Quora's Illegal Terms Of Service and Why Quora Sucks

 



Terms of Service

An Introduction to Quora’s Terms of Service

Welcome to Quora! Here is a quick summary of the highlights of our Terms of Service:

• Our mission is to share and grow the world’s knowledge. The Quora platform offers a place to ask questions and connect with people who contribute unique insights and quality answers. This empowers people to learn from each other and to better understand the world.
• You own the content that you post; you also grant us and other users of the Quora platform certain rights and license to use it. The details of these licenses are described in section 3(c) below.
• You are responsible for the content that you post. This includes ensuring that you have the rights needed for you to post that content and that your content does not violate the legal rights of another party or any applicable laws.
• You can repost content from Quora elsewhere, provided that you attribute the content back to the Quora platform and respect the rights of the original poster, including any “not for reproduction” designation, and do not use automated tools.
• We do not endorse or verify content posted by users. Our content and materials are provided to you “as is,” without any guarantees. You are solely responsible for your own use of the Quora platform. Posts from lawyers, doctors, and other professionals should not be treated as a substitute for professional advice for your specific situation.
• You agree to follow the rules of our platform. When you use the Quora platform, you also agree to our Terms of Service, accept our Privacy Policy, and agree to follow our Acceptable Use Policy, Copyright Policy, and Trademark Policy.
• You agree to alternative dispute resolution. You agree to attempt initially to resolve matters cooperatively with us and, if that fails, to use individual arbitration, except in limited situations.
• We offer tools for you to give feedback and report complaints. If you think someone has violated your intellectual property rights, other laws, or Quora's policies, you can initiate a report at the contact us portal or by using our in-product reporting tool.

We are pleased that you want to join the Quora platform and encourage you to read the full Terms of Service.

Quora Terms of Service

Last Updated: December 11, 2020

Welcome to Quora! Quora is a platform to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.

These terms of service (“Terms of Service”) set forth the agreement (“Agreement”) between you and Quora, Inc. (“Quora” “we” or “us”). It governs your use of the products and services we offer through our websites and applications (collectively the “Quora Platform”).

Please make sure to read it, because, by using the Quora Platform, you consent to these Terms of Service.

IMPORTANT ARBITRATION NOTICE: IF YOU ARE IN THE UNITED STATES OR CANADA, YOU AGREE THAT DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND QUORA WILL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING, INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AND YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION. WE EXPLAIN SOME EXCEPTIONS AND HOW YOU CAN OPT OUT OF ARBITRATION BELOW IN SECTION 10.

