Terms of use BitcoinOX software
Last Updated: June 21, 2024
1. Basics
1.1. Parties
You are at least 21 years old, and at least the age of majority where you reside. This is an agreement between Excdev OÜ, its affiliates and subsidiaries (collectively referred to herein as “Excdev”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) and you (together with Excdev, the “Parties” and each a “Party”).
1.2. Service
Excdev developer and maintains software called BitcoinOX. BitcoinOX informs users about virtual currencies, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain tokens (together, “Digital Assets”) through third-party information, and enables users to access and transfer Digital Assets recorded on third-party blockchains.
Software should help protect human rights, like privacy. BitcoinOX is designed to respect your privacy. We don’t have access to your Backup Phrase or private keys: if you lose them, we can’t help recover them. Install them on a second device or, at the very least, write them down.
1.3. Agreement
This agreement lets you use BitcoinOX software, services, and support at no charge, as long as you respect certain obligations, understand certain constraints, and are comfortable with certain data practices. You’re free to terminate the agreement by removing the software by ceasing to use BitcoinOX. We’re free to stop providing any aspect of it.
This agreement doesn’t apply to third-party information, like the evolving set of RSS feeds integrated into BitcoinOX. Nor does this agreement apply to clearly-marked third-party services offered on the BitcoinOX platform. Nor does this agreement cover your relationship with the Digital Assets with which BitcoinOX lets you interact, but which Excdev neither created nor can influence. Where third parties apply their own terms and policies, it’s worth reviewing them.
1.4. Updates
When we update this agreement, we’ll push it to BitcoinOX, identify it in the release, show the change date, and archive the previous version online. In case the software update is immaterial or to your clear advantage, we’ll propose it 10 days in advance, so you have time to reject the change by ceasing use.
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2. Obligations
2.1. Take Responsibility
We provide BitcoinOX without charge. Our ability to do that depends partly on your taking responsibility for how you use BitcoinOX, including devices on which the software is installed. The following three items are therefore fundamental to our agreement:
First, we can’t recover your Backup Phrase. We have no access to it. If you don’t install the Backup Phrase on a second device, write it down, and keep it in a safe place, you may lose access to your Digital Assets forever. Don’t do that.
Second, Excdev isn’t liable for any losses or damages that result from providing you with BitcoinOX software, services, and support.
Excdev doesn’t create, and has no control over, any of the Digital Assets you interact with through BitcoinOX. You, alone, are responsible for the Digital Assets you choose and use. It’s therefore up to you to act prudently by doing at least four things.
a) You can’t act prudently if you haven’t learned the basics about the Digital Assets you’re considering interacting with. Carefully review the list of supported Digital Assets before engaging in any transactions. Search for them online. Vet them carefully.
b) Take a moment to back up all private keys, backup phrases, and passwords (collectively, “Private Key Information”), or you could lose access to your Digital Assets forever. BitcoinOX doesn’t require you to register or log in, but does ask you to enter a “Backup Phrase”, or create a new one, to generate the private and public keys needed to make transactions. Those private keys are only stored locally, on your device. Losing Private Key Information is therefore no harder than dropping your phone in a lake, experiencing a bad software update, or other events typical of modern digital life. Back it up or, even better, install BitcoinOX on another device with the same Backup Phrase, and make sure it works.
c) Secure your devices and your backups. If someone steals your Backup Phrase or accesses your devices, they could get into your Digital Assets. Networks, devices, and software environments are rife with viruses and malware. Carefully guard your Private Key Information; take the time to update and secure your devices; use sites (like Security Planner) to learn about improving your online safety.
d) Even if you delete BitcoinOX software from a device, data may remain behind. On a shared device like a public computer, this could allow someone to access your transactions without authorization. Take care where you install BitcoinOX, and extra care in deleting it.
