Terms

Who provides Buurtmaat

Buurtmaat is a private app for your village or neighbourhood. Buurtmaat is a service of AnchorWorks B.V., Binnendelta 11M, 1261 WZ Blaricum, the Netherlands, Chamber of Commerce (KvK) number 42013298. In these terms we also refer to it as ‘we’ or ‘AnchorWorks’.

A municipality, village council or welfare organisation takes Buurtmaat for one or more communities and pays for it. That organisation is called the customer. As a resident you pay nothing for Buurtmaat.

Who these terms apply to

These terms apply to everyone who uses Buurtmaat: as a resident or with a role, such as neighbourhood buddy, ambassador, moderator, editor or administrator. When you sign up, you also agree to the house rules.

For customers, the arrangements in their agreement with AnchorWorks also apply. See the section Arrangements with customers.

If the law gives you more protection as a consumer than these terms, the law applies.

Becoming a member and logging in

You become a member with the personal code from the letter delivered to your address. With the code, at most five people from the same address can take part. Does someone else live with you? Then you can invite that person. Sometimes an administrator of the customer lets you in without a code.

You must be 16 or older. You use your own name and only create an account for yourself.

Moving house? Then enter the code from the letter for your new address. Your account moves with you.

You log in with a link or a code that we send by email. Make sure only you can access your email and never forward a login link or login code. You stay logged in for 30 days. Log out on a device you share with others. Do you think someone else is in your account? Then report it via info@buurtmaat.nl.

House rules

Buurtmaat is by and for the village or neighbourhood. That is why we agree on the following:

• We treat each other kindly and with respect.
• You use your own name and only post on your own behalf, or as a neighbourhood buddy on behalf of a neighbour. A parent or carer may post an odd job on the market on behalf of their own child.
• No advertising, trading or political campaigns.
• On the market you only sell your own second-hand or home-made things. No paid services, and no animals, medicines, weapons, alcohol or tobacco. An odd job is allowed: a small paid job by a young person from the neighbourhood. Then only mention a child's first name and do not post a photo of the child.
• Don't share other people's personal data without their permission.
• Don't say that your house is empty, for example when you go on holiday.
• In an emergency, call 112, not Buurtmaat.
• Moderators may hide posts or block accounts if someone doesn't follow these rules.

What you post

You are responsible for what you post. Only post what you are allowed to share. Don't share photos or data of others without their permission.

What you post remains yours. You give AnchorWorks permission to store it and show it to the members of your community, and to have it translated automatically into the language of whoever reads it, for as long as that is needed for Buurtmaat.

An automatic translation may contain mistakes. In case of doubt, what the original says applies; you can always view it. How translation works and what does and doesn't go to the language model is described in the privacy statement.

It is forbidden to post or spread unlawful content. Think of threats, discrimination, scams, child sexual abuse material or malicious software.

You can delete your own posts, help requests, listings and activities yourself. Posts in the feed disappear automatically after 12 months. A listing on the Market closes after 30 days. There is a limit to how much you can post in a short time. That is to prevent spam.

Village or neighbourhood, Help, Market, Sharing cupboard and Calendar

Buurtmaat puts neighbours in touch with each other. You make arrangements yourself with the other person. AnchorWorks and the customer are not a party to them.

• Village or neighbourhood: this is where posts from neighbours and official messages appear. In a poll you vote once. Nobody sees how you voted. With a call-out, you use 'I'll join' to let people know you're taking part.
• Help: neighbourly help is voluntary. You decide yourself whether you ask for or give help. Take good care of your own safety. Neighbourly help does not replace professional care. With a help request you can recommend an organisation; never mention details of a private individual. You make arrangements with the poster by private message.
• Private messages: from the member list or a profile you can send a private message to a neighbour from your own village or neighbourhood, if they have that switched on. Only the two of you can read it. There is a limit to how many new conversations you can start per day. That is to prevent spam.
• Market: you can give away, sell or look for things. You sell as a resident, with your own second-hand or home-made things. Trading, advertising and paid services are not allowed, and neither are animals, medicines, weapons, alcohol or tobacco. The administrator can switch off selling. You make your own arrangements with the other person about the price, payment and collection. Buurtmaat doesn't handle payments; AnchorWorks and the customer are not a party to the sale. An odd job is a small job by a young person from the neighbourhood for a payment. A parent or carer offers it on behalf of the child; a member aged 16 or 17 can offer it themselves. What the child does, how old they are and what they get is agreed between the parent and the neighbour. The parent remains responsible for the child.
• Sharing cupboard: the owner decides how long you may borrow something and approves every booking. Make your own arrangements about collecting, returning and damage. Return it on time and in the same condition.
• Calendar: the organiser is responsible for the activity. With 'I'll join' you let people know you're coming.
• Official messages and warnings come from the municipality, the village council or another organisation of the customer. That sender is responsible for the content.
• Buurtmaat is not an alarm system. A notification may arrive late or not at all. In an emergency, call 112.

Roles in the village or neighbourhood

Some members have a role: neighbourhood buddy, ambassador, moderator, editor or administrator. Neighbourhood buddy and ambassador are voluntary roles. The customer's administrator assigns most roles. The administrator role is assigned by AnchorWorks.

