Terms of Service

1 Acceptance of Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("User," "you," or "your") and TryLivingWhile.Black ("Platform," "we," "us," or "our"), operated by Polsia, Inc. These Terms govern your access to and use of the TryLivingWhile.Black website, community storytelling platform, and professional advocacy tools (collectively, the "Services") available at livingwhileos.polsia.app and any related domains.

By accessing or using the Services in any manner — including browsing the site, submitting a story, using a professional tool, or joining the community — you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not access or use the Services.

You must be at least 18 years of age to use this Platform. By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you are 18 years of age or older.

2 Description of Services

TryLivingWhile.Black is a community platform built for and by the Black community. We provide two interconnected categories of Services:

Community Storytelling Platform

A space where Black individuals can submit, read, and share firsthand accounts of lived experiences with racism, discrimination, and racial injustice. Stories submitted to the platform may be reviewed, verified for authenticity, and published publicly to educate, raise awareness, and document the reality of anti-Black racism in everyday life. The platform also surfaces aggregated data and contextual analysis drawn from published community stories.

Professional Advocacy Tools

A suite of AI-assisted tools designed to support individuals navigating racial discrimination. These tools may include, but are not limited to, incident documentation assistance, response drafting, escalation guidance, complaint letter generation, and educational resources. These tools are designed to provide informational and organizational support only. See Section 5 for important disclaimers regarding professional tools.

We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Services at any time, with or without notice. We will not be liable to you or any third party for any modification, suspension, or discontinuation of the Services.

3 User Responsibilities

By using the Services, you agree to the following responsibilities:

• Truthfulness: Any story or account you submit must be your own lived experience, told truthfully and to the best of your recollection. Do not submit fabricated, embellished, or third-party accounts as your own.
• No Impersonation: Do not impersonate any person, entity, or organization. Do not submit stories or use tools in a manner designed to falsely attribute experiences to others.
• No Harassment: You may not use the Platform to harass, threaten, intimidate, or harm any individual or group — including platform staff, other community members, or third parties mentioned in stories.
• No Doxxing: Do not publish or share personally identifiable information about any individual without their explicit consent, including the names, addresses, phone numbers, or other identifying details of private individuals.
• Lawful Use: You agree to use the Services only for lawful purposes and in a manner consistent with all applicable local, state, national, and international laws and regulations.
• No Interference: You may not attempt to disrupt, disable, overburden, or impair the proper functioning of the Platform, its servers, or any networks connected to the Platform.
• No Unauthorized Access: You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any portion of the Services, other user accounts, or any systems or networks connected to the Platform.
• Accurate Contact Information: If you provide an email address to access professional tools, you represent that it is accurate and that you have authority to use it.

Violation of these responsibilities may result in the removal of your submitted content, revocation of your access to professional tools, and, where required by law, reporting to appropriate authorities.

4 Content and Stories

You Own Your Story

You retain full ownership of any story, account, or other original content ("User Content") that you submit to TryLivingWhile.Black. We do not claim ownership over your lived experiences or the words you use to describe them. Your story belongs to you.

License to Display and Distribute

By submitting User Content to the Platform, you grant TryLivingWhile.Black a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable license to use, reproduce, display, distribute, adapt, and publish your content for the purposes of operating the Platform, educating the public about anti-Black racism, supporting advocacy efforts, and creating aggregated or anonymized reports and analysis. This license continues for as long as your content remains on the Platform.

Content Moderation

We reserve the right to review, moderate, edit for formatting, or decline to publish any submitted story or content that we determine, in our sole discretion, violates these Terms, our Community Guidelines (Section 7), or the spirit of this platform. We will not alter the substance of your account, but we may request clarifications or make minor editorial adjustments.

Content Removal

You may request the removal of your submitted story at any time by contacting us at contact@trylivingwhileblack.com. We will process removal requests within 30 days. Note that content already included in aggregated or anonymized datasets may not be individually retrievable or removable from those datasets.

Third-Party Content

The Platform may include links to third-party websites, resources, or content. We do not endorse and are not responsible for any third-party content, and your use of any third-party resource is solely at your own risk.

5 Professional Tools Disclaimer

The AI-assisted tools available on this Platform — including incident documentation support, response drafting, complaint letter generation, escalation guidance, and related resources — are provided strictly for informational and educational purposes. These tools do not constitute and must not be relied upon as:

• Legal advice or the practice of law
• Medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment
• Mental health counseling or therapy
• Financial advice or planning
• Any other licensed professional service

Use of the professional tools does not create an attorney-client relationship, a doctor-patient relationship, a therapist-client relationship, or any other professional-client relationship between you and TryLivingWhile.Black or any of its staff, operators, or affiliated entities.

