Terms & Conditions

Magic Beans Community Ltd (“We; Us”) is a New Zealand based Impact Company, which exists to encourage, educate and inspire people to grow more of their own food at home, and to provide a platform for swapping and sharing surplus homegrown produce and gardening supplies in local communities via a web application “App”.

Community Standards, Privacy and Safety
At Magic Beans® we are kind, respectful and tolerant towards each other. Magic Beans® is intended to be a safe and welcoming place for all home food gardeners. Do not post any content that:
● Does not relate to food production or gardening.
● Is discriminatory in any way (eg age, gender, sexual orientation, race, culture etc).
● Is spam (including comments, posts, links or content which promotes a particular business, or is overly repetitive in nature). Advertising opportunities are available in line with Magic Beans® Advertising Policy.
● Contains insults, put-downs or is otherwise unsupportive in nature (as Mum’s everywhere would say, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all).
● Is likely to be seen as offensive, provocative, political or inflammatory (including references to lobby groups, political parties etc).
● Contravenes any laws or references to illegal activities (this includes but is not limited to defamation, breaches of Privacy Laws or Court Orders, infringement of Copyright, references to plants or plant material which are illegal to possess or propagate etc).
● Contains potentially harmful advice.
● Impersonates or falsely claims to represent a person or an organisation.

For your privacy and safety, in the course of using the community areas of Magic Beans®, don't post personal information – addresses, phone numbers, email addresses or other online contact details – relating either to you or other individuals. Personal details should only be shared over private messaging, and never on behalf of someone else. You can view our Privacy Policy here.

Food Safety and Legal Swapping and Sharing
Users of the App ("Beanies") must comply with all applicable food safety regulations and standards in New Zealand.
Users are responsible for ensuring the safety and quality of the food they share or swap through the App.
Users must accurately and honestly represent the condition, ingredients, allergens, and other relevant information about the food they share or swap. Users determine acceptable swaps and shares between themselves. Magic Beans® does not get involved in disputes between Beanies.
Users must comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and standards, including but not limited to those relating to food safety, health, and hygiene.
Users shall not share or swap any food items or plant material that are prohibited or restricted by law, such as unauthorized food products, including meat or seafood.
Users must not engage in any fraudulent, deceptive, or illegal activities through the App.

Magic Beans Accounts
We aim to make Magic Beans® accessible to as many people as possible. However, in order to be good stewards of the community, some restrictions must exist. The following exclusions on the creation of new accounts apply:
● Young people under 16 years of age (as in-person connection is a key feature of Magic Beans swaps). We will be looking at how we can provide access to the Magic Beans® community for youths under 16 years old in due course). Because in-person interaction is a vital part of the Magic Beans swaps experience, the app is currently restricted to young growers under 16 years old. However, we have exciting plans to broaden access and invite individuals under the age of 16 to join our lively Magic Beans® community in the near future.
● Those who have previously been banned, and those who are currently suspended.
Please set up one individual account, in your everyday name, to use Magic Beans®.
Account Sharing
Magic Beans is a Peer-to-Peer sharing platform, and at this stage does not have the facility to accommodate organisational or group users. Do not share your account or login information with anyone else.

Managing Community Safety and Well-Being
Magic Beans provides a facility in all swap and discussion posts for easy reporting of content which is counter to the Magic Beans Terms and Conditions. This should be used first if you have a concern about breaches of the Terms of Use. We will aim to review and take action, if required, on any reported content within 24 hours.

In addition, Magic Beans® complies with the responsible platform host requirements of the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015. Harmful Digital Communications are online, digital and electronic communications, including images and video, that would cause serious emotional distress to an ordinary reasonable person in your position. The process for managing a complaint of Harmful Digital Communications is set out under law.

You may submit a complaint for assessment of Harmful Digital Communications on Magic Beans® (including messages, comments or content, including photographs and videos) by emailing hello@magicbeansapp.com, with the following information:
● your full name and telephone number, a physical address, and an email address; and
● state the specific content, and explain why you consider that the specific content—
o is unlawful; or
o breaches 1 or more communication principles and has caused harm1; and
● sufficiently enable the specific content to be readily located; and
● state whether the complainant consents to personal information that identifies the complainant being released to the author; and
● contain any other information that the complainant considers relevant.
As we investigate a complaint under the Harmful Digital Communications Act, we will:
● Provide the author of the specific content with a copy of the notice of complaint, altered to conceal personal information that identifies the complainant if Magic Beans® received confirmation that the complainant does not consent to Magic Beans® providing that information to the author; and
o notify the author that the author may submit a counter-notice to Magic Beans® within 48 hours of receiving that notification:
● If Magic Beans® is unable to contact the author (for example, because the identity of the author is unknown) after taking reasonable steps to do so, Magic Beans® will take down or disable the specific content as soon as practicable after taking those steps but no later than 48 hours after receiving a notice of complaint.

Magic Beans may remove content counter to these Terms and Conditions or investigate complaints of harmful communications at any time without notice. Magic Beans may access user messages to investigate formal complaints without notice and retains secure audit logs of all activity for complaint investigation and technology optimisation reasons.

