Terms of Use and Community Guidelines

Last updated 12 October 2026

Iskra is free voice and text chat for friend groups, on servers that people run themselves. These terms are the rules for using it. We've tried to keep them short and in plain English.

• 1. What Iskra is
• 2. Who runs what
• 3. Community guidelines
• 4. If someone breaks them
• 5. How to report
• 6. Age requirement
• 7. Your account
• 8. If you run a server
• 9. The software and its licence
• 10. No warranty, limited liability
• 11. Changes to these terms
• 12. Law and disputes
• 13. Contact

1. What Iskra is

Iskra is free, source-available software for voice, video and text chat: a desktop app (Windows, macOS, Linux), an Android app, a web app at app.iskra.foo (also installable on phones), and a server that anyone can run on their own computer or a rented one.

There is no central Iskra service that holds everyone's chats. When you join a server, your messages, files and profile are stored on that server, run by its owner. Your account keys are stored on your own devices. Direct messages, group chats and calls in them are end-to-end encrypted. Our privacy policy explains the details.

Iskra is made by Viktor Lundgren ("From a Spark") in Sweden. In these terms, "we" and "the Iskra team" mean him.

2. Who runs what

• Each server is run by its owner. The owner and the moderators they choose are responsible for what happens on their server and for moderating it. They set its rules (on top of these guidelines), decide who can join, and can remove content and people.
• We don't host or see most servers. We can't read their channels, we don't get a copy of their data, and we can't moderate them for their owners.
• We run the websites iskra.foo and app.iskra.foo, and our own server at chat.iskra.foo. On chat.iskra.foo we are the server owner and moderate it ourselves.

These terms apply to everyone who uses Iskra: the apps, the websites, and any Iskra server. Server owners can add their own rules, but they can't allow what these guidelines forbid.

3. Community guidelines

Iskra has zero tolerance for objectionable content and abusive users. Don't post, send, share, stream or link to:

• Harassment or bullying: targeting, intimidating, insulting or ganging up on someone, or carrying on after they've asked you to stop.
• Hate: attacking or demeaning people because of their race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age or similar characteristics.
• Threats and violence: threatening anyone, encouraging violence, or glorifying violent attacks.
• Sexual content involving minors: any of it, ever, including drawn or generated content and sexual talk with minors. We report it to the authorities.
• Non-consensual intimate content: sharing, or threatening to share, intimate images or videos of someone without their consent.
• Illegal content and activity: anything illegal where you or the server are, such as selling drugs or weapons, fraud, or pirated material.
• Spam and scams: unwanted bulk messages, phishing, fake giveaways, malware, or tricking people out of money, accounts or recovery keys.
• Promoting self-harm or suicide: encouraging or instructing anyone to hurt themselves. (Talking about your own struggles to get support is fine. If someone is in danger, contact local emergency services.)
• Impersonation: pretending to be another person, a server's staff, or the Iskra team to mislead people.
• Doxxing: sharing someone's private information (such as their address, phone number, or real identity if they haven't shared it) without their consent.

Also don't try to break, overload or get around the security of Iskra servers or other people's devices, and don't use Iskra to get around a ban.

4. If someone breaks them

• Server moderators can delete messages and files, time people out, kick them, and ban them from their server. They can also use AutoMod and slow mode, and the server keeps an audit log of these actions.
• The Iskra team can remove content and block accounts on servers we run (such as chat.iskra.foo). There is no central Iskra account, so we can't ban someone from a server we don't run; for those, it's up to the server's owner.
• Where the law requires it, or someone may be in danger, content and information can be passed to the police or other authorities.

Serious or repeated violations lead to a permanent ban. You can also block anyone yourself: it stops their DMs and calls to you on every server you share.

5. How to report

• A message or a person on a server: open the message's menu, or the person's menu, and choose Report. The report goes to that server's moderators. They see who reported it; the reported person never does.
• Direct messages and group chats are end-to-end encrypted, so nobody else can read them. You can choose to share the messages with the moderators of a server you both are on (only the messages you pick are shared), and you can block the person.
• Report a safety concern to the Iskra team at spark@iskra.foo for anything moderators don't handle: illegal content, a danger to someone, a server that ignores reports, or a problem on a server we run. The app links to this address under Report. Include the server's address and what happened. We read every email.

If someone is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first (112 in Sweden and the EU).

6. Age requirement

You must be at least 13 years old to use Iskra, or older if your country requires it: you must be old enough to consent to online services yourself where you live. In Sweden that's 13; in some EU countries it's up to 16. If you're under that age, you may only use Iskra with your parent's or guardian's permission, where the law allows it.

Server owners can set a higher age for their server. If you believe a child is using a server we run without permission, email us and we'll act on it.

7. Your account

• Your account is a key pair made on your device. There's no email or password: the keys are stored on your devices, encrypted.
• Keep your recovery key safe (a password manager is ideal). It's the only way to get your account back if you lose all your devices. Nobody can recover it for you, not even us or a server owner. Anyone who has it can use your account.
• You're responsible for what's done with your account. If a device is lost or stolen, remove it in Settings → Devices.
• You can stop using Iskra at any time, and you can delete your account in the app.

What you post is yours. By posting it on a server, you let that server store it and show it to the people who can see that channel, as the app does. You're responsible for having the right to post it.

8. If you run a server

Running an Iskra server makes you its owner. You are responsible for it:

• Moderate it and act on reports in a reasonable time, and keep these guidelines on it.
• You decide what happens to your members' data on your server, so you are responsible for it under privacy law (in the EU, you're the "controller"). The privacy policy explains what a server stores.
• Follow the law where you and your server are, including removing illegal content when you learn about it.

9. The software and its licence

Iskra's source code is available on GitHub under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0. In short: you may use, run, change and share it for any noncommercial purpose (personal use, friend groups, hobby projects, and noncommercial organisations such as schools and charities). Commercial use needs separate permission: ask us. The licence text decides; this is just a summary.

Iskra is free. There are no ads, and no paid tiers. If you want to support it, you can donate, but you never have to.

10. No warranty, limited liability

Iskra is made by one person and given away for free. As far as the law allows, it's provided "as is", without any warranty, and we're not liable for any loss or damage from using it, from servers being unavailable, or from data being lost. Back up what matters (server owners can make backups in Settings → Backup & move).

We're not responsible for what people post, or for servers we don't run.

Nothing in these terms limits your rights as a consumer under Swedish or EU law, or any liability that can't be limited by law (for example for intent or gross negligence).

11. Changes to these terms

If we change these terms, we update this page and its version number (this is version 2026-10-11). The app shows a short summary of the terms and asks you to accept them the first time you use it, and asks again when the version changes. If you don't agree with new terms, you can stop using Iskra and delete your account.

12. Law and disputes

These terms are governed by Swedish law. Disputes are settled by Swedish courts, but if you're a consumer you also keep the protection of the mandatory laws of the country where you live, and you can go to court there. Please contact us first: most things can be sorted out with an email.

13. Contact

Viktor Lundgren ("From a Spark"), Sweden
Email: spark@iskra.foo

See also: Privacy policy · Help & support · Delete your account