The Florida Assembly

The Florida Assembly (“the Assembly,” “we,” “us”) operates the services at floridanationals.org and its subdomains (the “Platform”). This Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use and protect it, and your choices. By using the Platform you agree to this Policy.

The Platform is self-hosted on infrastructure the Assembly controls. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.

1Information we collect

Account and membership information — name, email address, username, county, and the assembly, committee, credential, and role groups you belong to (managed through our single sign-on).

Communications — email you send and receive through Assembly mailboxes, and messages you post in Platform tools.

Meetings, recordings, and transcripts — if you join a meeting that is recorded, we collect the audio and video of that meeting, and we may generate a transcript and an AI-assisted summary, minutes, and action items. See our Recording & Consent Notice.

Files and content — documents and files you upload or that are shared with your groups.

Technical and security logs — for security and reliability we log IP addresses, login and authentication events (including failed attempts), session and device information, and service activity. These logs power our intrusion-detection and monitoring and are essential to protecting member accounts.

Cookies / local storage — we use strictly-necessary cookies and tokens to keep you signed in and to operate the Platform. We do not use third-party advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

2How we use information

To create and administer your account and group memberships; to provide email, meetings, recordings, transcripts, minutes, and file storage; to make recordings and materials available to the appropriate members and groups; to secure the Platform and investigate abuse or unauthorized access; to communicate with you about the Platform; and to comply with law.

3How information is shared

• Within the Assembly — recordings, transcripts, minutes, and shared files are made available to the members and groups the Assembly designates (for example, committee recordings are shared with the relevant committee; general assembly recordings with the general assembly).
• Service providers — a small number of providers help operate the Platform, such as our domain/DNS and TLS-certificate providers. Recording transcription and AI summarization are performed locally on Assembly-controlled systems, not sent to outside AI services.
• Legal — we may disclose information if required by valid legal process or to protect the rights, safety, and security of the Assembly, its members, or the public.
• We do not sell or rent personal information.

4Retention

We keep account information for as long as you are a member and as needed to operate the Platform. Security and activity logs are retained on a rolling basis and older records are archived and then deleted on a periodic schedule. Recordings, transcripts, and minutes are retained per the Assembly’s records practices; contact us to ask how long a particular category is kept.

5Security

We protect the Platform with encryption in transit (TLS), access controls, single sign-on, network firewalling, intrusion detection, and monitoring. No system is perfectly secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security, and you use the Platform at your own risk (see the Terms of Use).

6Your choices and rights

You may review and update your account information, request a copy of the personal information we hold about you, or request correction or deletion, by emailing [email protected]. Some information (such as security logs, or recordings of meetings that others also participated in) may be retained where we have a legitimate or legal basis to keep it. Deleting your account does not by itself delete a group meeting recording in which others participated.

7Children

The Platform is intended for adult members and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

8Changes

We may update this Policy; material changes will be posted here with a new effective date.

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the online services operated by The Florida Assembly at floridanationals.org and its subdomains, including single sign-on, email, video meetings and recordings, file storage, and related tools (collectively, the “Platform”). By creating an account, logging in, joining a meeting, or otherwise using the Platform, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.

1Who we are; Governance

The Platform is operated by The Florida Assembly, an unincorporated association (“the Assembly,” “we,” “us”). The Assembly is organized under and conducts its internal affairs according to the Constitution of the State of Florida of 1838 as its foundational charter. This Section 1 states the Assembly’s governance and identity only; the legally-operative terms of this agreement — including Sections 8, 9, 10, and 11 — are governed as set out in Section 12.

2Definitions — Assembly Parties

“Assembly Parties” means The Florida Assembly and Shane Cherry, individually, together with their respective organizers, coordinators, officers, committee members, volunteers, moderators, agents, contractors, and service providers. References in these Terms to protection, release, limitation of liability, indemnification, and hold-harmless run to the benefit of each of the Assembly Parties, who are intended third-party beneficiaries of those provisions.

3Eligibility and accounts

You must provide accurate registration information and keep your credentials confidential. You are responsible for all activity under your account. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy. Your single sign-on identity, email mailbox, and group memberships are administered by the Assembly.

4Acceptable use

Your use of the Platform is subject to the Assembly’s Acceptable Use Policy, incorporated by reference. You are solely responsible for the content you submit, transmit, upload, speak, or record on the Platform (“User Content”).

5Meetings and recordings

Meetings held on the Platform may be recorded (audio and video) and transcribed, and summaries or minutes may be generated. Recording is subject to the Assembly’s Recording & Consent Notice, incorporated by reference. By joining a meeting that is being recorded, you consent to being recorded and transcribed. If you do not consent, do not join, or leave the meeting. Recordings and transcripts are made available only to the Assembly members and groups the Assembly designates.

6Your content; license

You retain ownership of your User Content. You grant the Assembly a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, distribute to the applicable groups, and process (including transcription and summarization) your User Content solely to operate and provide the Platform. You represent that you have the rights necessary to grant this license and that your User Content does not violate the law or the rights of others.

7No professional advice; not a government or court

The Platform, the Assembly, and its members do not provide legal, financial, tax, medical, or other professional advice, and nothing on the Platform is such advice or creates a professional relationship. The Assembly is a private membership association; it is not a government agency, court, or law-enforcement body, and its proceedings, titles, roles, credentials, and documents do not constitute or substitute for any governmental or judicial action, license, or record. You are responsible for your own compliance with all laws that apply to you.

