Viola Terms of Service

1. The short version

This summary is not the agreement and is not binding. It is here because a document nobody reads protects nobody. The numbered sections below are what actually governs.

• Viola is free. Install it on as many devices as you personally use.
• It is pre-release. Assume it will break at some point, and keep backups.
• It updates itself automatically. You can turn that off; we would rather you didn't.
• We collect essentially nothing — see the Privacy Policy.
• The browser's source is open. The open source licences give you rights these terms do not take away.
• We provide no warranty and accept almost no liability. If that is not acceptable to you, the remedy is to not install Viola.

2. Accepting these terms

These Terms of Service (the "Terms") are an agreement between you and the operator of ViolaBrowser.com ("Viola," "we," "us"). They govern your use of the Viola web browser and any related software, websites, and services we provide (together, "Viola" or the "Software").

By downloading, installing, or using Viola, you accept these Terms. If you do not accept them, do not download, install, or use Viola, and delete any copy you already have.

The Privacy Policy is incorporated into these Terms by reference and forms part of this agreement.

You must be at least 13 years old to use Viola, and old enough to form a binding contract where you live. If you are using Viola on behalf of an organisation, you represent that you are authorised to accept these Terms for that organisation.

3. Early access

Viola is currently distributed as pre-release, early access software. That status is not a formality, and the following are terms of this agreement, not disclaimers of enthusiasm:

• It may not work. Pre-release builds contain defects. Viola may crash, corrupt a profile, fail to render pages, or behave differently from any documentation, marketing material, or this website.
• It may change or disappear. We may add, change, suspend, or remove any feature at any time, without notice. There may never be a general release version, and any general release version may differ materially from what you have now.
• It may expire. A pre-release build may be time-limited and may stop functioning on a date built into it. When a build stops functioning you may lose access to data stored in it.
• It is unsupported. We have no obligation to provide support, fixes, or updates for a pre-release build. See section 12.
• Back up your data. Do not use Viola as the only store of bookmarks, passwords, or any other information you would be unhappy to lose. See section 10.

Installing pre-release software may affect the warranty or support arrangements you have with the maker of your device or your operating system vendor. That is between you and them.

4. Your licence to use Viola

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a personal, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable licence to install and use the executable code version of Viola — the ready-to-run version you download from us or from an authorised distribution channel.

You may install and use Viola on as many devices as you personally use, and you may use it for personal purposes, for work, and within your organisation.

In plain terms: use it wherever you want, as much as you want. This licence covers the app we ship. Your rights to the underlying source code come from the open source licences instead, and those are more generous — see section 6.

We reserve all rights not expressly granted here. Viola is licensed to you, not sold.

5. What you may not do

Except where the open source licences in section 6 expressly permit it, or where applicable law gives you a right that cannot be contracted away, you may not:

• sell, rent, lease, sublicense, or otherwise commercially exploit Viola, including by offering it through a service bureau, hosting, or time-sharing arrangement;
• remove, alter, or obscure any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notice, or any attribution required by an open source licence;
• redistribute a modified build under the Viola name or branding (see section 13);
• use Viola to break the law, to infringe someone else's rights, or to gain unauthorised access to any system, network, or account;
• interfere with the operation of Viola or of our servers, including by circumventing rate limits, security controls, or the update mechanism's signature checks;
• misrepresent a build you have modified as an official Viola release.

Note what is not on this list. We do not prohibit reverse engineering, decompiling, studying, modifying, or redistributing the source — the open source licences grant those rights, and we are not going to take with one hand what the licence gives with the other.

6. Viola is open source software

Viola is built on Chromium, which is distributed under the BSD 3-Clause licence, together with a large number of other open source components under their own licences. The full set of licences and attribution notices is distributed with Viola. You can also request a copy at hello@viola.app.

These Terms apply to the executable code version of Viola only. They do not apply to, and do not restrict, the source code. Where an open source licence covering part of Viola conflicts with these Terms, that licence governs your use of that part, and these Terms are read as not applying to it. Nothing in these Terms limits any right granted to you by an open source licence.

Those licences carry their own warranty disclaimers, which are at least as broad as ours. The BSD 3-Clause licence covering Chromium, for example, provides its software "as is" and disclaims all express and implied warranties, including merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

Viola is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google LLC, the Chromium project, or any other upstream author.

7. Updates

Viola checks for updates automatically and installs them in the background. By using Viola you consent to this. Automatic updates are how security fixes reach you, and disabling them on an internet-facing browser is a genuinely bad idea — but you can, in Settings, and we do not hide the switch.

Updates are subject to these Terms unless a particular update comes with its own terms, in which case those apply to it.

