Terms of Service

1. Important AI, medical, and emergency disclosures

Users should not rely on the Service for medical advice, mental health treatment, diagnosis, crisis intervention, emergency assistance, veterinary advice, or any professional services. Shared Leash does not provide medical care, mental health treatment, psychiatric services, counseling, psychotherapy, crisis intervention, suicide prevention services, veterinary treatment, or any form of healthcare or professional therapy.

No interaction with Shared Leash creates a doctor-patient relationship, therapist-client relationship, counselor-client relationship, fiduciary relationship, veterinarian-client relationship, or any other professional relationship. Shared Leash is not monitored for emergencies or crisis situations and does not guarantee human review, intervention, escalation, or response to any user content or communications.

If a user is experiencing thoughts of self-harm, suicide, harming others, emotional crisis, medical emergency, or believes they may be in danger, the user should not rely on the Service. Users should immediately:

Persons located outside the United States should contact applicable local emergency or crisis-support services in their jurisdiction.

Users acknowledge that they are not relying upon the Service as a substitute for professional judgment, healthcare, therapy, counseling, veterinary care, or emergency services.

2. Eligibility

The Service is intended only for individuals who are at least 18 years old. However, users between the ages of 13 and 17 may use the Service with the consent and supervision of a parent or legal guardian. A person in either group using the Service are considered a “user” hereunder. For users who are at least 18 years old, the users represent and warrant that:

• They are at least 18 years old;
• They have the legal capacity to enter into binding agreements; and
• Their use of the Service complies with applicable law.

For users who are between 13 and 17 years of age, the user and the user’s consenting parent or legal guardian represent and warrant that:

• The user is between the ages of 13 and 17 years old;
• The parent or legal guardian has reviewed and agrees to these Terms and the Privacy Policy, and consents to the minor user’s access to and use of the Service;
• The parent or legal guardian understands that the Service utilizes artificial intelligence, is not monitored in real time, and does not provide therapy, counseling, crisis intervention, suicide prevention services, veterinary care, or medical treatment of any kind; and
• The parent or legal guardian accepts responsibility for the minor user’s use of the Service and supervision of the minor user’s interactions with the Service.

Shared Leash does not knowingly permit children under the age of 13 to use the Service. If Shared Leash becomes aware that a user under the permitted age requirements has provided personal information or accessed the Service without required parental or guardian consent, Shared Leash may delete the information and terminate associated accounts.

3. Beta services and service modifications

Shared Leash makes no guarantee regarding the availability, stability, functionality, or continued operation of Beta Services. Shared Leash may modify, suspend, discontinue, remove, or restrict access to any portion of the Service, including Beta Services, at any time and without prior notice. Shared Leash shall not be liable for any modification, suspension, interruption, degradation, unavailability, or discontinuation of the Service.

4. User accounts

Users may be required to create an account in order to access certain portions of the Service. Users are responsible for:

• Maintaining the confidentiality of account credentials;
• Restricting access to their devices and accounts;
• Ensuring the accuracy of account information; and
• All activities occurring under their accounts.

Users agree to notify Shared Leash promptly of any unauthorized access, suspected security breach, or misuse of an account. Shared Leash reserves the right to suspend, restrict, or terminate accounts at any time in its sole discretion.

5. Subscriptions, billing, and payments

Shared Leash may offer free or paid subscription plans. Paid subscriptions may include recurring monthly, annual, or other periodic billing. By purchasing a paid subscription, users authorize Shared Leash and its third-party payment processors to charge the applicable payment method for all fees, taxes, and recurring charges associated with the selected subscription. Unless otherwise stated:

• Subscription fees are billed in advance;
• Fees are non-refundable except where required by applicable law;
• Subscription pricing may change upon reasonable notice;
• Taxes may apply depending on jurisdiction; and
• Users may cancel subscriptions through their account settings.

