Terms of Use

Last updated: February 23, 2026

Welcome to Local Civic Hub ("Service," "Platform," "we," "us," or "our"), operated by Local Civic Hub. By accessing or using our Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. Please read them carefully.

1. About Our Service

Local Civic Hub is a community information aggregation platform that collects, organizes, and summarizes civic information from across the metro areas we serve, helping residents stay informed and engaged with their local community.

2. Data Sources & Content

We aggregate publicly available information from official and community sources across the metro areas we serve, including:

• Government: Municipal, county, and regional government websites and open data portals
• Public Safety: Police transparency data, crime statistics, and community safety reports
• Meetings: City council agendas, county board agendas, and public meeting notices
• Weather: National Weather Service alerts and forecasts
• News Media: Local news outlets covering the region
• Schools: Local school district announcements and updates
• Health: Public health department notices and healthcare community events
• Community: Libraries, parks, transit, nonprofits, and community organizations

3. Free & Premium Services

Free (Community) Tier:

• Real-time dashboard with live feed
• Civic updates hub with source filters
• Resource directory
• Service call map
• Weather alerts and forecasts
• Local follow-ups (device only)

Premium Leader ($7.99/mo):

• Everything in Community, plus:
• Ask Penny: AI civic assistant with web search
• Watchlist Alerts: Keyword-based topic monitoring
• In-app and email notifications
• Cloud Sync: Follow-ups across devices
• Daily/weekly email digests
• Signal Radar analytics
• Priority support with screenshot tickets

What You're Paying For: Premium subscriptions fund the development and maintenance of personalization features, cloud infrastructure, AI processing, and enhanced tools. The underlying public data remains freely accessible — you're paying for the curation, organization, personalization, and convenience we provide.

4. User Responsibilities

By using this Service, you agree to:

• Verify critical information through official government sources before taking any action that could affect your safety, legal standing, or finances.
• Not rely solely on this Platform for emergency information. In emergencies, always call 911 or contact appropriate emergency services directly.
• Understand that this is not official reporting. Our follow-up and case tracking features help you organize your own civic engagement — we do not submit reports to any government agency on your behalf.
• Use the Service lawfully and not for any purpose that violates applicable local, state, or federal laws.
• Maintain the security of your account credentials.

5. Disclaimers & Limitations

We do not warrant that:

• The Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free
• The information provided will be accurate, complete, or current
• Any errors in the Service will be corrected
• The Service will meet your specific requirements

Limitation of Liability: To the maximum extent permitted by law, we shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the Service.

5b. Account Termination

You may delete your account at any time through Account Settings or by contacting us. Upon deletion:

• Your watchlist, notification preferences, and followed meetings will be permanently deleted
• Active paid subscriptions will be cancelled and no further charges will occur
• Your email will be removed from all newsletter and digest mailing lists
• Follow-ups and case tracking data stored on our servers will be permanently erased
• Data stored locally in your browser (localStorage) is not affected — clear it manually if desired

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, engage in abuse of the platform, or create security risks for other users.

6. AI-Generated Content

Our Platform uses artificial intelligence (Google Gemini and Anthropic Claude) to provide several features:

• Plain-language summaries: News articles and government updates are automatically summarized in everyday language for easier reading.
• Ask Penny (Premium): An AI civic assistant that answers questions about local government, community services, and aggregated data.
• Email digests: AI-curated weekly summaries of community activity.

All AI-generated content:

• Is provided for informational and convenience purposes only
• May contain errors or inaccuracies
• Should never be used as the sole basis for important decisions
• Does not constitute professional, legal, medical, or emergency advice

6b. Third-Party Image Content

Article images displayed alongside civic updates may be sourced from Unsplash, a free stock photo service. These images are used under the Unsplash License, which permits free use for commercial and non-commercial purposes. Images are selected automatically based on article content and may not perfectly represent the specific events described.

6c. Data Retention

We retain data according to the following schedule:

• Aggregated civic content: General news and updates are retained for 90 days; police/public safety data for 30 days.
• Account data: Retained as long as your account is active. Deleted within 30 days of account deletion request.
• Notifications: In-app notifications are retained for 90 days.
• Support tickets: Retained for 1 year after resolution for quality assurance.
• Payment records: Retained as required by applicable tax and financial regulations (typically 7 years).
• Audit logs: Security and administrative logs are retained for 1 year.

7. Privacy & Data

Your privacy is important to us. Please review our Privacy Policy for details on how we collect, use, and protect your personal information.

7b. DMCA & Content Takedown

We respect the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe any content on our platform infringes your copyright, please send a takedown notice to legal@localcivichub.org including:

• Identification of the copyrighted work
• URL of the infringing content on our platform
• Your contact information
• A statement of good faith belief that the use is not authorized
• A statement under penalty of perjury that the information is accurate

We will respond to valid takedown requests within 5 business days.

8. Data Aggregation & Legal Basis

Our data aggregation practices are conducted in compliance with applicable law. We rely on the following legal bases for each category of content:

• Government Public Records (Illinois FOIA, 5 ILCS 140): Government websites, meeting agendas, public safety data, and official notices are public records. We access them through publicly available RSS feeds, open data APIs, and public-facing web pages.
• Federal Public Domain Data: National Weather Service data (api.weather.gov) is produced by the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright (17 U.S.C. § 105).
• RSS Feed Syndication: RSS feeds are explicitly published by content owners for the purpose of syndication and redistribution.
• Open Data APIs (ArcGIS, etc.): Public-facing APIs published without authentication requirements are accessed per their published terms of use.
• Fair Use (17 U.S.C. § 107): For copyrighted content from private media, nonprofits, schools, and universities, we display only brief excerpts (up to 300 characters) with direct links to the original source.
• Robots.txt Compliance: Our automated systems check and respect robots.txt directives before accessing any website.

We do not circumvent access controls, bypass authentication, or access private or restricted content.

8b. Third-Party Content

Content displayed on this Platform originates from third-party sources. We do not create, endorse, or verify the accuracy of third-party content. Each item displayed identifies its original source and provides a link to the source material.

All trademarks, service marks, and trade names referenced on this Platform belong to their respective owners.

If you are a content owner and wish to have your content removed, please contact us at legal@localcivichub.org.

8c. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Local Civic Hub, its officers, directors, employees, agents, and affiliates from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from or related to:

• Your use of the Service
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your reliance on any information provided by the Service
• Any action you take based on content displayed on the Platform
• Your violation of any rights of a third party

9. Changes to These Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. Changes will be effective immediately upon posting to the Platform. Your continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the modified Terms.

9b. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any disputes arising from these Terms or your use of the Service shall be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Peoria County, Illinois.

Before filing any legal claim, you agree to attempt to resolve the dispute informally by contacting us at support@localcivichub.org. We will try to resolve the issue within 30 days.

10. Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms of Use, please contact us at:

By using Local Civic Hub, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use.