Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (the "Terms") are a legal agreement between you and Spotzo, operated by Usu Peritus Studio ("Spotzo", "we", "us" or "our"). They govern your use of the Spotzo mobile application (the "App"), the website at spotzo.app (the "Site") and any related services (together, the "Services"). Spotzo is a game in which you photograph real animals with your phone, an on-device AI identifies the species, and you earn collectible cards, quests, badges and an in-game currency called Paws.

By creating an account, downloading, installing or using the Services, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Services. If you download the App from Google Play or another app store, that store's own terms also apply to you.

1. Who can use Spotzo

You must be at least 13 years old (or the minimum age of digital consent where you live, if higher) to use the Services. If you are under 18, you confirm that a parent or legal guardian has reviewed and agreed to these Terms on your behalf and is responsible for your use of the Services, including any purchases. We may suspend or delete accounts we reasonably believe belong to users below the minimum age.

You may not use the Services if you are barred from doing so under applicable law, or if we have previously suspended or terminated your account for breaching these Terms.

2. The Service and changes to it

Spotzo is an evolving game. We may add, change, pause or remove features, species, quests, sets, rewards, rarity tiers, artwork, the AI model and the balance of the game at any time, and we may release updates that are required to keep playing. We will try to give notice of changes that materially reduce a paid feature. Some features (for example subscriptions, cloud backup, sharing and leaderboards) are described in these Terms even though they may not be available yet; they are governed by these Terms when they launch.

The Services may be offered as an early-access or beta version. Early-access features may be incomplete, may change substantially and may be removed.

3. Your account

• Signing in. You sign in with an email address, to which we send a one-time code. You may also play as a guest with data stored only on your device; guest data may be lost if you uninstall the App or change phones.
• Accuracy. Keep your account information accurate and up to date.
• Security. You are responsible for keeping access to your email account secure and for all activity under your Spotzo account. Tell us at support@spotzo.app if you suspect unauthorized access.
• One account per person. Do not create multiple accounts to gain an advantage, or share, sell or transfer your account.

4. Your licence to use the App

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable and revocable licence to install and use the App on devices you own or control, for your own non-commercial entertainment. The App is licensed, not sold. The full licence terms are set out in our End-User Licence Agreement, which forms part of these Terms.

You may not: copy, modify or create derivative works of the App; reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble or attempt to extract the source code, the on-device AI model or its weights, or the species artwork; rent, lease, lend, sell or redistribute the App; remove proprietary notices; or use the App to build a competing product.

5. Fair play and acceptable use

Spotzo is about finding real animals in the real world. To keep the game fair for everyone, you agree not to:

• Fake or stage captures — for example photographing a screen, a printed image, a toy, a sticker, taxidermy or another player's photo, or presenting any such image as a live sighting;
• Manipulate the game — spoof or fake your location, alter your device's time, use modified or patched versions of the App, emulators, bots, scripts, macros or any automation, or exploit bugs to gain progress, Paws, cards or rewards;
• Interfere with the Services — probe, scan, overload or attack our systems, bypass security or access controls, scrape data, or access another user's account or data;
• Misuse other people — harass, threaten, impersonate or defame others, or post content that is hateful, sexual, violent, illegal or infringes anyone's rights (including their privacy or likeness);
• Break the law — use the Services in any way that violates applicable law, including wildlife-protection, trespass and privacy laws.

We may use automated and manual checks (for example plausibility checks on a sighting's location and timing, and review of reported content) to detect breaches. If we reasonably believe you have breached this section we may remove content, reverse progress or rewards, restrict features, or suspend or terminate your account, in each case without refund of any purchased items (see §10 and §15).

6. Wildlife, safety and the law

• Never approach, chase, corner, feed, handle or otherwise disturb wild animals. Keep well away from animals that may be dangerous, venomous, diseased, defensive of young or simply large. If an animal changes its behaviour because of you, you are too close.
• Respect protected species and habitats, nesting and breeding seasons, and the rules of parks, reserves and other managed areas. Many jurisdictions make it an offence to disturb protected wildlife, even unintentionally.
• Respect property and people. Do not trespass on private land or photograph people without their consent. Obey road-safety and local laws at all times — never use the App while driving or cycling.
• You are responsible for your own conduct and safety. You use the Services at your own risk and in accordance with the laws where you are. Spotzo does not encourage, and is not responsible for, any risky, unlawful or harmful behaviour undertaken to obtain a sighting.
• Domestic animals. Pets such as dogs and cats are part of the catalogue; photograph only animals you have permission to approach, and treat them gently.

7. AI identification disclaimer

Never rely on Spotzo's identification for decisions about your safety or health — for example to judge whether a snake, spider, insect or mammal is dangerous or venomous, whether an animal or plant is safe to touch or eat, or whether a species is protected. Use official sources and trained professionals for such decisions. The species information, statistics and descriptions shown in the App are provided for general interest and entertainment; we do not warrant their accuracy or completeness.

We may change the model, the confidence threshold, the catalogue of recognizable species and the results the App gives at any time, and we may reject or re-classify sightings that fail our plausibility checks.

