Skip to content

Terms of service

Plain-English rules for using Adoptice. Please read them before you buy.

Operator: Boudjelal Maria, trading as Adoptice, an auto-entrepreneur (sole trader) based in Algeria. Postal address: Lot 127, Oued Tarfa, Draria, Algiers, Algeria. Email: contact@adoptice.com. Version 1.0. Last updated 10 October 2026.

1. Who we are

Adoptice (adoptice.com) is run by Boudjelal Maria, trading as Adoptice. She is an auto-entrepreneur (sole trader) based in Algeria. In these Terms, "we" and "us" mean her. "You" means the person using the site. You can reach us at contact@adoptice.com. Postal address: Lot 127, Oued Tarfa, Draria, Algiers, Algeria.

2. What we offer

We run a registry of real glaciers and icebergs. You can follow a piece for free. You can also buy a symbolic adoption and related digital products, such as certificates, printables, portraits and the Crew Pass subscription. The pricing page and each product page say what is included.

3. Symbolic adoption, no ownership

An adoption is symbolic. It links your chosen name to a real glacier or iceberg in our registry. It gives you a certificate and a page. It does not give you ownership of, title to, or any legal right over the ice, the land, the water, the data or the satellite pictures. It is not a donation, not a charitable gift and not an investment. See the Disclaimer.

A glacier has one adopter at a time. An iceberg has two exclusive parent places and any number of guardians. A piece may change or disappear. Icebergs break up and melt, and we then mark the piece as in farewell. That is part of the product and not a defect.

4. Who can use Adoptice

You must be at least 16 years old to create an account or buy, or older if the law where you live sets a higher age. If you are younger, a parent or guardian must use the site for you. You must give a real email address that you control.

5. Your account

You sign in with a link we email to you, or with Google. There is no password. You are responsible for what happens under your account. Tell us at once if you think someone else has access.

6. How buying works

  1. You choose a piece and the options you want. You see the total price before you pay.
  2. You enter the name for the certificate and your email. You can go back and correct anything before you pay.
  3. You tick two boxes: one to accept these Terms and the Refund policy, and one to ask for immediate delivery (see section 9).
  4. You pay in the Lemon Squeezy checkout. The contract is made when the payment is confirmed.
  5. We email you a confirmation with your order details. These Terms stay available on this page, and we keep the version you accepted with your order.

The contract is in English.

7. Prices, tax and the seller

Prices are shown in US dollars and include any tax. There are no extra fees at checkout.

Payments are handled by Lemon Squeezy, which acts as Merchant of Record. This means Lemon Squeezy is the reseller of your order. It takes the payment, collects and pays any sales tax or VAT, and issues your receipt. Its Buyer Terms apply to the payment. These Terms apply to the product and the service we provide. If the two differ on refunds, our refund promise in section 10 still applies, and we ask Lemon Squeezy to make the refund. We never see your full card details.

We may change prices for future orders. A change never affects an order you have already paid for.

8. Delivery

Digital products are delivered in your account and by email, normally within minutes of payment. If something is delayed, we tell you. Certificates carry a unique ID and a QR code that anyone can use to check them.

9. Your legal right of withdrawal

If you live in the EU, the UK or another country with similar law, you normally have a right to withdraw from an online purchase within 14 days, without giving a reason.

  • Digital products (adoptions, certificates, printables, portraits, transfers). The 14 days start on the day of the contract. Because we deliver straight away, this legal right ends once delivery starts, but only if you asked for immediate delivery and accepted that you lose the right. You do this with the second box at checkout. Your order confirmation email repeats it.
  • Crew Pass (a service). You can withdraw within 14 days of the day you subscribe.

In practice, you lose nothing. Our refund promise in section 10 gives everyone, wherever they live, 14 days from payment to get a full refund without giving a reason. To withdraw or ask for a refund, send us a clear message by email or with the contact form. You can use this sentence: "I withdraw from my contract for order [order number], made on [date]. Name: [your name]. Email used: [your email]."

10. Refunds

You can ask for a full refund within 14 days of paying, without giving a reason. This applies to everyone, wherever you live. We refund within 14 days of your request, to the original payment method. A refunded certificate is marked as withdrawn and stops verifying as valid. The Refund policy has the details, including the rules for the Crew Pass and gifts.

