Legal Notice

Last Updated: January 1, 2025 (UTC)

Effective Date: January 1, 2125 (UTC)

This Legal Notice (the "Notice") is formulated by the developer of SmartDolphinVPN (the "Software") (the "Developer") in accordance with the core international treaties of the United Nations and the currently effective laws and regulations of the five permanent members of the United Nations (the People's Republic of China, the United States of America, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the French Republic) in the fields of computer, open source software and VPN network. This Notice applies to all natural persons, legal persons and other organizations (the "User") that download, install or use the Software. The Developer develops the Software solely for personal technical research and learning exploration, with no intention of commercial operation or profit-making, without charging any fee to any subject, and without providing any form of technical support, operation and maintenance guarantee or network service. All consequences arising from any use of the Software by the User shall be borne independently by the User in full legal liability. The Developer shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential liability, and shall have no legal connection with such consequences. The User's act of downloading, installing or using the Software shall constitute the User's full acknowledgment and acceptance of all the provisions of this Notice, and at the same time be bound by the User Agreement, Disclaimer and Open Source License List. If the User disagrees with any provision of this Notice, the User shall immediately cease using and completely delete the Software.

1. Applicable Legal Basis

The development, authorization, use of the Software and the settlement of relevant disputes shall be based on the following conventions, laws and regulations in full. The definition of rights and obligations and the division of liabilities between the Developer and the User shall strictly comply with their core provisions:

1.1 Core International Treaties of the United Nations

United Nations Convention against Cybercrime: Abide by the core provisions prohibiting the use of information and communication technologies to commit cyber fraud, data theft, illegal cross-border information dissemination, cyber attacks and other criminal acts;
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works: Follow the basic principles of international protection of intellectual property rights of computer software works;
United Nations Global Cybersecurity Agenda: Abide by the core norms of technological neutrality of information technology, network data security and personal information protection.

1.2 Core Laws and Regulations of the People's Republic of China

Computer Software Protection Regulations, Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China: Regulate the ownership of intellectual property rights of the Software and the compliant use of open source components;
Provisions on the Administration of International Networking of Computer Information Networks and its implementing measures: Clearly prohibit the use of the Software to engage in illegal cross-border networking and evade supervision;
Cyber Security Law of the People's Republic of China, Data Security Law of the People's Republic of China, Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China: The Software strictly implements the principles of zero collection, zero storage and zero analysis of data;
Relevant provisions of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China: Prohibit the use of the Software to commit cyber fraud, illegal intrusion into computer information systems, infringement of trade secrets, disclosure of state secrets and other criminal acts;
Law of the People's Republic of China on Guarding State Secrets and its implementing regulations: Prohibit the use of the Software in confidential scenarios and internal networks of state organs and institutions, and prohibit the transmission and processing of state secrets;
Article 1195 and Article 1197 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China: Abide by the safe harbor principle for network infringement, and the Developer shall not be liable for infringement if there is no subjective fault.

1.3 Core Laws and Regulations of the United States of America

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), Federal Computer Systems Protection Act: Prohibit the use of the Software to intrude, modify or damage other people's computer systems/data without authorization;
Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA): Follow the technical specifications for computer system security and encrypted data transmission;
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA): Abide by the provisions on the protection of copyright of open source components and anti-circumvention technical measures;
U.S. federal and state VPN regulatory norms, FCC network regulatory rules: Prohibit the use of the Software to evade supervision and engage in illegal network activities.

1.4 Core Laws and Regulations of the Russian Federation

Federal Law of the Russian Federation on Information, Information Technology and Information Protection: Follow the core norms of information network security and data transmission protection;
Relevant provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: Prohibit the use of the Software to commit cyber crimes, endanger national information security and infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of others;
VPN regulatory rules of Roskomnadzor of the Russian Federation: Abide by the legal use boundary of VPN tools.

1.5 Core Laws and Regulations of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Computer Misuse Act 1990 and its amendments: Prohibit unauthorized access to, modification of or damage to computer data and systems;
Data Protection Act (DPA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union: Implement the principle of zero collection of personal data;
Network regulatory norms of Ofcom of the United Kingdom: Abide by the legal use boundary of encrypted transmission tools.

1.6 Core Laws and Regulations of the French Republic

Law on Trust in the Digital Economy, Internal Security Act: Follow the core requirements of cyber security, data protection and combating cyber crimes;
Relevant provisions of the French Criminal Code: Prohibit the use of the Software to engage in cyber fraud, data theft, illegal dissemination of illegal information and other acts;
CNIL data regulatory norms and ARCEP VPN regulatory rules of France: Abide by the provisions on personal information protection and the legal use boundary of VPN tools.

2. Ownership of Intellectual Property Rights and Core Definition of Development

2.1 Intellectual Property Ownership

All copyrights of the Software (including the source code of the basic framework, the source code of core functions, program interface, logo/name, technical documents, etc.) are owned independently by the Developer, and protected by the intellectual property laws of the above five permanent members and the United Nations conventions. The source code of the basic framework of the Software is authorized for use in accordance with the MIT Open Source License, and the rights and obligations of the open source part shall be implemented in accordance with the MIT Open Source License and the Open Source License List. Without the express written authorization of the Developer, no subject may copy, decompile, reverse engineer, crack, tamper with or conduct secondary development of the non-open source core source code.

2.2 Legal definition of technological neutrality

The Software is a purely technologically neutral tool. The Developer has no intention, ability or obligation to predict or intervene in the User's purpose, method or scenario of using the Software, and the development act has no legal causal relationship with the User's subsequent use acts. In accordance with the criminal laws and accomplice theories of the five permanent members, the Developer has no intent of joint crime and has not committed any aiding act. Even if the User uses the Software to commit illegal or criminal acts, the Developer shall not constitute an accessory, joint offender or accomplice in any form, and all relevant liabilities shall be borne by the User alone.

2.3 Limited Liability

The Developer shall only bear limited liability for the compliance of the Software's development process and the absence of malicious code in the program itself, has no obligation to repair or maintain technical faults or vulnerabilities of the Software, and shall not be liable for any losses caused by the aforesaid problems.

3. Absolute Prohibitive Clauses for the Use of the Software

It is strictly forbidden to use the Software in the internal network environment of any company, enterprise, institution, state organ or organization (including but not limited to office internal network, industry-specific internal network, confidential internal network, business system internal network, etc.);
It is strictly forbidden to use the Software in confidential scenarios (including but not limited to processing, transmitting or storing state secrets, work secrets, trade secrets, undisclosed sensitive data, etc.);
It is strictly forbidden to use the Software to engage in any acts in violation of the applicable laws specified in Clause 1 of this Notice, including but not limited to illegal cross-border networking, cyber fraud, data theft, dissemination of illegal information, illegal intrusion into other people's computer systems, evasion of regulatory review, infringement of third parties' intellectual property rights/privacy rights, etc.;
It is strictly forbidden to use the Software for commercial purposes, conduct secondary development and then distribute it, or misappropriate the Software's name/source code to engage in any business activities;
It is strictly forbidden to copy, disseminate, sublease, authorize others to use any part of the Software, or bundle the Software with third-party software without the express written authorization of the Developer.

4. Absolute Division of Liabilities for the Use of the Software (No Liability for the Developer / Full Liability for the User)

4.1 Rights of the Developer and Legal Exemption from Liability for No Fault

4.1.1 Right of limited monitoring

The Developer has the right to conduct reasonable and limited technical monitoring of the use of the Software through technical means. Once it is detected that the User has committed acts in violation of this Notice and applicable laws, the Developer has the right to immediately take measures such as terminating the right to use, cutting off services, shielding devices and recovering keys, without bearing any liability to the User;

4.1.2 Full exemption from liability for no fault

The technical monitoring of the Developer is restricted by technical conditions and equipment, unable to realize 24/7 uninterrupted real-time monitoring, and unable to fully identify all illegal and non-compliant use acts. If any consequences are caused by the failure to detect the User's illegal and non-compliant acts in a timely manner due to technical restrictions, equipment failures, system maintenance and other non-subjective factors, the Developer shall have no fault and shall not bear any liability;
The Developer has not induced or encouraged the User to use the Software in any form. The User's act of downloading, installing and using the Software is an independent decision of the User itself, and all consequences arising therefrom have nothing to do with the Developer;
In accordance with the safe harbor principle of the Civil Code and the relevant laws on technological neutrality of the five permanent members, the Developer only provides technical tools, has not participated in or known about any use acts of the User, has no subjective fault, and shall not bear any joint and several liability for the User's infringement, illegal or criminal acts.

4.1.3 Right of unilateral modification/termination

The Developer has the right to modify, upgrade, suspend or terminate the development of the Software at any time for any reason or without reason, without prior notice to the User, and shall not be liable for any losses caused to the User thereby.

