Terms of Service

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, to use the Services. By using the Services, you represent that you have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms. If you are using the Services on behalf of a family member, friend, or community member who is unable to use them independently, you agree to do so in good faith and to safeguard their personal information.

2. What TrustCertified.org Is

TrustCertified.org is a free public-interest research tool that helps people gather publicly available signals about a name, email, phone number, social handle, profile photo, group, or page. The Services aggregate information from third-party public sources, fraud databases, breach databases, and our own community reports.

The Services do not provide a legal determination of guilt or innocence. A Trust Assessment is an informational summary intended to support your own due diligence. Results may be incomplete, outdated, or affected by third-party data quality. You should always verify a person's identity in person before sending money, sharing sensitive information, or making a financial commitment.

3. Acceptable Use

You agree that you will not:

• Use the Services to harass, defame, dox, stalk, or threaten any person.
• Use the Services to make employment, housing, insurance, credit, or other consumer eligibility decisions covered by the U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) or equivalent local law. TrustCertified.org is not a consumer reporting agency.
• Scrape, mirror, or systematically extract any portion of the Services.
• Attempt to interfere with, disrupt, or gain unauthorized access to the Services, related systems, or any user account.
• Submit fraudulent reports, false identities, or any information that infringes on a third party's rights.
• Resell, sublicense, or commercially exploit the Services or any output without our written permission.

4. User Submissions and Community Reports

You may submit fraud reports, dispute filings, photos, or other content (collectively, "User Submissions"). By making a User Submission you represent that the submission is truthful, lawful, and that you have the right to share it. You grant TrustCertified.org a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, store, reproduce, and display the submission to operate and improve the Services and to warn other users about active fraud.

We may review, edit, refuse, or remove any User Submission at our discretion, including submissions that we believe to be inaccurate, retaliatory, defamatory, or unlawful.

5. Reverse-Image and Photo Searches

When you upload a photo to the Services, you confirm that the photo depicts a person you suspect of fraud, that you have a lawful basis to upload it, and that you consent to having the photo analyzed. We do not retain photos longer than necessary to complete the search. We do not publish uploaded photos or share them outside of the trusted third-party verification services described in our Privacy Policy.

6. Intellectual Property

All text, graphics, logos, software, and other content on the Services, other than User Submissions and third-party content, are owned by TrustCertified.org or our licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the Services without our written permission.

7. Disclaimers

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS-IS" AND "AS-AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, TRUSTCERTIFIED.ORG DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTY ARISING OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE.

A "No fraud signals detected" result does not mean the person is verified, safe, or trustworthy. It only means our automated checks did not find indicators at the time of the search.

8. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, TRUSTCERTIFIED.ORG AND ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND LICENSORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS OR REVENUES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICES WILL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).

9. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless TrustCertified.org and its affiliates from and against any claim, demand, loss, liability, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your use of the Services, your User Submissions, or your violation of these Terms.

10. Modifications

We may modify the Services or these Terms at any time. Material changes will be communicated through the Services or by other reasonable means. Your continued use of the Services after a change becomes effective constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

11. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Services at any time, with or without cause, including for violation of these Terms. Upon termination, sections that by their nature should survive will survive, including intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, and dispute resolution.

12. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which TrustCertified.org is established, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to the Services or these Terms will be resolved through good-faith negotiation first, and if unresolved, through binding arbitration in that jurisdiction.

13. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email legal@trustcertified.org.