The tools operate by applying general informational frameworks to the details you provide. They cannot account for all relevant facts, applicable laws in your jurisdiction, recent legal developments, or the specific circumstances of your individual situation. Output from these tools should be treated as a starting point for further research and self-advocacy — not as definitive guidance.

If you are facing a legal matter, a medical condition, a mental health crisis, or any situation requiring professional judgment, we strongly encourage you to consult with a qualified, licensed professional in your jurisdiction. Many organizations provide free or low-cost legal assistance to individuals facing racial discrimination, and we encourage you to seek them out.

6 Privacy and Data

We are committed to collecting only the minimum data necessary to operate the Platform. Your privacy is not a secondary concern — it is a design principle. Our full data practices are described in our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference.

In summary: we do not maintain persistent user accounts, we do not use tracking pixels, and we do not sell your data to third parties for any purpose. Email addresses collected for tool access are used solely to provide that access and are retained only until you unsubscribe or request deletion.

Stories submitted to the Platform may be published publicly as part of the community record. Before submitting a story, please consider what identifying information you include. We recommend omitting details that could be used to identify you or any private individual without their consent, unless you have made a deliberate and informed decision to include them.

By using the Services, you acknowledge and consent to the data practices described in our Privacy Policy.

7 Community Guidelines

TryLivingWhile.Black exists to create a safe, honest, and powerful space for the Black community. To protect that space, all users — whether reading, submitting, or engaging — must abide by the following Community Guidelines. These guidelines are not exhaustive; we reserve the right to act on behavior that violates the spirit of this community even if not explicitly listed here.

Respect and Dignity

• Treat all community members — and the people referenced in stories — with dignity and respect.
• Do not minimize, dismiss, or mock another person's experience with racism.
• Do not engage in or encourage anti-Black racism, colorism, misogynoir, or any other form of discrimination within the community space.

Anti-Harassment

• Harassment of any kind — including targeted attacks, sustained criticism of an individual, unwanted contact, or abuse — is prohibited.
• Do not make threats of violence or harm against any individual or group.
• Do not use the Platform to coordinate harassment campaigns against anyone, including perpetrators named in stories.

No Doxxing

• Do not publish, share, or solicit the personal information (home address, phone number, workplace, family members, daily routine, etc.) of any private individual without their explicit consent.
• This includes perpetrators of racist incidents described in stories. While naming an individual in the context of describing your own experience may be appropriate in some cases, publishing identifying information with the intent or effect of enabling harm is never acceptable.

Authentic Participation

• Do not create fake accounts, submit fabricated stories, or otherwise misrepresent yourself or your experiences.
• Do not use the Platform to advance bad-faith agendas, to discredit the community, or to flood the platform with low-quality or off-topic submissions.

Violations of these Community Guidelines may result in the removal of content, revocation of tool access, and, where appropriate, reporting to law enforcement.

8 No Warranty and Limitation of Liability

Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, TRYLIVINGWHILE.BLACK AND POLSIA, INC. EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

We do not warrant that: (a) the Services will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure; (b) any defects or errors will be corrected; (c) the Services or the servers that make them available are free of viruses or other harmful components; or (d) the results obtained from using the Services, including output from professional tools, will be accurate, complete, reliable, or useful for any particular purpose.

Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL TRYLIVINGWHILE.BLACK, POLSIA, INC., ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES — INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, USE, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES — ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO ACCESS OR USE) THE SERVICES, ANY CONTENT ON THE SERVICES, OR ANY USER CONTENT, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STATUTE, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

IN JURISDICTIONS WHERE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES IS NOT PERMITTED, OUR LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless TryLivingWhile.Black, Polsia, Inc., and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, and affiliates from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from: (a) your use of or access to the Services; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any third-party rights; or (d) any User Content you submit to the Platform.

9 Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to update or modify these Terms at any time. When we make material changes, we will update the "Effective Date" at the top of this page. For significant changes, we may also provide notice via the Platform or, if you have provided an email address, via email.

Your continued use of the Services after any changes to these Terms constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you must stop using the Services.

We encourage you to review these Terms periodically to stay informed of any updates.

10 Contact Information

If you have questions, concerns, or requests related to these Terms of Service, please contact us:

For story removal requests, privacy requests, or reports of Community Guideline violations, please include a clear description of your request and any relevant details. We aim to respond to all inquiries within 5 business days.