4.2 Full Liability of the User (Without Any Exceptions)

4.2.1 Exclusive full liability for internal network use

If the User violates Clause 3.1 of this Notice and uses the Software in the internal network without authorization, resulting in any consequences such as data leakage, loss of trade secrets, disclosure of state secrets, internal network system failure, business losses and regulatory penalties of the company/enterprise/state organ or institution, all such consequences shall be borne independently by the User in full liability. The relevant entity shall not claim any rights from the Developer, and the Developer shall not bear any joint and several liability. In accordance with the implementing regulations of the Law on Guarding State Secrets, the organ/institution shall bear the main responsibility for confidentiality work. If an employee causes a secret disclosure by using the Software, the employee and the affiliated entity shall bear full liability;

4.2.2 Aggravated liability for confidential scenarios

If the User uses the Software to process, transmit or store state secrets/work secrets resulting in a secret disclosure, the User shall independently bear the administrative and criminal liabilities stipulated in the Law on Guarding State Secrets and the Criminal Law, and the Developer shall not bear any liability;

4.2.3 Comprehensive full liability for use acts

Regardless of whether the User's use of the Software in any manner violates the provisions of this Notice, all consequences arising from the use acts including but not limited to legal risks, regulatory penalties, third-party claims, economic losses, criminal/administrative liabilities shall be borne independently by the User in full liability. The Developer shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential liability, and shall have no legal connection with such consequences;

4.2.4 Independent full liability for dispute settlement

Any dispute arising between the User and a third party (including but not limited to the User's affiliated entity, other organizations and natural persons) due to the use of the Software shall be negotiated and resolved by the User independently who shall bear full liability therefor. The Developer shall not participate in or mediate the dispute, and shall not be liable for the result of the dispute;

4.2.5 Liability for breach of contract

If the User violates the prohibitive clauses and other provisions of this Notice, the Developer may immediately terminate the User's right to use, and the User shall compensate the Developer for all losses suffered thereby (including but not limited to rights protection costs, attorney fees, litigation fees, etc.).

5. Core Provisions on Data and Privacy Protection

The Software is a purely technical encrypted transmission tool, which strictly complies with the data protection laws of the above five permanent members and the United Nations, and does not collect, store or parse any personal information, device information, network transmission data or use behavior data of the User. User data only circulates in local devices and encrypted transmission links, and the Developer cannot obtain any User-related data;
Any risk of data leakage or loss caused by the User's own operations (such as device theft, password leakage, third-party software intrusion, unauthorized use in internal network/confidential scenarios, etc.) shall be borne by the User alone, and the Developer shall not bear any liability;
The encrypted transmission technology of the Software is only a technical guarantee measure. The Developer does not guarantee the absolute security of data transmission. The User shall take reasonable security protection measures by itself, and any problems arising from data transmission shall be borne by the User alone.

6. Absolute Isolation of Third-Party Liabilities

The open source components and third-party technologies used in the Software are all provided by the corresponding right holders. The Developer only uses them in accordance with open source agreements and applicable laws in a compliant manner. All liabilities for defects, faults and infringement acts of third-party components shall be borne by the right holders thereof, and the Developer shall not bear any liability;
Any act committed by a third party without the authorization of the Developer to misappropriate the Software's name, source code, logo, etc. has nothing to do with the Developer. All legal risks and economic losses arising therefrom shall be borne independently by the third party, and the Developer reserves the right to pursue its liability for infringement;
If the User's affiliated entity or other organization suffers losses due to the User's use of the Software, such losses shall be compensated by the User alone, and the Developer shall not bear any compensation or joint and several liability.

7. Validity and Dispute Settlement

This Notice is a core legal document binding the Developer and the User, and together with the User Agreement, Disclaimer and Open Source License List, constitutes a complete agreement on rights and obligations. The provisions of this Notice shall prevail over all other agreements. If any provision of this Notice is deemed invalid or unenforceable, it shall not affect the validity of other provisions;
Final liability clause: For any matters not explicitly stipulated in this Notice involving the User's use of the Software and the consequences thereof, all liabilities shall be borne by the User alone, and the Developer shall not bear any form of legal liability;
Any dispute arising from this Notice, the development and use of the Software shall be settled in accordance with the applicable laws specified in Clause 1 of this Notice. If the dispute involves international matters, it shall be handled in accordance with the relevant provisions on international cooperation of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime;
The sole official contact method of the Developer: E-mail: Astrauszhao@gmail.com, which is the sole designated official e-mail for receiving source code applications, infringement complaints and technical feedback;
The Developer reserves the final right of interpretation of this Notice.