8. Your content

You own the photos you take and the other content you create in the Services ("Your Content"). Today, your photos are stored on your device; see our Privacy Policy for what happens if optional cloud backup is introduced.

So that the Services can work, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, process, reproduce, resize and display Your Content solely to operate, secure, support and improve the Services. If you choose to use a feature that shares Your Content with others — for example sharing a card, joining a leaderboard, or contributing to a public map — you additionally grant us and other users the right to display Your Content within that feature, and you can stop future display by leaving the feature or deleting the content. This licence ends when Your Content is deleted from the Services, except for content already shared publicly or for copies retained for legal, backup or security purposes for a reasonable period.

You confirm that you took Your Content yourself (or have all necessary rights to it), that it does not infringe anyone's rights, and that it complies with §5 and §6. We may remove or refuse to display any content that we reasonably believe breaches these Terms, and we have no obligation to store or return Your Content — please keep your own backups of photos you care about.

If you send us feedback, ideas or suggestions, you agree that we may use them without any obligation to you.

9. Copyright complaints (DMCA)

We respect intellectual property and expect users to do the same. If you believe content in the Services infringes your copyright, send a notice to support@spotzo.app (subject line "Copyright notice"), including:

1. your physical or electronic signature;
2. identification of the copyrighted work you claim is infringed;
3. identification of the material you claim is infringing and enough information for us to locate it (for example a link or the account and card concerned);
4. your contact details (name, address, telephone number and email);
5. a statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law; and
6. a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the owner's behalf.

If your content was removed following a notice and you believe this was a mistake or misidentification, you may send us a counter-notice containing your signature, identification of the removed material and its former location, a statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief the material was removed by mistake or misidentification, your contact details, and your consent to the jurisdiction of the federal court for your district (or, if outside the United States, any judicial district in which we may be found) and to accept service from the person who filed the original notice. We may restore the material after 10–14 business days unless the complainant informs us that they have filed a court action.

We will terminate the accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances. Knowingly misrepresenting that material is infringing, or was removed by mistake, may make you liable for damages.

10. Paws and virtual items

The Services include a virtual currency ("Paws") and virtual items such as streak freezes, card frames, themes, hints and other in-game goods ("Virtual Items"). Paws may be earned through play and, when the feature is available, purchased with real money. When you obtain Paws or Virtual Items you receive only a limited, revocable, non-transferable licence to use them within the Services. You agree that:

• Paws and Virtual Items have no monetary value, are not property, and cannot be redeemed, exchanged or cashed out for money or anything of value outside the Services;
• they cannot be sold, traded, gifted or transferred between accounts or to anyone else, and any attempt to do so is void;
• purchases of Paws are final and non-refundable, except where a refund is required by law or granted under the policies of the app store through which you paid;
• we may change the price, earn rates, uses, availability and balance of Paws and Virtual Items, and may modify, expire, or discontinue any of them, at any time and for any reason, with reasonable notice where a change materially affects items you paid for;
• Paws and Virtual Items are forfeited without compensation if your account is terminated for breach of these Terms, or if you delete your account;
• nothing in the Services is a gambling or lottery product. Any randomised rewards ("lucky" spots, boosters) are game mechanics that do not pay out anything of real-world value.

11. Purchases, subscriptions and free trials

Payment through app stores

All real-money purchases in the App — Paw packs, Virtual Items and the Spotzo Plus subscription — are processed by Google Play (and, where the App is offered on other platforms, by that platform's store). Prices are shown in the store in your local currency and may include taxes. The store's terms, payment methods, tax handling and refund policies apply; we do not process payments or refunds directly. We use a subscription-management provider (currently RevenueCat) to recognise your entitlements; see the Privacy Policy.

Subscriptions

• Spotzo Plus is billed in advance on a recurring basis (for example monthly or yearly) at the price shown at purchase, and renews automatically at the end of each period unless you cancel at least 24 hours before it renews.
• You can cancel at any time in your Google Play subscription settings. Cancellation stops future renewals; you keep Plus until the end of the period already paid for. Uninstalling the App does not cancel a subscription.
• We may change subscription prices or benefits. Price changes take effect at your next renewal after notice, in accordance with the store's rules; if you do not agree, cancel before the renewal.
• Plus benefits (such as bonus Paws, extra features or cosmetics) are Virtual Items under §10 and may change over time.

Free trials and offers

If we offer a free trial or introductory price, it converts to a paid subscription automatically at the end of the trial or offer period unless you cancel before it ends. Eligibility is determined by the store and is normally limited to one trial per person or account. We may withdraw or change offers at any time.

Statutory rights

If you are a consumer in the EU, UK or another jurisdiction with mandatory consumer-protection rules, nothing in this section limits rights you cannot waive, including any right of withdrawal. By starting to download or use digital content during any withdrawal period you acknowledge that you may lose that right to the extent permitted by law.

