Terms & Conditions

These terms are an agreement between you and HCF Infosec Private Limited, which operates HATCon. By creating an account, attending an event, or otherwise using hatcon.org, you accept them. If you do not accept them, please do not use the platform.

Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal data and forms part of this agreement.

• You must be old enough to enter a binding agreement in your jurisdiction to hold an account.
• Provide accurate information about yourself, and keep your profile up to date.
• One account per person. Do not share access to your account.
• Sign-in is passwordless, so protect access to the email address on your account.
• You are responsible for activity that takes place through your account.

HATCon runs on a published code of conduct. It is not decoration — it is a condition of using the platform and attending events. In summary: respect people, challenge ideas rather than individuals, share without showing off, give credit, respect privacy, and build responsibly.

Harassment, intimidation and discrimination have no place in the community. Neither does using HATCon to harvest leads or run unsolicited mass outreach.

You keep ownership of everything you post — your profile, messages, and anything else you contribute. You are responsible for having the right to post it.

You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce and display your content strictly for the purpose of operating the platform and showing it to the audience your visibility settings allow. This licence ends when you delete the content or your account, except for copies retained as described in the Privacy Policy.

We may remove content that breaches these terms or the code of conduct.

Tickets are issued to a named person and are for personal use. Event dates, venues, formats and speakers may change, and an event may be postponed or cancelled.

Attending an event also means agreeing to the code of conduct and to any venue rules. We may refuse entry to, or remove, anyone who breaches them.

• Break the law, or use HATCon to help someone else break it.
• Harass, threaten, impersonate or intentionally mislead other members.
• Scrape, bulk-export or systematically collect member data.
• Send unsolicited bulk messages, spam or mass sales outreach.
• Probe, attack or attempt to gain unauthorised access to the platform or another member's account.
• Upload malware, or interfere with the platform's normal operation.
• Publish private conversations, recordings or photographs without the consent of the people involved.

HATCon actively encourages security research. Responsible research is welcome; activity intended to cause harm, or testing against production without authorisation, is not.

The HATCon name, wordmark, branding, site design and software are owned by us or our licensors. Nothing in these terms transfers those rights to you. You may not copy the platform, or use our branding, without written permission.

The platform links to external sites and relies on third-party services. We do not control them and are not responsible for their content, their availability, or their handling of your data. Their terms and privacy policies apply to your use of them.

You can delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate an account that breaches these terms or the code of conduct, or where it is necessary to protect the community or comply with the law.

Where circumstances reasonably allow, we will tell you why, and give you an opportunity to respond.

HATCon is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We do not guarantee uninterrupted availability, and we do not verify the identity, credentials, claims or conduct of members beyond the checks described on the platform.

Introductions, conversations and opportunities discovered through HATCon are between the people involved. Nothing on the platform is professional, financial, legal or investment advice, and we are not a party to any agreement you reach with another member.

To the maximum extent the law permits, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss, or for lost profits, revenue, data, or business opportunities arising from your use of the platform.

You agree to indemnify us against claims, losses and reasonable costs arising from your breach of these terms, your misuse of the platform, or content you post that infringes someone else's rights.

The platform is actively developed, and features may be added, changed or removed. We may also update these terms. When a change is material we will give notice in the product before it takes effect, and continuing to use HATCon afterwards means you accept the updated terms.

Questions about these terms can be sent to our legal contact.