Terms of Use

Last updated: October 23, 2026 · Version 2026-10-23

These terms are an agreement between you and itwala, a business in Canada that operates itwala (“itwala”, “we”, “us”). By creating an account or using itwala you agree to them, to our Privacy Policy and to our Community Guidelines. Please read them; if you don’t agree, don’t use itwala.

What itwala is. itwala is a business social network: members connect with each other, show their work, find people and businesses to work with, and run projects together. itwala also shows the services and work of its operator.

1. Who can use itwala

You must be at least 16. Use your real name, give accurate information, keep it up to date, and keep your password private. One account per person; accounts can’t be sold or transferred. You can’t use itwala if we have previously removed you, or if the law forbids it.

2. Your content and the licence you give us

You keep ownership of what you post — text, photos, videos, links and messages. So that we can run itwala, you give us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, copy, resize, convert (for example, to remove hidden location data or make a video play on phones), display and send your content to the people allowed to see it under the settings you choose. The licence ends when you delete the content or your account, except for copies other members have already shared, copies in backups for up to 30 days, and copies we must keep by law. You are responsible for what you post and you confirm you have the right to post it — including the permission of people who appear in your photos and videos.

3. What you can’t post or do

Follow the Community Guidelines. In particular, don’t post, send or link to anything that:

• sexualises, exploits or endangers a child in any way — zero tolerance: the account is removed and we report it to Cybertip.ca and police;
• is an intimate or nude image of someone shared without their consent, or threatens to share one;
• is illegal, threatening, harassing, bullying, hateful, violent or sexually explicit;
• impersonates someone, or shares someone else’s private information without permission;
• infringes someone else’s copyright, trademark, privacy or other rights;
• is spam, a scam, misleading, malware or phishing.

And don’t: use bots, scripts or scrapers to access itwala or collect information about members; get around the “I’m not a robot” check, rate limits, blocks or bans; create accounts in bulk or to evade a suspension; probe, scan or test the security of itwala without our written permission (please report vulnerabilities to hello@itwala.ca instead); interfere with or overload the service; or use itwala to send commercial messages to members who haven’t agreed to receive them.

4. Photos and videos

You can upload photos (up to 5 MB) and videos (up to 30 seconds and 25 MB). Videos play automatically with the sound off when they scroll into view; members turn the sound on themselves. We remove hidden information such as GPS location from uploads. Images we remove for child exploitation, intimate images shared without consent or copyright are fingerprinted so they can’t be uploaded again.

5. Messages, friends, blocking and sharing

Photos and files in chat. You can send photos, PDFs, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, and text or CSV files (up to 10 MB each) in private chats. Only send files you have the right to share, and never send malware, files designed to trick people, or other people’s private documents. We refuse files that contain programs, macros or scripts, and may block any file that breaks these terms. Files from other members aren’t checked for viruses by a virus scanner — only open files from people you trust. Don’t send passwords or payment card numbers in chat.

Only send messages and nudges to people who want to hear from you. You can block anyone (except the itwala page, which you can unfriend instead): they won’t be able to see your profile or posts, message you or add you, and they aren’t told. Choose who can see each post (Public, Friends or Only Me). Messages are private between you and the other person but are not end-to-end encrypted; our administrators can read them only for the reasons listed in the Privacy Policy, and every such access is logged. Only share links you have the right to share; embedded players are provided by their own services under their own terms.

6. Monitoring and moderation

You agree that we may monitor activity on itwala as described in section 5 of the Privacy Policy to keep it safe, secure and lawful. You can report any post, person or message. We review reports and may remove content, limit features, suspend or delete accounts, and block networks — with or without notice where safety or the law requires. When the law requires it we preserve evidence and report to authorities. We aren’t obliged to monitor everything and we don’t endorse what members post.

7. Copyright (notice and notice)

If you believe content on itwala infringes your copyright, send a notice to hello@itwala.ca with the information required by section 41.26 of Canada’s Copyright Act (your name and address, the work, your rights in it, where the content is on itwala, the infringement claimed, and the date and time). We forward valid notices to the member and keep records as the Act requires. A notice we forward isn’t a finding that the member did anything wrong. Separately, we may remove content that we believe infringes copyright under these terms.

