Terms of Service

These Terms of Service govern your access to and use of EncountersWorld, including our website, accounts, profiles, posts, stories, observations, comments, favorites, messages, educational resources, community features, memberships, purchases, and other services we may offer.

By accessing or using EncountersWorld, creating an account, clicking an acceptance control, or using a paid feature, you agree to be bound by these Terms and by any policies expressly incorporated by reference, including our Privacy Policy.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you should not create an account or use features that require acceptance of them.

You must be legally permitted to use the services and, where required by law, have the involvement or permission of a parent or legal guardian. EncountersWorld is not directed to children under 13.

• Provide accurate registration information.
• Choose a username that does not impersonate another person or mislead the community.
• Keep your password and login credentials confidential.
• You are responsible for activity occurring through your account unless prohibited by law.
• Notify us if you believe your account has been compromised or used without permission.

Where the feature is available, you may delete your account through the Delete Account option in your account settings. Account deletion is handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy and any retention obligations described there.

“User Content” includes photos, videos, captions, posts, stories, observations, comments, profile information, messages where applicable, and other material you submit to EncountersWorld.

You retain ownership of your User Content. By submitting User Content, you grant EncountersWorld a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, display, distribute, resize, format, and otherwise process that content as reasonably necessary to operate, secure, improve, promote, and present the service.

• Do not trespass or break laws, posted rules, permit requirements, or access restrictions to create content.
• Do not intentionally disturb, harass, capture, lure, handle, feed, injure, or endanger wildlife for content.
• Do not post precise locations when doing so could create meaningful risk to rare, nesting, denning, threatened, or otherwise sensitive wildlife.
• Do not publish another person’s private home address or other sensitive location information without permission.
• Follow applicable site, park, refuge, museum, aquarium, zoo, rehabilitation, and property rules when documenting an encounter.

You may not use EncountersWorld to harass, threaten, exploit, scam, spam, impersonate others, promote cruelty or illegal wildlife activity, distribute malware, interfere with platform security, or knowingly deceive the community.

You may not use the service to coordinate unlawful activity, violate another person’s rights, expose private information without permission, or interfere with another person’s safe use of EncountersWorld.

We may remove or restrict content and accounts when reasonably necessary to enforce these Terms, protect users or wildlife, comply with law, or maintain the integrity of the service.

• Public posts, stories, comments, profile information, and observations may be visible to other people.
• Messages may be processed or reviewed when reasonably necessary for abuse reports, security, legal compliance, or service operation.
• Do not use messaging or community features for harassment, scams, unwanted commercial solicitation, illegal material, or coordinated abuse.
• Deleting or removing content does not guarantee every copy disappears immediately from backups, caches, or copies previously made by others.
• Favorites, follows, likes, rankings, badges, and other community signals may change as features are updated.

Our collection and use of personal information is described in the EncountersWorld Privacy Policy. Those privacy disclosures explain categories of information we may collect, how information may be used, account deletion, cookies and analytics, community content, payment-related data, data retention, and available privacy choices.

EncountersWorld may offer paid memberships, subscriptions, merchandise, digital downloads, or other paid features. The price, billing frequency, included benefits, applicable taxes, and available payment methods will be shown at or before checkout.

Monthly automatic renewal: If you purchase a monthly EncountersWorld membership, your membership will automatically renew each month at the price shown at checkout until you cancel it. By completing the purchase and affirmatively agreeing to the recurring-payment terms presented at checkout, you authorize EncountersWorld and its payment processor to charge your selected payment method for each recurring billing period until the membership is canceled.

Clear checkout disclosure and consent: Before a recurring membership is purchased, the material subscription terms will be presented at or before checkout, including the recurring price, billing frequency, automatic-renewal nature of the membership, and how to cancel. A recurring charge will not be initiated until the purchaser affirmatively completes the purchase and agrees to the recurring-payment terms presented at checkout.

Cancellation: You may cancel a recurring membership through the cancellation controls provided in your EncountersWorld account. Once a cancellation is successfully submitted, future automatic renewal charges will stop. Unless otherwise stated at checkout or required by law, cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid billing period and paid membership access may continue until that period ends.

Refunds and prorated credits: Except where required by applicable law or where EncountersWorld expressly states otherwise, membership payments and other completed digital-service charges are non-refundable, and EncountersWorld does not provide prorated refunds or credits for unused time, partial billing periods, failure to use membership benefits, or cancellation before the end of a paid billing period. This does not limit any refund, cancellation, charge-reversal, or consumer right that cannot legally be waived.

Failed, declined, or expired payments: If a recurring payment cannot be completed, EncountersWorld or its payment processor may retry the payment as permitted by the processor and applicable law. Paid benefits may be limited, suspended, or ended if payment remains unsuccessful. You are responsible for keeping your payment and billing information current with the payment provider.

