Terms & Conditions

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) form a legal agreement between you and Dignity New Zealand Limited, a company incorporated in New Zealand (“Dignity New Zealand Limited”, “we”, “us”, “our”), and govern your use of Velnode Browser (“Velnode”) and any official Velnode plugins. By installing, opening, or otherwise using Velnode you accept these Terms in full. If you do not accept them, do not install or use Velnode.

These Terms are written in plain English, but they are still a legal agreement. Please read them carefully.

Quick-read summary

The table below highlights the most important points. It is not a substitute for the full Terms; the full text governs.

1. Definitions

“Velnode” means the Velnode Browser desktop application in any version distributed by Dignity New Zealand Limited, and any official Velnode plugin distributed through the Velnode Plugin Manager.

“Vee” means the in-product AI assistant, including its internal modules EchoVee (memory and actions) and Vee Whisper (voice commands).

“User” or “you” means the natural person installing or using Velnode.

“Content” means web pages, files, AI responses, and any other material that is loaded by, generated by, or passes through Velnode during your use of it.

“Third-Party Services” means any external service Velnode connects to under your configuration, including cloud AI providers, websites, and external APIs.

“Local Data” means files written to your own device under the Velnode data/ directory, including but not limited to timeline.json, bookmarks.json, notes.json, settings.json, and associated files listed in the Privacy Policy.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to use Velnode. If you are between thirteen and the age of majority in your jurisdiction, you may use Velnode only under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian who has read and accepted these Terms on your behalf.

The Kids Mode feature is provided as a parental tool. It does not change the eligibility threshold above.

3. The licence we grant you

Dignity New Zealand Limited grants you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to:

• install and run Velnode on devices you own or control; and
• use Velnode for any lawful purpose consistent with these Terms.

This licence does not include any right to:

• copy, reproduce, or redistribute Velnode or any portion of it;
• modify, adapt, translate, reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble Velnode;
• create derivative works based on Velnode;
• sublicence, sell, rent, lease, or otherwise transfer your rights to any third party; or
• remove or alter any intellectual property notices or labels on Velnode.

3.1 Source availability

The source code of Velnode may be viewable in whole or in part (for example, in a public code repository). Source availability is provided for transparency and security review only. Viewing the source does not grant you any licence to copy, reuse, modify, or redistribute that source code or any part of it. All intellectual property rights in the source code are reserved by Dignity New Zealand Limited.

3.2 Trademarks and brand assets

The Velnode name, logo, brand guidelines, and the wordmarks “Velnode”, “Vee”, “EchoVee”, and “Vee Whisper” are proprietary marks of Dignity New Zealand Limited. They are not licensed for redistribution, incorporation in other products, or derivative branding without our prior written consent.

3.3 Third-party open-source components

Velnode is built using third-party open-source software. Each such component remains subject to its own licence (for example, Electron is licenced under the MIT License; other dependencies are listed in package.json). Those third-party licences apply only to the respective components and do not extend to Velnode as a whole, to Dignity New Zealand Limited's original source code, or to any Velnode brand assets.

4. What Velnode is, and is not

Velnode is a desktop web browser with an integrated AI assistant. Velnode is local-first: your browsing history, AI conversations, notes, bookmarks, and timeline events remain on your device unless you explicitly send them elsewhere.

The core browser is free and requires no account. Browsing, bookmarks, the vault, Vee with a user-supplied API key, and all features shipped in v1.x are fully functional without creating a Velnode Account.

The Velnode Account is an optional service that adds cloud login (so you can sign in on multiple devices), a Recovery Kit for account data-key restoration, and the foundation for cross-device sync. Creating an account is governed by these Terms and the Privacy Policy. When you create an account, Dignity New Zealand Limited stores only the minimum identity information necessary to deliver the account service — your e-mail, a server-side authentication verifier, and opaque encrypted blobs it cannot read. No browsing history, notes, bookmarks, or vault contents are readable by Dignity New Zealand Limited.

Velnode Pro — optional paid subscription. An optional paid tier, Velnode Pro, is planned. It adds hosted extras (a larger encrypted-sync storage quota and priority support) for a subscription fee. The free browser is never restricted by whether you subscribe. Full subscription terms are in section 4b below.

