Terms of Service
1. The Service
Family Sentinel LLC ("Family Sentinel," "we," "us," or "our") provides fraud detection and alerting for enrolled household members and organizations: read-only monitoring of authorized email accounts (and, where separately enabled, other authorized feeds), automated and AI-assisted risk classification, and alerts to the contacts you designate. The Service is advisory and read-only by default. Any optional "Active Protection" feature (for example, labeling or quarantining suspected messages) operates only where you grant the additional permission and provide separate written consent, and even then never sends email, deletes mail permanently, or moves money.
2. Eligibility & authority to consent
- You must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract to open an account.
- You represent and warrant that, for each person or mailbox you enroll, you are either that person or you have the lawful authority and that person's informed consent to authorize monitoring on their behalf (including, where applicable, a valid power of attorney or guardianship). You are responsible for obtaining and maintaining that consent.
- You will not use the Service to monitor, intercept, or access the communications of anyone who has not consented, or in any manner that violates the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Stored Communications Act, state wiretap or privacy laws, or any other applicable law.
- The Service is intended for adults. Monitoring of a minor's account is offered only where lawful and with verifiable parental or guardian consent, and remains subject to Section 2 above.
3. What the Service is not
- Not an emergency service, security guarantee, insurance product, fiduciary or advisory account, or a guarantee against loss.
- Not legal, financial, tax, medical, or investment advice.
- We take no custody of funds, accounts, or credentials, and hold no authority to transact on or control any account.
- No detection service catches everything. Fraud tactics change constantly; automated and AI-based analysis can produce both missed threats (false negatives) and false alarms (false positives). The Service reduces risk but cannot eliminate it, and an alert (or the absence of one) is never a substitute for independently verifying any request for money or personal information.
4. Your responsibilities
- Provide accurate, current enrollment and contact information, and the authority described in Section 2.
- Keep designated-contact details current, monitor for our alerts, and act on them; we are not responsible for alerts you do not receive or act upon due to outdated contact information, spam filtering, device settings, or carrier/provider failures.
- Maintain the security of your own accounts and devices, and comply with the terms of your email and other service providers.
- Pay all subscription fees when due; applicable taxes are added as required by law.
5. Fees, free trial, renewal & cancellation
Subscriptions are billed in advance on a recurring basis (monthly or annually, as selected). New subscriptions include a free first month (30-day free trial): your payment method is not charged at signup, and your first charge occurs automatically when the trial ends unless you cancel before then — cancellation during the trial costs nothing. We send a reminder before your trial ends. Subscriptions renew automatically at the then-current rate until canceled. You may cancel anytime, effective at the end of the current billing period, from the billing portal linked in your receipt or by contacting us; except as required by law or expressly stated, fees already paid are non-refundable and partial periods are not prorated. We may change fees on 30 days' notice, effective at your next renewal. We may suspend or terminate the Service for non-payment, misuse, or violation of these Terms.
6. Consent to electronic communications
You consent to receive account, transactional, security, and alert communications from us electronically (email, SMS/text where you provide a mobile number, and in-app), and you agree that electronic records and signatures satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. Message and data rates may apply; you can opt out of non-essential messages as described in them, but essential service and security alerts are part of the Service.
7. Intellectual property & acceptable use
We retain all rights in the Service, our software, models, and content. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-transferable right to use the Service for its intended purpose. You will not copy, resell, reverse-engineer, probe, overload, or interfere with the Service, or use it to build a competing product.
8. Disclaimers
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR THAT IT WILL DETECT OR PREVENT ANY PARTICULAR THREAT, FRAUD, OR LOSS. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTS, OMISSIONS, OUTAGES, OR SECURITY OF THIRD-PARTY SERVICES (INCLUDING GOOGLE, MICROSOFT, BANKS, PAYMENT PROCESSORS, AND CARRIERS). Some jurisdictions do not allow certain warranty exclusions, so some of the above may not apply to you.
9. Limitation of liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, FAMILY SENTINEL AND ITS OWNERS, EMPLOYEES, AND SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA, SAVINGS, PROFITS, OR FUNDS, OR FOR LOSSES CAUSED BY FRAUD THAT WAS NOT DETECTED, ALERTS NOT RECEIVED OR NOT ACTED UPON, OR THIRD-PARTY SERVICE FAILURES — EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY. OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE FEES YOU PAID US IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100). These limits apply regardless of the theory of liability and are a fundamental basis of our agreement. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law.
10. Indemnification
You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Family Sentinel from any claim, demand, loss, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your misuse of the Service, your breach of these Terms, or your enrollment or monitoring of any person or account without the authority and consent required by Section 2.
11. Third-party services
The Service relies on third-party platforms (such as Google and Microsoft) and their permission systems. Your use of those platforms is governed by their own terms, and their availability, changes, or restrictions are outside our control.
12. Dispute resolution — arbitration & class-action waiver
Please contact us first at security@familysentinel.org; most issues resolve informally within 30 days. If they do not, you and Family Sentinel agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to the Service or these Terms will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, seated in or near Denton County, Texas (or by telephone/video, or in your home county if required by applicable rules). You and Family Sentinel waive any right to a jury trial and to participate in a class, collective, or representative action; disputes will be brought only in an individual capacity. Either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court instead. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing us within 30 days of first accepting these Terms with the subject "Arbitration Opt-Out"; opting out does not affect the other Sections. This Section survives termination.
13. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Subject to Section 12, the exclusive venue for any permitted court action is the state or federal courts located in Texas.
14. Changes to the Service or Terms
We may update the Service or these Terms. We will post the revised Terms with a new effective date and, for material changes, provide reasonable notice (for example, by email or in-app) at least 30 days before they take effect where practicable. Continued use after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.
15. General
If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect and the unenforceable provision is limited to the minimum extent necessary. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. These Terms, the Privacy Policy, and (for enrolled households) the Service Authorization & Consent form are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service. Section headings are for convenience only. We are not liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control.
16. Contact
Family Sentinel LLC · security@familysentinel.org · (940) 281-6672 · 5900 Balcones Dr, Ste 100, Austin, TX 78731.