Cancellation will generally become effective at the conclusion of the current billing period. Shared Leash utilizes third-party payment processors, including Stripe, Inc. (“Stripe”) or similar providers. Shared Leash does not store complete payment-card information.

6. User content and limited license

Users may submit messages, memorial information, images, text, prompts, communications, and other materials through the Service (“User Content”). Users retain ownership of their User Content. By submitting User Content, users grant Shared Leash a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, process, transmit, analyze, display, and use User Content as reasonably necessary to:

• Operate and maintain the Service;
• Generate AI responses;
• Provide customer support;
• Detect abuse, fraud, or security issues;
• Conduct debugging and quality assurance;
• Improve platform functionality;
• Comply with legal obligations; and
• Enforce these Terms and applicable policies.

Shared Leash does not use user conversation content to train proprietary AI models unless a user affirmatively opts in through a separate and explicit consent process. Users represent and warrant that:

• They own or control the necessary rights to submitted User Content;
• Their User Content does not violate applicable law or third-party rights; and
• Their User Content does not contain unlawful, infringing, defamatory, abusive, or fraudulent material.

Shared Leash reserves the right, but not the obligation, to remove, restrict, preserve, review, or disclose User Content where reasonably necessary to enforce these Terms, comply with law, protect users, or maintain platform integrity.

7. Acceptable and unacceptable uses

Users agree not to access or use the Service to:

• Violate applicable laws or regulations;
• Engage in harassment, abuse, threats, stalking, hate speech, or unlawful conduct;
• Encourage or facilitate self-harm, violence, illegal activity, or dangerous conduct;
• Generate, distribute, or transmit unlawful, fraudulent, obscene, defamatory, or exploitative content;
• Impersonate another person or misrepresent identity or affiliation;
• Attempt to bypass, disable, manipulate, reverse engineer, or interfere with AI safety systems or platform functionality;
• Access or use the Service through automated means not authorized by Shared Leash;
• Introduce malware, malicious code, or harmful technology;
• Attempt unauthorized access to systems, accounts, servers, or networks;
• Develop competing products or services;
• Train competing artificial intelligence systems or datasets;
• Use the Service in connection with professional medical, psychiatric, counseling, veterinary, or emergency-response services;
• Use the Service in a manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Service.

Shared Leash reserves the right to investigate suspected violations and to suspend or terminate accounts at any time.

8. Artificial intelligence limitations and risks

Users acknowledge and agree that artificial intelligence systems are inherently imperfect and may generate inaccurate, incomplete, biased, misleading, delayed, inappropriate, unpredictable, or unintended outputs. AI-generated responses may include fabricated statements, incorrect factual assertions, inaccurate emotional framing, or content that is unsuitable for a user’s circumstances.

Users assume all risks associated with use of AI-generated content and interactions. Shared Leash makes no representation or warranty regarding:

• Accuracy;
• Reliability;
• Emotional effectiveness;
• Safety;
• Availability;
• Suitability;
• Non-infringement;
• Fitness for a particular purpose; or
• Results obtained from use of the Service.

The Service is not provided, intended, and should not be relied upon for:

• Mental health treatment;
• Medical care;
• Veterinary care;
• Crisis intervention;
• Emergency response;
• Legal advice;
• Professional advice; or
• High-risk decision-making.

9. Third-party services and providers

The Service may utilize or integrate with third-party services, providers, infrastructure, software, APIs, analytics systems, hosting providers, artificial intelligence providers, payment processors, and related technologies. Third-party providers may include, but are not necessarily limited to, Anthropic, Stripe, cloud-hosting providers, analytics providers, email-delivery providers, and similar vendors. Shared Leash does not control and is not responsible for:

• Third-party systems;
• Third-party downtime;
• Third-party data practices;
• Third-party security incidents;
• Third-party content; or
• Third-party policies.

Users acknowledge and agree that third-party providers may process information pursuant to their own privacy policies, security procedures, and legal obligations.

