Terms & conditions
These Terms and Conditions govern your access to and use of The Watchers website, including our news articles, features, comments, subscription services, user accounts, newsletters, and other website functions.
By accessing or using this website, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree with these Terms, you should not use the website.
In these Terms, “The Watchers,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the operator of The Watchers website. “Website” refers to watchers.news and any related pages, services, features, or content operated under The Watchers brand.
Information on this website
The information published on this website, including news items, articles, analysis, commentary, alerts, graphics, data references, and user-submitted content, is provided for general information, public-interest reporting, research, and educational purposes.
We aim to publish accurate, timely, and clearly sourced information. However, we do not guarantee that all information on the website will be complete, current, error-free, or suitable for a specific purpose.
The Watchers covers natural hazards, space weather, Earth science, astronomy, environmental events, scientific research, and related public-interest topics. Information published on this website should not be treated as official emergency guidance, legal advice, medical advice, financial advice, engineering advice, or operational instruction.
Readers should consult official authorities, qualified professionals, primary sources, or competent institutions before making safety, legal, medical, financial, operational, or other important decisions based on information found on this website.
We are not responsible for losses, damages, actions, or decisions resulting from reliance on information published on the website.
Editorial control
The Watchers exercises editorial judgment over the material it publishes. We may cover a wide range of scientific, environmental, natural hazard, space weather, astronomical, technological, and public-interest topics.
Publication of an article, quote, external link, third-party post, embedded material, or user comment does not imply endorsement by The Watchers of every view, claim, source, product, service, or opinion referenced.
We may update, correct, clarify, expand, archive, restrict, or remove published material at our discretion, including when new information becomes available, when an error is identified, when legal concerns arise, or when editorial standards require revision.
Corrections and updates
We aim to correct significant factual errors when they are identified and verified. Corrections, clarifications, or updates may be added to articles, incorporated into the text, or handled through editorial revision, depending on the nature of the issue.
Readers may report possible factual errors by contacting us and identifying the article URL, the specific issue, and any relevant source material.
User accounts and conduct
Some website functions may require user registration or an active account. Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their account credentials and for all activity conducted through their account.
Users must not use the website to post, upload, transmit, or distribute material that is unlawful, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harassing, hateful, discriminatory, misleading, fraudulent, spam, malware, privacy-infringing, copyright-infringing, or otherwise harmful.
Users must not attempt to interfere with the security, availability, integrity, or normal operation of the website. This includes unauthorized access attempts, automated abuse, scraping that overloads the website, spam registrations, malicious code, or attempts to bypass access controls.
We may suspend, restrict, or terminate accounts, comments, submissions, subscriptions, or access to website features where we believe these Terms, applicable law, site security rules, editorial standards, or the rights of others have been violated.
Comments and user-submitted content
Users are solely responsible for the content they submit, post, upload, email, or otherwise transmit to or through the website. This includes comments, reports, articles, news tips, photographs, graphics, videos, messages, and other material.
The Watchers is not responsible for user-submitted content and does not guarantee its accuracy, integrity, legality, or quality. User-submitted content may contain views, claims, or information that do not reflect the views of The Watchers.
By submitting content to the website, you confirm that you have the necessary rights, permissions, and authority to submit that content and that your submission does not violate applicable law or the rights of any third party.
By submitting content to The Watchers, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, display, publish, edit, excerpt, distribute, archive, and adapt that content in connection with the website, our reporting, newsletters, social media channels, archives, editorial products, promotional material, and related services.
You retain ownership of any rights you hold in your submitted content, subject to the license granted above.
We reserve the right, but do not have an obligation, to monitor, review, edit, refuse, hide, remove, or delete user-submitted content at any time and for any reason, including if we believe it violates these Terms, applicable law, our editorial standards, our policies, or the rights of others.
Content moderation and illegal content notices
Users and third parties may report unlawful content, copyright concerns, abusive conduct, spam, impersonation, security issues, or other violations by contacting us.
Reports should include the specific URL or location of the content, a description of the issue, the reason the content is believed to be unlawful or in violation of these Terms, and contact information for follow-up where appropriate.
Where required by applicable law, we may provide information about significant moderation decisions and available review options. We may also restrict, remove, or disable access to content or accounts when required by law, competent authority, hosting provider rules, payment processor rules, security requirements, or our own policies.
Subscription services and paid access
Some parts of the website may be available only to registered users or paid subscribers. Subscription plans, prices, billing periods, renewal terms, and included benefits are displayed at the point of purchase or on the relevant subscription page.
Subscriptions may renew automatically unless canceled before the next billing date. Users are responsible for managing their subscription and payment method through their account area or by contacting us.
Cancellation stops future billing but does not automatically result in a refund for the current billing period unless required by applicable law or expressly stated at the time of purchase.
Access to subscriber-only content may begin immediately after payment. Where applicable law provides a withdrawal or cooling-off right for digital content or digital services, this right may be affected once digital access has begun with the user’s consent.
We may change subscription prices, features, access rules, or benefits. Where required by applicable law, material changes will be communicated before they take effect.
We may suspend or terminate paid access if payment fails, if fraud or misuse is detected, if an account violates these Terms, or if required by law or payment processor rules.
Payments and third-party processors
Payments may be processed by third-party payment providers such as Stripe, PayPal, or other services. Payment processing is subject to the terms, privacy policies, and security practices of those providers.
