Terms of Service.

“Spark Account,” “Sparkden,” “we,” “us,” and “our” mean The Spark Forward Foundation and the Spark services it runs under the Sparkden program. “You” means the person using them.

By creating an account or using Spark Account, you agree to these Terms, our Acceptable Use Policy, our Privacy Policy, and our Code of Conduct. Together these are the agreement between us. If you don't agree with them, please don't use the services. If you're under 18, a parent or legal guardian has to read and agree to these Terms with you — see Parents & guardians below.

Spark Account is one account that opens every Sparkden service. To create one, you must:

• Be at least 13 years old. Spark Account is not intended for children under 13, and we don't knowingly create accounts for them.
• If you're under 18, have a parent or legal guardian agree to these Terms on your behalf and give permission for you to use the services.
• Give accurate information when you sign up, including a real date of birth, and keep it up to date.
• Not be banned from the services or barred from using them under applicable law.

We may ask you to verify your age, identity, or guardian consent at any time. If we can't reasonably confirm you're eligible, we may pause or close the account.

• One Spark Account gives you access to every Spark service. It's yours, and you're responsible for everything that happens under it — so keep your password private and don't share your login.
• One person, one account, real details. Don't impersonate someone else, create accounts to get around a ban, or sign up on behalf of someone who isn't eligible.
• Keep your email current so we can reach you about your account.
• Tell us right away at legal@sparkden.org if you think someone else got into your account.

The short version: build cool things, don't be a jerk, and don't abuse free infrastructure.

Spark Account signs you in to real Spark services — like SparkCloud hosting, the community, and apps that use Sparkden to log you in. You can use them for lawful personal, educational, and project purposes, subject to each service's limits.

What you can't do is set out in our Acceptable Use Policy and Code of Conduct, which are part of these Terms. In short: nothing illegal, nothing that harms or endangers other people, nothing that attacks or abuses our systems or anyone else's. Read them — breaking them is the fastest way to lose your account.

• You keep ownership of the code, files, data, and projects you create or host on the Spark services. We don't claim to own it.
• You give us only the limited permission we need to host, store, back up, move between servers, and display it so we can actually run the services for you, and to do what's described in our Privacy Policy.
• You're responsible for having the rights to everything you upload or deploy, and for keeping your own backups of anything important. We are not your backup service.
• We may remove content that breaks this agreement.

This is the most important part, so we'll say it plainly: you are legally responsible for what you do with your Spark Account and for everything you host, run, send, or store with the Spark services.

The services are tools, like a computer or an internet connection. We provide the infrastructure; you decide what to do with it. If you use it to do something illegal or to harm someone, that's on you (and, if you're a minor, on the parent or guardian who agreed to these Terms), not on us. You agree that:

• You'll follow all laws that apply to you and to what you're doing.
• You're responsible for any content, traffic, or activity that comes from your account.
• You won't use the services to break the law, hurt people, or damage property or systems.
• If your actions cause harm, the responsibility — and any legal liability — is yours.

We keep detailed, time-stamped logs (including IP addresses and approximate location) precisely so that activity can be traced back to the account responsible. See Legal requests and our Privacy Policy.

If the account holder is under 18, a parent or legal guardian must agree to these Terms when the account is created. By agreeing, the parent or guardian:

• Confirms they are the minor's parent or legal guardian and are at least 18 years old;
• Agrees to these Terms, the Acceptable Use Policy, and the Privacy Policy on the minor's behalf and for themselves;
• Gives permission for the minor to use Spark Account and the Sparkden services; and
• Accepts responsibility for the minor's use of the services, including the responsibility and indemnification described in these Terms.

Parents and guardians can contact us at privacy@sparkden.org to review, manage, or close a minor's account at any time.

We can suspend or close any account, remove content, or shut down services — sometimes without notice — if we reasonably believe there's a violation of this agreement, a risk to people or systems, illegal activity, or a legal requirement. Where it's safe and reasonable to, we'll tell you why and give you a chance to respond.

We have a repeat-violation policy: accounts that repeatedly break these Terms, the Acceptable Use Policy, or the Code of Conduct will be terminated. You can also stop using the services and delete your account at any time. Some sections of this agreement — like responsibility, indemnification, disclaimers, and liability limits — keep applying even after your account ends.

The services are free and run by a nonprofit and volunteers. We work hard to keep them running well, but we provide them “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, to the fullest extent the law allows. We don't promise the services will always be available, error-free, secure, or that they will never lose data. They're built for learning and building — please keep your own backups of anything important, and don't use them for anything where an outage or data loss would be dangerous or cause serious harm.

To the fullest extent allowed by law, The Spark Forward Foundation and the people who run the Sparkden services are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, or for lost data, lost profits, or lost opportunities, arising from your use of (or inability to use) the services. Because they're offered to young builders at little or no cost, our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the past three months or US$50.

Some places don't allow these limits, so parts of this section may not apply to you.

If your actions get us in trouble, you cover us.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless The Spark Forward Foundation, its staff, volunteers, and partners from any claims, damages, losses, fines, and reasonable legal costs that come from: your use of the services; your content; your violation of this agreement or any law; or your violation of someone else's rights. If the account holder is a minor, the parent or guardian who agreed to these Terms is responsible for this on the minor's behalf. We may take over the defense of any such matter, and you agree to cooperate with us if we do.

Our Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, why, how long we keep it, and when we share it (including with law enforcement). Using the services means you've read and understood it. If you're under 18, your parent or guardian has reviewed it too.

We keep logs of account and activity (see our Privacy Policy). If we receive a valid legal request — like a subpoena, court order, or warrant — or if we believe in good faith that it's necessary to prevent serious harm or illegal activity, we may preserve and disclose information about an account, including the identity behind it and its IP addresses and approximate location.

We report content and conduct to the authorities when the law requires it (for example, child sexual abuse material), and we may do so when we believe someone is in danger. Reports of abuse can be sent to abuse@sparkden.org.

We may update this agreement as the Sparkden program grows or the law changes. When we make a meaningful change, we'll update the version and date at the top and, where appropriate, ask you (or your guardian) to agree again before you keep using the services. Continuing to use them after an update means you accept the new version.

This agreement is governed by the laws of the jurisdiction where The Spark Forward Foundation is established, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. We'd always rather sort out a problem by talking first — email legal@sparkden.org and we'll do our best to resolve it.

Note for review: the exact governing-law state/country, dispute-resolution method, and liability caps should be set by counsel for The Spark Forward Foundation's actual jurisdiction and entity type before launch.

Questions about these Terms? Email legal@sparkden.org. For privacy questions, write privacy@sparkden.org. To report abuse, write abuse@sparkden.org. Conduct concerns go to conduct@sparkden.org.

The Spark Forward Foundation, Inc. is a New Jersey nonprofit corporation (EIN 42-2930302). It has applied for recognition of exemption under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; that application is pending, and contributions are not represented as tax-deductible until the IRS issues its determination. Sparkden and Spark Account are programs operated by The Spark Forward Foundation, Inc..

Version 2026-06-02 · Last updated June 2, 2026