2.2. Act Prudently
Excdev doesn’t create, and has no control over, any of the Digital Assets you interact with through BitcoinOX. You, alone, are responsible for the Digital Assets you choose and use. It’s therefore up to you to act prudently by doing at least four things.
a) You can’t act prudently if you haven’t learned the basics about the Digital Assets you’re considering interacting with. Carefully review the list of supported Digital Assets before engaging in any transactions. Search for them online. Vet them carefully.
b) BitcoinOX doesn’t require you to register or log in, but does ask you to enter a “Backup Phrase”, or create a new one, to generate the private and public keys needed to make transactions. Your Backup Phrase, private keys, and passwords (collectively, “Private Key Information”) is only stored locally, on your device. Losing Private Key Information is therefore no harder than dropping your phone in a lake, experiencing a bad software update, or other events typical of modern digital life. Back it up or, even better, install BitcoinOX on another device with the same Backup Phrase, and make sure it works, or you could lose access to your Digital Assets forever.
c) Secure your devices and your backups. If someone steals your Backup Phrase or accesses your devices, they could control your Digital Assets. Networks, devices, and software environments are rife with viruses and malware. Carefully guard your Private Key Information; take the time to update and secure your devices; use sites (like Security Planner) to learn about improving your online safety.
d) Even if you delete BitcoinOX software from a device, data may remain behind. On a shared device like a public computer, this could allow someone to access your transactions without authorization. Take care where you install BitcoinOX, and extra care to eradicate every trace when you delete it.
2.3. Play Nicely
Excdev has a strong commitment to user autonomy. But there are some things either BitcoinOX isn’t designed to support, or Excdev isn’t allowed to. You agree not to:
a) use BitcoinOX in a way likely to interfere with other BitcoinOX users or servers, such as excessive API calls or network spam; or
b) use BitcoinOX in a manner contrary to the laws of EU or your local laws.
Ensure your transactions with a Digital Asset conform to its rules, especially with smart contract systems.
2.4. Respect Others’ Work
BitcoinOX is made up of intellectual property. That includes intellectual property held by Excdev, like copyright in BitcoinOX’s code; copyright in our text, images, and sounds; and trademarks in the distinctive words, symbols, and designs that identify Excdev and BitcoinOX.
We license BitcoinOX to you, royalty-free, on a non-exclusive, worldwide, but personal and non-transferable basis. We don’t licence the right to re-distribute BitcoinOX, modify its code, or use its content or Excdev’s trademarks in other software or projects. Those require Excdev’s written permission first.
You may, yourself, choose to provide feedback on BitcoinOX. We’ll assume you’ve allowed us to use and keep your feedback, incorporate it, and hold a non-exclusive perpetual licence in it without royalty or obligation.
Third parties provide information, software libraries, and services that BitcoinOX uses or is partly built on. We assert no copyright in the RSS feeds we pass through. We do not own third-party software libraries. We make use of third-party platforms. Please refer to and respect relevant third-party licenses.
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3. Constraints
3.1. No Guarantees
BitcoinOX software, services, and support are provided at no cost, as is and, to the greatest extent laws allow, without any warranty at all. Please therefore note that we don’t warrant BitcoinOX is of merchantable quality or fit for your purpose, even if you’ve notified us of the purpose. Nor can we warrant that BitcoinOX is bug-free. Bugs are inevitable. We work hard to rank and squash them.
3.2. Moving Parts
Using software to interact with Digital Assets is risky. It depends on a complex chain of moving parts working together, and working properly.
We’ve described basic steps we expect you to take to act prudently, and set out the extent of our liability and of your indemnity to us. For the same reasons, we can’t be liable to you for, and disclaim the risks involved in, these moving parts. They include:
failures in your connectivity, hardware, other software, and operating system (mobile or desktop), and how these interact with each other and with BitcoinOX;
cloud backup software that may upload your private files or information to third-party services, although we try to disable this functionality’s ability to store your Backup Phrase or private keys in the cloud;
malware, viruses or other malicious software that is able to take control of or interfere with your BitcoinOX instance;
communication delays between your BitcoinOX instance and a node or relay service for a Digital Asset;
version updates that are incompatible or don’t work properly on your device; and
theft of Digital Assets.
