Terms of Service

PQCServer is a post-quantum cryptographic infrastructure platform operated by OnionSearchEngine LLC, a limited liability company incorporated in the United States. The platform provides:

• Post-quantum key generation and public key registry (ML-KEM-1024, ML-DSA-87, SLH-DSA)
• End-to-end encrypted messaging between registered users
• Encrypted email service via PQCMail (pqcmail.org)
• Encrypted file vault storage
• Public API at api.pqcserver.com/v1 for third-party integration
• Browser extensions, mobile applications, and related client software

The Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any feature or the entire Service at any time, with or without notice, and without liability to you or any third party.

To use PQCServer you must be at least 13 years of age (or 16 in the European Economic Area). By registering, you represent and warrant that you meet this requirement.

Registration requires only:

• A valid email address
• A chosen username (pseudonyms permitted)
• A password of your choosing

You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. You must notify us immediately of any unauthorised access at [email protected]. We are not liable for any loss resulting from unauthorised use of your account.

You may not create accounts using automated means, create multiple accounts to circumvent restrictions, or impersonate any person or entity.

You agree to use the Service only for lawful purposes. You may not use PQCServer to:

• Transmit, store, or distribute content that is illegal under applicable US law or the laws of your jurisdiction
• Facilitate or plan any criminal activity, including but not limited to fraud, harassment, or threats of violence
• Distribute malware, ransomware, spyware, or any malicious code
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any system, network, or account
• Engage in denial-of-service attacks or abuse of the API
• Violate the intellectual property rights of any third party
• Use the Service in any manner that could damage, disable, or impair our infrastructure

Because all content is encrypted end-to-end and we have no technical ability to inspect it, you bear full and exclusive responsibility for the legality of everything you transmit or store. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts suspected of violating these terms based on metadata signals, abuse reports, or legal process, without obligation to decrypt or review content.

As a direct consequence of this zero-knowledge architecture, you acknowledge and accept the following:

• Key loss is permanent and irreversible. If you lose your private keys or your account password and have not created your own backup, we cannot recover them. Encrypted content associated with lost keys will be permanently inaccessible.
• We cannot recover encrypted content. In the event of data corruption, hardware failure, or any other incident, we cannot restore content that is encrypted with keys we do not hold.
• You are responsible for key backup. We strongly recommend maintaining secure, offline backups of your private keys. We provide no managed key backup service.
• Encryption does not guarantee legal protection. The use of encryption does not exempt you from compliance with applicable law.

We make no guarantee of uptime, availability, or uninterrupted access to the Service. The Service may be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance, infrastructure failures, third-party outages, cyber-attacks, force majeure events, or any other cause.

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion and at any time, to:

• Modify, suspend, or permanently discontinue any part or all of the Service
• Change features, pricing, or terms of access
• Impose usage limits or rate limits on the API
• Migrate infrastructure to different providers or jurisdictions

We will make reasonable efforts to provide advance notice of material changes, but are not obligated to do so. Continued use of the Service after any change constitutes acceptance of the modified terms.

You retain ownership of the content you encrypt and store. By using the Service, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive licence to store and transmit your encrypted data solely to the extent necessary to operate the Service.

We apply the following retention periods:

• Encrypted messages — maximum 90 days from date sent, or until deleted by the recipient
• Encrypted emails and vault files — until you delete them or close your account
• Account data — for the lifetime of the active account
• Post-deletion residual data — purged within 30 days of account closure

We do not guarantee data preservation. You are solely responsible for maintaining independent backups of any data you consider important. Data stored on PQCServer should not be treated as a primary or sole repository.

The PQCServer platform, API, branding, and documentation are the intellectual property of OnionSearchEngine LLC. The server-side source code is published under the GNU Affero General Public License v3 (AGPL v3) at github.com/onion-search-engine/pqcserver. Your use of the open-source components is governed by the AGPL v3 license.

Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of any intellectual property to you. You may not reproduce, redistribute, or create derivative works from proprietary components of the Service without prior written consent.

You may close your account at any time by sending a deletion request to [email protected]. Upon closure, your account data will be deleted within 30 days. Encrypted content stored in your account will be irretrievably destroyed along with any associated metadata.

We may suspend or terminate your access immediately and without notice if we determine, at our sole discretion, that you have violated these Terms, applicable law, or pose a risk to the Service or other users. We have no obligation to retain or provide copies of your data upon termination.

Sections 9 (Disclaimer of Warranties), 10 (Limitation of Liability), 11 (Class Action Waiver & Arbitration), 12 (Indemnification), and 13 (Governing Law) survive termination of these Terms.

You acknowledge that post-quantum cryptographic standards are evolving, and that no cryptographic system can be guaranteed to be secure indefinitely. The algorithms used (ML-KEM-1024, ML-DSA-87, SLH-DSA) represent current best-practice standards as ratified by NIST, but we make no warranty regarding their future security.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages. In such jurisdictions, our liability shall be limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

11.1 — Informal Resolution

Before initiating any formal dispute, you agree to contact us at [email protected] and attempt to resolve the matter informally. We will make a good-faith effort to resolve disputes within 30 days. If the dispute is not resolved within 30 days of your notice, either party may proceed to arbitration as set forth below.

11.2 — Binding Arbitration

Except as provided below, any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service — including questions of arbitrability — shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, or, if inapplicable, its Commercial Arbitration Rules. The arbitration shall be conducted in English, and the arbitrator's award shall be final and binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.

The arbitrator shall have exclusive authority to resolve any dispute relating to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability, or formation of this agreement to arbitrate.

11.3 — Class Action and Class Arbitration Waiver

11.4 — Exceptions to Arbitration

The following disputes are excluded from arbitration and may be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction:

• Claims for injunctive or equitable relief to prevent unauthorised use of intellectual property
• Claims that may be brought in small claims court
• Any claim where arbitration is prohibited by applicable law

11.5 — Jury Trial Waiver

TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, YOU AND ONIONSEARCHENGINE LLC WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL WITH RESPECT TO ANY DISPUTE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE.

11.6 — Time Limitation on Claims

Any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to these Terms or the Service must be filed within one (1) year after the claim arose. Claims not filed within this period are permanently barred, regardless of any applicable statute of limitations.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless OnionSearchEngine LLC and its members, officers, employees, agents, and contractors from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to:

• Your use of the Service or violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any applicable law or the rights of any third party
• Any content you transmit, store, or access through the Service
• Loss of your private keys or account credentials
• Any claim by a third party resulting from your use or misuse of the Service

We reserve the right to assume exclusive control of the defence of any matter subject to indemnification by you, at your expense. You agree to cooperate with our defence of such claims.

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States of America, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. For any disputes not subject to arbitration, you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal and state courts located in the United States.

If you access the Service from outside the United States, you do so at your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws. We make no representation that the Service is appropriate or available for use in all locations.

The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply to these Terms.

We reserve the right to update these Terms at any time. When we make material changes, we will notify registered users by email and update the "Last updated" date above. The current version of these Terms is always available at pqcserver.com/terms.

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of revised Terms constitutes your acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you must stop using the Service and close your account.

For secure and confidential communications, please use PQCMail (pqcmail.org) with post-quantum end-to-end encryption.