1. The Mission of the Quora Platform
   
   Quora's mission is to share and grow the world’s knowledge. The Quora Platform is a place to ask questions and connect with people who contribute unique insights and quality answers. This empowers people to learn from each other and to better understand the world.
2. Using the Quora Platform
1. Who Can Use It. Use of the Quora Platform by anyone under 13 years of age is prohibited. You represent that you are at least the age of majority in the jurisdiction where you live or, if you are not, your parent or legal guardian must consent to these Terms of Service and affirm that they accept this Agreement on your behalf and bear responsibility for your use. If you are accepting these Terms of Service on behalf of someone else or an entity, you confirm that you have the legal authority to bind that person or entity to this Agreement.
2. Registration. When you set up a profile on the Quora Platform, you will be asked to provide certain information about yourself. You agree to provide us accurate information when you create your account on the Quora Platform. We will treat information you provide as part of registration in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You should take care in maintaining the confidentiality of your password.
3. Privacy Policy. Our privacy practices are set forth in our Privacy Policy. By use of the Quora Platform, you agree to accept our Privacy Policy, regardless of whether you are a registered user.
4. Acceptable Use Policy. In your interaction with others on the Quora Platform, you agree to follow the Acceptable Use Policy at all times.
5. Termination. You may close your account at any time by going to account settings and disabling your account. We may terminate or suspend your Quora account if you violate any Quora policy or for any other reason.
6. Changes to the Quora Platform. We are always trying to improve your experience on the Quora Platform. We may need to add or change features and may do so without notice to you.
7. Feedback. We welcome your feedback and suggestions about how to improve the Quora Platform. Feel free to submit feedback at quora.com/contact. By submitting feedback, you agree to grant us the right, at our discretion, to use, disclose and otherwise exploit the feedback, in whole or part, freely and without compensation to you.
3. Your Content
1. Definition of Your Content. The Quora Platform enables you to add posts, texts, photos, videos, links, and other files and information about yourself to share with others. All material that you upload, publish or display to others via the Quora Platform will be referred to collectively as “Your Content.” You acknowledge and agree that, as part of using the Quora Platform, Your Content may be viewed by the general public.
2. Ownership. You, or your licensors, as applicable, retain ownership of the copyright and other intellectual property in Your Content, subject to the non-exclusive rights granted below.
3. License and Permission to Use Your Content.
1. By submitting, posting, or displaying Your Content on the Quora Platform, you grant Quora and its affiliated companies a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty free, fully paid up, transferable, sublicensable (through multiple tiers), license to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, create derivative works from, publish, transmit, store, display and distribute, translate, communicate and make available to the public, and otherwise use Your Content in connection with the operation or use of the Quora Platform or the promotion, advertising or marketing of the Quora Platform or our business partners, in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed), including via means of automated distribution, such as through an application programming interface (also known as an “API”). You agree that this license includes the right for Quora to make Your Content available to other companies, organizations, business partners, or individuals who collaborate with Quora for the syndication, broadcast, communication and making available to the public, distribution or publication of Your Content on the Quora Platform or through other media or distribution methods. This license also includes the right for other users of the Quora Platform to use, copy, reproduce, adapt, modify, create derivative works from, publish, transmit, display, and distribute, translate, communicate and make available to the public Your Content, subject to our Terms of Service. Except as expressly provided in these Terms of Service, this license will not confer the right for you to use automated technology to copy or post questions and answers or to aggregate questions and answers for the purpose of making derivative works. If you do not wish to allow your answers to be translated by other users, you can globally opt out of translation in your profile settings or you can designate certain answers not for translation.
2. Once you post an answer to a question, you may edit or delete your answer at any time from public display on https://www.quora.com, except in the case of anonymously posted answers. However, we may not be able to control removal of the answer from display on syndicated channels or other previously distributed methods outside of https://www.quora.com. Quora may remove suspected spam from your answers. Once you post a question, it may be edited or deleted by other users or by Quora at any time. Any edits and changes made by you may be visible to other users. The right for Quora to copy, display, transmit, publish, perform, distribute, store, modify, and otherwise use any question you post, and sublicense those rights to others, is perpetual and irrevocable, to the maximum extent permitted by law, except as otherwise specified in this Agreement.
3. You acknowledge and agree that Quora may preserve Your Content and may also disclose Your Content and related information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process, applicable laws or government requests; (b) enforce these Terms of Service; (c) respond to claims that any of Your Content violates the rights of third parties; (d) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues; or (e) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Quora, its users, or the public.
4. You understand that we may modify, adapt, or create derivative works from Your Content in order to transmit, display or distribute it over computer networks, devices, service providers, and in various media. We also may remove or refuse to publish Your Content, in whole or part, at any time.
5. You further give us the permission and authority to act as your nonexclusive agent to take enforcement action against any unauthorized use by third parties of any of Your Content outside of the Quora Platform or in violation of our Terms of Service.
4. Your Responsibilities for Your Content. By posting Your Content on the Quora Platform, you represent and warrant to us that: i) you have the ownership rights, or you have obtained all necessary licenses or permissions to use Your Content and grant us the rights to use Your Content as provided for under this Agreement, and ii) that posting Your Content violates no intellectual property or personal right of others or any applicable law or regulation, including any laws or regulations requiring disclosure that you have been compensated for Your Content. You accept full responsibility for avoiding infringement of the intellectual property or personal rights of others or violation of laws and regulations in connection with Your Content. You are responsible for ensuring that Your Content does not violate Quora’s Acceptable Use Policy, Copyright Policy , Trademark Policy, other published Quora policy, or any applicable law or regulation. You agree to pay all royalties, fees, and any other monies owed to any person by reason of Your Content.
4. Our Content and Materials
1. Definition of Our Content and Materials. All intellectual property in or related to the Quora Platform (specifically including, but not limited to our software, the Quora marks, the Quora logo, but excluding Your Content) is the property of Quora, Inc., or its subsidiaries and affiliates, or content posted by other Quora users licensed to us (collectively “Our Content and Materials”).
2. Data. All data Quora collects (“Data”) about use of the Quora Platform by you or others is the property of Quora, Inc., its subsidiaries, and affiliates. For clarity, Data does not include Your Content and is separate from Our Content and Materials.
3. Our License to You.
1. We grant you a personal, limited, non-exclusive license to use and access Our Content and Materials and Data as made available to you on the Quora Platform in connection with your use of the Quora Platform, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
