Legal

Terms of Use

Last updated 13 October 2026

These terms apply to everyone who uses Floc. Floc is currently operated by Sander Riis Specht ("we", "us"). By creating an account you agree to them. If you use Floc on behalf of an organisation, you confirm that you may accept these terms for that organisation.

1. What Floc is

Floc is a network where sustainable ideas find the people, knowledge and resources to become real. We host Ideas, Needs, Updates, Contributions, profiles, organisations, Opportunities and conversations. We are not a party to any agreement, collaboration, employment relationship or funding arrangement that members enter into with each other.

2. Your account

You need an account to contribute. You must be old enough to enter a binding agreement in your country. Keep your login details secure and give accurate information about yourself or your organisation. You are responsible for everything posted from your account.

3. Ownership of ideas and content

You keep ownership of everything you post, and Contributors keep ownership of their Contributions. By posting on Floc you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, display and distribute that content to operate the platform — for Confidential Ideas, only within the access controls described below. You confirm that you have the right to post what you post.

4. The three development models

Every Idea is developed under one of three models: Open-source development, Public but protected development, or Confidential. The model decides who can see the Idea, what others may do with its material and whether it is publicly disclosed. The Sharing & ownership page explains each model in plain language.

4.1 Open-source development

Ideas under Open-source development are public, and their copyright-protected material is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence. Anyone may use, adapt and build on that material, including commercially, provided the Idea's creators and Contributors are credited and adaptations are shared under the same or a compatible licence. Contributions to an Open-source Idea are made under the same licence. The licence covers copyright in the shared material only. It does not license abstract ideas, patents or trade marks, and it does not grant rights the Idea's owners do not hold. The CC BY-SA 4.0 licence applies only to Ideas under Open-source development.

4.2 Public but protected development

Ideas under Public but protected development are public and discoverable, but no open licence applies and all rights are reserved. Their material may not be copied, reproduced, adapted or commercialised without written permission from the Creator. Others may follow the Idea, comment, contact the Creator and contribute where the Creator allows. Publishing on Floc is a public disclosure, not a patent filing; if an Idea contains a potentially patentable invention, publishing it can affect or destroy the possibility of patent protection.

4.3 Confidential

Confidential Ideas are access-controlled. They have no public page, are not indexed by search engines and do not appear in feeds, search, recommendations or public profiles. Only the Creator, the Creator and participants who have been invited and have accepted the confidentiality terms can access them. No open licence applies. We provide technical and contractual measures to support confidential development, but we do not guarantee patentability, trade-secret status or that confidentiality is never breached, and nothing here replaces professional legal or IP advice.

4.4 Confidentiality agreements

Access to a Confidential Idea is granted by invitation. The invited person is shown the confidentiality terms and must accept them explicitly before getting access. The agreement is between the Idea's owners and the participant; Floc facilitates and records it and is not a party to it. Access can be revoked at any time, but revoking access does not end obligations already accepted. The confidentiality terms currently offered on Floc have not yet been reviewed by a lawyer; they are a starting point and you should have them reviewed before relying on them.

4.5 Disclosure Logs

For every Confidential Idea we keep a Disclosure Log of invitations, acceptances and the version accepted, access granted and revoked, and changes to sharing status, with dates and times. The Creator can view and export it. Entries cannot be edited or deleted by users and remain after access ends. The log documents activity on Floc; it does not by itself prove ownership, patentability or confidentiality.

4.6 Public outreach from Confidential Ideas

A Confidential Idea may appear publicly only as a limited card (such as stage and broad Topics) and through Need outreach that the Creator or an Admin has approved. Outreach shows only the text written for it and never the Idea's title, description, files, discussions or team. Responding to outreach does not grant access; access still requires an invitation and acceptance of the confidentiality terms.

5. Changing the development model

The Creator may change an Idea's development model, and every change is recorded. Moving from Confidential to a public model is a public disclosure and cannot be undone. Moving to Open-source development applies CC BY-SA 4.0 to the Idea's material from that point; rights already granted under an open licence cannot be withdrawn. Moving a public Idea to Confidential restricts future access only — it does not undo disclosure that has already happened or licences already granted.