10. Intellectual property rights

The Service, including all software, functionality, designs, text, graphics, interfaces, branding, trademarks, service marks, logos, compilations, content, and technology associated with the Service, are owned by or licensed to Shared Leash and are protected by intellectual-property and other applicable laws. Except for the limited right to access and use the Service pursuant to these Terms, no rights are granted to users. Users may not:

• Copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works from, publicly display, publicly perform, sell, lease, license, or exploit the Service;
• Reverse engineer or attempt to extract source code;
• Remove proprietary notices;
• Use Shared Leash branding without prior written consent; or
• Upload, post, transmit, distribute, or otherwise make available any content that infringes or misappropriates the intellectual property, copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other proprietary rights of any person or entity.

Shared Leash respects the intellectual property rights of others and reserves the right to remove or disable access to allegedly infringing content upon notice or where otherwise reasonably appropriate. If any person believes that content available through the Service infringes their copyright or other intellectual property rights, they should promptly contact Shared Leash with sufficient information to investigate and respond to the claim. Shared Leash reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts associated with repeated or suspected infringement.

11. Privacy

Use of the Service is also governed by the Shared Leash Privacy Policy. By using the Service, users acknowledge and consent to the collection, storage, processing, transfer, disclosure, and use of information as described in the Privacy Policy. Because the Service may involve emotionally sensitive conversations and AI-generated interactions, users acknowledge and agree that:

• Communications may be stored and processed electronically;
• Conversations are not guaranteed to be confidential or protected by any privileged;
• Shared Leash may review limited content for debugging, quality assurance, abuse detection, safety-related review, legal compliance, and maintenance of the Service; and
• No system or method of electronic transmission or storage can be guaranteed completely secure.

In the event of a conflict between these Terms and the Privacy Policy, these Terms shall control to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.

12. Disclaimer of warranties

THE SERVICE AND ALL RELATED CONTENT, SOFTWARE, TECHNOLOGY, DATA PROCESSING, AND AI FUNCTIONALITY ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SHARED LEASH DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF:

• MERCHANTABILITY;
• FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE;
• TITLE;
• NON-INFRINGEMENT;
• ACCURACY;
• RELIABILITY;
• SECURITY;
• QUIET ENJOYMENT; AND
• UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OPERATION.

Shared Leash does not warrant that:

• The Service will be uninterrupted or error-free;
• The Service will be secure or free from harmful components;
• AI-generated responses will be accurate or appropriate;
• User content will not be lost or corrupted; or
• Defects will be corrected.

Users access and use the Service at their own risk.

13. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SHARED LEASH, AND ITS RESPECTIVE OWNERS, MEMBERS, MANAGERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, AND REPRESENTATIVES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR ENHANCED DAMAGES.

THIS LIMITATION APPLIES REGARDLESS OF THE LEGAL THEORY ASSERTED AND INCLUDES DAMAGES RELATING TO, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE FOLLOWING:

• EMOTIONAL DISTRESS;
• MENTAL ANGUISH;
• PERSONAL INJURY;
• LOSS OF DATA;
• LOSS OF GOODWILL;
• LOSS OF PROFITS;
• BUSINESS INTERRUPTION;
• SERVICE OUTAGES;
• AI-GENERATED CONTENT;
• RELIANCE ON AI OUTPUTS;
• THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS; OR
• UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OR SECURITY INCIDENTS.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF SHARED LEASH ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF:

• THE AMOUNT PAID BY THE USER TO SHARED LEASH DURING THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM; OR
• ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100.00).

Some jurisdictions do not permit certain warranty disclaimers or liability limitations. In such jurisdictions, liability shall be limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

14. Indemnification

Users agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Shared Leash, and their respective owners, members, managers, employees, contractors, agents, attorneys, affiliates, licensors, service providers, and representatives from and against any claims, demands, liabilities, damages, judgments, settlements, losses, costs, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of or relating to:

• User access to or use of the Service;
• User Content;
• Violation of these Terms;
• Violation of applicable law;
• Violation of third-party rights; or
• Misuse of the Service.