The same disclaimer of liability and risk applies to any damages or issues arising from our free technical support service. It is provided on a best-efforts basis. You get what you pay for.
3.3. Blockchain Interaction
BitcoinOX provides functions for sending Digital Assets transfer instructions. BitcoinOX doesn’t control the blockchains to which the instructions are sent. That puts some constraints on what we’re able to do or be responsible for.
The only authentic record of Digital Assets transactions is the applicable blockchain. We can’t guarantee that the transfer instructions will be acted on and your transactions stored on a blockchain, nor that once stored, they remain on the blockchain.
Many Digital Asset systems require transaction fees, like mining fees. If the transaction fees are set too low or too high, you may incur losses. We can’t be responsible for them.
BitcoinOX’s market information about Digital Assets reflects a point in time for underlying data fluctuating constantly. The sending and execution of transfer instructions necessarily involves a longer period than that point in time, and the data values reflected in your transactions will differ accordingly. We’re not responsible for that difference.
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4. Data Collection
4.1. Personal Information Processing
“Personal information” includes anything about you or that could be used to identify you, either on its own or in combination with other information. Consistent with our pro-privacy approach, we avoid collecting personal information. Your public and private key information is stored locally on your device and maintained through your Backup Phrase.
Only the person in control of the device with your BitcoinOX instance and of your Backup Phrase backup has access to these, so you have everything you need to port your activity to other applications.
Personal information we do hold is treated as confidential. We bind all of our staff and seek to bind every relevant contractor, who we’ve identified, to confidentiality agreements.
We use only encrypted connections between our own servers, and insist on them with third-party servers if they present.
We do not provide personal information to anyone else unless legally compelled to and, to the extent legally permitted, provide notice of having done so to the affected parties.
4.2. Necessary Identifiers
We don’t collect any personal identifiers.
4.3. Opt-In Identifiers
You may choose to provide personal information to us through the support process.
User communications generated through the support process may include personal identifiers, and are exposed to a contracted third-party.
Further, when you reach out to our support teams on uncontracted social media platforms, they may respond on the same platform, to which you will therefore have exposed the information you’ve chosen to disclose.
We delete email address and, once the limitation period has run in your jurisdiction, customer support information on request. You can always withdraw consent for email subscriptions by clicking on the link at the bottom of the email.
4.4. Personal Information Holdings
We have access to:
your transaction addresses and, occasionally, public keys, and the blockchain transactions you make using them, which may be relayed through servers (“nodes”);
debug application logs (do not contains any private keys)
Transaction information is publicly visible due to the very nature of distributed ledger systems. We delete debug application and web logs on a rolling basis.
Excdev does retain some aggregated, anonymized BitcoinOX usage information in order to improve its functionality and user interface. This information is not stored at the individual user level or in conjunction with any device-specific or persistent identifier.
4.5. App Permissions
The BitcoinOX mobile app seeks camera permissions. These permissions are used only to read a QR code and store it on-device, and only at your prompting. BitcoinOX does not receive any other camera input and does not otherwise access your camera.
5. Interpretation
5.1. Enforcing Selectively
Failing to assert a right under this agreement doesn’t waive the right to assert another right, or the same right next time.
5.2. Nailing Down our Agreement
This is the whole agreement between you and Excdev. It supersedes any other agreement, representations, or understandings, however communicated, and can be amended only if both parties agree, in writing, with copy to legal@excdev.com. Where we provide this agreement in more than one language and they don’t precisely agree, the English-language version takes precedent. Les parties aux présentes conviennent que cette entente soit rédigée en anglais.
5.3. Restructuring our Business
Excdev may assign this agreement upon 10 days’ notice.