Website rules

Accounts and identity

One user — one account.

Creating multiple accounts is not allowed. Accounts created to bypass moderation or restrictions will be removed.

We support verification and real names.

We especially value users who have verified their accounts and use their real names. This increases trust within the community and improves interaction between authors.

Account security is your responsibility.

The hand-made.world administration has no access to your password or PIN code. These credentials are stored in encrypted form.

We cannot change your password, PIN code, or email address for you. This can only be done by you in your profile settings.

If you lose access to your account, please use the official recovery procedure (see the dedicated tutorial).

The most secure account is a verified account with a remembered PIN code. Even if an account is stolen, a verified name and PIN code cannot be changed, which is sufficient to restore access.

Content and authorship

You are the author and owner of your content.

All photographs, texts, and stories you publish on hand-made.world belong to you.

We respect the photograph as the photographer created it.

hand-made.world has strong respect for photography as a complete statement made by the author.

Image captions and story texts are written or approved by the photographers themselves. The opinions expressed belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of hand-made.world as an organization.

Do not publish other people’s work.

Uploading photographs, texts, or other materials that are the intellectual property of third parties without explicit permission and proper attribution is prohibited.

Such content will be removed. Accounts that systematically use other people’s intellectual property without permission will be deleted.

If we receive a complaint from a rights holder or an authorized representative, we remove or restrict content that:

• infringes copyright;
• infringes trademark rights.

Storage and access to materials

hand-made.world is not a file hosting service.

The platform is not intended for storing archives or backups of photographs.

We make every effort to securely store your texts and images, but accounts used primarily as file storage may be removed.

We do not hide or encrypt images.

Everything published on the internet can potentially be copied.

Please do not upload photographs if you are not comfortable with the possibility that others may save or download them.

Communication and comments

Be polite and respectful.

Misunderstandings happen easily online. We ask everyone to maintain a respectful and friendly tone in comments.

Critique is allowed and encouraged — if it is constructive.

You may critique photographs, but criticism should be thoughtful and respectful.

A good practice is to point out strengths as well as weaknesses when giving feedback.

Private messages and privacy

We do not read your private messages.

The administration has no access to your direct messages.

In exceptional cases, access may be granted only to a super administrator and only for serious reasons.

Because of this, reports about insults or spam in private messages may be reviewed more slowly than public content.

We have no access to financial data.

hand-made.world does not request or store bank card details or other financial information.

Accordingly, the administration has no access to such data.

Prohibited and sensitive content

We prohibit the publication of:

• images of sexual acts;
• content of an explicitly sexual nature, including digitally created content;
• any sexual or erotic content involving minors.

Exceptions may apply only for educational purposes and are reviewed individually.

We remove content that promotes violence or depicts enjoyment of the suffering or humiliation of others.

At the same time, we allow difficult and disturbing content if it helps raise awareness of important issues, such as human rights violations, war, or terrorism.

Such content may include warnings and age restrictions (18+).

Story selection and publication

All stories on hand-made.world are curated.

The publication process is a dialogue, an educational experience, and a collaboration.

Becoming a published hand-made.world photographer is not a competition, but a conscious path that helps authors grow.