Terms of Service

Preamble

These General Terms of Use govern the use of the digital timestamping service offered by Instampy, hereinafter referred to as "Instampy", "we" or "the Service", accessible via the website Instampy.fr.

Acceptance of the Terms

The use of our Service implies full and unreserved acceptance of these General Terms of Use. If you do not accept these terms, you must not use our Service. By using Instampy, you acknowledge having read, understood and accepted all of these terms, including the important limitations described in Article 3 which specify the exact nature of the service provided and its legal limits.

1. Definitions and Legal Information

Publisher's Legal Information

Instampy is published by Blue Mossa, registered under SIRET number 94049525200014, registered with the RCS 940 495 252 R.C.S. Lille Métropole, with share capital of 1000 euros. EU VAT number FR14940495252. The registered office is located in Lambersart (France). To contact us, the email address is contact@instampy.fr.

Définitions

2. Purpose and Description of the Service

Nature of the service offered

Instampy offers a technical digital timestamping service allowing to create a proof of existence and integrity of a digital file at a precise date and time, permanently recorded on a public blockchain.

Included features

The Service includes:

• Cryptographic fingerprint generation (SHA-256)
• Permanent recording on public blockchain
• PDF certificate generation
• Secure storage of timestamping metadata
• Public and independent verification interface
• Personal history of performed timestamps

Excluded services

The Service does not include:

• Storage of original file content
• Legal advice or intellectual property consultation
• Guarantee of certificate acceptance in court
• Backup or recovery of original files
• Verification of content authorship or originality
• Personalized legal assistance services

Technical specifications

3. Nature of the Service and Important Limitations

What the Service IS

The Instampy Service constitutes a technical anteriority proof tool that allows the user to prove that a digital file existed on a given date, to establish a verifiable chronological priority, to have a technical piece of evidence in case of dispute, to protect the integrity of their creations by detecting any subsequent modification, and to benefit from permanent and independent proof.

The Service is useful in many legitimate use cases, including the protection of manuscripts before sending them to publishers, the documentation of creative processes, proof of progress in professional projects, secure archiving of important documents, or the traceability of ideas and concepts under development.

What the Service IS NOT

It is essential to understand that the Service in no way constitutes an intellectual property title such as a patent, trademark or registered copyright. The Service also does not provide legal protection against the exploitation of your creation by third parties, does not confer any exclusive right of commercial exploitation, does not guarantee the validity, novelty or originality of the deposited content, and can in no way replace official filings made with competent organizations such as the INPI, EUIPO or any other intellectual property office.

Essential limitations to understand

Instampy's role: neutral technical trusted third party

Instampy acts exclusively as a neutral technical trusted third party and exercises no control over the veracity of statements made by users. The Service does not verify the authenticity of the authorship of deposited content, does not validate the legitimacy of rights claimed by users, and does not search for the existence of prior rights belonging to third parties.

Instampy has neither the obligation nor the technical means to verify that the user is indeed the legitimate creator of the deposited content. The Service only provides a technical timestamping infrastructure, without any intervention on the content or the legitimacy of the deposits made.

Important recommendations

4. User Obligations and Responsibilities

Declarations and warranties

By using the Service, you declare and warrant that you are the legitimate creator or rights holder of the deposited content. You undertake not to use the Service to deposit content of which you are not the author or for which you do not hold the rights, nor for the purpose of fraudulently appropriating the creations or ideas of third parties. You assume full responsibility for the authenticity and legitimacy of the deposited content, and you undertake to respect the intellectual property rights of third parties.

Prohibited uses

It is strictly forbidden to deposit illegal, defamatory, or infringing content, to use the Service fraudulently or contrary to its purpose, to attempt to circumvent the security measures of the Service, to impersonate another person or to deposit content in their name without authorization, or to use the Service for activities contrary to public order or good morals.

Sanctions

Any false declaration or fraudulent use of the Service engages your sole responsibility and may result in the immediate suspension or termination of your account, the deletion of your certificates and data, civil or criminal legal proceedings, as well as the obligation to compensate us for any damage suffered.

5. Limitation of Liability

Exclusions of liability

To the extent permitted by law, Instampy shall not be held liable for disputes between Users or between a User and third parties concerning the ownership, originality or authorship of content, for fraudulent use of the Service by a User to unduly appropriate the creations of others, for consequences resulting from the absence of official filing of an intellectual property title, for damages suffered due to the filing by a third party of a patent or other title on a similar or identical invention or creation, for the impossibility for a User to commercially exploit their idea or invention due to prior or competing rights of third parties, for the legal interpretation or probative value of timestamping certificates in legal proceedings, nor for unfavorable court decisions despite the presentation of a timestamping certificate.

Technical limitations

Instampy does not guarantee the systematic acceptance of certificates as evidence in court, the permanent and uninterrupted availability of the Service although a 99.9% availability rate is targeted, the total absence of errors or bugs, compatibility with all systems and browsers, nor the absolute perenniality of the blockchain networks used, although these networks are designed to be permanent.

