Terms of Service

Welcome to Groundery. These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Groundery platform at groundery.com, operated by Groundery ("we," "our," or "us"). By accessing or using the platform, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

1. Description of Service

Groundery is an AI-powered fact-checking platform that processes audio, video, and text content to extract factual claims and verify them against external sources. The platform uses artificial intelligence models for transcription, claim extraction, and verification.

2. Accounts and Access

To use Groundery, you must create an account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. You agree to:

• Provide accurate and complete registration information.
• Keep your account credentials secure and not share them with others.
• Notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access to your account.
• Be at least 16 years of age to create an account and use the service.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or that we reasonably believe are being used fraudulently.

3. User Content and Permissions

You retain ownership of all content you upload to Groundery. By uploading content, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive license to process, store, and analyze your content solely for the purpose of providing the fact-checking service.

You represent and warrant that:

• You own or have the necessary rights and permissions to upload the content.
• Your content does not infringe on the intellectual property rights of any third party.
• You have obtained all necessary consents from any individuals whose voices or personal information appear in your recordings.

4. Shared Links

Groundery allows you to generate shareable links to your fact-checking results. When you create a shared link, the associated content becomes accessible to anyone with the link. You are responsible for managing who you share links with. Shared links can be revoked at any time through your account settings. We are not responsible for any consequences arising from content you choose to share.

5. Prohibited Uses

You agree not to use Groundery to:

• Upload content that is illegal, defamatory, threatening, harassing, or otherwise objectionable.
• Upload recordings made without the consent of all parties, where such consent is required by law.
• Attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, or extract the underlying models or algorithms of the platform.
• Use automated tools, bots, or scripts to access the service in a manner that exceeds reasonable use.
• Resell, redistribute, or sublicense access to the platform without our written consent.
• Interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the platform.
• Use the service to generate or spread misinformation or misleading content.
• Violate any applicable laws, regulations, or third-party rights.

6. Third-Party Services

Groundery relies on third-party services to provide its functionality, including Deepgram for transcription, OpenAI for claim extraction, and Perplexity for verification. These services have their own terms of service and privacy policies. While we select our providers carefully, we are not responsible for the performance, availability, or practices of third-party services. Your content may be processed by these providers in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

7. Termination

You may terminate your account at any time by contacting us. We may suspend or terminate your access to the platform at any time, with or without cause, including but not limited to:

• Violation of these Terms.
• Non-payment of applicable fees.
• Extended periods of inactivity.
• Requests by law enforcement or government agencies.

Upon termination, your right to use the platform ceases immediately. We may delete your account data after a reasonable retention period, subject to any legal obligations.

8. Storage and Quotas

Your account is subject to usage quotas, including limits on audio processing minutes and storage. We reserve the right to modify quota allocations and enforce limits at our discretion. If you exceed your allotted quota, you may be unable to upload new content until additional quota is purchased or your billing cycle resets. We are not responsible for content that cannot be processed due to quota limitations.

9. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, GROUNDERY AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE PLATFORM.

IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR TOTAL LIABILITY EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO US IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM. THE PLATFORM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.

10. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Groundery and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in connection with: (a) your use of the platform; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any third-party rights, including intellectual property or privacy rights; or (d) content you upload to the platform.

11. Copyright and DMCA

We respect the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that content on Groundery infringes your copyright, you may submit a DMCA takedown notice to us at support@groundery.com. Your notice must include:

• Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed.
• Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing, with sufficient information for us to locate it.
• Your contact information, including name, address, telephone number, and email.
• A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner.
• A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on their behalf.
• Your physical or electronic signature.

12. Changes to These Terms

We may modify these Terms at any time. When we make changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email or through a notice on the platform. Your continued use of Groundery after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree with the changes, you must stop using the service.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us at:

support@groundery.com