Terms of Use

Using Tortoise constitutes use subject to these Terms. By accessing or using Tortoise 40, you agree to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree with them, do not use the service.

Tortoise provides software and tools for planning-project information, public participation, engagement, analysis, project communication, and related workflows.

Tortoise is a software service. It is not a planning department, a law firm, or an engineering firm, and it does not provide professional planning, legal, or engineering advice.

Unless expressly stated by the responsible public agency, information displayed or generated through Tortoise does not constitute an official zoning interpretation, development approval, entitlement decision, legal determination, engineering determination, or other governmental action.

Public input collected through Tortoise is input. It is not a decision, and it does not by itself change a plan, a policy, or an approval.

Users are responsible for the information they submit and must not:

Comments, surveys, map input, and other public submissions may be used by project teams as part of planning and engagement processes.

Submission does not guarantee that a recommendation will be adopted or acted upon. A project team may group, summarize, or report on submissions, but original submissions are preserved as the record.

Users retain ownership of content they are legally entitled to submit.

Submitting content grants Tortoise and the applicable project organization the limited rights reasonably necessary to host, process, display where authorized, analyze, export, preserve, and otherwise operate the project.

Tortoise does not claim ownership over agency documents or participant submissions.

Tortoise retains rights in its platform, branding, software, interface, original designs, workflows, documentation, proprietary materials, and other Tortoise-owned intellectual property, subject to applicable law and third-party rights.

Users receive only the limited right necessary to use the platform. See the Intellectual Property page for how that is applied.

Users must not:

Fictional demonstration projects, including Creosote Valley 2045, are illustrative only. Demonstration data must not be represented as actual government findings or public input.

Some features use automated assistance. What that does, and what it does not do, is set out in the AI and Automated Analysis notice, which forms part of these Terms.

Tortoise may rely on infrastructure, mapping, AI, hosting, analytics, email, or other service providers.

Those providers change from time to time, so they are not listed by name here. The current categories in use are described in the Privacy Policy and are available on request through the legal contact.

Tortoise does not guarantee uninterrupted operation. Features may change, and access may be suspended for maintenance, security, or operational reasons.

The service is provided on an as-available basis. To the extent permitted by applicable law, Tortoise is not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential losses arising from use of the service.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

These Terms are governed by the law of the jurisdiction recorded in the platform's legal configuration.

These Terms may be updated. Each version carries its own effective date, shown at the top of this page, and continued use after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

Organization accounts are asked to accept the current version when they are created.