Effective Date: August 13, 2025
Welcome to blacksky.community, a social networking client created by Blacksky Algorithms Inc. ("Blacksky," "we," or "us"). Blacksky.community runs on the Authenticated Transfer Protocol ("AT Protocol"), with additional features built to support the Blacksky community (collectively, the "Services"). The following Terms of Service (the "Terms") and our Privacy Policy govern your use of the Services.
Blacksky Algorithms, Inc. is an independent and community-driven organization that develops decentralized tools for creating safe, independent online space. To support our work, click here. Blacksky is not owned by or affiliated with Bluesky Social, PBC.
These Terms constitute a binding agreement between you and Blacksky. By using or accessing any part of the Services, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree to all of these Terms, you may not use or access the Services.
Blacksky reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify these Terms at any time and without prior notice. If we modify these Terms, we will either post a notification of the modification on our website or otherwise provide you with notice of the change. The date of the last modification will also be posted at the beginning of these Terms. It is your responsibility to check from time to time for updates. By continuing to access or use the Services, you agree to be bound by any modified Terms.
Our Privacy Policy provides information about what information Blacksky collects from its users and how it uses and discloses that information. By using the Services, you consent to Blacksky using your information as provided in the Privacy Policy.
Children under the age of 13 may not use the Services, and parents or legal guardians may not agree to the Terms on their behalf. By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you are at least the age of 13. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided or attempted to provide us with personal information, we will use our best efforts to remove the information permanently from our files without prior notice.
If you are under the age of 18 but at least 13 years of age, you may use the Services only under the supervision of a parent or guardian, who agrees to be bound by these Terms on the user's behalf. If you are a parent or legal guardian agreeing to the Terms for the benefit of a minor between the ages of 13 and 18, be advised that you are fully responsible for the minor's use of the Services, including all liability that the minor may incur.
As a core component of the Services, Blacksky connects its users to various third-party services on the AT Protocol, including personal data servers hosting content from other users on the AT Protocol and third-party software used to access and format content on Blacksky's services (collectively, "Third-Party Services"). Blacksky does not control those Third-Party Services, and is not responsible for any information on any Third-Party Service.
You may also use your own Third-Party Services, including a third-party personal data server and third-party moderation tools. If you're using a Third-Party Service, the developers of that service will provide the terms and conditions that govern your use of that Third-Party Service.
As with all social media sites, when you use the Services you will be exposed to posts from users of the Services and other services on the AT Protocol. Blacksky takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any user content. You understand that you may be exposed to user content that is inaccurate, unreliable, objectionable, or otherwise unsuited to your purpose.
To access some of the features of the Services you must first register an account on an AT Protocol service. You can use Blacksky's own services, or a Third-Party Service. If you use a Third-Party Service, your use may also be subject to that service's terms.
When you register you will be required to provide some basic contact information and select a username, which will be used to identify you to others on the Services. Your username cannot be an impersonation of another person, a term that is the same or or confusingly similar to a famous trademark, or a term that is objectionable or offensive.
You are solely responsible for maintaining the integrity of your account. You may not transfer, share, or authorize others to use your account without prior approval from Blacksky.
Your use of the Services is subject to your compliance with these Terms, and is also subject to the following restrictions and obligations:
As a part of the Services or other services on the AT Protocol, you have the option to join some of Blacksky's curated user feeds, including Blacksky, Blacksky: Trending, and Blackademics. Instructions on how to join one of these feeds can be found here. Blacksky also makes a private feed available exclusively to users who are listed in one of these feeds. Blacksky has the sole right to determine whether to add users to these feeds, provide access to any private feeds, or block a user's access to any of these feeds.
As part of the Services, we may allow you to voluntarily submit content that will be shared with other users of the Services and Third-Party Services, including but not limited to other services using the AT Protocol ("User Content"). Blacksky has the right, but not the obligation, to share any User Content in the manner described in these Terms and Privacy Policy. Blacksky reserves the right to delete, modify, or otherwise alter your User Content.
Whenever you submit User Content, you grant Blacksky a nonexclusive, worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free, irrevocable right and license to reproduce, distribute, display, host, store, promote, exploit, create a derivative work from, adapt, edit, sublicense, and otherwise use the User Content in order to:
You represent and warrant that:
We reserve the right to delete any User Content that violates any of the representations above, or that otherwise creates risk for Blacksky.
As part of the operation of the Services you may be given the right to report User Content from other users that violates these Terms or otherwise should not be permitted on the Services. You may only report content that you believe, in good faith, qualifies for removal from the Services for the reasons stated above. You can report content and learn more about Blacksky's moderation practices here. All users and services on the AT Protocol can also subscribe to Blacksky's Moderation labeler.
Users also have the ability to request the deletion of their User Content. If you make that request, we will use reasonable efforts to remove it from the Services, subject to any requirements under applicable law and our Privacy Policy. Given the open design of the AT Protocol, we cannot guarantee that Blacksky will be able to comprehensively remove your content, as it may be stored on servers outside of Blacksky's control. If you have generated User Content on Third-Party Services, Blacksky is not responsible for that content, and you must request removal through those other services.
Blacksky also reserves a right to keep a copy of your User Content for trust and safety purposes, as required by law, or as otherwise needed for Blacksky to defend its rights and interests.
We welcome and encourage you to provide feedback, comments and suggestions for improvements to the Services or other Blacksky offerings ("Feedback"). You can provide such Feedback at support@blacksky.app. You agree that Blacksky has the right, but not the obligation, to use such Feedback without any obligation to provide you credit, royalty payment, or ownership interest in the changes to the Services.
Blacksky will remove copyright-protected works from the Services that are used without a license or legal permission. If you believe that your copyright-protected work is accessible on the Services in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify us by providing the following information (as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512) to our copyright agent identified below:
Such notices may be sent to Blacksky's copyright agent, at:
Copyright Agent, Blacksky Algorithms Inc.
447 Broadway, 2nd Floor Suite #2810,
New York, NY 10013
copyright@blacksky.app
(201) 474-5937
Upon receipt of a valid notice, we will disable access to the allegedly infringing content and notify the offending user of this removal. We may also share the information you provided in your notice with that user. Users have the right to submit a counter-notice if they believe that their content was removed as the result of mistake or misidentification, and if they submit to jurisdiction in a Federal District Court to further litigate the issue. Upon receipt of such a counter notice, we reserve the right to reinstate the allegedly infringing content after 10 days, unless we first receive notice from you that you are presently seeking a court order to restrain the offending user from further infringing activity.
Only copyright complaints should be sent to our copyright agent. For communications on other matters, please contact us at support@blacksky.app.
Blacksky reserves the right to terminate your use of the Services and delete your user account and/or User Content if you violate the Terms, or if we believe that such action is needed in order to protect the rights, interest, safety, or interests of Blacksky, its users, its affiliates and service provides, or any other entity or individual. This termination may be done with or without notice to you. In the event of your termination, you may no longer use the Services. We further reserve the right to remove your User Content from the Services.
WE PROVIDE THE SERVICES "AS IS." WE MAKE NO EXPRESS WARRANTIES OR GUARANTEES ABOUT THE SERVICES. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT THIS SITE OR THIS SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, IS ERROR-FREE, RELIABLE, OR WILL OPERATE WITHOUT INTERRUPTION.
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT BLACKSKY HAS NO CONTROL OVER AND DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE QUALITY, SAFETY, ACCURACY OR LEGALITY OF ANY CONTENT ASSOCIATED WITH THE SERVICES.
Because some states do not permit disclaimer of certain warranties, you may have additional consumer rights under local laws.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, BLACKSKY SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTIES FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, EVEN IF WE KNEW OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS LIMITATION APPLIES WHETHER BASED ON A CLAIM RELATED TO A WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, PRODUCT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT BLACKSKY KNEW, SHOULD HAVE KNOWN, OR WAS APPRISED OF SUCH DAMAGES.
IN NO EVENT WILL BLACKSKY'S AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THESE TERMS OR THE USE OF THE SERVICES EXCEED FIFTY U.S. DOLLARS ($50).
SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN DAMAGES. IN SUCH STATES, OUR LIABILITY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
If you access our Services through the Apple App Store or Google Play (an "App Provider"), the following terms apply:
The Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Blacksky with respect to use of the Services, and supersede all previous written or oral agreements. If any part of the Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, that portion shall be construed in a manner consistent with applicable law to reflect, as nearly as possible, the original intentions of the parties, and the remaining portions shall remain in full force and effect.
The failure of Blacksky to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision, and no waiver of any of the provisions of these Terms shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such provision or any other provision.
You may not assign or transfer these Terms, by operation of law or otherwise, without Blacksky's prior written consent. Any attempt by you to assign or transfer these Terms without such consent will be null and of no effect. Blacksky may assign or transfer these Terms, at its sole discretion, without restriction. Subject to the foregoing, these Terms will bind and inure to the benefit of the parties, their successors and permitted assigns. These Terms do not and are not intended to confer any rights or remedies upon any person other than the parties.
These Terms (and any further guidelines, rules, or policies incorporated therein) shall be governed and construed according to the laws of the State of New York. Any disputes, actions or claims, based on, relating to, or alleging breach of these Terms must be brought in state or federal court for Kings County, New York. You agree and submit to the exercise of exclusive personal jurisdiction and venue of such courts for the purpose of litigating any such disputes, actions or claims.
If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact support@blacksky.app.