Dependence on third-party blockchain infrastructure

The Service relies on public and decentralized blockchain infrastructures operated by independent third parties. Instampy does not control these infrastructures and cannot be held responsible for their operation, availability, performance or permanence.

The "lifetime" protection offered by the Service is understood as the lifetime of the blockchain networks used. Timestamping proofs remain verifiable as long as these networks remain operational and accessible.

In case of major technical failure, prolonged interruption, substantial modification of access conditions, or definitive cessation of a blockchain network, Instampy could find itself temporarily or permanently unable to provide all or part of the Service. In such a hypothesis, Instampy will endeavor as far as possible to propose an alternative solution. Proofs already recorded on a network that has become inaccessible could become unverifiable, this situation constituting a case of force majeure releasing Instampy from any responsibility.

Limited liability

In case of our liability being invoked, and within the limits permitted by applicable law, it is limited to the amount actually paid by the User for the timestamp concerned.

6. Pricing and Payment Terms

Service price

The price applied is the one displayed on the homepage at the time of order. This fixed and transparent price implies no subscription, no hidden fees, and guarantees permanent protection without the need for renewal thanks to the immutable nature of the blockchain.

Payment terms

Payment is mandatory before execution of the timestamping service. Once payment is made and validated, the timestamping process is triggered automatically and irreversibly. Payments can be made by Visa, Mastercard and American Express credit cards, by PayPal, or via Apple Pay and Google Pay systems.

Timestamping without user account

The Service can be used without prior account creation. In this case, you must provide a valid email address that will only be used to send you the timestamping certificate and information related to your transaction. This address will not be used for commercial purposes without your explicit consent.

Payment security

All payments are securely processed by Stripe, benefiting from PCI DSS Level 1 certification. Instampy does not store any banking data and complies with European payment standards established by the PSD2 directive.

Invoicing

An invoice is automatically generated and sent by email after each validated payment. If you have created a user account, the invoice is also accessible from your personal space.

Waiver of withdrawal period

In accordance with Article L221-28 of the Consumer Code, you expressly acknowledge and accept that the timestamping service is executed immediately after payment and that the execution of the service begins before the end of the fourteen-day withdrawal period. You expressly waive your right of withdrawal.

This waiver is necessary because the timestamp is recorded permanently and irreversibly on the blockchain upon payment validation. Before validating your payment, you must check a box confirming that you have read and understood this clause, and that you expressly waive your right of withdrawal. This explicit acceptance is recorded in our systems with the timestamping of your consent and the version of the accepted conditions, in accordance with our legal obligations of traceability.

7. Intellectual Property

Service ownership

The Instampy Service, including its source code, design, documentation and all its constituent elements, is the exclusive property of the publishing company and is protected by copyright and intellectual property laws.

Ownership of deposited content

You retain all your rights to the content you timestamp via the Service. Instampy claims no intellectual property rights over your creations. Since the original file is never transmitted to our servers, Instampy only has access to the cryptographic fingerprint which does not allow reconstruction of the original content.

License to use

By using the Service, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive and revocable license to generate and store the cryptographic fingerprint of your files calculated in your browser, to record this fingerprint on the public blockchain, to retain the metadata necessary for the operation of the Service including the original file name and any custom name you may assign, and to display your timestamp history in your personal space if you have created a user account.

This license ends upon deletion of your account or automatically thirty days after a timestamp performed without an account, with the exception of data already recorded on the blockchain which are by nature permanent and public, as well as billing and consent data which must be retained in accordance with legal obligations.

8. Personal Data and Confidentiality

Collected data

As part of the Service, we collect and process identification data such as your email address mandatory for certificate transmission, payment data processed exclusively via Stripe and never stored by Instampy, technical data including SHA-256 cryptographic fingerprints of files, precise timestamps, blockchain transaction identifiers, original file names and custom names assigned to timestamps.

Purposes of processing

Your data is used to provide the timestamping Service and generate certificates, manage your user account when you create one, process payments securely, send you certificates and important communications related to the Service, record your consent to waive the right of withdrawal in accordance with our legal obligations, improve our Service and ensure its security, and comply with our legal and regulatory obligations particularly in terms of billing and fraud prevention.

Legal basis

The processing of your data is based on contract execution for the provision of the timestamping Service, on your consent for marketing communications and optional user account creation, on our legal obligations particularly in terms of billing, accounting data retention and recording consent to waive the right of withdrawal, and on our legitimate interest concerning Service improvement, platform security and fraud prevention.

Your rights

You have a right of access allowing you to obtain a copy of your personal data, a right of rectification to correct your inaccurate or incomplete data, a right to erasure subject to legal retention obligations particularly for billing and consent data, a right to limitation of processing of your data, a right to portability allowing you to receive your data in a structured and commonly used format, a right to object to processing of your data for processing based on legitimate interest, as well as the right to withdraw your consent at any time for processing based on this legal basis.

To exercise these rights, you can contact us at contact@instampy.fr.