15. Dispute resolution and arbitration

To the maximum extent permitted by law, any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms, the Privacy Policy, or the Service, except for those exclusively arising from a user’s failure to make a payment to Shared Leash, shall be resolved through final and binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) in accordance with its applicable rules. Arbitration shall be conducted on an individual basis only.

USERS WAIVE ANY AND ALL RIGHTS TO:

• PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION;
• PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION;
• SERVE AS A PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL;
• CONSOLIDATE CLAIMS WITH OTHER USERS; AND
• RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL (TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW).

The arbitration shall take place in Cleveland, Ohio, unless otherwise required by applicable law.

Either party may seek temporary or preliminary injunctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction, but only to the extent necessary to protect intellectual property, confidential information, or security interests. If any portion of this arbitration provision is found unenforceable, the remaining portions shall remain enforceable to the maximum extent permitted by law.

16. Governing law; jurisdiction and venue

These Terms, the Privacy Policy, and any dispute arising out of or relating to the Service shall be governed, to the maximum extent possible, by the laws of the State of Ohio and applicable federal laws of the United States, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. To the extent any dispute is permitted to proceed in court, exclusive jurisdiction and venue shall lie in the state and federal courts located in Cleveland, Ohio. Users acknowledge and agree that they are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of such courts and waive any objections relating to personal jurisdiction, venue, or forum non conveniens.

17. Termination and suspension

Shared Leash reserves the right to suspend, restrict, terminate, or discontinue access to the Service, in whole or in part, at any time and for any reason, to any user, with or without notice. Grounds for suspension or termination may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Violation of these Terms;
• Violation of the Privacy Policy;
• Suspected fraud or abuse;
• Unlawful activity;
• Security concerns;
• Risk to users or the Service;
• Failure to pay applicable fees; or
• Operational or business reasons.

Upon termination of the Service the following, without limitation, may occur:

• Access rights immediately cease;
• Certain User Content may be deleted;
• Shared Leash may retain information as permitted by the Privacy Policy and applicable law; and
• Sections intended to survive termination shall remain enforceable.

Shared Leash reserves the right to cooperate with law enforcement authorities and governmental agencies regarding suspected unlawful activity.

Sections relating to intellectual property, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnification, dispute resolution, governing law, jurisdiction and venue, and any other provisions that by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination of these Terms.

18. International use and export compliance

The Service is operated from the United States. Users may not access or use the Service in violation of U.S. export-control laws, sanctions laws, or other applicable laws and regulations. By accessing or using the Service, users understand and consent to the transfer, processing, storage, and use of information in the United States and other jurisdictions where Shared Leash or its service providers operate. Users are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws in their jurisdiction.

19. Changes to these terms

Shared Leash may modify or update these Terms at any time. Updated versions will be posted on the Shared Leash website with a revised “Last Updated” date. Continued use of the Service following the effective date of updated Terms constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. Where required by applicable law, Shared Leash may provide additional notice regarding material changes.

20. Miscellaneous

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between the parties relating to the Service and supersede prior or contemporaneous agreements relating to the same subject matter.

If any provision of these Terms is determined to be unlawful, invalid, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

Users consent to receiving electronic communications, notices, disclosures, agreements, and records from Shared Leash electronically.

Shared Leash shall not be liable for delays or failures resulting from causes beyond its reasonable control, including outages, internet failures, third-party provider failures, cyberattacks, labor disputes, governmental actions, natural disasters, or force majeure events.

Shared Leash reserves all rights not expressly granted under these Terms. Failure to enforce any provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver.

Users may not assign or transfer rights or obligations under these Terms without prior written consent from Shared Leash.

Shared Leash may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing transaction, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of assets.

21. Contact information