8. Account security

Keep your password and backup codes private and turn on two-factor authentication. Only tick “Trust this device” on devices you own. Tell us right away at hello@itwala.ca if you think someone else is using your account. We may lock logins, require a robot check, or warn you about unusual activity to protect your account.

9. Services offered on itwala

Posts about services and projects describe our work. Any service you hire us for is covered by a separate written agreement or quote; nothing on the site is a binding offer by itself. Prices and examples are for information only.

9a. Credit and the sponsored top 10

• What it is. Members can pay to list their profile in the “Top 10 on itwala”. Places 1 to 3 are shown on the front page (including to people who aren’t logged in) and all 10 places in members’ home pages. These are paid placements and are always labelled Sponsored; the order reflects only the amount bid — it isn’t a ranking of quality, a recommendation or an endorsement by itwala.
• Welcome credit. New members get free credit (currently $10 CAD) once they confirm their email — once per person and email address. Free credit (welcome credit and any credit itwala chooses to give you) can be used for the top 10 and the Verified badge, is used before paid credit, has no cash value, can’t be refunded, transferred or exchanged, and doesn’t count as earnings for itwala. We may change or end the welcome offer, and may remove free credit gained by creating extra accounts or other abuse.
• Credit. You buy prepaid credit in Canadian dollars with a card through our payment processor, Stripe (from $5 to $10,000 per purchase). itwala never sees or stores your card number. Credit can be used for the top 10 and the Verified badge. It has no cash value, can’t be transferred, and doesn’t expire while your account is open. We email you a receipt for every purchase.
• Categories. The top 10 is divided into categories (for example Web & tech, Creative, Health & wellness, Trades & home, Food, Education, Business and Other). You choose one category for your listing, and each category has its own 10 places. The front page and the home page also show an overall list ordered by bid across all categories.
• Bidding. The highest bid in a category is #1, the next highest #2, and so on; on equal bids the earlier one stays ahead. To take a place you bid at least $0.10 more than the listing that has it now (or $0.10 for a free place); there is no maximum. Your bid is taken from your credit straight away and your listing appears immediately. Each member has one listing: to move up you raise your bid and pay only the difference. Other members can outbid you at any time, even minutes later, which moves you down. When all 10 places in a category are taken, a new bid pushes the lowest listing in that category out.
• Listings last 30 days. A listing stays up for 30 days from your last bid; any new bid restarts the 30 days. We email or notify you about 3 days before it ends. When it ends, the listing is removed and the bid is not refunded.
• Auto-bid. You can set a place you want to hold and the most you are willing to spend in total. If someone outbids you, we raise your bid automatically by the smallest step needed (at least $0.10 over them), taking it from your credit, until your limit or your credit runs out. When two auto-bids compete, the higher limit wins at $0.10 above the other limit. Each automatic raise is a final bid like any other. You can turn auto-bid off at any time; raises already made aren’t refunded.
• Bids are final. A bid is used up when it’s placed. It isn’t refunded when someone outbids you, when you move down, or when you are pushed out of the top 10, however soon that happens. If we remove your listing for breaking these terms or the Community Guidelines, we may decide not to return the bid.
• Refunds of unused credit. Paid credit you haven’t used can be refunded to the card it came from (free credit can’t): email hello@itwala.ca. If we close the service or the top 10, we refund unused credit. If you delete your account without asking for a refund, you give up any remaining credit.
• What’s shown. While you are listed, your name, profile photo, the amount you bid, your headline (up to 80 characters), what you offer (up to 200 characters), the website you enter and the social profiles linked in your Settings are shown publicly, including to people who aren’t logged in, and any member can message you. Links in the listing are marked as sponsored. Text and websites must follow the Community Guidelines — explicit words, slurs and adult websites are refused automatically — and we may remove your listing if they don’t.
• Listing stats. While you are listed we show you how many times your listing was shown, how many profile views and link clicks came from it, and how many people messaged you. These are counts only; they don’t tell you who viewed or clicked. Links in listings go through a short itwala address so clicks can be counted, then straight to the website you entered.
• Chargebacks and refunds through your bank. If a payment is refunded or disputed, the matching credit is taken back, and your balance can go below zero. You can’t bid until it’s positive again.
• Earnings and goals. The front page shows what itwala has earned from listings (this month and in total, after refunds) and itwala’s monthly goals. These figures don’t identify who paid, apart from the bid amounts shown on listings. The goals are the founder’s plans and aren’t promises to you. A bid buys a sponsored listing only — it isn’t a donation, an investment, a loan or a share in itwala, and it gives you no right to any of itwala’s revenue.
• Taxes. Prices are in Canadian dollars. If we must charge GST/HST or other taxes, they will be shown before you pay.