2. Quora gives you a worldwide, royalty-free, revocable, personal, non-assignable and non-exclusive license to re-post Our Content and Materials anywhere on the web, subject to these Terms and Conditions and provided that: (a) the content in question was added to the Quora Platform after April 22, 2010; (b) the user who created the content has not explicitly marked the content as not for reproduction on the Quora Platform; (c) you do not modify the content; (d) you attribute Quora by name in readable text and with a human and machine-followable link (an HTML <a> anchor tag) linking back to the page displaying the original source of the content on https://quora.com on every page that contains Our Content and Materials; (e) upon request, either by Quora or a user, you remove the user's name from content which the user has subsequently made anonymous; (f) upon request, either by Quora or by a user who contributed to the content, you make a reasonable effort to update a particular piece of content to the latest version on the Quora Platform; and (g) upon request, either by Quora or by a user who contributed to the content, you make a reasonable attempt to delete content that has been deleted or marked as not for reproduction on the Quora Platform; (h) you don’t republish more than a small portion of Our Content and Materials; (i) you do not use any automated tools to aggregate or create derivative works. In exercising these rights, you may not implicitly or explicitly assert any connection with, sponsorship or endorsement by Quora, or any Quora user, without separate, express prior written permission from us.
3. We may terminate our license to you at any time for any reason. We have the right but not the obligation to refuse to distribute any content on the Quora Platform or to remove content. Except for the rights and license granted in these Terms of Service, we reserve all other rights and grant no other rights or licenses, implied or otherwise.
4. Permitted uses. If you operate a search engine, web crawler, bot, scraping tool, data mining tool, bulk downloading tool, wget utility, or similar data gathering or extraction tool, you may access the Quora Platform, subject to the following additional rules: i) you must use a descriptive user agent header; ii) you must follow robots.txt at all times; iii) your access must not adversely affect any aspect of the Quora Platform’s functioning; and iv) you must make it clear how to contact you, either in your user agent string, or on your website if you have one. You represent and warrant that you will not use any automated tools such as artificial intelligence or machine learning i) to create derivative works of Our Content and Materials; ii) to create any service competitive to the Quora Platform; or iii) for other commercial purposes except as expressly permitted by these Terms of Service or the written consent of Quora.
5. No Endorsement or Verification. Please note that the Quora Platform contains access to third-party content, products and services, and it offers interactions with third parties. Participation or availability on the Quora Platform does not amount to endorsement or verification by us. We make no warranties or representations about the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of any content posted on the Quora Platform by anyone.
6. Ownership. You acknowledge and agree that Our Content and Materials remain the property of Quora's users or Quora. The content, information and services made available on the Quora Platform are protected by U.S. and international copyright, trademark, and other laws, and you acknowledge that these rights are valid and enforceable.
5. Integrated Service Provider. You may enable another online service provider, such as a social networking service (“Integrated Service Provider”), to be directly integrated into your account on the Quora Platform. By enabling an integrated service, you are allowing us to pass to, and receive from, the Integrated Service Provider your log-in information and other user data. For more information about Quora’s use, storage, and disclosure of information related to you and your use of integrated services within Quora, please see our Privacy Policy. Note that your use of any Integrated Service Provider and its own handling of your data and information is governed solely by their terms of use, privacy policies, and other policies.
6. More About Certain Offerings on the Quora Platform
1. Digests. When you sign up for the Quora Platform, the service includes receipt of digests of content that may be of interest to you. You can opt out of receipt of the digests, and adjust other communication settings, by going to “Email and Notification” settings in your account profile, as further described in our Privacy Policy.
2. Advertisements. The Quora Platform may include advertisements, which may be targeted to content or information on the Quora Platform, queries made through the Quora Platform, or other information, in an effort to make them relevant to you. The types and extent of advertising by Quora are subject to change. In consideration for Quora granting you access to and use of the Quora Platform, you agree that Quora and its third-party providers and partners may place such advertising on the Quora Platform. If you wish to become an advertiser, you will be required to enter into separate and supplemental terms with us about providing advertising services on the Quora Platform.
3. Spaces. Spaces is a feature that allows a user to curate content and form communities around shared interests and tastes.
4. Subscriptions. Certain content in Spaces or from other areas of the Quora Platform may be available only by subscription, subject to supplemental terms and conditions.
5. Legal, Medical & Other Professional Contributors. Some users who post content are members of legal, medical, and other licensed professions (collectively, “Professional Contributors”). Content posted by Professional Contributors should not be relied on as a substitute for advice from a professional that is appropriate for your specific situation. Quora has provided certain disclaimer template language that Professional Contributors may edit and incorporate in their answers. Ethics rules differ by state or location, and it is the responsibility of Professional Contributors to determine and provide disclaimers appropriate for their profession and the content provided.
6. Buttons, Links and Widgets. You have permission to use Quora's buttons, links, and widgets, subject to these Terms of Service (including the disclaimers and limitations of liability) and provided that: (a) your use of such buttons, links and widgets link only to the Quora Platform; (b) you will not modify such buttons, links, or widgets or associated code in any manner; (c) you will not use any such buttons, links, or widgets in any manner which implies or suggests that Quora endorses, sponsors, or recommends the website on which such buttons, links and widgets are used; and (d) the use of such buttons, links and widgets, and the website on which such buttons, links and widgets are used do not violate Quora’s Acceptable Use Policy.
7. Web resources and third-party services. The Quora Platform may also offer you the opportunity to visit links to other websites or to engage with third-party products or services. You assume all risk arising out of your use of such websites or resources.
8. Services that Require Separate Agreement. Certain features or services may require that you enter into a separate and supplemental written agreement prior to use.
7. Reporting Violations of Your Intellectual Property Rights, Quora Policies, or Applicable Laws. We have a special process for reporting violations of your intellectual property rights or other violations of Quora policies or applicable laws.
1. Copyright Policy and Trademark Policy. We have adopted and implemented a Copyright Policy and Trademark Policy. For more information, including detailed information about how to submit a request for takedown if you believe content on the Quora Platform infringes your intellectual property rights, please read our Copyright Policy and Trademark Policy. For your convenience, we provide you the following Copyright Infringement Claim Form and Trademark Infringement Claim Form, which you should use, as applicable, for fastest processing.
2. Reports of Other Violations. If you believe content on the Quora Platform violates Quora’s Acceptable Use Policy or otherwise violates applicable law (apart from copyright or trademark violations) or other Quora policies, you may submit the following Other Infringement Claim Form.
   