Do you have a role? Then only use the data you see because of it for your task in Buurtmaat and keep it to yourself. Never pass your role or your account on to someone else.

Moderators, editors and administrators use two-step verification. Every management and moderation action is recorded in a log with a reason.

A neighbourhood buddy can post a help request for a neighbour without an account. Only do this if your neighbour agrees, and only use your neighbour's first name.

Reporting, moderation and blocking

Do you see something that isn't right? Then you can report a post, comment, help request, tip for a professional, listing, sharing cupboard item, activity, profile or a private message to you. You stay anonymous, including to the moderator.

Moderators from your village or neighbourhood look at reports. They may keep content hidden or block an account if someone doesn't follow the house rules or these terms. A role holder is blocked by the customer's administrator. A hidden post or a block can also be reversed. If your account is blocked or becomes active again, you get an email about it.

You can also block another resident yourself. You then no longer see each other's content and can't respond to each other or send each other a private message. The other person is not told. Official messages from the organisation and urgent warnings stay visible. You can lift the block yourself whenever you want.

What you post publicly, including a comment, is checked automatically by a language model before others see it; private messages are not. If it finds something, or is unsure, it stays hidden until a moderator has looked at it. Likewise, if three neighbours report the same thing, it stays hidden until a moderator decides. You hear the outcome through your notifications in the app. The check can make mistakes: a moderator or AnchorWorks decides whether something stays hidden. You can read more about this in the privacy statement.

If the customer has set it up this way, a moderator first approves a poll before everyone sees it.

AnchorWorks may step in itself if that is needed against misuse, fraud or a security risk, or if the law requires it. We can then remove content, block an account or keep data as evidence.

Do you disagree with a decision? Then contact us via info@buurtmaat.nl.

Availability and changes to Buurtmaat

We do our best to make Buurtmaat work well and securely. We can't promise that the app is always available or never has errors. Sometimes Buurtmaat is down for maintenance for a while.

We may change, improve or limit Buurtmaat if that is needed for security, the working of the app or the law.

The customer decides which parts are switched on in its communities, such as Help, Market, Calendar, push notifications, the weekly summary and polls.

If the customer's subscription ends, its communities close. We delete the members' accounts and what they posted no later than 90 days after the end of the subscription. After that it is completely and irreversibly deleted. We keep invoices for as long as the law requires.

Deleting or blocking an account

You can always delete your account yourself in the app. Your account is then switched off immediately. After 7 days we delete it completely, with your posts, help requests, listings and comments. You can't undo this.

AnchorWorks may stop your access or end your account if that is reasonably necessary. For example in the case of misuse, fraud, a security risk or if the law requires it.

Liability

Nothing in these terms limits our liability in the case of intent or deliberate recklessness. Your rights as a consumer and under the GDPR also always continue to apply.

Insofar as the law allows, AnchorWorks is only liable for direct damage caused by a mistake by AnchorWorks. The total liability is then limited to a maximum of EUR 500 including VAT.

Insofar as the law allows, AnchorWorks is not liable for:

• what other members post or do
• arrangements between neighbours, such as help, lending or an activity
• the content of official messages from the customer or another organisation
• a notification or email that arrives late or not at all
• outages at other parties, such as internet, email or push services
• indirect or consequential damage

Arrangements with customers

A customer concludes an agreement with AnchorWorks B.V. That agreement sets out, among other things, the package and the term of the subscription. If that agreement differs from these terms, the agreement applies. The person who signs on behalf of the customer declares that they are authorised to do so.

The customer receives its invoices in Buurtmaat. The administrator pays an invoice online via Mollie or by bank transfer. The payment term is stated on the invoice.

The customer is responsible for what its administrators, editors and moderators do in Buurtmaat. Think of the letters with access codes, admitting members without a code, assigning roles and official messages. The access codes are only in the file the administrator downloads. Keep that file safe and delete it once the letters have been sent.

The customer indemnifies AnchorWorks against claims by others arising from unlawful content or instructions of the customer or its role holders. This does not apply if AnchorWorks acted intentionally or with deliberate recklessness.

Insofar as the law allows, AnchorWorks is not liable towards the customer for indirect damage, consequential damage, loss of profit or loss of data. The total liability is limited to what the customer paid for Buurtmaat in the 12 months before the damage.

Where required, AnchorWorks and the customer conclude a data processing agreement.

Rights to Buurtmaat

The app, the name Buurtmaat and the software belong to AnchorWorks B.V. You may use Buurtmaat as intended. You may not copy the app, scrape it automatically or try to get around its security.

AnchorWorks B.V. never releases the source code of Buurtmaat or of any other application, not for inspection and not under licence, unless the law obliges us to do so.

Changes and applicable law

We may change these terms. We let you know about major changes at least 30 days in advance, by email or in the app. If you don't agree, you can delete your account before the change takes effect.

These terms are governed by Dutch law. A dispute is submitted to the competent court in the Netherlands. If you are a consumer, you keep the protection that the law of your country of residence gives you.

Do you have a question about these terms? Contact us via info@buurtmaat.nl.