Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of terms

By accessing or using Hedge ("the Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you are a parent or guardian creating an account on behalf of a minor, you agree to these Terms on their behalf and are responsible for their use of the Service.

If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use the Service.

These Terms apply to all users of the Service, including visitors, students, and parents or guardians.

2. Eligibility and accounts

Age requirements

You must be at least 13 years old to use Hedge. Users under the age of 13 are not permitted to create accounts or use the Service. If you are between 13 and 17 years old, we strongly encourage a parent or guardian to create your account and supervise your use of the Service.

Parents and guardians who create accounts on behalf of minor students represent that they have the authority to agree to these Terms on the student's behalf.

Account responsibility

You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials. Do not share your password. You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account. If you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately at hello@hedgestory.ai.

You agree to provide accurate information when creating your account and to keep that information up to date. Hedge reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts that contain false or misleading information.

One account per person

Each account is for use by a single individual. You may not create multiple accounts or transfer your account to another person without our written permission.

3. Your content

You own your story

Your content belongs to you. Videos, voice memos, written reflections, and any other material you capture or create within Hedge ("Your Content") remains your intellectual property. We do not claim ownership of anything you create.

License to us

By submitting content to Hedge, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive license to store, process, and display Your Content solely for the purpose of providing the Service to you. This license ends when you delete the content or close your account.

We do not use Your Content to train AI models, sell to third parties, or share with anyone outside of Hedge without your explicit permission. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Your responsibilities

You are responsible for the content you create within Hedge. You represent that:

• Your Content does not violate any law or regulation
• Your Content does not infringe the intellectual property rights of others
• Your Content does not contain material that is harmful, abusive, or harassing
• You have the right to share any content you upload

Content removal

You can delete any content you have created at any time through the Service. You can also request deletion of all your content by closing your account or contacting us. We will process deletions within 30 days.

We reserve the right to remove content that violates these Terms or our Acceptable Use policy, with or without notice.

4. Our service and license to you

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, Hedge grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Service for your personal, non-commercial use.

You may not:

• Copy, modify, or distribute any part of the Service without our written permission
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the source code of the Service
• Use the Service to build a competing product or service
• Resell or sublicense access to the Service
• Use automated tools to scrape, crawl, or collect data from the Service

Hedge and its logos, design, and underlying technology are our intellectual property. Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of Hedge's intellectual property to you.

5. Acceptable use

Hedge is a tool for building and telling your story. You agree to use it for that purpose and not to:

• Upload content that is false, defamatory, or intentionally misleading
• Harass, bully, or threaten other users
• Upload content that is sexually explicit or pornographic
• Upload content that promotes violence, self-harm, or illegal activity
• Impersonate any person or entity
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service or other users' accounts
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service or its servers
• Use the Service for any commercial purpose without our permission

Violations of this policy may result in immediate account suspension or termination at our discretion.

6. Subscriptions and payment

Paid plans

Certain features of Hedge require a paid subscription. When you purchase a subscription, you agree to pay the fees shown at the time of purchase. All fees are in US dollars.

Subscriptions automatically renew at the end of each billing period unless you cancel before the renewal date. You can cancel at any time through your account settings.

Free early access

During our early access period, Hedge is available free of charge. We will provide advance notice before any free period ends and before charging begins. See Section 7 for full early access terms.

Refunds

If you are unsatisfied with your subscription within the first 14 days of being charged, contact us at hello@hedgestory.ai and we will issue a full refund. After 14 days, refunds are issued at our discretion.

Price changes

We may change subscription pricing at any time. We will give existing subscribers at least 30 days advance notice of any price increase. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of a price change constitutes your acceptance of the new pricing.

7. Early access program

During early access, Hedge is provided free of charge. In exchange, we ask that you:

• Share honest feedback about your experience
• Understand the product is still being developed and may change
• Accept that features may be added, modified, or removed during this period

Early access users will receive advance notice before any transition to a paid plan. We will honor early access pricing commitments made at the time of signup.

The Service is provided "as is" during early access. We make no guarantees about uptime, data retention, or feature availability during this period, though we will do our best to be reliable and communicative about any issues.

8. Termination

You may close your account at any time

You can close your Hedge account at any time through your account settings or by contacting us. Upon closure, your content will be deleted within 30 days unless you request an export first.

We may suspend or terminate accounts

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account and access to the Service at any time if we believe you have violated these Terms, our Acceptable Use policy, or applicable law. We will provide notice where reasonably possible.

If your account is terminated due to a violation of these Terms, you are not entitled to a refund of any fees paid.

Effect of termination

Upon termination, your right to access the Service ends immediately. Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination — including sections on intellectual property, disclaimers, and disputes — will survive.

9. Disclaimers and limitations

No guarantee of outcomes

Hedge is a tool to help students capture and develop their story. We do not guarantee any particular outcome — including college admission, scholarship awards, or employment. The Service is designed to help students communicate more effectively, but results depend on many factors outside our control.

Service availability

We aim to provide a reliable service but cannot guarantee uninterrupted access. The Service is provided "as is" and "as available." We disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Hedge shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use the Service. Our total liability to you for any claim arising from these Terms or the Service shall not exceed the amount you paid to Hedge in the 12 months preceding the claim.

AI coaching

Hedge's AI coaching features are designed to support reflection and storytelling. They are not a substitute for professional college counseling, therapy, or academic advising. The AI coach may occasionally produce inaccurate or unhelpful responses — use your own judgment and reach out to qualified professionals for important decisions.

10. Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States, without regard to conflict of law principles.

If you have a dispute with Hedge, we encourage you to contact us first at hello@hedgestory.ai. Most issues can be resolved quickly and informally.

For disputes that cannot be resolved informally, you agree to resolve them through binding arbitration rather than in court, except that either party may bring a claim in small claims court if it qualifies. You waive any right to a jury trial or to participate in a class action lawsuit against Hedge.

Nothing in this section limits either party's right to seek injunctive or other equitable relief for violations of intellectual property rights or breaches of confidentiality obligations.

11. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you by email and by posting a notice on the Service at least 14 days before the changes take effect.

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms. If you disagree with the changes, you may close your account before they take effect.

12. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms or the Service, we want to hear from you.