6. Roles on an Idea

The Creator starts an Idea and acts as Creator until an Idea Lead is recorded. The Creator manages the Idea, decides on offers and outreach, and controls its settings. Co-creators are invited to develop the Idea with the Creator and can edit it while their role is active. Contributors are people whose Contributions have become part of the Idea. Only the Creator, the Creator and active Co-creators can edit an Idea. Moving the Creator role to someone else requires a request that the other person accepts.

7. Contributions, offers and history

Confidentiality and ownership are separate questions. Unless agreed otherwise in writing, Contributors keep their rights in their own Contributions, and should agree with the Creator how they may be used. Contributions to Open-source Ideas are made under CC BY-SA 4.0. Offers of help are private to the sender and the Creator; accepting an offer does not by itself create a Contribution or transfer any rights.

Each Idea has a Progress history of meaningful developments — its creation, stage changes and Contributions that were taken up — and a separate Audit record of every edit, file, team and access change. The Audit record cannot be changed; Co-creators can read it and Admins can restore earlier content from it.

7.1 Deleting or withdrawing an Idea

While nobody else has made meaningful contributions, an Idea can be deleted. It is hidden immediately and can be restored for 30 days, after which it is permanently removed. Once others have made meaningful contributions, the Idea can no longer be deleted, only withdrawn. A withdrawn Idea leaves discovery, while its history and everyone's attribution are kept. Withdrawal does not end confidentiality obligations already accepted or licences already granted.

8. Needs, Updates and Opportunities

Needs describe the help an Idea is looking for, such as expertise, funding or resources. Updates share news about an Idea, person, organisation or Opportunity and can receive Comments, likes and mentions. Opportunities — such as funding, challenges, jobs or student theses — are published by people or organisations. Their lifecycle (open, closing, ended) follows their dates; ended Opportunities no longer accept new responses. Significant edits to an Opportunity are recorded and people who responded are notified. Only verified owners or admins of an organisation may act on its behalf, and that authority can be revoked.

9. Identity verification

Floc plans to require identity verification before access to a Confidential Idea is granted, and possibly for certain roles on public Ideas. This is not yet available. When it is introduced, these terms and the Privacy Policy will be updated first. Verification alone will never grant access to an Idea.

10. Community guidelines

Do not use Floc to:

post work, designs or media you do not have the right to share
disclose or reuse material from a Confidential Idea you have been given access to
copy or commercialise material from a Public but protected Idea without permission
harass, threaten, impersonate or discriminate against other members
post spam, advertising or misleading claims about an Idea, person or organisation
scrape the platform, or misuse messaging or mentions to contact people in bulk
post anything unlawful or anything that puts people or the environment at risk

11. Moderation and enforcement

Anyone can report an Idea, profile, organisation, message, Comment or Update. Moderators may send a warning, remove content from feeds, hide content, change an organisation's status or suspend an account that breaks these terms. Moderation actions are recorded, and a copy of removed content is kept for review. If you believe a decision is wrong, write to us.

12. Ending your use

You can stop using Floc at any time and delete your account yourself under Account. Contributions already part of other people's Ideas remain in their history and are shown as from an account that is no longer active on Floc; you can ask for remaining credit to be anonymised. Disclosure Log entries and confidentiality obligations you have accepted remain. We may suspend or close accounts that seriously or repeatedly break these terms.

13. Floc's role and liability

Floc is provided as it is, and is currently in beta. We do not check the accuracy, safety or feasibility of Ideas, material or claims published by members, and we do not vet the people or organisations you may work with. We do not give legal, patent or IP advice. To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss caused by other members. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.

14. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as Floc develops. We will change the date above and announce significant changes in Floc before they take effect. If you keep using Floc after that, the updated terms apply.

15. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by Danish law. Disputes are settled by the Danish courts, without affecting any mandatory consumer protection rights you have where you live.

16. Contact

Questions, takedown requests or intellectual property complaints can be sent to hello@floc.world.