Vee is a software assistant that generates responses using a configured AI model. Vee can be wrong. You should verify any factual claim before relying on it in a way that matters. Vee is not a doctor, lawyer, accountant, financial adviser, mental-health professional, or licensed expert of any kind. Do not use Vee as a substitute for qualified professional advice.

4a. Account terms

This section applies only if you create a Velnode Account. Velnode Account functionality is provided under these Terms.

4a.1 Account eligibility and accuracy

You must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to create an account. You agree to provide a valid e-mail address and to keep it current. Accounts created with false or third-party e-mail addresses may be terminated.

4a.2 Account security

You are responsible for keeping your account password and your 24-word Recovery Kit safe. Because Velnode uses a zero-knowledge design, Dignity New Zealand Limited cannot recover your account data if you lose both your password and your Recovery Kit. A password-reset link can restore your ability to log in, but it cannot restore access to data encrypted with your previous credentials without the Recovery Kit.

4a.3 One account per person

Accounts are personal. You may not transfer, sell, or share your account with another person.

4a.4 Service availability

Dignity New Zealand Limited will make reasonable efforts to keep the Account Server available, but does not warrant uninterrupted availability. Velnode continues to work fully in the signed-out state during any account-service outage.

4a.5 Account deletion

You may delete your account at any time from Velnode → Account settings → Delete account. Dignity New Zealand Limited will delete your server-side account data within thirty (30) days. Your Local Data on your device is not affected.

4b. Velnode Pro subscriptions

This section applies only if you subscribe to Velnode Pro. It supplements the account terms in section 4a and the full Refund and Billing Policy.

4b.1 What Velnode Pro is

Velnode Pro is an optional paid subscription that adds hosted extras on top of the free Velnode Account:

• Encrypted-sync storage quota: 1 GB (compared to 250 MB on the Free plan). Both quotas apply to the encrypted sync data Velnode uploads on your behalf; the sync layer remains zero-knowledge and Dignity New Zealand Limited cannot read the contents. (Both quotas are generous anti-abuse ceilings — typical encrypted sync data is a few megabytes.)
• Priority support: Pro subscribers receive prioritised responses to support correspondence.
• Hosted Vee AI (cloud-side AI credit included with the subscription) is planned for a later release and is not included in the current Pro offering.

The core Velnode Browser is and will remain free. Velnode Pro is an add-on for hosted services. No browser feature, local-AI capability, plugin, or browsing function is ever paywalled.

4b.2 Pricing

Velnode Pro is not yet available for purchase. Pricing will be confirmed when the subscription launches and will be shown to you before you subscribe. Dignity New Zealand Limited reserves the right to set and change subscription pricing. Where a price change affects an existing subscription, we will give you at least thirty (30) days' notice before the change applies to your next billing cycle.

4b.3 Auto-renewal and cancellation

Once available, Velnode Pro subscriptions auto-renew at the end of each billing period (monthly or annual) until cancelled. You can cancel at any time through the Stripe Customer Portal, accessible via “Manage subscription” in Velnode Account settings.

On cancellation:

• Your Pro subscription continues until the end of the period already paid for.
• At the end of that period, your account reverts to the Free plan automatically.
• Your Local Data is never affected by a plan change. Data already synced and held as encrypted blobs on our servers is retained. Once your quota reverts to 250 MB, new uploads that would exceed the Free quota are blocked, but no existing synced data is deleted.

4b.4 Stripe as payment processor

Billing for Velnode Pro is handled entirely by Stripe, Inc. (“Stripe”), acting as payment processor on behalf of Dignity New Zealand Limited (the seller of record). The checkout and subscription-management flows are hosted pages operated by Stripe.

Velnode and Dignity New Zealand Limited never see or store your card number, CVV, or full payment-card details. You enter payment details directly on Stripe's hosted pages. Stripe's handling of your payment information is governed by Stripe's Privacy Policy. Dignity New Zealand Limited's PCI scope is SAQ-A (cardholder data is fully outsourced to Stripe).

Dignity New Zealand Limited receives from Stripe only the non-sensitive data necessary to manage your subscription: your e-mail address, your subscription plan and status, the Stripe customer identifier, and invoice details. This information is described in the Privacy Policy section 4.9.

4b.5 GST and tax invoices

Displayed prices for Velnode Pro will be tax-inclusive for New Zealand customers. New Zealand GST at 15% is calculated and collected automatically at checkout via Stripe Tax. Tax invoices are available at any time in the Stripe Customer Portal.

