Terms & Conditions

1. About these terms

These terms apply when you use hack-league.startglobal.org or take part in a Hack League event. Hack League is a START Global programme. The START Global General Terms and Conditions linked above also apply, including the special terms for hackathons organised, co-organised, or hosted by START Global. If those terms conflict with these terms about the Hack League platform, these terms take priority.

By creating an account or taking part in an event, you agree to these terms.

2. Your account

Give us accurate information, keep it up to date, and keep access to your account secure. Your account belongs to you: do not share access to it or create more than one account. You are responsible for activity under your account.

3. Taking part

Hackers register for the season and apply to chapter events. If admitted, you must confirm your place. You can join a team of three to five people or take part solo as a team of one. The chapter running an event decides who is admitted, when cases are released, and when results are confirmed. Applying or registering does not guarantee a place.

A chapter may add terms for its own event. Those terms sit alongside these terms and the START Global General Terms and Conditions. They must not contradict them; if they do, these terms take priority for Hack League.

4. Using the platform

Do not:

• disrupt, overload, probe, or try to gain unauthorised access to the platform;
• scrape or collect participant data in bulk;
• impersonate someone or misrepresent your identity or affiliation;
• upload anything unlawful, infringing, or harmful; or
• harass or abuse participants, jurors, or organisers.

Organisers may refuse admission to, or remove from an event, anyone who breaks these terms or the event's rules.

5. Submissions and intellectual property

Your team is responsible for its submission and confirms that it has the right to submit it and that it does not infringe anyone else's rights. Under the START Global General Terms and Conditions, intellectual property rights in a hackathon submission transfer to the relevant Case Partner when the work is created. Taking part means you agree to complete any steps needed to make that transfer effective.

You also grant START Global the right to store and display the submission on the platform so we can run and judge the event.

6. Results and points

The event jury and organisers score submissions and confirm the results. League points are added only after a league event's results are confirmed. Their decisions are final.

7. Leaderboards and your choices

If you earn league points, you appear on the individual leaderboard. There is currently no separate opt-out, so contact us before taking part if you do not want to be listed. Our privacy policy explains what appears, who can see it, and how long we keep it.

Appearing in an event's participant directory and sharing your profile with a case partner are optional. We ask for separate consent for each event, and withdrawing either consent does not affect your right to take part. Essential messages about deadlines, decisions, and results are part of the event and are still sent.

8. Who can access data

START Global runs the platform. Chapters can access only the personal and team data they need for their own events, not data from other chapters. Event partners receive only what they need for their part of an event. Neither receives your full account or data from other events unless the law requires it, the platform cannot operate without it, or we have clearly told you otherwise. START Global may monitor, limit, or remove platform access.

9. Availability and liability

The platform is provided "as is" and "as available." As far as the law allows, START Global is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, including lost income, profits, or data, or for outages, failures, or events outside its reasonable control. A chapter remains responsible for its own breaches of these terms, data protection law, or the access limits in section 8. Nothing here limits liability where Swiss law does not allow that limit.

10. Data protection

We handle personal data under our privacy policy and the START Global privacy policy. A specific event, service, or platform may also have its own privacy notice.

11. Changes

START Global may update these terms. The date at the top shows the latest revision, and we will highlight material changes on the platform. If you keep using Hack League after a change, you accept the updated terms.

12. Governing law

Swiss law exclusively governs these terms and any dispute arising from them. The courts of St. Gallen, Switzerland, have exclusive jurisdiction.

13. Contact

Questions about these terms can be sent to info@startglobal.org.