   We have no obligation to delete content that you personally may find objectionable or offensive. We endeavor to respond promptly to requests for content removal, consistent with our policies and applicable law.
8. DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
   
   PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY SINCE IT LIMITS THE LIABILITY OF QUORA ENTITIES TO YOU.
   
   “QUORA ENTITIES” MEANS QUORA, INC., AND ANY SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, RELATED COMPANIES, SUPPLIERS, LICENSORS AND PARTNERS, AND THE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF EACH OF THEM. EACH PROVISION BELOW APPLIES TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
1. WE ARE PROVIDING YOU THE QUORA PLATFORM, ALONG WITH OUR CONTENT AND MATERIALS AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT WITH OTHERS, ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, QUORA ENTITIES EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, TITLE, ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS, UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE SERVICE, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING OR TRADE USAGE.
2. QUORA MAKES NO PROMISES WITH RESPECT TO, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY FOR: (i) CONTENT POSTED BY ANY USER OR THIRD PARTY; (ii) ANY THIRD-PARTY WEBSITE, THIRD-PARTY PRODUCT, OR THIRD-PARTY SERVICE LISTED ON OR ACCESSIBLE TO YOU THROUGH THE QUORA PLATFORM, INCLUDING AN INTEGRATED SERVICE PROVIDER OR PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTOR; (iii) THE QUALITY OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY YOU ENCOUNTER IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE QUORA PLATFORM; OR (iv) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS, USE OR ALTERATION OF YOUR CONTENT. QUORA MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT: (a) THE QUORA PLATFORM WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; (b) THE QUORA PLATFORM WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE; (c) THE RESULTS OR INFORMATION THAT YOU MAY OBTAIN FROM THE USE OF THE QUORA PLATFORM, A PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTOR, OR ANY OTHER USER WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE; OR (d) THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION, OR OTHER MATERIAL OBTAINED OR PURCHASED BY YOU THROUGH THE QUORA PLATFORM WILL BE SATISFACTORY.
3. YOU AGREE THAT TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, QUORA ENTITIES WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, YOU AGREE THAT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, QUORA ENTITIES SPECIFICALLY WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, REPUTATIONAL HARM, OR LOSS OF DATA (EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR SUCH DAMAGES ARE FORESEEABLE) ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE QUORA PLATFORM.
4. YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE QUORA PLATFORM IS TO STOP USING THE QUORA PLATFORM.
5. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, QUORA’S MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR LOSSES OR DAMAGES THAT YOU SUFFER IN CONNECTION WITH THE QUORA PLATFORM OR THIS AGREEMENT IS LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID TO QUORA IN CONNECTION WITH THE QUORA PLATFORM IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRIOR TO THE ACTION GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY.
6. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF DAMAGES. AS A RESULT, THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU IN WHOLE OR IN PART, AND THE FOREGOING SECTIONS 8(c), 8(d), AND 8(e) WILL NOT APPLY TO A RESIDENT OF NEW JERSEY, TO THE EXTENT DAMAGES TO SUCH NEW JERSEY RESIDENT ARE THE RESULT OF QUORA’S NEGLIGENT, FRAUDULENT, RECKLESS, OR INTENTIONAL MISCONDUCT.
9. Indemnification
   
   You agree to release, indemnify, and defend Quora Entities from all third-party claims and costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to: i) your use of the Quora Platform, ii) Your Content, iii) your conduct or interactions with other users of the Quora Platform, or iv) your breach of any part of this Agreement. We will promptly notify you of any such claim and will provide you (at your expense) with reasonable assistance in defending the claim. You will allow us to participate in the defense and will not settle any such claim without our prior written consent. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you. In that event, you will have no further obligation to defend us in that matter.
10. Legal Disputes and Arbitration Agreement for users in the United States and Canada
    