Price changes: EncountersWorld may change the price of a paid membership or subscription. When a price change affects an existing recurring membership, notice will be provided before the new price is charged when required by law. You may cancel before the new price takes effect if you do not want the membership to renew at the changed price.

Free trials, introductory offers, and promotions: If EncountersWorld offers a free trial, reduced introductory price, promotional period, or similar offer, the applicable duration, eligibility requirements, price after the promotional period, first billing date, renewal terms, and cancellation instructions will be disclosed before enrollment. If the offer converts to a paid recurring membership, the recurring charges described at enrollment will begin unless you cancel before the stated deadline.

Taxes and other charges: Prices may not include sales, use, value-added, or similar taxes unless stated otherwise. Where EncountersWorld or its payment provider is required to collect applicable taxes, those amounts may be added to the purchase or recurring charge and shown during checkout or on the transaction record.

Payment processing: Payments may be processed by a trusted third-party payment provider. EncountersWorld does not need to receive or store your full payment-card number to provide paid features. The payment provider may process payment credentials and billing information under its own terms and privacy practices. EncountersWorld may receive limited transaction information needed to activate access, confirm payment, maintain membership status, process cancellations, provide receipts, address billing issues, prevent fraud, and maintain required business records.

Purchase confirmation and records: After a membership or other paid transaction is completed, EncountersWorld or its payment provider may provide a confirmation, receipt, or account record showing information such as the plan purchased, amount charged, billing frequency, transaction date, and subscription status. You should keep these records for your reference.

Paid-access changes and termination: Membership benefits, downloads, or other paid features may evolve over time. EncountersWorld may suspend or terminate paid access for fraud, charge abuse, material violations of these Terms, or other conduct that reasonably threatens the service or community. Any effect on prepaid access or refunds will be handled in accordance with applicable law and the circumstances of the termination.

Except for User Content and third-party material, EncountersWorld branding, logos, original design, software, databases, page layouts, graphics, educational materials, written site content, and other original platform elements are owned by or licensed to EncountersWorld and are protected as permitted by applicable law.

These Terms do not give you ownership of EncountersWorld intellectual property or permission to copy, sell, reproduce, scrape, republish, or commercially exploit protected platform material except as expressly authorized.

If you believe content on EncountersWorld infringes your copyright or other rights, contact us with enough information to identify the work, the material at issue, your contact information, and the basis for your claim.

EncountersWorld may remove or restrict material while reviewing a complaint and may take appropriate action regarding repeated or serious infringement. Any formal copyright notice process adopted by EncountersWorld may include additional information or verification requirements.

EncountersWorld may link to or integrate with maps, payment processors, analytics providers, social networks, embedded media, hosting services, email providers, and external websites. Those services are controlled by their providers and may have separate terms and privacy policies.

EncountersWorld is not responsible for the availability, security, accuracy, content, or practices of third-party services that we do not control.

EncountersWorld provides educational, community, and informational content. Species identifications, wildlife behavior information, field guides, safety tips, locations, community posts, and observations may contain mistakes, become outdated, or vary by region and circumstance.

• Do not rely on EncountersWorld as a substitute for emergency, medical, legal, veterinary, or professional wildlife-management advice.
• Outdoor activities involve risks including wildlife, terrain, weather, water, plants, insects, road conditions, and other hazards.
• Always follow local laws, posted rules, closures, permits, access restrictions, and official guidance.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, EncountersWorld is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis without warranties of uninterrupted, error-free, secure, complete, or suitable service for every purpose.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, EncountersWorld and its owners, operators, affiliates, and service providers will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for loss of data, profits, goodwill, opportunities, or other intangible losses arising from or related to your use of the service.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited under applicable law.

We may investigate reports, remove or limit content, restrict features, suspend accounts, terminate accounts, or preserve information when reasonably necessary to enforce these Terms, protect people or wildlife, address fraud or security issues, comply with law, respond to valid legal requests, or preserve the integrity of EncountersWorld.

Where appropriate, we may provide notice or an opportunity to correct a problem, but immediate action may be taken when we reasonably believe delay could create a safety, security, legal, abuse, or platform-integrity risk.

We may update these Terms to reflect new features, legal requirements, safety practices, business changes, or operational needs. When these Terms are revised, the effective date on this page will be updated.

If a change is material, we may provide additional notice through the site, account interface, email, or another reasonable method where appropriate. Continued use after updated Terms take effect may constitute acceptance where permitted by law.

These Terms are governed by and interpreted under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. If a dispute relating to EncountersWorld cannot be resolved informally, it may be brought in a court with proper jurisdiction, subject to any rights or protections that applicable consumer law provides.

If you have questions about these Terms, need to report a problem, or need to contact EncountersWorld regarding a legal or policy matter, use the official contact information provided on the Contact page.

Privacy-related questions and requests should be handled as described in our Privacy Policy.

Email: contact@encountersworld.com