We are not obliged to produce any update, and we do not guarantee that we will continue to support any particular operating system, operating system version, processor architecture, or device. An update may change, remove, or disable a feature you rely on.

If a build of Viola turns out to be actively dangerous — a critical security defect, say — we may push an update that disables the affected functionality.

8. The web, and what is on it

Viola displays content published by other people. We do not create it, review it, endorse it, or control it, and we are not responsible for it. That includes websites, downloads, search results, advertisements, and any service you reach through the browser.

Your dealings with a website or online service are between you and that party, including their terms, their privacy practices, and any payment you make. We are not a party to them and accept no liability arising from them.

Viola includes protections — tracker blocking, Safe Browsing-style warnings, HTTPS preferences — that reduce some risks. None of them is a guarantee. No browser can make a hostile website safe, and you should not treat the absence of a warning as a statement that a site is trustworthy.

9. Extensions

Viola can run browser extensions. Extensions are software written by third parties, and an extension you install can read and change the pages you visit, including pages containing personal, financial, and authentication data.

We do not write, audit, or vet third-party extensions. Installing one is your decision and your risk, and it is governed by the extension developer's own terms and privacy policy, not ours. Where you obtain an extension from a third-party store, that store's terms apply to that transaction.

We may block or disable an extension that is malicious, that is being used to compromise users, or that we are legally required to block.

10. Your data is your responsibility

Viola stores your bookmarks, history, passwords, cookies, and settings on your own device. Unless you enable optional Sync, we do not have a copy. If your profile is corrupted, if a build fails to migrate it, if your disk fails, or if you uninstall Viola, we cannot recover device-only data for you.

Keep your own backups, and export anything you cannot afford to lose. Passwords in particular are safer in a dedicated password manager than in any browser, including ours.

Optional Viola Sync stores end-to-end encrypted tab/workspace organization and browsing history, plus a narrow compatible Chrome Web Store extension catalog, so supported data can be shared between your devices. It does not store extension files or data, cookies, credentials, downloads, or every item in the local profile. Sync is a convenience, not a backup guarantee. You are responsible for keeping your password secure and for maintaining local exports of anything important. You may sign out devices or delete your account through the account manager; deletion permanently removes server-held account records and encrypted sync state and does not erase local data already stored on a device.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any loss, corruption, or inaccessibility of data stored by or through Viola.

11. Feedback

If you send us suggestions, bug reports, feature ideas, or other feedback, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable licence to use it for any purpose, including building it into Viola and any commercial product, with no obligation to compensate or credit you.

Please do not send us feedback that you are not free to give — anything confidential to someone else, or covered by a licence that would require us to open source our own work or grant patent rights as a condition of using it. If you do, we may disregard it. This section survives termination.

12. Support, and the absence of it

We are not obliged to provide support of any kind. We try to answer email and we read our bug tracker, but no response time is promised, and any support we do provide is offered "as is," "with all faults," and without warranty.

We may stop offering Viola at any time. We may suspend or end your access to Viola, in whole or in part, at any time, including if we decide not to offer it any longer, or if you breach these Terms.

13. Trademarks

The Viola name, logo, and other brand features are ours. These Terms do not grant you any right to use them. In particular, the open source licences covering our source code grant rights to the code, not to the branding.

You may build and distribute software from Viola's source as the open source licences allow, but you must do so under a different name and different branding, and you must not suggest that we produced, endorsed, or support your build.

Other names and logos are the marks of their respective owners, and nothing here implies any affiliation with or endorsement by them.

14. Not for high-risk uses

Viola is a consumer web browser. It is not designed, tested, or licensed for use in any environment where failure could lead to death, personal injury, or severe physical or environmental damage — including life support, medical devices, emergency dispatch, aircraft or vehicle control, weapons systems, or nuclear facilities.

You must not use Viola in such an environment, and we disclaim all liability arising from any such use.

15. No warranty

The law asks us to make this clause hard to miss, which is why it is in capitals.

VIOLA IS PROVIDED "AS IS," "WITH ALL FAULTS," AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY. YOU BEAR THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING IT. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE, OUR AFFILIATES, CONTRIBUTORS, LICENSORS, AND DISTRIBUTORS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND WORKMANLIKE EFFORT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, COURSE OF PERFORMANCE, OR USAGE OF TRADE.

WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT VIOLA WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, ACCURATE, OR ERROR-FREE; THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED; THAT IT WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR BE COMPATIBLE WITH YOUR HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, OR OTHER SYSTEMS; OR THAT DATA LOSS WILL NOT OCCUR. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT COMPUTER AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS ARE NOT FAULT-FREE AND THAT OCCASIONAL FAILURES AND PERIODS OF UNAVAILABILITY OCCUR.

NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED FROM US OR THROUGH VIOLA, CREATES ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties, so some or all of the above may not apply to you. You may have rights under the consumer protection law of your own country that these Terms cannot affect, and nothing here is intended to affect them.

16. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, NEITHER WE NOR OUR AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRIBUTORS, AGENTS, LICENSORS, SUPPLIERS, OR DISTRIBUTORS WILL BE LIABLE, UNDER CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, WARRANTY, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY, FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES; FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, BUSINESS, GOODWILL, REPUTATION, OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS; FOR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR COMPUTER MALFUNCTION; FOR ANY LOSS, CORRUPTION, OR INACCESSIBILITY OF DATA; OR FOR THE COST OF PROCURING SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES — IN EACH CASE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO VIOLA OR THESE TERMS, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO VIOLA OR THESE TERMS IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US FOR VIOLA IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, WHICH FOR A FREE BROWSER WILL ORDINARILY BE ZERO, AND (B) US$100.

THESE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS APPLY EVEN IF A REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE, AND THEY ARE AN ESSENTIAL BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN US. WITHOUT THEM, WE COULD NOT OFFER VIOLA FREE OF CHARGE.

What we do not try to limit

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for gross negligence or wilful misconduct, or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, or of liability for negligence or breach of implied terms. Accordingly, only the limitations that are lawful in your jurisdiction apply to you, and our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

17. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by applicable law, you will indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Viola and its affiliates, officers, employees, contributors, and agents from any claim, demand, loss, liability, damage, cost, or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or relating to your use or misuse of Viola, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any law or the rights of any third party.

We may assume the exclusive defence and control of any matter otherwise subject to this section, at your expense, and you agree to cooperate with our defence of it.

In plain terms: if you do something with Viola that gets us sued, that is on you, not us. Ordinary use of the browser does not trigger this.

18. Termination

These Terms apply from the moment you download or install Viola and continue until terminated.

You may terminate at any time, for any reason, by uninstalling Viola and ceasing to use it. No notice is required.

Your licence terminates automatically and immediately if you breach these Terms. We may also suspend or terminate your access to Viola or any related service at any time, with or without notice, including if we stop offering Viola. On termination you must stop using Viola and delete all copies of it — except that any copy you hold under an open source licence remains governed by that licence.

Sections 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, and 21 survive termination.

19. Changes to these terms

We may change these Terms. When we do, we will update the effective date at the top of this page, and for a material change we will give notice in the browser or on our website before it takes effect.

Changes are not retroactive. Continuing to use Viola after a change takes effect means you accept the revised Terms. If you do not accept them, stop using Viola and uninstall it.

20. Governing law and disputes

These Terms, and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or to Viola, are governed by the laws of the State of Missouri, United States, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

The state and federal courts located in Jackson County, Missouri have exclusive jurisdiction, and you and we consent to personal jurisdiction there and waive any objection based on inconvenient forum. Either party may still bring an individual claim in small claims court where eligible, and either party may seek injunctive relief in any court to protect its intellectual property.

Jury waiver. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you and we each waive any right to a trial by jury in any proceeding arising out of these Terms.

Nothing in this section deprives you of the protection of the mandatory consumer law of the country where you live, or of the right to bring proceedings in your local courts where that law gives you that right.

21. General terms

Entire agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any open source licences that apply to components of Viola, are the entire agreement between you and us about Viola, and supersede any prior agreement or understanding on that subject.

Severability

If any provision is held unenforceable, it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or if it cannot be, it will be severed. The rest of these Terms remain in full force.

No waiver

If we do not enforce a provision, that is not a waiver of it, and we may enforce it later.

Assignment

You may not assign or transfer these Terms or any rights under them without our written consent. We may assign them to an affiliate or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

No third-party beneficiaries

These Terms do not create any right enforceable by anyone other than you and us, except that the parties named in sections 15, 16, and 17 may rely on those sections.

Force majeure

Neither party is liable for a failure to perform caused by an event beyond its reasonable control.

Export

Viola may be subject to United States and other export control laws. You may not use or export it in violation of those laws, and you represent that you are not located in an embargoed country or on a restricted party list.

Language

These Terms are written in English. If we provide a translation, the English version governs in the event of a conflict.

22. Contact

Questions about these Terms, and legal notices: hello@viola.app
Security reports: security@viola.app
Privacy questions: privacy@viola.app

See also the Privacy Policy.