    Please Read the Following Clause Carefully – It May Significantly Affect Your Legal Rights, Including Your Right to File a Lawsuit in Court
1. Initial Dispute Resolution. We are available by email at support@quora.com and by regular post at Quora, Inc., 605 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA 94041 to address any concerns you may have regarding your use of the Quora Platform. Most concerns may be quickly resolved in this manner. The parties agree to use best efforts to settle any dispute, claim, question, or disagreement directly through consultation and good faith negotiations with us, before initiating a lawsuit or arbitration.
2. Agreement to Binding Arbitration. If an agreed upon solution is not reached through informal dispute resolution as outlined above within a period of thirty (30) days pursuant to the initial dispute resolution procedure provided in Section 10(a) above, then either party may initiate binding arbitration to formally resolve claims, subject to the terms and exclusion set forth below. All claims arising out of or relating to these Terms of Service (including their formation, performance, and breach), the parties’ relationship with each other, and/or your use of the Quora Platform will be finally settled by binding arbitration administered by AAA, in accordance with the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules, excluding any rules or procedures governing or permitting class actions. Each party will have the right to use legal counsel in connection with arbitration at its own expense. The parties will select a single neutral arbitrator in accordance with the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules. The arbitrator, and not any federal, state or local court or agency, will have exclusive authority to resolve all disputes arising out of or relating to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability, or formation of these Terms of Service, including, but not limited to, any claim that all or any part of these Terms of Service is void or voidable. Either party may elect to appear at the arbitration by phone or, if mutually agreed, to conduct it online, in lieu of appearing live. The arbitrator will be empowered to grant whatever relief would be available in a court under law or in equity. The arbitrator’s award will be in writing and provide a statement of the essential findings and conclusions, will be binding on the parties and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. The interpretation and enforcement of these Terms of Service will be subject to the Federal Arbitration Act.
3. Rules. The AAA rules governing the arbitration may be accessed at https://www.adr.org/. Each party will be responsible for its arbitration fees as set forth in the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules. You will not be required to pay fees and costs incurred by us if you do not prevail in arbitration. The parties understand that, absent this mandatory provision, they would have the right to sue in court and have a jury trial. They further understand that the right to discovery may be more limited in arbitration than in court.
4. Class Action and Class Arbitration Waiver. The parties each further agree that any arbitration will be conducted in our respective individual capacities only and not as a class action or other representative action, and each expressly waives its respective right to file a class action or seek relief on a class basis. If any court or arbitrator determines that the class action waiver set forth in this paragraph is void or unenforceable for any reason or that an arbitration can proceed on a class basis, then the arbitration provision set forth above in Section 10(b) will be deemed null and void in its entirety and the parties will be deemed to have not agreed to arbitrate disputes.
5. Exception: Small Claims Court Claims. Notwithstanding the parties’ agreement to resolve all disputes through arbitration, either party may seek relief in a small claims court for disputes or claims within the scope of that court’s jurisdiction and on an individual (non-class) basis only.
6. Exception: Intellectual Property and Content Claims. Notwithstanding the parties’ agreement to resolve all disputes through arbitration, this binding arbitration section does not apply to disputes relating to either party’s intellectual property rights (trademark, copyright, patent, and trade secret) or violations of Quora’s Acceptable Use Policy. For further clarification, disputes relating to your privacy rights are not excepted from this binding arbitration section.
7. 30 Day Right to Opt-Out. You have the right to opt-out and not be bound by the arbitration and class action waiver provisions set forth in Sections 10(b) and 10(c) by sending written notice of your decision to opt-out by emailing us at legal@quora.com. The notice must be sent within thirty (30) days of registering to use the Quora Platform, otherwise you will be bound to arbitrate disputes in accordance with the terms of those sections. If you opt out of these arbitration provisions, we also will not be bound by them.
8. Exclusive Venue for Litigation. To the extent that the arbitration provisions set forth in Section 10(b) do not apply, or if you have opted out of arbitration, the parties agree that any litigation between them must be filed exclusively in state or federal courts located in Santa Clara County, California (except for small claims court actions which may be brought in the county where you reside). The parties expressly consent to exclusive jurisdiction in Santa Clara County, California for any litigation other than small claims court actions. In the event of litigation relating to these Terms of Service, the parties agree to waive, to the maximum extent permitted by law, any right to a jury trial, except where a jury trial waiver is not permissible under applicable law.
11. General Terms
1. Changes to these Terms of Service. We may amend this Agreement (including any policies, such as the Privacy Policy, Acceptable Use Policy, Copyright Policy, and Trademark Policy that are incorporated into this Agreement) at any time, in our sole discretion. If we amend material terms to this Agreement, such amendment will be effective after we send you notice of the amended agreement. Such notice will be in our sole discretion, and the manner of notification could include, for example, via email, posted notice on the Quora Platform, or other manner. You can view the Agreement and our main policies at any time here. Your failure to cancel your account, or cease use of the Quora Platform, after receiving notification of the amendment, will constitute your acceptance of the amended terms. If you do not agree to the amendments or to any of the terms in this Agreement, your only remedy is to cancel your account or to cease use of the Quora Platform.