8Disclaimers

THE PLATFORM IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE ASSEMBLY PARTIES DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE PLATFORM WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF DATA LOSS, OR THAT RECORDINGS, TRANSCRIPTS, OR SUMMARIES WILL BE ACCURATE OR COMPLETE.

9Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE ASSEMBLY PARTIES WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE PLATFORM OR THESE TERMS, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY. THE ASSEMBLY PARTIES’ TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE PLATFORM WILL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100). SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS; THOSE LIMITATIONS APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED.

10Indemnification / Hold Harmless

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Assembly Parties (including Shane Cherry personally) from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to: (a) your use of the Platform; (b) your User Content or anything you say, record, or upload; (c) your violation of these Terms, the Acceptable Use Policy, or the Recording & Consent Notice; or (d) your violation of any law or the rights of any third party. The Assembly may assume the exclusive defense of any matter subject to indemnification, and you agree to cooperate.

11Dispute Resolution; Binding Arbitration; Class-Action Waiver

(a) Informal resolution first. Before starting arbitration, you agree to contact [email protected] and attempt to resolve the dispute informally for at least 30 days.

(b) Binding arbitration. Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to the Platform or these Terms that is not resolved informally will be resolved by final and binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its applicable rules, before a single arbitrator, seated in Volusia County, Florida. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this arbitration provision. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(c) Class-action waiver. All claims must be brought in your individual capacity only, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate or preside over claims of more than one person.

(d) Exceptions. Either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court, and either party may seek injunctive relief in court to protect intellectual property or Platform security.

(e) Opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration provision by emailing [email protected] within 30 days of first accepting these Terms.

12Governing law and venue (for disputes)

Except where the Federal Arbitration Act applies to Section 11, these Terms and any dispute relating to the Platform are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, and the exclusive venue for any permitted court proceeding is the state or federal courts located in Volusia County, Florida. (This Section governs the enforceable resolution of disputes and is distinct from the Assembly’s foundational charter described in Section 1.)

13Changes; termination; miscellaneous

We may modify these Terms; material changes will be posted with a new effective date, and continued use means acceptance. We may suspend or terminate access at any time. If any provision is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, Acceptable Use Policy, and Recording & Consent Notice, are the entire agreement between you and the Assembly regarding the Platform.

This Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”) governs your conduct on the Assembly’s Platform and is incorporated into the Terms of Use. Violating it may result in suspension or termination and may subject you to the indemnification and other provisions of the Terms.

§You agree NOT to:

1. Break the law, or use the Platform to facilitate unlawful activity.
2. Infringe others’ intellectual-property, privacy, or publicity rights.
3. Post or transmit content that is defamatory, harassing, threatening, hateful, obscene, or that incites violence.
4. Record, screenshot, download, copy, re-share, or publish meetings, recordings, transcripts, minutes, messages, or member information outside the group they were shared with, without the Assembly’s authorization and the consent of the people involved (see the Recording & Consent Notice).
5. Impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your identity, county, role, or credentials.
6. Upload malware, attempt to gain unauthorized access, probe or scan the Platform’s security, disrupt or overload the services, or circumvent access controls or authentication.
7. Harvest or scrape other members’ personal information, or use it for solicitation or any purpose other than legitimate Assembly business.
8. Use the Platform to send spam or unsolicited bulk communications.
9. Use another member’s account, or share your credentials.
10. Present Assembly proceedings, roles, titles, credentials, or documents as governmental, judicial, or law-enforcement actions, or use them to defraud, intimidate, or mislead any person or institution.

·Enforcement

The Assembly may investigate suspected violations, remove content, and suspend or terminate accounts, with or without notice. The Assembly cooperates with valid legal process. Security-relevant activity is logged (see the Privacy Policy).

This Notice explains how meetings on the Assembly’s Platform are recorded and how you consent. It supplements the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

·Why this matters (Florida law)

This Notice, together with your act of joining a recorded meeting, is how the Assembly obtains that consent. Do not record other participants yourself without their consent.

·What we record

When a meeting is designated for recording, the Assembly may capture the meeting’s audio and video, generate a written transcript, and produce an AI-assisted summary, minutes, and action items. Recordings are stored on Assembly-controlled systems and processed locally.

·Your consent

• Meetings that are being recorded will be indicated (for example, by a recording indicator shown by the meeting software and/or a spoken or written announcement).
• By joining or remaining in a meeting that is being recorded, you consent to the recording and transcription of your voice, video, name, and contributions.
• If you do not consent, do not join the meeting, or leave before recording begins. You may also turn off your camera and microphone, though your presence and any audio you transmit may still be captured.

·Who can access recordings

Recordings, transcripts, and minutes are made available only to the members and groups the Assembly designates — for example, committee-meeting recordings are shared with that committee, and general assembly recordings with the general assembly. They are not published publicly by the Assembly.

·Your responsibilities

• Do not download, copy, re-share, publish, or distribute a recording, transcript, or minutes outside the group it was shared with, without the Assembly’s authorization and the consent of the people recorded.
• Treat other members’ recorded voices, images, and statements as confidential to the group.

·Requests

To ask what recordings involve you, request a copy, or request deletion where permitted, email [email protected]. A recording of a meeting involving other participants may be retained even if you request deletion of your own account.

This Notice does not constitute legal advice. Recording laws vary and can change; the Assembly encourages members to comply with all applicable laws.