: Jurisdiction: Netherlands / EU

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using the Here2Gether website, you agree to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree, please do not use this website.

2. Purpose of This Platform

Here2Gether is a community storytelling platform. Its purpose is to share the voices and lived experiences of migrants and people with diverse backgrounds in a safe, dignified, and editorially responsible environment. All use of this website must respect that purpose.

3. Prohibited Uses — Automated Access, Scraping, and Data Mining

The following are strictly and unconditionally prohibited without prior explicit written authorisation from Here2Gether:

  • Scraping or crawling: use of any automated tool, bot, spider, or script to access, extract, or index content from this website
  • Automated harvesting: collection of usernames, email addresses, story content, photos, or any personal data by automated means
  • Text and data mining: systematic extraction or analysis of text, images, or structured data from this website
  • AI and machine learning training: use of any content from this website — including stories, photos, biographies, or comments — to train, fine-tune, test, or evaluate any artificial intelligence, language model, image model, or other machine learning system
  • Dataset building: compilation of any portion of this website’s content into a dataset, corpus, or knowledge base for any purpose
  • Face recognition: use of photos from this website for facial recognition, biometric identification, or any form of identity tracing
  • Commercial extraction: extraction of content for commercial use, resale, licensing, or redistribution without written permission
  • Mirroring: reproduction of this website’s content or structure on another domain or platform

These prohibitions apply to all visitors, regardless of whether they identify as researchers, academics, journalists, developers, or commercial entities. This clause is enforceable under EU copyright law, the Database Directive (96/9/EC), GDPR, and applicable contract law.

4. Intellectual Property and Contributor Rights

Stories, photographs, biographies, and personal accounts published on this website remain the property of the contributors who submitted them. Here2Gether holds a limited, non-exclusive licence to publish these materials on this platform in accordance with the contributor’s consent.

You may not copy, reproduce, republish, redistribute, display, or create derivative works from contributed content without the explicit written permission of both Here2Gether and the original contributor.

Here2Gether’s own editorial content, design, code, and branding are protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

5. Special Protections for Vulnerable Contributors

Many contributors to this platform may be in vulnerable situations, including migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and undocumented persons. Any attempt to use content from this platform to identify, locate, profile, or cause harm to contributors is a serious violation of these Terms and may constitute a criminal offence. Here2Gether reserves the right to take all available legal measures in such cases.

6. Submitted Content

By submitting a story, photo, or message through this website, you represent that:

  • The content is your own or you have the right to share it
  • You are providing explicit, informed consent as described at the point of submission
  • You understand that submission does not guarantee publication

Here2Gether reserves the right to decline, withhold, redact, anonymise, or remove any submitted content at any time — particularly where publication could endanger the safety, privacy, or dignity of the contributor or others.

7. Links and Third-Party Content

This website may contain links to external websites. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those sites.

8. Limitation of Liability

Here2Gether makes no warranty that this website will be uninterrupted or error-free. To the extent permitted by law, we exclude liability for any indirect or consequential loss arising from use of this website.

9. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by Dutch law. Disputes shall be submitted to the competent courts in the Netherlands.

10. Contact

For permissions, legal enquiries, or concerns about misuse of content: wearehere2gether@gmail.com

Last updated: March 2026