Terms of Service

Ankush Jha (DS Colony, India) · Last updated 1 October 2026

[Beta draft — flagged for legal counsel review. This document states how the platform actually works today, in plain language. It does not constitute legal advice, and it will be reviewed by counsel before public launch beyond closed beta.]

1. What DS Colony is — and is not

DS Colony is a professional and educational platform for Data Science and AI. It exists so learners and practitioners can study, practice, build, research, and prove their skills with evidence — and so the community around that work can discuss, collaborate, and connect professionally.

DS Colony is not a general-purpose social network or an unrestricted private-chat platform. Permitted use is bounded to: DS/AI study and technical Q&A, project collaboration, research and academic discussion, professional networking and career discussion, opportunity-related professional communication, study groups, and constructive technical feedback.

2. Your account

You need an account to post, comment, vote, and message. DS Colony is an education and professional-development platform and is not directed at children — see the Privacy Policy (children’s section). We do not collect date-of-birth or identity documents. You are responsible for keeping your credentials safe and for everything done through your account. One person, one account.

You can delete your account yourself from Settings → Delete account. Deletion is real and immediate: what it removes and what survives anonymously is stated in the Privacy Policy.

3. Your content

Posts, comments, and messages are your content. By posting community content you allow DS Colony to display it on the platform as posted (community posts and comments are publicly visible to readers without an account). You represent that what you post and message is yours to share or lawfully used — see the Copyright Policy for what that means and how complaints are handled.

We do not pre-screen user content, and we cannot guarantee that user content does not infringe third-party rights or violate these rules. We remove reported content after human review and respond to court orders and government directions.

4. Prohibited conduct

By using DS Colony you agree not to post, send, or distribute any of the following:

• Harassment, threats, or bullying of anyone.
• Hate speech or abusive content targeting any group or individual.
• Sexual or explicit content — including any child sexual abuse material. Reports in this category hide the content immediately on receipt and are escalated to the authorities (I4C) with evidence preserved.
• Doxxing: publishing other people's private information without consent.
• Spam, mass unsolicited promotion, or bulk solicitation of any kind.
• Scams, phishing, fraud, or deceptive content.
• Malware or links intended to harm, hijack, or surveil others.
• Impersonation — presenting yourself as another person or entity.
• Illegal activity or content unlawful under Indian law.
• Copyright-infringing material: pirated courses, unauthorized books or PDFs, copied proprietary code, or any distribution without the rights to distribute.
• Sharing credentials, API keys, or passwords that are not yours to share.
• Political campaigning or targeting that is off-purpose for this platform.

The full reporting and enforcement mechanics — categories, review, hiding, warnings, suspension, appeals — are published in the Moderation & Reporting policy.

5. Messaging

Direct messages are 1-to-1, text-only, and governed by the Messaging Rules — professional and educational use only. You can report any message and block any person. Message privacy: only conversation members (and, for reported messages only, the human moderation queue) can read message content. Messages are never screened, filtered, or analyzed in advance.

6. Enforcement, suspension, and termination

Violating these rules can lead to: content being hidden (non-destructively and reversibly), a warning, account suspension, or termination. Suspension blocks login, immediately invalidates all of your sessions, and can be reversed on appeal. We may also remove accounts that are clearly abusive, fraudulent, or dormant at our discretion after review. Moderation records related to your account survive account deletion without retaining your identity — that is deliberate, and it is disclosed in the Privacy Policy.

7. Privacy

We process personal data as described in the Privacy Policy — what we store, what is public versus private, your consent toggles, your rights (access, correction, erasure, grievance), retention, and our security posture.

8. Opportunity and hiring features

Company-console features (role posting, talent search, invites) are provided to company accounts provisioned by DS Colony at its own discretion. We do not independently verify employer identities, legal existence, or job authenticity — a company account is an access role, not a DS Colony endorsement. Recruiters supply their own application links; DS Colony never generates or endorses them. Talent search only surfaces users who explicitly turned on recruiter discoverability. DS Colony is not a recruiting agency and does not guarantee any job, internship, or interview outcome.

9. Availability and limits

DS Colony is offered "as is" during closed beta. Features may change; some surfaces are marked "coming soon" and we do not claim otherwise. We do not warrant uninterrupted availability, and we set rate limits to protect the platform and its users from abuse.

10. Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Ankush Jha (DS Colony, India) is not liable for indirect or consequential damages arising from your use of the platform or from user-generated content. Our total liability for direct claims is limited to the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim (in closed beta that is typically zero — the platform is free).

11. Changes and notices

We may update these terms; the "last updated" date above changes when we do. Material changes are notified to registered users (email to your account address) at least once per year, and on any material change. Continued use after a change means you accept the updated terms.

12. Grievances and contact

Grievances about the platform or its users go to the Grievance Officer at [email protected]. We acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and aim to resolve them within 15 days. Copyright complaints follow the process in the Copyright Policy.

13. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of India; courts of jurisdiction at Patna, Bihar, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.