Squares World is run by Squares World LLC ("we", "us"). By buying a square or using the site, you agree to these terms. Before completing a purchase, you must confirm that you agree to these terms. We've tried to keep them short and readable. If you don't agree, please don't buy a square.
Squares World is a shared digital artwork: a flat map of the world made of 1,000,000 squares. Whoever claims a square chooses a message and two colors for it, and everyone can explore the result.
A square is a spot in an artwork. It gives you no rights over any real place, country, property or natural resource, and no property, geographic or investment rights of any kind. It is not a token, a security or an investment, and we don't offer a way to resell or transfer squares. The map's coastlines and borders are simplified, drawn for the artwork, and don't express any position on any territory.
A square costs at least $1. You can pay more if you wish; we set no maximum (payment providers may limit the size of a single payment). Prices are in US dollars. Any sales tax we are legally required to collect will be added where applicable. Your bank or payment provider may add its own fees, such as currency conversion.
When your payment is confirmed, you get the right to have your message and colors shown on the square or squares you paid for, as part of the map. One design applies to all the squares in a single purchase. To keep things fair, you can claim up to 50 squares at a time and about 50 per person per day; we may change these limits. Because we don't require accounts, we may use technical information to enforce these limits, but that information may not identify each person perfectly.
A square isn't yours until your payment is confirmed. While you pay, the squares are held for you for a short time and then released.
Once you've paid, your message and colors can't be changed, by you or by us, except if we remove them under section 8. We ask you to confirm this every time, before you pay.
We intend to keep Squares World online for as long as we reasonably can, and your square is yours for as long as the site exists. We can't promise it will run forever: websites, hosting and businesses change. If we ever have to shut the site down, we'll try to give notice and to keep a picture of the map available, but we can't guarantee that.
Payments are processed by Stripe. Stripe handles your card or account details; we do not intentionally collect or store full payment-card numbers through Squares World. We receive payment confirmation and a payment reference so we can manage your order and handle refunds if necessary. Stripe's own terms and privacy policy apply to the payment.
All sales are final to the extent permitted by law. Each square is a one-of-a-kind digital item, so we don't offer refunds or exchanges, including if you change your mind or if we remove your message under section 8. Two exceptions: (a) if we can't give you the square you paid for (for example, because someone else claimed it first), we'll refund you in full; and (b) nothing here limits any right to a refund that you have under the law where you live.
Messages are public and permanent. You can write up to 500 characters of plain text, in any language, and choose a background color and a text color. Links and web addresses aren't allowed, and there are no images. You must not post, on one square or across several squares together:
These rules apply to what several squares say together, for example using many squares to spell out a word or form a picture. Because messages are permanent and public, please don't put personal information about yourself in one.
We don't review messages before they appear, but we can hide or remove any message that breaks these rules or that we think is harmful, at our discretion, with or without notice, and without a refund except where the law requires otherwise. When content is removed, the square stays on the map as a plain gray square. We can also refuse or cancel an order, and block people who abuse the site. If we cancel an order before delivering it, we'll refund it. We don't endorse what other people post.
You keep whatever rights you have in your message. By buying a square, you give us a non-exclusive, worldwide, free-of-charge license to store, display and reproduce your message and colors as part of Squares World for as long as the site exists, including in images, archives or copies of the map and in showing the site to others (for example screenshots or press). You promise that you have the right to post your message and that it follows these terms.
Because designs are permanent, we don't remove a message just because you've changed your mind. But you can email us at support@squaresworld.com to ask us to hide or remove it, and we'll consider every request, especially if it contains personal information. We can't promise to agree, and removal doesn't come with a refund, except where the law says otherwise. Removing a message from the live site cannot erase screenshots or copies already made by other people.
To report a problem, use the "Report a Square" link at the bottom of any page, or tap a square and choose "Report this square". Email us the square number and what's wrong at support@squaresworld.com. For a copyright complaint, include enough detail to identify the work, the square, and your claim. We review reports as quickly as we reasonably can, but we can't promise a response time.
Reporting is a way to alert us. It doesn't replace the rules in section 7, which apply to everyone whether or not anyone reports a square.
Please don't attack, overload or try to break the site, get around its limits, or use automated tools to claim squares in bulk.
Squares World is provided "as is". We don't promise it will always be available or error-free. As far as the law allows, we aren't responsible for indirect or consequential losses, or for what other people post, and our total responsibility to you for anything connected with the site is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the problem arose. Nothing in these terms excludes responsibility that can't be excluded by law.
We may update these terms. The date at the top shows the latest version, and we'll say so on this page if a change is significant. Changes apply going forward and do not change the terms of a completed purchase unless you agree or the law allows it. Using the site after a change means you accept the new terms where the law allows this.
These terms are governed by the laws of New York State, except where mandatory laws that apply to you require otherwise.
Squares World LLC, support@squaresworld.com
This explains what Squares World collects and how it is used. You don't need an account to buy a square, and we don't sell your personal information.
The squares you chose, your message, your colors, the amount, and the date and time. A square's location, message, colors and purchase date are shown publicly, because that is the artwork. Nothing else about you is shown publicly as part of your square.
Stripe collects and processes payment details. We receive confirmation that a payment succeeded and a payment reference, so we can match it to your order and refund it if necessary. Depending on the checkout method, we may also receive limited information such as your name, email address or other transaction details. We do not intentionally collect or store full payment-card numbers through Squares World. Stripe's own terms and privacy policy apply to its services: Stripe Privacy Policy.
Our website hosting provider may process technical information when you visit the site, such as your IP address, pages requested, timestamps and browser information. This information may appear in server logs used to operate, secure and troubleshoot the site. The exact information collected and how long it is retained depend on the provider and our configuration.
To enforce the limits in the terms and to fight abuse, we store a hashed version of your IP address with your order. This is not the original IP address, but it may link repeated orders together and should not be treated as guaranteed anonymous information. Our hosting provider may also keep its own server logs.
We get your email address and what you write. We use it to reply and to deal with the issue, and may keep it as long as needed for that.
We don't run ads or intentionally use separate advertising trackers or third-party analytics tools on Squares World. We don't sell your information. Our hosting and payment providers may independently process technical or transaction information through their own services.
A message is public and permanent the moment it is paid for, and other people can copy it. We can't control that, so please don't put personal information in a message.
Stripe, to take and refund payments; our hosting and technical providers, to operate and secure the site; authorities when the law requires it; and a new owner if Squares World is ever sold or handed over.
Order records, including the public squares, are kept for as long as the site exists, because the artwork is permanent. We may retain transaction records, backups and other information as reasonably needed for legal, tax, security and dispute-resolution purposes. Hashed IP identifiers are kept for as long as reasonably needed to enforce limits and prevent abuse. Emails to us are kept as long as we need them to deal with your message.
Email support@squaresworld.com to ask what we hold about you, or to ask us to hide or remove a message (see section 9). Depending on where you live, you may have legal rights over your personal information, such as access or deletion, and we'll respond as the law requires. If you contact us, include the square number or transaction reference if you have it. Because a hashed IP address may not identify you on its own, we may need more information to locate relevant records.
Squares World isn't meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information to us, please contact us so we can review the situation.
If this changes in a way that matters, we'll update this page and its date.