Terms & Conditions

1. About the Verification Circle

The Verification Circle is a private membership community operated by Steve Butler, trading as Luminary Diagnostics. Our registered address is 4 Woodside Cottage, Stockbridge Road, North Waltham, Hampshire, RG25 2BA.

The Verification Circle exists to help professionals understand, verify, and strengthen human control over AI. It provides access to research, structured intelligence, debate infrastructure, and QUORO -a constitutional intelligence agent.

By subscribing to any membership tier, you agree to these terms in full.

2. Membership Terms

Membership is available at two tiers:

Membership is personal and non-transferable. Your login credentials must not be shared with third parties. Sharing access constitutes a material breach of these terms and will result in immediate termination without refund.

Content within the Verification Circle -including whitepapers, books, session recordings, and QUORO intelligence -is for member use only and must not be reproduced, shared, or distributed without written permission.

3. Payment and Cancellation

Payment

Membership fees are billed monthly in advance via Stripe. Payment is taken on the date of subscription and on the same date each subsequent month. All prices are in GBP and include VAT where applicable.

If payment fails, access may be suspended until payment is successfully processed.

Introductory pricing

Current membership rates are introductory and will increase as the Verification Circle grows. The rate you subscribe at is the rate you keep for as long as your membership remains active and uninterrupted. If you cancel and later resubscribe, the then-current rate will apply.

Cancellation

You may cancel your membership at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. You will retain full access until that date. No partial refunds are issued for unused days within a billing period.

To cancel, email hello@verification-circle.com with your registered email address and membership tier.

Refunds

Refunds are not issued for completed billing periods. If you believe a charge has been made in error, contact us within 7 days and we will review the matter.

4. Access and Conduct

The Verification Circle is a professional community. Members are expected to engage in good faith, with respect for other members and the purpose of the community.

We reserve the right to terminate membership without refund if a member:

• Shares access credentials or content with non-members
• Uses the community for commercial solicitation without permission
• Engages in conduct that is abusive, discriminatory, or harmful to other members
• Misrepresents their identity or professional background
• Attempts to circumvent access controls or security measures

We reserve the right to modify or withdraw content, features, or access methods with reasonable notice. Material changes to what is included in a membership tier will be communicated by email at least 30 days in advance.

5. Intellectual Property

All content within the Verification Circle -including but not limited to whitepapers, books, session content, QUORO's constitution and outputs, the Six Laws of Epistemic Opposition, the Eleven Laws of Human Governability, and the Laws of Pre-Emptive Governance -is the intellectual property of Steve Butler.

Membership grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to access and use content for your own professional purposes. It does not transfer ownership of any intellectual property.

You may not reproduce, republish, sell, license, or distribute any content from the Verification Circle without express written permission.

Brief quotation for professional or academic commentary, with clear attribution to Steve Butler and the Verification Circle, is permitted.

6. QUORO Terms of Use

QUORO is a constitutional intelligence agent governed by the Six Laws of Epistemic Opposition. He is available to Verification Circle members as part of their membership.

What QUORO is

QUORO is designed to support structured, governed thinking. He classifies his outputs using the EP1/EP2/EP3 epistemic framework -distinguishing verified fact, reasoned inference, and speculation. He is built to be honest about uncertainty rather than to manufacture confidence.

What QUORO is not

QUORO is an intelligence and reasoning tool. His outputs are designed to support your thinking -not to replace your judgement, your professional advisers, or your organisation's governance processes.

Epistemic classification

QUORO labels his outputs as EP1 (verified fact), EP2 (reasoned inference), or EP3 (prediction or speculation). Members should apply appropriate weight to each classification. EP3 outputs in particular are QUORO's reasoned judgement under uncertainty -not confirmed facts.

Accuracy and limitations

QUORO operates with a knowledge base that has a training and update cutoff. He may not have information about very recent events. Where he is uncertain, he is designed to say so. However, no AI system is infallible. Members should verify EP1 claims from primary sources where the decision is consequential.

Hard limits

QUORO will not produce content that could cause harm, violate the Six Laws of Epistemic Opposition, or compromise the integrity of the Verification Circle. Attempts to prompt QUORO to override his constitution will be declined.

Member responsibility

You are responsible for how you use QUORO's outputs. Luminary Diagnostics accepts no liability for decisions made on the basis of QUORO's analysis.

7. Data and Privacy

We collect and process your personal data in accordance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Our lawful basis for processing is performance of a contract (your membership) and, where applicable, our legitimate interests in operating and improving the service.

What we collect

• Name and email address (for account creation, authentication, and communications)
• Payment information (processed and stored securely by Stripe — we do not store card details)
• Authentication data (managed by Netlify Identity — your login credentials are stored securely by Netlify)
• Conversation content (when you interact with QUORO — see below)
• Usage information (to maintain and improve the service)

How we use it

• To provide and manage your membership
• To send you relevant community updates and content
• To process payments and manage billing
• To comply with legal obligations

QUORO conversations and Chatbase

QUORO is powered by Chatbase, a third-party AI platform operated by Chatbase Inc. (United States). When you send a message to QUORO, that conversation is transmitted to and processed by Chatbase's servers, which are located in the United States. This constitutes an international transfer of personal data outside the UK.

Chatbase acts as a data processor on our behalf. We have entered into appropriate data processing arrangements with Chatbase. Conversation data is used to generate QUORO's responses and may be retained by Chatbase in accordance with their own data retention policies. We do not share individual conversation content with other members or third parties beyond Chatbase's processing role.

If you do not wish your conversations to be processed by Chatbase, you should not use the QUORO chat interface. All other membership features remain available.

Third-party processors

We use the following third-party services, each acting as a data processor:

• Stripe — payment processing (operates under its own privacy policy and DPA)
• Netlify — website hosting and member authentication (Netlify Identity)
• Chatbase Inc. — AI conversation processing for QUORO (US-based; international transfer applies)
• Mailerlite — email communications

We do not sell your data to any third party.

Cookies

This site uses cookies necessary for authentication (Netlify Identity) and payment processing (Stripe). QUORO's interface (Chatbase) may also set cookies. By using this site and its member features, you consent to these functional cookies. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.

Your rights

You have the right to access, correct, or request deletion of your personal data at any time. You also have the right to data portability and to object to processing based on legitimate interests. To exercise any of these rights, email hello@verification-circle.com. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Liability and Disclaimers

The Verification Circle provides intelligence, analysis, and community infrastructure for professional development. It is not a regulated advisory service.

To the fullest extent permitted by law:

• We do not warrant that content or QUORO outputs are complete, accurate, or suitable for any particular purpose
• We accept no liability for decisions made on the basis of content or analysis provided through the Verification Circle
• We accept no liability for any indirect, consequential, or economic loss arising from use of the service
• Our total liability to any member for any claim shall not exceed the membership fees paid in the three months preceding the claim

Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be excluded by law.

The Verification Circle is operated from England and Wales. These terms are governed by English law. Any disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

9. Changes to These Terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated to members by email at least 14 days before taking effect. Continued membership after that date constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

The current version of these terms is always available at this URL. The effective date at the top of the page reflects the most recent revision.

10. Contact

For any questions about these terms, your membership, or your data, please contact: