This is a translation. In case of any discrepancy, the Russian version of the document prevails.
1. What this document is about
These Terms of Use (the “Terms”) govern the use of the studio website, the client area and the programming interface behind them (together, the “Service”).
The Service runs in two domain zones and the Terms apply to both: the website is theivy.ru and theivy.dev, the client area is app.theivy.ru and app.theivy.dev, the programming interface is api.theivy.ru and api.theivy.dev. It is one and the same Service: accounts, requests and messages are shared between the zones. Only the sign-in differs — it is valid in the zone you signed in to; the choice of zone changes nothing in the rights and duties of either side.
The Service is owned and run by the administration of the “the iVy Studio” project (the “Owner”), the owner and administrator of the service, independently determining the purposes and means of processing. “the iVy Studio” is the name of a project, not a separate legal entity. Details of the person acting as the controller are provided on request to the address below and will be published once the corresponding status is registered.
The Terms are an agreement between you and the Owner. By registering in the client area you confirm that you have read the Terms and the Privacy Policy and that you accept them. The documents are accepted with a single tick and apply as one set; the version of the set is printed at the top of each page and is stored together with your consent.
If you disagree with the Terms, do not use the client area. Browsing the public pages requires no registration but is governed by sections 2, 9 and 10 below.
2. How the Service works
The Service has three parts, and it is worth knowing how they fit together: it determines what data goes where.
2.1. The public website
The public website presents the studio, its services and its team. Pages are rendered on our server on every request. Team cards live in the Service database and are edited by the staff members themselves; the “online” dot and the activity line come from Lanyard, a public service that exposes Discord status — the request is made by our server, not by your browser.
2.2. The client area
The client area is an application that runs in the browser. You use it to submit a request for development work, follow its status and stages, chat with a manager, exchange files and manage your profile.
2.3. The server side
The programming interface receives the requests of the client area, checks permissions and stores data. It uses a PostgreSQL database (accounts, requests, messages, events), Redis for short-lived data (rate limits and one-time links from e-mails) and disk storage for uploaded files. E-mails are sent from the studio’s own mail server.
Messages in the client area travel over a secure WebSocket, so new messages arrive without reloading the page. All connections to the Service are protected by TLS.
3. Who may use the client area
The client area is intended for adults with full legal capacity: by registering you confirm that you are at least 18 years old. If you act on behalf of an organisation, you confirm that you are authorised to enter into agreements for it.
Staff accounts are created by the administrator. They are meant for work and are governed by the same Terms plus the studio’s internal rules.
4. Your account
4.1. Registration
When registering you provide an e-mail address, a name, a country and an interface language, and submit your first request at the same time. The password is generated by the Service and sent to that address — change it on the first sign-in so that it stays known only to you.
4.2. Access and security
You are responsible for keeping the password safe and for anything done from your account. If you suspect someone else has access, change the password: doing so ends every session opened earlier.
Sign-in relies on functional cookies: a short-lived access token, a session renewal token, a token that protects against cross-site request forgery and a device identifier. Their names and lifetimes are listed in the Cookie Policy.
4.3. Backup e-mail
In settings you may add a personal backup address; it exists so that we can reach you when the work mailbox is unavailable. You cannot sign in with it. The address is confirmed through a one-time link from an e-mail and stays marked as unconfirmed until then.
5. Requests and work on them
A request describes a task with a budget range and a desired timeline. Submitting a request is not an offer and creates no obligations: it means only that you are ready to discuss the work.
A request moves through statuses: new, under review, quoted, in progress, on hold, completed, rejected, cancelled. A manager may move it to another status, including back into work if the status was changed by mistake. Every change is recorded in the request’s event feed: who changed what and when.
You may cancel your own request while work has not started. Completed and cancelled requests are archived; the chat of an archived request stays readable.
The terms of the actual work — scope, deadlines, price, acceptance and transfer of rights — are agreed separately, outside the Service. These Terms govern the use of the Service only.
6. Messages and files
In the chat of a request you can exchange messages and files: images (JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF) up to 10 MB and video (MP4, WebM, MOV) up to 64 MB. A profile picture may be up to 5 MB; on upload it is cropped to a square and converted to WebP.
A message can be deleted: its text disappears for every participant, while the fact that a message existed remains in the thread. The whole thread is deleted together with the request or the account.
By sending a file you confirm that you are entitled to share it and that it does not infringe anyone’s rights. We do not read conversations at random, but we may open one when handling a complaint, when the Terms are broken or when the law requires it.
7. Team cards
Studio staff fill in their own cards: name, position, description, languages and technologies, links, projects and a photo. All of it is published on the website and visible to everyone. By publishing a card the staff member agrees to that; the card can be unpublished in the client area at any time.
8. What you must not do
- impersonate another person, use someone else’s account or share access to yours;
- post material that breaks the law or infringes third-party rights, including other people’s personal data without a legal basis;
- try to bypass access controls, guess passwords, interfere with the Service or probe its resilience without written permission;
- generate automated load that disturbs the Service or work around rate limits;
- use the Service to send spam or malicious code.
The Service limits request rates and keeps a block list by IP address, subnet and device identifier. Breaking the Terms may lead to restricted or terminated access.
9. Rights to content
The design of the website and the client area, the texts, the graphics and the source code belong to the Owner or are used lawfully. Using them beyond ordinary browsing — copying, republishing, adapting — requires written permission.
Content you send to the Service (request description, messages, files) stays yours. You grant the Owner the right to store and use it to the extent needed to run the Service and to discuss your task.
10. Availability and liability
The Service is provided “as is”. We aim to keep it available at all times but do not promise uninterrupted operation: maintenance windows, hosting failures and updates happen.
The Owner is not liable for lost profit or indirect damages caused by the Service being unavailable, nor for the acts of third parties who obtained access to your account because the password was kept carelessly. Liability is limited to the extent permitted by law.
The Service may link to third-party resources; the Owner is not responsible for their content or policies.
11. Restricting and ending access
We may restrict or end access to the client area if a user breaks the Terms, harms the Service or other users, or if the law requires it. Where possible we give notice beforehand.
You may stop using the Service at any time and ask for your account to be deleted. Deletion is deferred by seven days: the account is hidden but can still be restored; after that the data is deleted irreversibly. See “Retention and deletion” in the Privacy Policy.
12. Changes to the Terms
The Terms change as the Service grows. The document set carries a version — the date printed at the top of the page. Earlier versions are kept in the Legal documents section so that the text in force at the moment of your consent can be checked.
We announce material changes by e-mail or with a notice in the client area. By continuing to use the Service after a new version takes effect you accept it.
13. Governing law and disputes
The Terms are governed by the law of the Russian Federation. Disputes are settled through negotiation; a claim must be answered within thirty calendar days from the day it reaches legal@theivy.ru. Failing agreement, the dispute is heard by the court at the Owner’s location unless the law provides otherwise.
If you are in the European Union, your rights as a data subject under Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) are described in the Privacy Policy and are not limited by this document.
14. Contacts
Legal matters, claims and data protection requests: legal@theivy.ru. Technical support: support@theivy.ru.