Acceptable Use Policy
Last updated: April 19, 2026. This policy supplements our Terms of Service and governs what you may and may not do on NORA Foundation services. Have counsel review enforcement provisions before relying on this document.
1. Scope
This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") applies to all users of NORA Foundation services, including the Meridian workspace, archive features, Canon specification tools, attestation infrastructure, and any related APIs or interfaces. It applies equally to individuals, organizations, and any automated agents acting on their behalf.
2. Prohibited uses
You may not use the services to:
- Automated scraping or bulk extraction. Deploy bots, crawlers, or scripts to systematically extract content from the archive, workspace, or any NORA Foundation endpoint beyond what is expressly permitted by our APIs and documented rate limits.
- Illegal content.Store, transmit, or process content that violates applicable law — including but not limited to materials that constitute child exploitation, incitement to violence, or sanctioned-party transactions.
- Circumventing access controls.Attempt to bypass authentication, authorization, per-user database isolation, or any other security boundary — whether through credential stuffing, token manipulation, direct database access, or exploitation of software vulnerabilities.
- Misrepresenting attestation state. Present unattested documents as attested, alter the displayed attestation status of any document, or otherwise deceive third parties about the integrity or provenance of materials processed through the service.
- Forging Canon signatures. Attempt to create, modify, or replay Canon envelope signatures, custody-chain seals, or any cryptographic attestation outside the mechanisms provided by the service.
- Abuse of AI features. Use AI-assisted search, inference, or generation features to produce content intended to harass, defraud, or impersonate others.
3. Archive integrity
The archive and custody-chain infrastructure are designed to preserve document provenance and integrity. Users must not:
- Attempt to modify, reorder, or delete entries in a custody chain after sealing.
- Tamper with sealed attestations or alter their cryptographic digests.
- Inject false provenance metadata — such as fabricated timestamps, forged submitter identities, or spurious hash values — into any document or attestation record.
- Exploit the per-user database architecture to access, modify, or exfiltrate data belonging to another tenant.
4. Rate limits and fair use
NORA Foundation may impose rate limits on API calls, document ingestion, search queries, and AI inference requests. These limits are designed to ensure fair access for all users and to protect infrastructure stability. Current limits are documented in our API reference where applicable. Users who consistently exceed fair-use thresholds may be contacted and asked to adjust usage patterns before restrictions are applied.
5. Reporting violations
If you believe another user is violating this policy, or if you discover a security vulnerability, please report it through the contact page or by emailing abuse@norafoundation.io. We investigate all credible reports and will respond within a reasonable time frame.
6. Enforcement
Violations of this policy may result in one or more of the following actions, at NORA Foundation's discretion:
- Warning. A written notice describing the violation and requesting corrective action.
- Temporary suspension. Restriction of access to some or all services for a defined period.
- Permanent termination. Irrevocable closure of the account.
- Legal action. Referral to law enforcement or initiation of civil proceedings where warranted.
Data preservation during enforcement. When an account is suspended or terminated for a policy violation, NORA Foundation may preserve account data (including documents, metadata, and logs) for a reasonable period to support investigation, comply with legal obligations, or facilitate lawful requests from authorities. Users subject to enforcement action will be notified of applicable preservation periods where legally permitted.
7. Changes
We may update this Acceptable Use Policy. Material changes will be indicated on this page with an updated date. Continued use of the services after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.