2. Use Outside of the United States. Quora expressly disclaims any representation or warranty that the Quora Platform complies with all applicable laws and regulations outside of the United States. If you use the Quora Platform outside of the United States, you expressly understand and agree that you are responsible for determining compliance with different laws, regulations, or customs that may apply in connection with your use of the Quora Platform.
3. Export. The Quora Platform is controlled and operated from our United States offices in California. Quora software is subject to United States export controls. No software for Quora may be downloaded or otherwise exported or re-exported in violation of any applicable laws or regulations. You represent that you are not (1) located in a country that is subject to a U.S. government embargo, or that has been designated by the U.S. government as a “terrorist supporting” country, and (2) listed on any U.S. government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
4. Applications and Mobile Devices. If you access the Quora Platform through a Quora application, you acknowledge that this Agreement is between you and Quora only, and not with another application service provider or application platform provider (such as Apple Inc. or Google Inc.), which may provide you the application subject to its own terms. To the extent you access the Quora Platform through a mobile device, your wireless carrier’s standard charges, data rates, and other fees may apply.
5. Survival. The following provisions will survive expiration or termination of this Agreement: Section 2(e)(Termination), 2(g)(Feedback), Section 3(Your Content), Section 4(a)-(b) and (d)-(f)(Our Content and Materials), Section 8 (Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability), Section 9 (Indemnification), Sections 10 (Legal Disputes and Arbitration Agreement), and Section 11 (General Terms).
6. Notice for California Users. Under California Civil Code Section 1789.3, California web users are entitled to the following specific consumer rights notice: The Quora Platform is provided by Quora, Inc., located in Mountain View, California. If you have a question or complaint regarding the Quora Platform, please contact Quora at support@quora.com. California residents may reach the Department of Consumer Affairs Consumer Information Division at 1625 N. Market Blvd., Suite S-202, Sacramento, California 95834, or by telephone at (916) 445-1254 or (800) 952-5210 or Hearing Impaired at TDD (800) 326-2297 or TDD (916) 322-1700.
7. Government End Users. Any Quora software and related documentation are “Commercial Items,” as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. §2.101, consisting of “Commercial Computer Software” and “Commercial Computer Software Documentation,” as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §227.7202 (as applicable). Consistent with 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4 (as applicable), the Commercial Computer Software and Commercial Computer Software Documentation are being licensed to U.S. government end users: (i) only as Commercial Items; and (ii) with only those rights as are granted to all other end users pursuant to this Agreement.
8. Assignment. You may not assign or transfer this Agreement (or any of your rights or obligations under this Agreement) without our prior written consent; any attempted assignment or transfer without complying with the foregoing will be void. We may freely assign or transfer this Agreement. This Agreement inures to the benefit of and is binding upon the parties and their respective legal representatives, successors, and assigns.
9. Electronic Communications. You consent to receive communications from us by email in accordance with this Agreement and applicable law. You acknowledge and agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically will satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.
10. Entire Agreement/ Severability. This Agreement supersedes all prior terms, agreements, discussions and writings regarding the Quora Platform and constitutes the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Quora Platform (except as to services that require separate written agreement with us, in addition to this Agreement). If any provision in this Agreement is found to be unenforceable, then that provision will not affect the enforceability of the remaining provisions of the Agreement, which will remain in full force and effect.
11. Interpretation. In construing or interpreting the terms of this Agreement: (i) the headings in this Agreement are for convenience only, and are not to be considered, and (ii) no presumption is to operate in either party’s favor as a result of its counsel’s role in drafting this Agreement.
12. Notices. All notices permitted or required under this Agreement, unless specified otherwise in this Agreement, must be sent in writing as follows in order to be valid: (i) if to you, by us via email to the address associated with your account, and (ii) if to us, by you via legal@quora.com. Notices will be deemed given (a) if to you, when emailed, and (b) if to us, on receipt by us.
13. Relationship. This Agreement does not create a joint venture, agency, partnership, or other form of joint enterprise between you and us. Except as expressly provided herein, neither party has the right, power, or authority to create any obligation or duty, express or implied, on behalf of the other.
14. Waiver. No waiver of any terms will be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term. Our failure to assert a right or provision under this Agreement will not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
15. Further Assurances. You agree to execute a hard copy of this Agreement and any other documents, and to take any actions at our expense that we may request to confirm and effect the intent of this Agreement and any of your rights or obligations under this Agreement.
16. Contact. Feel free to contact us through quora.com/contact with any questions about these terms. Quora is a Delaware corporation, located at 605 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA 94041.