11. If something is wrong

If a product is faulty, not as described or does not arrive, tell us. We will fix it, replace it or refund it. This does not depend on the 14 days. You also keep the legal rights that consumer law gives you for faulty digital content and services where you live. Nothing in these Terms takes them away.

12. Crew Pass subscription

The Crew Pass renews automatically each month or each year, at the price shown when you subscribed, until you cancel. Before you subscribe, we show the price, how often you will be charged and how to cancel.

  • You can cancel at any time from your account. The pass then ends at the end of the period you paid for, and you are not charged again.
  • Before an annual pass renews, you receive a reminder by email.
  • If we change the price, we tell you by email at least 30 days before the new price applies. You can cancel before then.

13. Gifts and transfers

You can buy an adoption as a gift. The recipient receives an email with a link to claim it. If the gift is not claimed within 12 months, we release the piece and refund you in full. You can transfer an adoption to another person. The new holder receives a new certificate, and the old one is marked as replaced.

14. Names, nicknames and acceptable use

You may give your piece a symbolic name (nickname). It must not be abusive, hateful, misleading or unlawful. It must not use someone else's name or a trademark without permission. We may reject or remove a name. We may also remove content, or suspend an account, that breaks these rules. We tell you why, unless the law or a fraud investigation prevents it.

Do not misuse the site. This means no scraping that harms it, no attempts to break its security, no false certificates, and no use of our certificates to make others think you own ice.

15. Intellectual property and data credits

The Adoptice name, logo, design and text belong to us. You may share your own certificate and page for personal, non-commercial purposes. Scientific data and pictures belong to their providers. We use them under their licences, which are listed on the Credits page. Glacier data: RGI 7.0 Consortium (2023), Randolph Glacier Inventory, A Dataset of Global Glacier Outlines, Version 7.0, NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center, doi:10.5067/F6JMOVY5NAVZ, CC BY 4.0.

16. No affiliation

Adoptice is an independent registry. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by NASA, ESA, the European Commission, the US National Ice Center, NSIDC, the Randolph Glacier Inventory consortium, or any space agency or government body.

17. Accuracy of data

We work carefully, but scientific data have limits and we may make mistakes. Positions, sizes and pictures are provided as they are. See the Data and methodology page. Tell us about errors and we will correct them.

18. Our liability

We do not exclude or limit liability where the law does not allow it. This includes liability for fraud, for death or personal injury caused by negligence, and your legal rights as a consumer. Subject to that:

  • we are not liable for losses that were not foreseeable when you placed your order;
  • for a paid order, our total liability is limited to the amount you paid for that order;
  • we try to keep the site and registry available, but we cannot promise they will run without interruption.

19. Events outside our control

We are not responsible for delays caused by events we cannot reasonably control, such as a failure of a satellite data source or a major internet outage. If this happens, we tell you, and you can cancel and get a refund for anything not delivered.

20. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms, for example when the law or our products change. We post the new version here with a new version number and date. If a change matters for you, we email account holders at least 30 days before it applies. A change never applies to an order you have already paid for. If you do not accept a change, you can cancel the Crew Pass or close your account before it applies.

21. Ending your account

You can ask to delete your account from the Privacy page of your account. Certificates stay verifiable, but your name is replaced by "a former member". We may close an account that seriously or repeatedly breaks these Terms. We tell you why and refund any unused paid period of the Crew Pass.

22. Transfer of the business

We may transfer these Terms to someone who takes over Adoptice. We will tell you first, and your rights under these Terms will not be reduced. You may not transfer your account, except through the transfer feature in section 13.

23. Governing law, complaints and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of Algeria. If you are a consumer, you also keep the protection of the mandatory consumer laws of the country where you live, and you can bring a claim in the courts of that country. If you have a complaint, please write to us first at contact@adoptice.com. We reply within 2 working days and aim to resolve it within 14 days. We are not part of an alternative dispute resolution scheme.

24. Contact

Boudjelal Maria, trading as Adoptice. Email: contact@adoptice.com. Postal address: Lot 127, Oued Tarfa, Draria, Algiers, Algeria.

Questions about this page? Write to contact@adoptice.com. Related pages: Terms, Privacy policy, Refund policy, Cookie policy, Disclaimer and Accessibility statement.