Terms of use

These terms apply when you use The Daily Smile: this website, the app and the email edition. By using them, you agree to these terms. We wrote them to be read, so they’re short.

1. Who we are

The Daily Smile (“we”, “us”) is a news service based in Belgium. You can reach us through the contact form on this website.

2. What The Daily Smile is

Every morning we publish one short edition with the day’s main news, written calmly, plus good news from your region, the country and the world. The free edition stays free.

Plus and the Organisations plan add extra features. Until payments open, you can join the waiting list or contact us; nothing is charged.

3. Your account

You log in with a link or code we email you; there are no passwords. Keep access to your email address safe, because whoever can read it can log in. Give us your real name and email, and use your account only for yourself. You must be 13 or older.

4. Paid plans

Once paid plans open, the price is shown before you pay. Prices for people include VAT; prices for organisations exclude VAT. A plan renews every month or year until you cancel it, and cancelling takes effect at the end of the period you paid for.

As a consumer in the EU, you have 14 days to withdraw from a purchase without giving a reason. When you ask us to start right away, you pay for the days you used. A gifted year can’t be refunded once it’s been activated.

5. Our stories

We write our stories with the help of AI, in our own words, from several trusted sources, and we check every claim against those sources. Every story is labelled as AI-written and links all its sources.

We work carefully, but we can still make mistakes. Our stories are general news, not personal advice (for example medical, legal or financial). When we get something wrong, we correct it and list it on our public corrections page.

6. What you can and can’t do

You may read, share links to and quote our stories for personal use. You may not:

• copy, scrape or resell our stories or editions in bulk, or use them to train AI models;
• show the edition on a screen or in a newsletter for an organisation without the Organisations plan;
• misuse the service, for example by sending spam, breaking our security or pretending to be someone else.

7. Our name and work

The texts, the name The Daily Smile, the sun mascot and the design are ours. The sources we link to belong to their owners; when you follow a link, their terms apply.

8. Availability

We do our best to publish the edition every day and to keep the service online, but we can’t promise it will never be late or unavailable. We may change or improve features over time.

9. Liability

We are responsible for the service we deliver, as far as the law allows. We are not liable for indirect damage, or for decisions you make based on a story. Nothing in these terms limits the rights you have as a consumer under the law.

10. Ending

You can delete your account at any time in the app, and we delete your data (see our privacy policy). We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, after warning you when that’s possible.

11. Changes to these terms

When we change these terms, we update the date at the top. If a change matters for you, we tell you at least 30 days before it takes effect. If you don’t agree, you can stop using the service and delete your account.

12. Law and disputes

Belgian law applies, and the courts of Brussels are competent, unless the law of the country where you live gives you more protection as a consumer. Have a complaint? Contact us first; we’ll look for a solution together.