9b. Projects, quotes, invoices and reviews

• Project rooms. Members can open a private project room with another member to share a brief, messages, files, notes, quotes and invoices. Only the two members in the project (and administrators, as described in the Privacy Policy) can see it.
• itwala is not a party. Agreements made in a project room — including accepted quotes — are between the two members. itwala doesn’t employ, vet, guarantee or supervise members, doesn’t hold or process payments between members, and isn’t responsible for the work, its quality, delivery or payment. Settle disagreements with each other; we can remove content or accounts that break these terms but can’t decide who is right.
• Quotes and invoices. Quotes and invoices are documents the member who made them is responsible for. If you charge GST/HST or other taxes, you are responsible for registering, charging the right rate, showing your tax number and sending the tax to the government. A quote accepted on itwala is a record that the client agreed to it; check it before accepting.
• Hiring itwala. If you hire itwala itself through a project room, the quote we send and these terms are our agreement with you.
• Reviews. After a project is marked done, each member can leave one review of the other (1 to 5 stars and an optional comment), and edit it for 30 days. Reviews must be honest, about your own experience on that project, and follow the Community Guidelines. Don’t offer or accept anything in exchange for a review, review yourself, or threaten a bad review. Members can report a review; we may remove reviews that break the rules, but we don’t check whether reviews are true.

9c. “Looking for…” posts and the People directory

• “Looking for…” posts. Members can post what they need (for example a website or a plumber) and other members can reply with an offer. Posts are visible to logged-in members. Choosing a reply opens a project room. Posts close automatically after 30 days. Don’t post anything illegal, adult, misleading, or a job that requires a licence you know the other person lacks.
• People directory. You can choose to be listed in the People directory, which logged-in members can search by name, city, category and rating. You can leave it at any time in Settings → Trust & visibility.

9d. Verification badges

• Verified (blue tick, $1 CAD a month). You send business documents, a government photo ID and a live photo taken with your camera while holding a code we show you, and pay $1 CAD a month — from your itwala credit (renewed from your credit every 30 days) or by a card subscription through Stripe. A person at itwala compares them — no face-recognition software is used. The badge shows while your documents are approved and your month is paid; it’s removed if you cancel and the month ends, if a payment fails or there isn’t enough credit for more than 7 days, or if we revoke it. If a month paid from credit isn’t approved, the credit is returned. You can cancel any time and keep the badge until the end of the month you paid for. If your request isn’t approved, we cancel the subscription. You must be 18 or older. Payments already made aren’t refunded, except where the law requires. itwala’s own accounts (the owner and administrators) always show the Verified badge.
• Website verified means you proved control of the website on your profile by placing a code we gave you on it. It disappears if you change your website.
• Business number checked means an administrator checked the business name and Canada Revenue Agency business number you gave against public records.
• Website proof on a portfolio item means the code we gave the member was found on that website (a file, a page tag or a DNS record) — so the member or their client controls it. We re-check it every 30 days. GitHub means the member signed in with GitHub and their account could change that code repository when we checked.
• Verified by client on a portfolio item means the member named next to it confirmed the project. itwala doesn’t check it. Changing the item’s title, role, client or link removes the tick, and the client can withdraw their confirmation.
• What badges don’t mean. A badge shows that certain documents or confirmations were checked on a date. It isn’t a licence, a background or credit check, insurance, an endorsement or a guarantee of anyone’s identity, honesty, qualifications or work. Sending false or someone else’s documents, or giving a false confirmation, breaks these terms, and we may remove badges, cancel subscriptions and close accounts.
• Records kept for disputes. We keep verification records and client confirmations to help resolve disputes between members about projects, to deal with fraud, and to answer legal requests — see the Privacy Policy for what we keep and for how long. In a dispute about a project, we may tell the other member of that project the verified legal name and business name of the member involved. We never give your ID or live photo to other members; we give them to police or a court only when the law requires it.