Endorsement
Magic Beans® reviews all adverts displayed on the platform for adherence to our Advertising Policy, however inclusion of adverts on the Magic Beans® app does not imply endorsement of the business, person, products or services being advertised.
Getting help and providing feedback

If you have concerns about content, people, food safety or any other related matter on Magic Beans®, let us know. You can do this by emailing hello@magicbeansapp.com. We aim to respond to all enquiries within 24 hours. For general feedback or suggestions, please email us at hello@magicbeansapp.com. As we are a small team, we may take a few days to respond to you at this email address (this will be monitored during normal business hours).

Suspending or Banning Users
In the event of serious or repeated infractions of the Terms and Conditions, Magic Beans® reserves the right to suspend or permanently ban users from the platform. Subscriptions will be cancelled within 48 hours of a ban on an account. No refunds will be given.

Liability
Magic Beans® aims to provide high-quality information and education based on science and good data. On occasion, we may make a mistake with our content production or advice given, or the content or advice given may not be applicable to your particular situation for some reason unbeknownst to us. We accept no liability for the outcome of following Magic Beans' education or advice. Views expressed by persons connected to Magic Beans Community Ltd are their own and hold no greater weight than any other Beanie.

Magic Beans® does not control or guarantee the quality, safety, or legality of the food shared or swapped through the App.
Users acknowledge and agree that any transactions or interactions with other Users are solely at their own risk. We shall not be liable for any loss, damage, illness, or injury arising from the use of the App or the consumption of shared or swapped food.

Content Ownership and Permissions
We welcome Beanie contributions to discussions and discourse, and you are most welcome to post content like:
● Photos and videos from your garden or of anything related to your garden, in context
● Recipes you’d like to share
● Information, tips and tricks, experiences, knowledge etc
You will retain full ownership of all content you put on Magic Beans®. If we see something awesome you have shared, and we wish to share that in an official Magic Beans® capacity, we will seek your written permission first.
You have the ability to delete any individual content that you share, post, or upload at any given time. Furthermore, if you choose to delete your account, all content posted on your personal account will be archived. For detailed instructions on how to delete your account, please refer to our resources. Your content and data may remain in backup systems until these are overwritten. For full deletion of your content (including data that remains on our servers but is publicly invisible due to deletion of your account), please contact us at hello@magicbeansapp.com. Data that does not delete:
● Counts, measurements and other data on the swaps, posts and usage of the App, including metadata and access logs. This data is anonymised but remains as part of our aggregated totals and is accessible for research and development purposes.
● Messages you have exchanged with other Beanies – the messages will remain but your name will show as Deleted User and there will be no profile associated with your account.

Copyright
Magic Beans® produced content on the Magic Beans® App is copyrighted. It may not be reproduced without permission.

Subscription
Magic Beans® doesn’t charge Beanies for basic access. This is part of our commitment to enabling access to fresh, healthy, locally grown foods to all people, regardless of financial means. If you choose to purchase a subscription product, this will remain in force until you cancel it, the term expires, or we are unable to successfully charge your nominated payment method. Any loyalty discounts will stop if the subscription is not continuous. Expired or cancelled subscriptions will revert back to basic access.

Thank you to those of you who subscribe to our advanced content and tools – you are helping us to meet costs and make a greater impact.

Advertisements
As part of Magic Beans® revenue generation which helps us meet costs and increase our impact, we show you advertisements from businesses we think you’ll love. We have a strict Advertising Policy to ensure that ads shown are in line with the Magic Beans® kaupapa. If you have a concern about an ad you’ve seen, please feel free to let us know by email to advertising@magicbeansapp.com. We use your location data to show you ads that are relevant to you.
We never share or sell your personal information with advertisers. We provide advertisers with reports to confirm the reach of their ads and locations of the ad audiences – this is all anonymous data.

Use of data
We use anonymised usage data to analyse our impact and to research how we can increase our impact, and to develop, test and improve the Magic Beans® products and services. We may also provide you and other Beanies with data analysis that relates to your and their use of the Magic Beans® App – for example, a summary of how many swaps you have completed. There is limited data available on each Beanie profile page – this includes: Suburb and Town/Region (always displayed), your profile pictures (if any), your personal profile (which you write yourself) and your history of swaps offered by you, and posts started by you.

Ensuring access to our services
In order to operate the Magic Beans® App, we need to store, transfer and distribute data to our data centres, partners and service providers. This flow of information is essential for the provision of our services. We will always endeavour to do our best to ensure your private data remains confidential and protected. For more information, refer to our Privacy Policy.

Malware, viruses and data mining
Uploading viruses or malicious code, sending spam, or engaging in any activity that could disrupt, overload, interfere with, or harm the proper functioning, integrity, operation, or appearance of our services, systems, or products is strictly prohibited.
Using automated methods to access or collect data from our products without prior permission or attempting to access unauthorized data is not allowed.
Unauthorised proxying, requesting, or gathering of usernames or passwords, is prohibited.

Selling, licensing, or purchasing any data obtained from us or our services is not permitted.

Misusing any reporting, flagging, dispute, or appeals channel, including making fraudulent, duplicative, or baseless reports or appeals, is strictly prohibited.

Amendment of Terms and Conditions
Magic Beans® reserves the right to amend and update these Terms and Conditions. Notification of updated Terms and Conditions will be sent to each registered user. Continued use of the App after such modifications constitutes acceptance of the revised terms and conditions.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction
These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of New Zealand. Any disputes arising out of or in connection with these terms and conditions shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New Zealand.

By using the Magic Beans® App, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms and Conditions.