Legal
Terms of Service
These Terms of Service (the “Terms”) form a binding agreement between you and SAR Chat (“SAR Chat,” “we,” “us”) and govern your access to and use of the SAR Chat applications, websites, and services (collectively, the “Service”). Please read them carefully.
1. Acceptance of terms
By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms on behalf of yourself and any agency or organization you represent, and you confirm you are authorized to do so. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
2. The Service
SAR Chat provides communication, mapping, coordination, and record-keeping tools intended to support Search & Rescue operations. The Service is provided as a coordination aid only and may be updated, improved, or changed over time.
3. Life-safety disclaimer
SAR Chat is not a substitute for established emergency communications, dispatch, or radio procedures, and must not be relied upon as the sole means of communication during a life-safety operation. Connectivity, device, and third-party dependencies can fail. Always maintain your agency's primary and backup communications protocols.
4. Accounts and eligibility
You are responsible for the accuracy of your account information, for keeping your credentials secure, and for activity that occurs under your account. Agency administrators are responsible for managing their members' access and for removing members who leave the team.
5. Subscriptions and billing
Paid plans are billed in advance on the interval shown at checkout, through our payment processor. Founding or volunteer rates, where offered, are applied at sign-up. Fees are non-refundable except where required by law. We may change pricing for future billing periods with reasonable notice to agency administrators. You may cancel at any time; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.
6. Plans, workspaces, and trials
- One account (workspace) is for one team or organization. Several teams need several workspaces, even where they share a parent body.
- The Community plan is free and has no member limit, so your whole team can use it. It is not a way to combine several teams in one workspace.
- Each organization may receive one free trial of a paid plan, lasting 60 days. When a trial or paid plan ends without renewal, the workspace moves to the Community plan; your messages and records remain available to you.
- A lapsed plan never interrupts an incident that is already open. An incident started while your plan was active keeps its paid features until it is closed.
7. Your content and data
You and your agency retain ownership of the operational data you create — messages, pins, rosters, locations, attachments, and exports. You grant us the limited rights needed to host, process, and deliver the Service to you. We restrict access to your operational data through per-agency access controls and do not sell it. Our handling of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy.
8. Acceptable use
- Do not use the Service for unlawful purposes.
- Do not interfere with, disrupt, or attempt to breach the Service's security or access data that is not yours.
- Do not misrepresent your affiliation, impersonate others, or share access with people outside your authorized agency.
- Do not use the Service to harass, abuse, or harm others, or to upload unlawful or infringing content.
9. Third-party services
The Service relies on third-party infrastructure and service providers (for example, hosting, mapping data, messaging, and payment processing). Your use of the Service may be subject to those providers' terms, and their availability is outside our control.
10. Suspension and termination
You may stop using the Service at any time. We may suspend or terminate access if these Terms are violated, if required to protect the Service or its users, or as otherwise permitted by law. On termination, your agency may request an export of its operational data, subject to the Privacy Policy and any applicable record-keeping obligations.
11. Disclaimers and limitation of liability
The Service is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. To the maximum extent permitted by law, SAR Chat is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages, or for loss of data, profits, or goodwill, arising from your use of (or inability to use) the Service.
12. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of British Columbia and the applicable laws of Canada, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. The courts located in British Columbia have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from these Terms or the Service.
13. Changes to these terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the effective date above and notify agency administrators before the changes take effect. Continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.
14. Contact
Questions about these Terms? Reach us at info@sar.chat.