Customers outside New Zealand may see different pricing or tax treatment depending on their jurisdiction, as determined by Stripe Tax. Dignity New Zealand Limited is the seller of record.

4b.6 Refunds

Refunds are governed by the Refund and Billing Policy. Your statutory rights under the New Zealand Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986 are not affected.

5. Your responsibilities

You agree that you will:

1. Use Velnode in accordance with the Acceptable Use Policy.
2. Comply with all applicable laws of the jurisdiction in which you use Velnode.
3. Keep any third-party API keys you enter in Velnode confidential. Velnode stores these in main-process storage on your device; you are responsible for the physical security of the device.
4. Take reasonable steps to back up any Local Data you care about.
5. Not attempt to defeat Kids Mode protections on a device used by a minor in your care, unless you are the supervising adult and intend to disable Kids Mode for that user.

6. Third-Party Services

When you connect Velnode to a Third-Party Service (such as a cloud AI provider) under your own credentials, you are entering a direct relationship with that provider. The provider's own terms govern that relationship. Dignity New Zealand Limited is not a party to it and does not warrant the availability, accuracy, latency, pricing, or privacy posture of any Third-Party Service.

Costs incurred at a Third-Party Service under your API key are your responsibility.

7. Plugins

Plugins extend Velnode's behaviour. Velnode's plugin runtime enforces lazy loading, per-plugin memory caps, and explicit user opt-in for each plugin. Plugins ship disabled by default.

You are responsible for the plugins you choose to enable. Third-party plugins are provided by their respective authors under their own licences. Dignity New Zealand Limited reviews bundled plugins for adherence to its resource-discipline principles but does not warrant the behaviour of any plugin not authored by Dignity New Zealand Limited.

If a plugin breaches the Acceptable Use Policy or threatens the integrity of Velnode, we reserve the right to remove it from the official Plugin Manager.

8. Intellectual property

Velnode Browser, including its source code, design system, documentation, brand assets, and audiovisual identity, is the proprietary intellectual property of Dignity New Zealand Limited. All rights reserved. No rights are granted to you except the limited-use licence described in section 3.

Content you create using Velnode — notes, bookmarks, mindmaps, prompts, and generated outputs — is yours, subject to the rights any third-party AI provider asserts under its own terms when you elect to use that provider.

9. Updates

Dignity New Zealand Limited may release updates to Velnode that add features, fix defects, improve security, or change behaviour. Where an update introduces a material change to behaviour governed by these Terms, the release notes will say so plainly.

You are not required to install any specific update, but continued use of Velnode at an outdated version after a security advisory is at your own risk.

10. Disclaimer of warranties

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Velnode is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy, and freedom from defects.

Nothing in this section limits any rights you have under the New Zealand Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 where Velnode is supplied to you as a consumer, or under any equivalent non-excludable consumer-protection law in your jurisdiction.

11. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the aggregate liability of Dignity New Zealand Limited to you for any claim arising out of or in connection with Velnode is limited to the greater of:

• the amount you paid Dignity New Zealand Limited for the use of Velnode in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim; or
• one hundred New Zealand dollars (NZ$100).

Dignity New Zealand Limited is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary loss, including but not limited to loss of profits, loss of data, loss of business, or loss of goodwill.

Nothing in this section limits liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, or any other liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

12. Indemnity

You will indemnify Dignity New Zealand Limited against any claim, loss, or liability suffered or incurred by Dignity New Zealand Limited to the extent it arises from your breach of these Terms, your breach of the Acceptable Use Policy, or your use of Velnode to infringe the rights of a third party.

13. Termination

These Terms apply for as long as you use Velnode. You may end them at any time by uninstalling Velnode and deleting the Local Data directory.

Dignity New Zealand Limited may end your right to use Velnode if you materially breach these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnity, governing law) will survive.

14. Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand. The courts of New Zealand have exclusive jurisdiction to resolve any dispute arising out of or in connection with them, subject to any non-waivable rights you have to bring a claim in the courts of your home jurisdiction.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top of this document reflects the most recent revision. Material changes will be highlighted in the release notes of the version that introduces them. Continued use of Velnode after a change indicates your acceptance of the revised Terms.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms should be addressed to:

Document maintained by Dignity New Zealand Limited. Questions: [email protected].