Data retention

Data associated with timestamps performed without a user account are retained for a period of thirty days after timestamping, allowing certificate recovery via a unique link, then are automatically deleted. User account data are retained until voluntary deletion of your account or after two years of inactivity. Billing data are retained for a period of ten years in accordance with legal accounting and tax obligations. Data relating to consent to waive the right of withdrawal are retained for a minimum of ten years in accordance with legal traceability obligations. Data recorded on the blockchain, limited to cryptographic fingerprints and timestamps, are permanent by nature due to the intrinsic characteristics of this decentralized technology. Technical logs are retained for a maximum period of twelve months.

Security and confidentiality

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data against unauthorized access, loss or destruction. The calculation of the cryptographic fingerprint is performed entirely in your browser, ensuring that the content of your files is never transmitted to our servers nor accessible by Instampy. Only the resulting digital fingerprint is transmitted for recording on the blockchain.

Blockchain public data

It is important to note that cryptographic fingerprints of files and timestamps are recorded on a public blockchain. These data are therefore publicly accessible and consultable by anyone with appropriate tools, permanent and non-deletable due to the decentralized and immutable nature of the blockchain, and pseudonymous insofar as they contain no direct personal information and are not directly linked to your identity unless you choose to disclose it voluntarily.

Timestamps without account

For timestamps performed without account creation, only data strictly necessary for the Service are collected, namely your email address, file fingerprint and timestamping metadata. These data are automatically deleted after thirty days, with the exception of data recorded on the blockchain which remain permanent and billing and consent data which are retained in accordance with legal obligations.

9. Availability, Support and Languages

Service availability

We strive to ensure Service availability of 99.9% excluding scheduled maintenance. Temporary interruptions may occur due to planned technical maintenance which will be announced in advance when possible, unforeseen technical problems, computer attacks and other cases of force majeure, temporary suspension decided by the administration for maintenance, security or insufficient capacity reasons on blockchain accounts, or failure, interruption or cessation of third-party blockchain networks used by the Service.

In case of prolonged or definitive unavailability of a blockchain network, Instampy will endeavor to migrate the Service to an alternative blockchain network within a reasonable time. During this transition period, the timestamping service may be temporarily unavailable. Users will be informed of this situation by any appropriate means.

Temporary Service suspension

Instampy reserves the right to temporarily suspend the timestamping service in case of technical necessity, urgent maintenance, or any other circumstance making this suspension necessary. In this case, the certificate verification interface remains accessible. Users will be informed of the suspension by a clear message displayed on the site. The timestamping service will be restored as soon as possible.

User support

Email support is available at contact@instampy.fr. We aim for a response time of forty-eight business hours. Support is provided in French and English and covers technical assistance as well as questions related to Service operation.

Available languages

The Service is available in French and English. The interface language is automatically detected based on your browser preferences. You can also manually change the language at any time via the language selector present on the site. Timestamping certificates and email communications are generated in the language you have selected or which was detected during your use of the Service.

No legal advice

Our technical support provides no legal advice. For any questions related to intellectual property, protection strategy or legal interpretation of timestamping certificates, we recommend consulting a specialized lawyer or intellectual property advisor.

10. Modification and Termination

Modification of Terms of Service

Instampy reserves the right to modify these Terms of Service at any time. Modifications will be published on the site with mention of the update date, notified by email to registered Users, applicable immediately for new Users, and applicable after a period of thirty days for existing Users.

Continued use of the Service after modification constitutes acceptance of the new Terms of Service.

Service modification

Instampy may modify, suspend or interrupt all or part of the Service at any time for technical, security or evolution reasons. Users will be informed of substantial modifications where possible. Timestamping proofs recorded on the blockchain will remain verifiable independently of the Service's existence.

Termination by User

You can stop using the Service at any time. If you have created a user account, you can delete it at any time from your personal space. Deletion is final and irreversible. It should be noted that timestamps already performed remain recorded on the blockchain permanently due to the decentralized and immutable nature of this technology. Timestamping certificates remain verifiable via the public verification interface even after deletion of your account.

For timestamps performed without a user account, data are automatically deleted after thirty days, with the exception of data recorded on the blockchain which remain permanent, and billing and consent data which are retained in accordance with legal obligations.

Termination by Instampy

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service, without notice or compensation, in case of violation of these Terms of Service, fraudulent or abusive use of the Service, non-payment of amounts due, behavior harmful to the Service or other Users, or when a legal or regulatory obligation requires it.

11. General Provisions

Entire agreement

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Instampy regarding the use of the Service and supersede any prior agreement.

Partial nullity

If any clause of these Terms is declared null or unenforceable, the other clauses remain in full force and effect.

Waiver

The failure of Instampy to exercise a right provided for in these Terms does not constitute a waiver of that right.

Assignment

You may not assign your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent. Instampy may freely assign its rights and obligations, particularly in the context of restructuring, merger or business transfer.

Applicable law and jurisdiction

These Terms of Service are governed by French law and interpreted in accordance with it.

In case of dispute, and after attempt at amicable resolution which remains a mandatory prerequisite, French courts will have sole jurisdiction to hear the dispute.

For consumers within the meaning of the Consumer Code, it is specified that you retain the possibility of also seizing the jurisdiction of the place where you resided at the time of contract conclusion or occurrence of the harmful event.

12. Contact

For any question relating to these Terms or the Service: