Terms and Conditions

To access certain features of the App, you must create an account. You agree to:

• Provide accurate, current, and complete information when registering;
• Maintain and promptly update your account information;
• Keep your login credentials secure and confidential; and
• Notify us immediately of any unauthorised use of your account.

Ekko offers different account types, including:

• Individual (Christian) Accounts — for personal spiritual growth and participation in groups;
• Pastor / Leader Accounts — for pastors, conference leaders, ministry leaders, and other approved leaders, for oversight of congregational, conference, ministry, or group spiritual health data; and
• Group Accounts — for home groups or virtual Ekko Hubs.

In these Terms, a reference to a "church" includes a conference, ministry, or other faith-based organisation that uses Ekko, and a reference to a "leader" includes a pastor, conference leader, ministry leader, or group leader.

The permissions and data access available to each account type differ. Pastors and leaders are granted access to member data only as described in our Privacy Policy and only where members have opted in.

You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account. You must not share your account credentials with any other person. Ekko will not be liable for any loss arising from your failure to maintain account security.

"User Content" means any content you upload, submit, post, share, or otherwise transmit via the App. This includes, without limitation:

• Sermon recordings, transcripts, notes, or study materials uploaded by pastors or church leaders;
• Course materials, devotional content, or teaching resources;
• Personal reflections, journal entries, responses to prompts, and notes;
• Messages, questions, and comments posted in group chats or community forums; and
• Profile information and spiritual health check responses.

BY UPLOADING, POSTING, OR SHARING ANY CONTENT ON THE EKKO PLATFORM, YOU REPRESENT AND WARRANT THAT:

• You are the original creator of the content, or you have obtained all necessary permissions, licences, rights, consents, and approvals required to upload, share, and grant Ekko the rights described in these Terms;
• Your content does not infringe the intellectual property rights, moral rights, privacy rights, or any other rights of any third party;
• Where you upload sermon content, biblical study materials, music, liturgy, or other third-party works, you have obtained all applicable licences and permissions from the relevant rights holders (including, where applicable, licences from organisations such as Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) or equivalent);
• Your content does not violate any applicable law or regulation; and
• You have the legal capacity and authority to grant the rights described below.

You acknowledge that Ekko relies on these representations in making the Platform available and that any breach may expose you to legal liability. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Ekko from any claims, losses, or damages arising from a breach of this clause.

By submitting User Content to the Platform, you grant Ekko a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to use, store, display, reproduce, and distribute your content solely for the purposes of operating, maintaining, and improving the Platform and delivering the services described in these Terms. This licence does not affect your ownership of your content.

Ekko is a faith-based community platform and all User Content must reflect the values of respect, decency, and Christian community. All User Content must comply with the following standards. Content must not:

• Contain profanity, explicit language, or crude expressions, whether in text, audio, or any other format;
• Include sexually explicit, graphic, or adult content of any kind;
• Be offensive, abusive, discriminatory, or harassing toward any individual or group;
• Depict, promote, or glorify violence, self-harm, or illegal activity;
• Be false, misleading, or defamatory;
• Infringe any intellectual property or privacy rights;
• Contain malware, viruses, or harmful code;
• Be used for commercial solicitation or spam; or
• Violate any applicable law, including Australian consumer protection laws.

In assessing whether content meets community standards, Ekko will apply the standard of what a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the context of a faith-based, family-friendly platform. Ekko reserves the right to remove any content that breaches these standards, without notice and at our sole discretion. Repeated or serious breaches may result in account suspension or termination.

All content provided by Ekko within the App, including platform content, interface design, software, trademarks, and logos, is owned by or licenced to Ekko and protected by applicable intellectual property laws. You must not copy, reproduce, or distribute Ekko's content without our written permission.

The AI Tools may only be accessed and operated by registered Pastor / Leader Accounts whose account holder is at least 18 years of age. This requirement applies regardless of the general age provisions in Section 1, and the parental or guardian consent exception in Section 1 does not extend to operating the AI Tools. By using the AI Tools you confirm that you meet this requirement.

Study guides and other materials produced using the AI Tools may be shared with and used by members of any age as ordinary content within the App. Persons under 18 must not operate the AI Tools directly.

Output produced by the AI Tools is generated automatically and may contain errors, omissions, or inaccuracies, including in its representation of sermon content or Scripture. The Leader who generates the content is responsible for reviewing it for accuracy, suitability, and theological soundness before publishing or distributing it. Consistent with Section 11.2, Ekko does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or theological soundness of AI-generated output.

To provide the AI Tools, sermon recordings and related content are transcribed and processed by third-party artificial intelligence service providers engaged by Ekko. Your use of the AI Tools is also subject to those providers' applicable terms, and your content may be subject to those providers' privacy practices, which Ekko does not control. Some of these providers may store or process content outside Australia. Ekko handles this processing in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Leaders remain responsible for ensuring that content submitted to, and produced by, the AI Tools complies with the content standards in Section 4.4 and the Acceptable Use Policy in Section 9.

The Streamer is solely responsible for all content they broadcast via live stream and for any recording created from it. The Streamer warrants that they own, or hold all necessary rights, licences, consents, and permissions for, all content broadcast, consistent with the representations in Section 4.2 (including, where applicable, CCLI or equivalent music licences).

All live stream content must comply with the content standards in Section 4.4 and the Acceptable Use Policy in Section 9, including the requirement that content remain suitable for a faith-based, family-friendly audience.

The Streamer is responsible for keeping stream keys, access tokens, and account credentials confidential and secure, consistent with Section 3.3. The Streamer is responsible for all activity conducted using their streaming credentials and must notify Ekko immediately of any loss, disclosure, or unauthorised use of those credentials.

Live streams are User Content. Ekko does not create, pre-screen, endorse, or monitor live streams in real time, and to the maximum extent permitted by law is not liable for content broadcast by Streamers. This is in addition to the limitations in Section 12.

A live stream may be automatically recorded and stored as on-demand video for later viewing. Recordings may capture the images and audio of people who appear or speak during the broadcast. Recordings are retained in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Without limiting Section 13, the Streamer agrees to indemnify Ekko against any claim, loss, liability, or cost arising from content the Streamer broadcasts or records through the App, or from the Streamer's failure to secure their streaming credentials.

Ekko is a technology platform designed to support spiritual growth and pastoral care. It is not a counselling service, mental health service, or crisis support service. If you are experiencing mental health difficulties or are in crisis, please contact a qualified professional or crisis helpline.

Ekko facilitates access to content from various churches and pastors. Ekko does not endorse, verify, or take responsibility for the theological accuracy or appropriateness of any User Content uploaded by pastors, leaders, or other users.

We do not warrant that the App will be available at all times, error-free, or uninterrupted. We may suspend or discontinue the App or any feature at any time without notice for maintenance, improvement, or other reasons.

Nothing in these Terms is intended to exclude, restrict, or modify any rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot lawfully be excluded. Where we are legally able to limit our liability, we limit our liability to re-supplying the relevant services.