Terms of Service

Last updated: 11 May 2026

By using GroundTruth ("the platform", "the service") you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not sign up or continue using the service.

1. What GroundTruth is — and what it is not

GroundTruth is a peer-attestation platform. It lets Ghanaian landowners record their plot boundaries, collect endorsements from people who know the land, and surface community trust signals to others who might transact with them.

GroundTruth does not determine ownership. Trust signals on the platform — endorsements, verifier badges, acreage records, dispute history — are community indicators, not legal title. Only the courts of Ghana and the Lands Commission can adjudicate land ownership. Nothing on the platform creates, transfers, or proves legal title.

A plot with a strong trust score on GroundTruth tells you that a lot of community signal supports the listed owner's claim. It does not tell you that claim is legally registered. Buyers, lenders, and other interested parties should perform their own due diligence with the Lands Commission and qualified surveyors before entering any transaction.

2. Who can use the service

• You must be at least 18 years old.
• You must have a valid Ghanaian phone number or be able to receive SMS at a number on a supported carrier.
• You must be capable of entering into a binding contract under Ghanaian law.

3. Your account

• You are responsible for keeping your phone number, sign-in codes, and access tokens secure. Do not share them.
• You are responsible for everything done on your account.
• Notify us immediately at security@mygroundtruth.app if you suspect your account has been compromised.

4. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Submit plots you do not actually own or have a credible ownership claim on.
• Endorse plots you do not have first-hand knowledge of — endorsements are testimony, not favours.
• File disputes you do not believe in good faith are justified. Frivolous or retaliatory disputes are abuse.
• Impersonate another person, organisation, or authority.
• Upload someone else's photo, document, or Ghana Card.
• Harass other users, scrape the platform, or attempt to reverse-engineer the security model.
• Use the platform to launder claims to disputed or stolen land.

We may suspend or terminate any account that violates these rules, with or without notice depending on the severity.

5. Your content

5.1 You own what you upload

You retain ownership of every plot record, photo, endorsement, and document you put on the platform. We do not claim any IP in your content.

5.2 You grant us a license to display it

You grant GroundTruth a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, display, and process your content as required to run the service. This license ends when you delete the content, subject to the dispute-related retention rules below.

5.3 Content under dispute is preserved

If your plot is under an active dispute when you try to delete it, the plot record is preserved (tombstoned) and continues to appear publicly as "removed by owner" so the disputer can still see what they are disputing. The dispute resolution happens off the platform; we just preserve the record. See our Privacy Policy §5 for retention details.

6. Trust signals are community signals, not legal proof

Read this carefully. The visible features of the platform — trust pills, endorsement counts, verifier badges, Ghana-Card-verified markers — are aggregations of community attestation. They reflect what people who interact with the land say. They do not:

• Constitute proof of legal title.
• Replace formal land registration with the Lands Commission.
• Override survey plans prepared by licensed surveyors.
• Provide a warranty of any kind from GroundTruth.

Anyone relying on a trust signal for a transaction does so at their own risk. GroundTruth is not liable for losses arising from such reliance. Always combine the platform's signals with formal due diligence.

7. Endorsements and disputes

Endorsements are statements you make in your own name, attesting that you know the land and recognise the named owner's claim. They carry weight on the platform based on who you are and how you are connected to the plot. Lying in an endorsement is a violation of these terms and may also have consequences under Ghanaian law (e.g. defamation, false witness).

Disputes are public claims that a plot record is wrong or contested. Filing a dispute triggers a temporary trust penalty on the plot until the dispute is resolved off-platform. Resolution happens through courts, traditional authorities, the Lands Commission, or mutual agreement — never on the platform itself. We just surface the conflict; we don't adjudicate it.

8. Fees

GroundTruth is currently free to use. We reserve the right to introduce paid features in the future (e.g. premium verifier services, professional surveyor exports). Existing features that are free today will not become paid without prior notice and an option to retain access at the prior terms.

9. Service availability and changes

• We aim for high uptime but make no guarantees. The service may be unavailable from time to time for maintenance or unexpected outages.
• We may add, change, or remove features. Material changes that affect your stored data will come with advance notice.
• We may discontinue the service entirely. If we do, we will give you at least 60 days' notice and a way to export your data.

10. Termination

You may delete your account at any time from within the app. Subject to dispute-related retention (§5.3), your personal data is removed within 30 days.

We may suspend or terminate your account, with or without notice, if you violate these terms. We will document the reason and notify you unless doing so would compromise an ongoing safety or legal matter.

11. Disclaimer of warranties

The service is provided "as is" and "as available". To the maximum extent permitted under Ghanaian law, GroundTruth disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to:

• Warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
• Warranties that the service will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free.
• Warranties about the accuracy or completeness of any plot record, endorsement, or trust signal — these reflect what users have submitted, and users sometimes get things wrong.

12. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, GroundTruth and its operators, employees, and service providers are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages — including but not limited to lost profits, lost data, or losses arising from reliance on trust signals — even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

Where liability cannot be excluded, our total liability is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to liability, or, if you paid nothing, to GHS 100.

13. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold GroundTruth harmless against any third-party claims, losses, or damages (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your misuse of the service, your submission of false plot records or endorsements, or your violation of these terms or applicable law.

14. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Ghana. Any dispute arising from these terms or your use of the service is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Accra, Ghana. The parties agree to attempt good-faith resolution through direct communication before initiating formal proceedings.

15. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the platform evolves. The updated version will be posted on this page with a fresh "last updated" date. Material changes will be communicated in-app and by email; continuing to use the service after a material change means you accept the new terms.

16. Contact

Questions about these terms: legal@mygroundtruth.app