Prior Versions

Why Quora SucksThis is the most obvious problem with Quora that makes it suck so bad. But making an account might be ok if it was anonymous and if it wouldn't be deleted. In fact, without all the other problem, I might not mind at all registering in order to being able to use the site fully.

However, that still doesn't change that fact that it is a huge annoyance that they literally force all visitors to register for an account in order to use the site, thus revealing their email and home IP address, unless you use a VPN and a throwaway email. But even if you do use a VPN and throwaway email, your account will quickly be deleted if you don't violate your privacy, as explained in the rest of this top 10 list of why Quora sucks.

Why Quora SucksUsing the mobile version there is this huge banner at the top forcing you to download the mobile version. But that is not all. Little did you know, but actually Quora hides many questions and answers, even though it is downloaded using your mobile data, so that you can't read it on your phone even if you are logged in, without actually downloading a privacy invading obtrusive app on your phone that takes up space, reads your contacts, and violates even more of your privacy.

Why Quora SucksFor example, instead of letting you not choose interests, you are forced to choose 10 interests even if you aren't interested in 10 things. This means your feed will be clogged with a bunch of crap you don't want to read about, if you actually use the site.

You have to use your REAL name in real life to even use the site

Why Quora SucksLet's face it - we all hate posting our personal information on the internet. Now even this stupid Quora question and answer website wants you to post your real name in order to create an account which is required to even use the website! This is a massive violation of privacy. What is even worse is that if you use a pseudonym, they will demand you give your government-issued ID to "verify your identity".

The stupid and really horrible reason they do this is because they don't want people creating multiple accounts and they think it will tone down people's passion. However, more importantly, it gives the moderators an unreasonable amount of control over the content. By being able to ban a user forever from ever using the website, moderators are able to inhibit freedom of speech by banning any users who do not agree with their personal values, even if they did not break any "rules".

This is a 1) violation of privacy, 2) violation of freedom of speech, and 3) results in political bias, which is a huge no-no for a question and answer site. Worse, it alienates a large number of valuable contributors, because only people who are stupid or naive enough to give a liberal question and answer website access to their personal identity and personally identifying documents, will ever be the ones who remain on the website.

Additionally, it means that people will not be fully honest and will not give the correct and unbiased answers, because of the constant fear of being banned from the website.

As a result, the site is now filled with hacks and liberals instead of valuable contributors. The moderators are able to push their liberal bias and ban conservative views. They are able to delete any honest comments about how terrible Quora is so they can safely ignore the valuable advice telling them why they sick so bad, because they have no reason to change it.

Moreover, now they can sell all these people's personal information to the highest bidder as part of their monetization strategy.

Sure, you can post answers as "Anonymous". However, anonymous answers are penalized, and have a high risk of being deleted by a moderator who disagrees with you. Additionally, just because you are posting as "anonymous" doesn't mean anything because Quora unpaid and paid moderators and staff still know everything you posted is directly connected to you, and this information is collected and forever stored, and one day most certainly will come back to haunt you. Once you post on Quora, that is connected to you, personally, forever.

Also, if you accidentally post something personal as not anonymous, you are SOL.

You have to use a real photograph of yourself on the Quora post

Why Quora SucksNot only is this a massive violation of privacy, but what if you don't have any good headshots of yourself? What if you are not photogenic, or what if you are simply unattractive? This will create an unwanted bias which can be damaging to your online reputation. Moreover, it is a massive violation of privacy, and will prevent you from writing some answers that you actually believe because you are afraid that it may portray you in a bad light.

So you keep quiet or tone down your posts, and as a result the quality of the entire site is degraded and unfairly biased. If they don't believe your headshot is you or is not good enough, they will suspend your account asking for more privacy invasion personal identification, and possibly delete your account and all your hard work.

Please note that they say you don't have to use your real photo. But if you don't soon your account will become suspended and they will demand even more privacy violating identity verifications. One of these verifications can and does include a picture of yourself. They want to make sure they know exactly who you are in real life. Which is completely none of their business, because you don't know anything about the "moderator" who you are sending all your personal information to.

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5Quora creates, wants, and panders to tyrannical moderators

Why Quora SucksYou can be banned for anything. Your posts can be deleted without cause or reason by any moderator who simply disagrees with you. If you aren't a liberal, you won't have an account on Quora for long. You'll be quickly banned.

They might let you waste a bunch of time first before deleting all your content you worked hard for and banning you forever just because they don't agree with your political perspective, or because they want you to give them a copy of your ID and other violations of personal privacy.

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4Quora is extremely unpopular

Why Quora SucksQuora likes to say they are popular. This is not true at all. Quora is probably one of the most unpopular websites on the internet. In fact, millions of people hate Quora with a passion. The only reason anyone even visits the site is by accident because they were browsing the web for something and then accidentally came on Quora by clicking a result in their web search.

