Terms of Service

Effective date: March 2, 2026 · Last updated: March 4, 2026

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of the Parla mobile application and website (the "Platform") operated by Parla Live, Inc. ("Parla," "we," "us," or "our"). By creating an account or using the Platform, you agree to be bound by these Terms.

1. The Platform

Parla is a civic live streaming platform where verified citizens can submit questions to elected officials during live sessions. Politicians answer questions ranked by popular vote, and citizens render satisfaction verdicts on the answers. The Platform relies on third-party services for authentication, live video, real-time updates, push notifications, analytics, and AI-assisted question reformatting. See our Privacy Policy for details on data handling.

2. Eligibility

• You must be at least 16 years old to use Parla.
• You must be a real person. Bots, automated accounts, and organizations may not register.
• Each person may hold only one account. Creating multiple accounts will result in permanent ban.

3. Account Registration

3.1 Citizens

To register as a citizen, you must provide:

• A valid email address
• A phone number (used for uniqueness verification only)
• Facial verification (biometric consent required)

Your phone number is stored as an irreversible hash. Your face is processed on-device and stored as a numeric embedding only. See our Privacy Policy for details.

3.2 Politicians

To register as a politician, you must provide:

• A verifiable government email address
• Phone number and facial verification (same as citizens)
• Your official title and jurisdiction

Politician accounts are subject to manual review and approval by Parla administrators. We may reject applications that cannot be verified. Approved accounts are publicly listed on the Platform.

4. One Person, One Account

Parla enforces a strict one-person-one-account policy using phone number hashing and facial biometric verification. This is fundamental to the Platform's integrity. Attempting to circumvent this policy (including using multiple phone numbers, manipulating face verification, or creating accounts on behalf of others) constitutes a violation of these Terms and will result in permanent ban from the Platform.

5. Live Sessions

5.1 Scheduling

• Politicians may schedule up to 3 sessions at a time.
• Sessions must be scheduled at least 10 minutes in advance.
• No spontaneous "go live" is permitted.

5.2 Conduct

• Politicians must appear on camera for the duration of the session.
• Politicians who fail to appear for a scheduled session will be marked as a "no-show," which is permanently recorded and publicly visible.
• All sessions are automatically recorded and archived as video-on-demand. By going live, politicians consent to permanent public recording of the session, including all questions asked, answers given, and verdict scores received.

5.3 Questions

• Citizens may submit questions during live sessions, with a maximum of 500 characters per question.
• A 3-minute cooldown applies between question submissions.
• Questions are anonymous by default. Citizens may choose to display their name.
• Questions may be reformatted by an AI service for clarity. Only the question text is transmitted — not your name or identity. You review and approve the reformatted version before it is posted. The intent of the question is always preserved.
• Questions are ranked by upvotes. Politicians answer them in order of popularity.

5.4 The Verdict

• After a politician answers a question, citizens may cast a satisfaction verdict: "Satisfied" or "Not Satisfied."
• Verdicts are permanent. Once cast, they cannot be changed.
• One vote per citizen per question.
• Verdict scores are public and contribute to a politician's overall satisfaction rating.

5.5 Session Replays

All completed sessions are available for replay, including the video recording, all questions and answers, upvote counts, and verdict scores. Replays are public and accessible to any user in the relevant country.

5A. Notifications

Parla may send you push notifications for session reminders (e.g., 30 minutes or 1 hour before a scheduled session you opted into). You can disable push notifications at any time in your device settings.

6. Prohibited Conduct

You agree not to:

• Create multiple accounts or impersonate another person
• Submit questions containing threats, hate speech, harassment, or incitement to violence
• Attempt to manipulate vote counts or question rankings
• Use the Platform for campaign advertising or political promotion
• Scrape, crawl, or extract data from the Platform
• Interfere with the operation of the Platform or its infrastructure
• Circumvent verification measures
• Use the Platform for media reporting, press coverage, or journalistic purposes (the Platform is intended for private citizens and elected officials)

7. Content and Intellectual Property

7.1 Your Content

By submitting a question on Parla, you grant Parla a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display, distribute, and archive that question as part of the session record. Questions may be reformatted for clarity.

7.2 Session Recordings

Live sessions and their recordings are public. Politicians consent to being recorded and to having their sessions archived indefinitely. Verdict scores are permanently associated with each session.

7.3 Platform Content

The Parla name, logo, design, and software are the property of Parla Live, Inc. You may not copy, modify, or distribute any part of the Platform without written permission.

8. Country Restrictions

Parla is country-locked. You will only see sessions from politicians in your country, as determined by your device's SIM card, App Store region, or system locale. VPN usage does not override this detection. This is by design to ensure political accountability is locally relevant.

9. No Advertising

Parla does not display advertisements of any kind. We do not accept political advertising, sponsored content, or promoted sessions. This policy is permanent and non-negotiable.

10. Account Termination

We may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these Terms. You may delete your account at any time through the app or by contacting support@parlalive.com. Upon deletion, your personal data (including biometric data) will be permanently erased within 30 days. Anonymous questions and votes you have cast will remain as part of the public record but cannot be linked to your identity.

11. Disclaimers

• Parla is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind.
• We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or truthfulness of statements made by politicians during live sessions.
• We are not responsible for no-shows, session cancellations, or the quality of answers provided.
• Parla is a platform, not a political authority. Verdict scores reflect citizen sentiment, not official judgment.

12. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Parla Live, Inc. shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits or revenues, whether incurred directly or indirectly, or any loss of data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses resulting from your use of the Platform.

13. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to conflict of law provisions. Any disputes arising from these Terms shall be resolved in the courts of Delaware.

14. Changes to These Terms

We may modify these Terms at any time. Material changes will be communicated via the app or email at least 14 days in advance. Continued use of the Platform after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms:

• Email: support@parlalive.com