Terms of Service

Sapiens.lat Last updated: August 4, 2026

This is an English translation of the original Terms and Conditions published in Spanish. In the event of any discrepancy between the two versions, the Spanish version shall prevail.

I. General Provisions

Access to and use of the donations section of this website (hereinafter, the “Site”) is governed by these Terms and Conditions, as well as by the applicable legislation of the Republic of Peru. These rules form part of every donation, whether one-time or recurring, made through the mechanisms provided on the Site, between the users making a donation, hereinafter also the “Donor(s),” and Asociación SAPIENS.LAT, a Peruvian nonprofit association identified with Taxpayer ID (RUC) No. 20612449415, hereinafter “Sapiens” or “the Association.”

On the Site, these donations may appear labeled as “donation,” “contribution,” “monthly subscription,” “one-time gift,” or similar terms. All of them refer to the same legal concept: a donation, as explained in Section II. None of these labels implies the purchase of a product, the provision of a service, or a paid membership with benefits in return.

Acceptance of these Terms and Conditions is required to donate through the Site. By completing the donation process, the Donor confirms having been clearly, understandably, and unambiguously informed of these terms, and represents that they have the legal capacity to contract and to dispose of their own assets under Peruvian law.

Sapiens may update these Terms and Conditions at any time. Changes take effect upon publication in this same section, together with the corresponding “last updated” date.

For any questions related to their donation, the Donor may write to contacto@sapiens.lat.

II. Nature of Donations

A donation to Sapiens is not a purchase and does not create a consumer relationship. It is a gratuitous, voluntary act, what Peruvian law calls an “act of liberality,” governed by the provisions of the Peruvian Civil Code on donation contracts. The Donor does not receive a good or service in return; they voluntarily contribute to sustaining Sapiens’ journalistic, audiovisual, and advocacy work.

For this reason, certain consumer-protection mechanisms specific to the sale of goods, such as product exchanges or returns, or a withdrawal right on a purchase, do not apply to a donation in the same way. This does not leave the Donor unprotected: their specific rights are detailed below, and include the ability to request correction of erroneous or duplicate charges (Section X).

The Site offers two ways to give:

a) One-time donation (also labeled on the Site as a “one-time contribution” or “one-time payment”): a single contribution, for a preset amount or a custom amount entered by the Donor.

b) Monthly or recurring donation (also labeled on the Site as a “monthly subscription”): an automatic charge that repeats every month for the amount chosen by the Donor, until the Donor requests to modify or cancel it under Section IX.

Regardless of the label used in the Site’s interface to refer to these options, both constitute, for all legal purposes, a donation under the terms described in this document. The use of terms such as “subscription” or “contribution” serves communication purposes only and does not change the gratuitous nature of the donation, nor does it create a consumer relationship, a service provided in exchange, or any rights other than those established herein.

III. Donor Rights

The Donor has the right to:

• Receive clear information about the general use Sapiens gives to donated funds (Section XI).
• Know and exercise control over their personal data (Section V).
• Modify or cancel a monthly donation at any time (Section IX).
• Request correction of erroneous or duplicate charges (Section X).
• Receive confirmation and, when applicable, a receipt for each donation (Section VIII).

Simply visiting this section of the Site does not create any obligation for the Donor, unless they have expressly completed and confirmed a donation following the procedure described below.

IV. How to Donate

Sapiens will clearly and accessibly indicate the steps the Donor must follow to complete a donation on the Site. Once a request is received, it goes through a validation process for the data entered and the payment transaction. Once the transaction is confirmed, Sapiens will send the Donor a confirmation by email to the address provided.

The mere fact that the Donor follows the steps indicated on the Site to complete a donation constitutes acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.

V. Personal Data Protection

Personal data provided by the Donor (name, email address, and any other data needed to process the donation and issue the corresponding receipt) will be processed by Sapiens in accordance with Peru’s Law No. 29733, Personal Data Protection Law, and its Regulations (Supreme Decree No. 016-2024-JUS).

This data is used exclusively to manage the donation and issue receipts, and, unless the Donor indicates otherwise, to keep them informed about Sapiens’ work. It is not sold or transferred to third parties outside the Association, with the sole exception of the information strictly necessary to process payment through the Culqi payment gateway.

The Donor may exercise their rights of access, rectification, cancellation, and objection over their personal data by writing to contacto@sapiens.lat.

VI. Payment Methods

Donations made on the Site are processed through the Culqi payment gateway, using credit and debit cards enabled for online transactions. Sapiens does not access, handle, or store its Donors’ financial data: that information is managed directly by Culqi under its own security and encryption protocols.

VII. Data Validation and Fraud Prevention

For security reasons, if any irregularity is detected in a transaction, Sapiens may contact the Donor by email to verify their information and prevent possible fraud. If it is not possible to reach the Donor within a reasonable period, the transaction may be rejected or reversed.

Sapiens may also request additional verification information from a Donor when required to do so under applicable anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations.

VIII. Donation Confirmation and Receipts

Sapiens.lat is registered with SUNAT (Peru’s tax authority) in the Registry of Qualified Donation-Receiving Entities. As a result, donations made by taxpayers domiciled in Peru may be deductible from income tax, subject to the limits and conditions set out in current Peruvian tax regulations. Each Donor is encouraged to confirm the specific scope of this benefit with their own tax advisor.

After each donation, whether one-time or monthly, Sapiens will send the registered email address a confirmation of the transaction and, when applicable, the corresponding donation receipt.

IX. Recurring Donations: Changes and Cancellation

The Donor may change the amount of their monthly donation or cancel it at any time, without needing to give a reason, by writing to contacto@sapiens.lat. Sapiens will process the request as soon as possible, and in any case before the next scheduled charge if the request is received with reasonable advance notice.

Once cancellation takes effect, no further charges will be made. This does not entitle the Donor to a refund of amounts already charged prior to the cancellation date, except in the cases provided for in the following section.

X. Correction of Erroneous or Duplicate Charges

Since a donation cannot be refunded simply because the Donor changes their mind (Section II), Sapiens will review and correct the following situations, upon a written and substantiated request from the Donor to contacto@sapiens.lat:

• A duplicate charge for the same donation.
• An error in the amount charged compared to the amount authorized by the Donor.
• Charges not authorized by the cardholder, duly substantiated.

In these cases, Sapiens will process the corresponding refund within a reasonable period, once the issue has been verified.

XI. Use of Funds

Funds received through donations support Sapiens’ journalistic, audiovisual, and advocacy work, in line with the Association’s institutional purposes. Unless a donation is made expressly for a specific project or campaign, Sapiens may allocate the funds received according to its priority institutional needs.

XII. Liability

Sapiens will not be liable for:

• Improper use by third parties of the Site’s content, or intellectual property rights in displayed materials that do not belong to Sapiens.
• Technical failures in the operation of the Site or the payment gateway that are beyond its reasonable control.
• The content of third-party sites that may be accessed from the Site.
• Improper or unauthorized use of the Donor’s payment methods by third parties.

If a duplicate charge is confirmed due to causes attributable to the operation of the Site or the payment gateway, Sapiens will refund the corresponding amount as set out in Section X.

XIII. Intellectual Property

The text, images, videos, logos, and other content on the Site are the property of Sapiens or of third parties who have authorized their use, and are protected under applicable intellectual property law. Reproduction, distribution, or commercial use is prohibited without Sapiens’ prior express authorization.

XIV. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

Any dispute related to the interpretation or performance of these Terms and Conditions is subject to the Ordinary Courts of Justice of Lima, Peru, and is governed by applicable Peruvian law.