Why is Quora ranked in search engines? It has nothing to do with popularity. It has to do with the fact that they keep posting so much new stupid questions and stupid answers from their teams of writers who are the main ones using the website (not actual visitors), and large amounts of content and being regularly updated is favored by the search engines, despite the fact that it is an extremely unpopular website that most of the internet wants to die and stop showing up in their web searches.

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3What you write is not yours, and probably will be changed against your will

Why Quora SucksThe tyrannical and unethical Quora moderators hurt all their contributors who are spending their time and energy for free, essentially acting as unpaid employees, by changing your very content, your questions and answers. Any moderator who disagrees or just doesn't like what you wrote is allowed to completely rewrite your questions and answers to their liking and there is nothing you can do about it.

Not only is this an ethical violation because your content is essentially your only payment for the time you spent writing on the site, but also it is potentially damaging to you and is a personal violation against contributors, because they can change your question to mean something you never intended to ask, or they can change your answers to portray views that do not line up with your personal views.

Then for example your employer one day is browsing the internet and reads a Quora answer you wrote - because after all it has your real name and a picture of you next to it - and hates what you wrote. But he doesn't know that that isn't what you wrote at all, that is what some moderator completely twisted out of context when they rewrote your question against your will.

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2Quora reveals everything you have read on the website to the public

Why Quora SucksNot only does creepy Quora reveal your real name and personal information to the public telling the entire would your views and values and severely damaging your personal privacy, but also it reveals everything you have ever read on Quora!

Since it is a question and answer website, and because it comes up in your web browsing searches, if you accidentally clicked a web result for Quora when you were searching for "how to cure athlete's foot", now this embarrassing fact is permanently connected to your real name for the entire world to see. This is a massive violation of privacy that goes even further than many other privacy violating sites.

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1Quora pollutes internet searches on mobile devices

Why Quora SucksSince Quora demands registration in order to even read the content, it really screws up your internet searches pushing actually good information off the first page of your web search.

This is even more problematic when it comes to mobile devices, because on a mobile device you can't manually remove the overlays like you can on a desktop if you are computer savvy. Instead, you have to just push the back button on your mobile browser and you can't even read the content on a mobile device.

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So in essence, it is clear that on multiple levels, Quora is basically a site which wants tons of people to work for them without pay, and without even the sole benefit to be able to express their own personal views and ask the questions they want to.

After all, who wants to ask embarrassing questions that might help other people but will be forever connected to you personally, both your real name and real picture of you? Do you really want the world to know that you don’t know how to cook a chicken, or that your wife cheated on you and you don’t know what to do about it? Of course not.

And what if you got divorced? Well you can’t use this site to ask people how to recover from it unless you also want the world knowing you are getting divorced. What if you are a recovering alcoholic? Internet forums are a great way to anonymously get other recovering addicts to help you recover without revealing to your employer and the world that you are struggling with alcoholism. These and many other scenarios are excellent ways to utilize an anonymous question and answer forum, but Quora has designed a system that prevents anyone from getting real help. Quora is not a safe haven! It is a very dangerous haven for anyone who is seeking help for anything, big or small.

So you can’t use the site to ask the most important questions, express opinions, find out real and unbiased information that is useful to your life, add your valuable contributions, or build your online reputation, all the things that you are supposed to be able to do on a question and answer site and which is the entire reason for its existence, because the entire website is designed to hurt its contributors and portray a biased viewpoint on every topic.

So it is clear that Quora sucks very badly. I really hope that the site dies a quick death, sooner rather than later. I also really hope that whoever is funding the site wakes up and realizes the truth behind this horrible website and pulls their funding, so that the owners of Quora can stop profiting off ruining the internet and harming people’s lives by violating their privacy.

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Undercover Investigation

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Update: I created an account on Quora and over the past couple weeks I made a couple hundred posts. Most of them valuable replies and comments, a few not so much. I wanted to check to see if anything as changed, so I went undercover.

As expected, they have now blocked my profile saying it violates the “real name” policy. However, the name I used isn’t a particularly odd-sounding name.

I wanted to further the undercover operation by seeing what kind of sensitive documents they demand in order to post on their free website, but the link goes to a contact form which is broken. It is just a white page. This shows very poor programming. (Update: After 4 years they finally fixed their contact form in 2020, which had been broken since 2016).

I tested in the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, and Explorer. I even tried accessing the contact form using a different IP address from a different geographic location, but no luck. Currently, the website is broken. It also has some major bugs such as deleting comments is not possible since it gives a white transparent overlay but the delete comment is missing.

If they do fix this major website bug, I will continue by updating this post with screenshots of the full sensitive personal information they demand from me in order to participate on their free website. It’s free because they profit from selling your personal information. (Update: Since it took 4 years for them to update their contact form to work, I’ll have to do another undercover project to get this info)

Also, they delay blocking you until you contributed quite a bit to the website so that you are emotionally invested in the website and more likely to concede to their demands for your personal information that they are not entitled to. Moreover, depending on what they demand, it may be illegal.