Agreeing to these terms
Using GuardCircle means you accept these terms. Accepting an invite records your agreement in your family's audit record.
These Terms of Use ("Terms") are an agreement between you and GuardCircle ("we," "us"; operated by AI Co-Producer LLC, doing business as GuardCircle). By creating an account, accepting a circle invitation, or using the GuardCircle application or website (the "Service"), you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into them. When you accept a circle invitation, your acceptance of these Terms is recorded in your circle's tamper-evident audit record. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.
What GuardCircle is — and is not
We're safety software. We are not a bank, we never hold your money, and we don't give financial advice.
GuardCircle is consent-based financial-safety software: it helps an account owner invite trusted people to help watch for scams and approve unusual activity, with the owner in control.
- GuardCircle is not a bank and is not a licensed money transmitter. We never take custody of your funds.
- Bank connections are read-only, made through our aggregation provider, Plaid, with the account owner's consent.
- During the pilot, money-movement features (the protected reserve, payment approvals, and holds) operate in a simulated, controlled test environment. They demonstrate the product's workflows and do not move, hold, or block real funds at your bank.
- We do not provide financial, legal, tax, or investment advice. Alerts, risk flags, and ScamCheck results are informational safety signals, not professional advice.
Who may use the Service
Adults in the United States, invited into a circle or starting one.
You must be at least 18 years old and located in the United States to use the Service. By using it you represent that you meet these requirements, that any information you provide is accurate, and that you are joining a circle only at the genuine invitation of its owner or their family.
Accounts and credentials
Your login is yours alone. No shared logins — that rule is part of the protection.
Each circle member has their own credentials. You agree not to share your password, not to sign in as another person, and to tell us promptly at support@guardcircle.net if you believe your account has been compromised. Every approval, decline, and settings change is attributed to the individual account that made it and sealed into the circle's audit record; shared logins would defeat that protection and are not permitted.
Electronic records
We do business electronically — notices, records, and agreements arrive in the app, by email, or by text.
You consent to receive agreements, disclosures, and notices from us electronically — in the app, by email, or by SMS — and agree that electronic records and signatures (including your recorded acceptance of these Terms) have the same force as paper ones. You may request a paper copy of these Terms by writing to support@guardcircle.net.
Text messages and calls
We only text and call people who said yes, only about safety. Reply STOP any time and it stops.
Safety alerts are delivered by SMS and automated voice call only to people who provided their own number and gave explicit consent during onboarding. Message frequency varies with account activity; message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to any message to opt out, or HELP for help. Opting out of texts may reduce the protection the Service can provide, and the circle will be able to see that alerts to you are paused. We do not share mobile numbers or SMS consent with third parties or affiliates for their marketing purposes.
Acceptable use
Use GuardCircle to protect someone — never to control, deceive, or exploit them.
You agree not to use the Service to exert control over another adult's money without their knowing consent; to join a circle under false pretenses; to attempt to approve payments addressed to yourself in circumvention of the self-dealing block; to probe, disable, or overload the Service or attempt to alter the audit record; to use the Service for any unlawful purpose; or to resell the Service without a written agreement with us. We may suspend accounts that put a circle's safety at risk, and we may report suspected elder financial exploitation to bodies such as Adult Protective Services as permitted by law.
The pilot, trials, and pricing
The pilot is free. Watch stays free. Guard has one 30-day trial per family — no card, nothing charges automatically.
During the founding-family pilot the Service is provided free of charge. The Watch tier is free indefinitely. Each circle may start one 30-day trial of the Guard tier; no payment card is required, and nothing converts to a paid plan automatically — when the trial ends, the circle simply returns to Watch. Founding families keep founding pricing when paid plans launch. Because the pilot is free and evolving, we may modify, limit, or discontinue features of the pilot at any time.
Your content and our rights
Your data stays yours. The software, brand, and design are ours.
You retain all rights to the information you submit; you grant us the limited license needed to operate the Service as described in the Privacy Policy. The Service itself — including its software, design, trademarks, and content — belongs to GuardCircle and its licensors and is protected by intellectual-property law. We grant you a personal, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service for its intended purpose, and no other rights.
Third-party services
Plaid connects your accounts; Twilio delivers texts and calls. Each has its own terms.
The Service relies on third-party providers: bank connections are made through Plaid (and your use of them is also subject to the Plaid End User Privacy Policy), and SMS/voice delivery is provided through Twilio. We are not responsible for outages or acts of third-party services, your bank, or your mobile carrier.
Disclaimers
We work hard to catch scams — and no software can catch every one. The circle, not the software, makes the decisions.
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. GuardCircle is a safety aid: we do not warrant that it will detect, flag, or prevent any particular scam, fraud, or loss, that alerts will always be delivered or timely, or that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free. Decisions to approve or decline activity are made by the people in your circle, not by us.
Limitation of liability
Our liability is capped — during the free pilot, at $100.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, GUARDCIRCLE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST FUNDS, PROFITS, OR DATA, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID US FOR THE SERVICE IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM AROSE OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100). Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so parts of this section may not apply to you.
Indemnification
If your misuse of the Service gets us sued, you cover it.
You agree to indemnify and hold GuardCircle harmless from claims, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from your violation of these Terms, your misuse of the Service, or your violation of another person's rights in connection with the Service.
Leaving, and termination
Leave whenever you like. We can suspend accounts that break these terms. The audit record survives, because that's its job.
You may stop using the Service and close your account at any time; owners may remove circle members at any time (removals may include a short security review). We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or put a circle at risk. On closure, personal information is deleted as described in the Privacy Policy; tamper-evident audit records may be retained where required for legal, audit, or dispute purposes — their permanence is the protection. Sections 9, 11, 12, 13, and 15 survive termination.
Governing law and disputes
U.S. law applies. Talk to us first — most problems are fixable in one email.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States and, once the operating legal entity is formed, the laws of its state of organization (which will be identified here), without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Before filing any claim, you agree to contact us at support@guardcircle.net and give us 30 days to work in good faith to resolve the issue informally.
Changes to these terms
If these terms change in a way that matters, we'll tell you before it takes effect — in plain words.
We may update these Terms as the pilot evolves. We'll post changes here and, for material changes, notify account holders directly before they take effect. Continuing to use the Service after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Terms.
Contact
A person reads every message.
Questions about these Terms: support@guardcircle.net. Privacy questions and requests: privacy@guardcircle.net. Institutions: partners@guardcircle.net.
Note: these pilot Terms were prepared for the free founding-family pilot and will be reviewed by a licensed attorney and updated before paid general availability.