Legal

Terms of service

Draft. Last updated TODO: date of publication

These terms are an agreement between you and Straight A Software LLC, a Massachusetts limited liability company ("we", "us"), about your use of the StandingBy app, the service behind it, and standingby.io (together, "StandingBy"). By using StandingBy you agree to them. Please read sections 3, 9 and 10 closely: they describe what StandingBy cannot do and limit our responsibility.

1. Who can use StandingBy

You must be 18 or older, and able to enter into a binding agreement. StandingBy is intended for use with US phone numbers. TODO: confirm supported countries

StandingBy has not been released yet. These terms will apply once it is.

2. What StandingBy does

You set up profiles: a check-in schedule, and steps saying who should be contacted, and how, if you do not check in. During a session we remind you when a check-in is due. If one does not arrive in time, we send texts and automated calls to the people you chose, in the order you chose. When you check in again or end the session, we tell the people contacted that it was a false alarm. How messages are sent, and how people can stop them, is set out in our text message and call terms, which are part of these terms. How we handle information is set out in our privacy policy.

StandingBy only knows whether a check-in arrived. It does not know whether you are safe, and its messages do not say you are in danger.

3. What StandingBy depends on, and how it can fail

StandingBy relies on systems we do not control. Any of them can fail, delay or block a reminder, a check-in or a message, without us knowing and without you being told:

• Phone carriers and messaging providers can delay, filter, block or lose texts and calls. A text to a landline may disappear without any error.
• Your contacts' phones may silence calls from unknown numbers, be on Do Not Disturb or in a Focus mode, filter texts as spam, be switched off, or have no signal. A second call within a few minutes may get through Do Not Disturb on some phones. It is not guaranteed to.
• Push notifications to your phone can be delayed or dropped, or be turned off in your settings.
• Your phone and its connection. If your check-in cannot reach us, for example because you have no signal, we treat it as missed and contact your people.
• Your contacts. They may not read a message, may not act on it, or may opt out. Once they opt out, we cannot contact them.
• Our own service, which can have outages, errors or delays, like any service.

We do not guarantee that any reminder, message or call will be delivered, delivered on time, or noticed, or that anyone will respond. StandingBy should never be your only safety measure.

4. Your responsibilities

• Enter accurate phone numbers, and keep them up to date.
• Check the app's warnings about contacts who cannot be reached, have not been introduced, or have opted out, and act on them.
• Use a display name that is your real name, or a name your contacts will recognise. It appears in every message we send them. It must not be a web address or a keyword such as STOP.
• Keep the app up to date, keep notifications on if you want reminders, and end sessions you no longer need. Deleting the app does not end a running session.
• Keep your phone and account secure. Anyone with access to your phone can check in on your behalf.

5. People you add

You may only add someone as a contact if they know you, and they have agreed to be contacted by StandingBy on your behalf, or would reasonably expect to be. By adding someone, you promise that this is true. We strongly encourage you to send each person the introduction the app offers, so they can agree, save our number, and know what to expect.

You must not add anyone to harass, frighten or annoy them, or anyone who has asked not to be contacted. If someone opts out, you must not try to get around it, for example by adding them again under another name.

6. Acceptable use

StandingBy is for checking in on yourself. You must not:

• use it to monitor, track or control another person, or set it up on someone else's phone,
• deliberately trigger alerts to harass, alarm or prank anyone,
• use it to send marketing, spam or any message other than those StandingBy sends as designed,
• impersonate anyone, or use a display name meant to mislead your contacts,
• break the law or anyone's rights, including rules on calls and texts,
• interfere with, overload, probe or reverse engineer the service, or access it other than through the app and our published interfaces,
• resell or make StandingBy available to others as a service.

We may stop contacting any number, suspend a profile, or suspend or close an account if we reasonably believe these terms are being broken or StandingBy is being misused. Where it is safe and practical to do so, we will tell you first.

7. Disguised profiles

A Disguised profile makes StandingBy's reminders and screens look like an ordinary, unrelated app. It reduces what someone glancing at your phone would see. It cannot hide that the app is installed, stop someone who knows the app from recognising it, or stop someone holding your phone from checking in for you. Introductions you send stay in your sent messages until you delete them. We do not promise that a disguise will not be discovered.

8. Your account, and ending it

You can stop using StandingBy and delete your account at any time. See the privacy policy for what is deleted and what is kept. We may close accounts under section 6. We may also change or stop StandingBy. If we decide to stop it altogether, we will give users reasonable notice in the app, so no one goes on relying on it.

9. No warranty

StandingBy is provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent permitted by law, Straight A Software LLC disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement, and any warranty that StandingBy will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free, or that any reminder, message or call will be delivered, received, or acted on.

Some places do not allow some of these exclusions, so some may not apply to you.

10. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Straight A Software LLC and its members, employees and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, or for any personal injury, death, property damage, or loss of data, arising from or related to StandingBy, including any failure, delay or error in reminding you, receiving a check-in, or contacting anyone, whether based on contract, tort (including negligence), or any other theory, even if we were told such damage was possible.

Our total liability for all claims relating to StandingBy is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us for StandingBy in the 12 months before the claim arose, or one hundred US dollars (US$100).

Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, such as liability for gross negligence or willful misconduct where the law does not allow it to be limited.

11. Indemnity

You agree to cover our reasonable losses and costs, including legal fees, from any claim by a third party arising from your breach of these terms. That includes adding someone as a contact without the right to do so under section 5, or misusing StandingBy under section 6.

12. Fees

No prices have been set. If StandingBy or any part of it costs money, we will show the price clearly before you pay. Purchases through an app store are also subject to that store's terms. TODO: pricing, subscription and refund terms

13. App stores

If you got StandingBy from Google Play, your use of Google Play is also subject to Google's terms, and Google is not responsible for StandingBy.

If you got StandingBy from the Apple App Store: these terms are between you and us, not Apple. Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for StandingBy. To the extent any warranty applies, if StandingBy fails to conform to it you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price, if any. Apple has no other warranty obligation. Apple is not responsible for addressing any claims relating to StandingBy, including product liability claims, claims that it fails to meet legal or regulatory requirements, consumer protection claims, or intellectual property infringement claims. You must comply with the App Store's usage rules and applicable third-party terms. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and may enforce them against you.

14. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. Any dispute relating to StandingBy will be brought only in the state or federal courts located in Massachusetts TODO: county, and you and we consent to their jurisdiction. This does not take away any rights you have under the consumer protection laws of the place where you live.

Before bringing a claim, please email support@straightasoftware.com so we can try to resolve it informally.

15. General

• Changes. We may update these terms. We will change the date at the top. If a change is significant, we will also tell users in the app before it takes effect. Continuing to use StandingBy afterwards means you accept the updated terms.
• Entire agreement. These terms, the text message and call terms, and the privacy policy are the whole agreement between you and us about StandingBy.
• Severability. If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest still applies.
• No waiver. If we do not enforce part of these terms, we have not given up the right to enforce it later.
• Assignment. You may not transfer these terms. We may transfer them if Straight A Software is sold or merged.
• Our software. StandingBy and its content belong to Straight A Software LLC. We give you a personal, non-transferable licence to use the app for its intended purpose while you follow these terms.

Contact

Straight A Software LLC
TODO: postal address (resident agent's office)
support@straightasoftware.com