9e. itwala isn’t responsible for members’ claims

Members and businesses write their own profiles, portfolios, listings, posts, quotes and invoices and are responsible for them. itwala doesn’t check everything members say and isn’t responsible for false or misleading claims, fraud, or the conduct, work, products, services or payments of any member or business on itwala — including members who have a badge. Agreements between members are between them; itwala isn’t a party. Check for yourself before you hire, pay or share personal information, and report anything suspicious. This section applies to the extent the law allows and doesn’t limit rights that can’t be limited (see section 12).

9f. Your portfolio

• You can show projects, clients and websites on your profile. Only show work you really did, and describe your role honestly.
• Clients. Name a client only if they agreed to be named. Don’t share a client’s private or confidential information, or use their logo or photos unless you have the right to. If you link an itwala project, the other member can remove the link and their name at any time.
• Links must be safe, public https websites. We may remove items that are false, unsafe or break the Community Guidelines.

9g. Usernames and public pages

You can choose a username for your public page (itwala.ca/yourname). Usernames must not impersonate another person, business or itwala, mislead, or break the Community Guidelines; some names are reserved. We may take back a username that breaks these terms or that a business or person has a clear right to. Once you turn on free @itwala.ca email forwarding, your username is your email address: it can’t be changed afterwards, and it’s never given to anyone else, even after your account is deleted. Anything on your public page can be seen by anyone, so only include what you’re happy to share publicly.

9h. Free @itwala.ca email forwarding

• What it is. You can turn on yourusername@itwala.ca for free: email sent to it is forwarded to the email address on your itwala account, through our email provider Forward Email. Forwarding only receives — replies come from your own email. It’s offered as is, and we may change or end it.
• Rules. You’re responsible for how you use your address. Don’t use it for spam, phishing, scams, harassment, or to pretend to be someone else or itwala, and follow the Community Guidelines. We may turn off forwarding that breaks these rules or that our email provider flags.
• Your address. Once forwarding is turned on, your username is your email address: it can’t be changed, and it’s never given to anyone else, even after your account is deleted. Turning forwarding off, or deleting your account, stops the forwarding.
• Not responsible. itwala isn’t responsible for email you send or receive, for messages that are delayed, lost or filtered as spam, or for losses from forwarding being turned off, to the extent the law allows.

9i. Weekly summary email

If you turn it on, we send a weekly email with activity on itwala and the sponsored top 3. It’s off unless you choose it, and every email has an unsubscribe link.

10. Changes to itwala and to these terms

We may change, suspend or stop any part of itwala. If we make important changes to these terms we will tell members on the site at least 30 days before they take effect (changes to prices or to how the top 10 works won’t affect bids already placed), update the date above, and, where the law requires it, ask for your agreement again. If you don’t agree, you can delete your account before the changes take effect.

11. Ending your account

You can delete your account at any time in Settings → Your information. We may suspend or delete accounts that break these terms or put members or itwala at risk. What happens to your data is explained in the Privacy Policy.

12. No warranty and limits on liability

itwala is a free service provided “as is” and “as available”. To the extent the law allows, we don’t promise it will always be available, secure or error-free, and we aren’t responsible for content posted by members or linked sites, or for members’ claims, conduct or work (see section 9e), or for indirect, incidental or consequential losses, loss of data or loss of profits. To the extent the law allows, our total liability to you for any claim about itwala is limited to CAD $100. You agree to compensate us for claims by others that arise from content you post or from your breaking these terms, to the extent the law allows. Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under consumer protection laws that can’t be waived, including Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act, or our liability for our own fault where the law doesn’t allow it to be limited.

13. Law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply there, and the courts of Ontario have jurisdiction — except that if you are a consumer living in another province (including Quebec), you keep the protection of the mandatory laws of your province and may bring a claim in its courts. Please contact us first at hello@itwala.ca; most problems can be solved quickly.

14. General

If part of these terms can’t be enforced, the rest still applies. If we don’t enforce a term right away, we can still enforce it later. These terms, the Privacy Policy and the Community Guidelines are the whole agreement between you and us about itwala. We may transfer this agreement as part of a sale or reorganisation of the business, and we will tell you if that happens. You may not transfer it. Other companies’ names. itwala is independent and isn’t affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Meta Platforms (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) or any other social network. Names of other services, such as those used for linked profiles, are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify those services. These terms are written in English, and by accepting them you agree to use them in English.

15. Contact

itwala · hello@itwala.ca