The Watchers does not store full payment card details on its own servers. Users should review the applicable payment provider’s terms and privacy information before completing a transaction.
Newsletters and communications
Users may subscribe to newsletters, email alerts, account notices, subscription notices, or other communications. Users may unsubscribe from marketing or newsletter communications using the unsubscribe link provided in the message or by contacting us.
We may still send necessary service, account, billing, security, legal, or administrative communications where required for the operation of the website or user account.
Third-party websites, embeds, and services
The website may contain links to third-party websites, embedded content, social media posts, videos, maps, data services, advertisements, sponsor material, affiliate links, or other external resources.
Third-party websites and services are not controlled by The Watchers. We are not responsible for their content, accuracy, availability, privacy practices, security practices, advertising, products, services, or code.
Links to third-party websites are provided for reference, attribution, convenience, reporting, or context. Such links do not constitute endorsement, approval, sponsorship, or responsibility by The Watchers unless expressly stated.
When you leave this website or interact with third-party services, different terms, privacy policies, cookie practices, and data-processing rules may apply.
Advertising, sponsorships, and affiliate links
The website may display advertising, sponsorship messages, affiliate links, promotional placements, or other commercial material.
Advertising or sponsorship does not influence our editorial judgment unless clearly disclosed as sponsored, promotional, paid, or otherwise commercial content.
Affiliate links, if used, may generate a commission or other benefit for The Watchers at no additional cost to the user. We aim to disclose such relationships where appropriate.
Privacy and cookies
Use of this website is also governed by our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy, where applicable. These documents explain how personal data, cookies, analytics, advertising technologies, account information, payment-related information, and other data may be collected, used, stored, and shared.
Users should review those policies separately. These Terms do not replace the Privacy Policy or Cookie Policy.
Copyright, license, and third-party material
Except where otherwise noted, original text content published by The Watchers is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This license permits non-commercial reuse of the original Watchers text content, provided that proper attribution is given and the use complies with the license terms.
The Creative Commons license does not apply to third-party photographs, graphics, videos, maps, charts, logos, trademarks, agency material, embedded content, social media posts, screenshots, data products, source excerpts, or any other material credited to or owned by third parties.
Third-party material may appear on this website under license, permission, public-domain status, open-license terms, official-source terms, embed functionality, or applicable copyright exceptions and limitations, including reporting, criticism, comment, research, education, and public-interest information purposes.
Such use does not mean that third-party material is licensed for reuse by others. Users who wish to reuse third-party material must obtain permission from the relevant rights holder or determine whether their intended use is lawful.
The Watchers name, logo, branding, layout, design, original graphics, and other identifying marks may not be used without permission, except where allowed by law.
Copyright claims and removal requests
If you believe that material published on this website infringes your copyright or other rights, please contact us with the following information:
- your name and contact details;
- identification of the copyrighted work or protected material;
- the URL or location of the material in question;
- a statement explaining your claim;
- confirmation that you are the rights holder or are authorized to act on behalf of the rights holder.
We will review valid requests and may remove, disable, credit, correct, restrict, or otherwise address the material where appropriate.
Disclaimer and limitation of liability
Your use of this website is at your own risk. The website is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, The Watchers disclaims all warranties, whether express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of accuracy, completeness, timeliness, reliability, availability, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, security, and uninterrupted operation.
We do not warrant that access to the website will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, that the website or server will be free of viruses or other harmful components, or that information published on the website will always be complete, accurate, current, or reliable.
If you download, access, or use any material from the website, you do so at your own discretion and risk. You are responsible for any damage to your device, system, network, software, or data that may result.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, The Watchers shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, or other damages arising from the use of, or inability to use, the website or materials published on it.
We are not liable for defamatory, offensive, unlawful, inaccurate, misleading, or harmful conduct or content submitted by users or third parties.
Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability where such limitation or exclusion is not permitted by applicable law.
Website security notice
For site security, abuse prevention, performance, and service availability, this website and its hosting infrastructure may use software tools, logs, firewalls, analytics, and security systems that monitor traffic and detect unauthorized activity.
Anyone using this website consents to reasonable security monitoring necessary to protect the website, users, infrastructure, and services.
Unauthorized attempts to access, disrupt, upload to, modify, overload, scrape abusively, interfere with, or compromise our systems are prohibited. Such activity may be logged and, where appropriate, reported to hosting providers, security services, payment processors, or competent authorities.
Availability and changes to the website
We may change, suspend, restrict, or remove the website or any part of it at any time, with or without notice.
We may modify, discontinue, or restrict access to features, subscription benefits, comment functions, user accounts, archives, newsletters, tools, feeds, or other services.
We are not liable for any modification, suspension, restriction, or discontinuation of the website or any part of it.
Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. The updated version will be posted on this page with a new “last modified” date.
Continued use of the website after changes take effect means that you accept the updated Terms.
Waiver and severability
Failure by The Watchers to enforce any provision of these Terms shall not be considered a waiver of that provision or of any right or remedy.
If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable, that provision shall be interpreted to the maximum extent permitted by law, and the remaining provisions shall remain valid and enforceable.
Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws applicable to the operator of The Watchers, without prejudice to any mandatory consumer protection rights that may apply in a user’s country of residence.
Contact
For questions about these Terms, copyright claims, subscription issues, account access, factual corrections, content moderation, or site security, please contact us through the contact page on the website or by email.
This policy was last modified on May 6, 2026.