12. Our intellectual property

The Services — including the App, Site, software, on-device AI model, species artwork and card designs, text, graphics, logos, the "Spotzo" name and marks, and the selection and arrangement of all of these — are owned by us or our licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark and other laws. Except for the limited licences expressly granted in these Terms, we reserve all rights. Species facts are drawn from public scientific sources; the artwork and presentation are ours. Some emoji artwork used in the Services is provided by Twemoji under the CC-BY 4.0 licence, and other open-source components are used under their respective licences.

13. Third-party services

The Services rely on third parties such as Google Play, our hosting and authentication providers, and (when active) payment and subscription providers, and may link to third-party websites or content. We are not responsible for third-party services or their terms, and your use of them is at your own risk and governed by their terms and privacy policies.

14. Privacy

How we collect, use and protect your information is described in our Privacy Policy, which is part of these Terms. In short: identification happens on your device, we collect very little, and we never sell your personal data.

15. Suspension and termination

By you. You may stop using the Services at any time and may delete your account from the App's settings or by emailing support@spotzo.app. Deleting your account permanently removes your collection, progress, Paws and Virtual Items associated with it.

By us. We may suspend or terminate your access to all or part of the Services, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms (in particular §5 or §6), if required by law, if your account is inactive for an extended period, or if we discontinue the Services. Where practical we will give you notice and an opportunity to export or note your progress.

Effect. On termination your licences end, you must stop using the App, and any Paws or Virtual Items are forfeited without compensation except as required by law. Sections that by their nature should survive — including §8 (licence to Your Content, to the extent stated), §9, §10, §12 and §16–§22 — survive termination.

16. Disclaimers

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE". TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE, THAT SPECIES IDENTIFICATIONS OR SPECIES INFORMATION WILL BE ACCURATE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT YOUR CONTENT, PROGRESS, PAWS OR VIRTUAL ITEMS WILL NOT BE LOST. Please keep your own copies of photos that matter to you.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any warranty, guarantee or right that cannot be excluded or limited under the law that applies to you, including consumer-protection law in the EU, UK and elsewhere.

17. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SPOTZO, ITS OPERATOR AND THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, LICENSORS AND SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, CONTENT, GOODWILL OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE SERVICES, YOUR CONDUCT IN THE REAL WORLD WHILE USING THEM, OR THESE TERMS, HOWEVER CAUSED AND UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICES OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID US THROUGH THE SERVICES IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM AND (B) FIFTY US DOLLARS (US$50).

These limitations do not apply to liability that cannot be limited by law, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for gross negligence or wilful misconduct, and they do not affect your statutory rights as a consumer.

18. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Spotzo, its operator and their owners, employees and contractors from any claims, damages, losses and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of Your Content, your breach of these Terms, your violation of any law or third-party right, or your conduct in the real world while using the Services. This does not apply to consumers where such an obligation is prohibited by the law that applies to you.

19. Dispute resolution and arbitration (United States)

19.1 Talk to us first

Before starting any formal proceeding, you agree to email a written description of your dispute to support@spotzo.app and to give us 60 days to try to resolve it informally. We will do the same if we have a dispute with you.

19.2 Binding individual arbitration

If we cannot resolve a dispute informally, any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services (including their formation, interpretation, breach or termination, and whether the dispute is arbitrable) will be resolved by final and binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect (available at adr.org), except as provided in 19.4. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this section. The arbitrator may award the same individual relief a court could, on an individual basis only, and must follow these Terms. Arbitration will take place by video conference, by documents, or in the county where you live, at your choice. We will pay all AAA filing, administration and arbitrator fees for claims under US$10,000 unless the arbitrator finds the claim frivolous.

19.3 Class action and jury trial waiver

YOU AND SPOTZO AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, CONSOLIDATED OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims or preside over any form of representative or class proceeding. To the extent a claim proceeds in court rather than arbitration, you and Spotzo each waive any right to a jury trial.

19.4 Exceptions

Either party may (a) bring an individual claim in small-claims court if it qualifies, and (b) seek injunctive or other equitable relief in court to protect intellectual-property rights or to stop unauthorised use of the Services. Claims of sexual harassment or assault may be brought in court at your election as permitted by law.

19.5 Your right to opt out

You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing support@spotzo.app with the subject line "Arbitration opt-out", your name and the email address of your Spotzo account, within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. If you opt out, neither you nor we are bound by 19.2 or 19.3, but the rest of these Terms continue to apply.

19.6 Severability of this section

If the class-action waiver in 19.3 is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim (and only that claim) will be severed and litigated in court, and the remainder will be arbitrated. If any other part of this section is found unenforceable, the rest of the section remains in effect.

19.7 Users outside the United States

This section does not apply to you if you live outside the United States. If you are a consumer in the EU, UK or another jurisdiction whose law entitles you to bring claims in your local courts or before a consumer body, nothing in these Terms removes that right.

20. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Israel, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. If you are a consumer, this choice does not take away the protection you have under the mandatory provisions of the law of the country in which you live. Subject to §19, you may bring proceedings in the courts of the country in which you live or in the competent courts of Israel; we will bring proceedings against you only in the courts of the country in which you live. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

21. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time, for example to reflect new features (such as subscriptions, sharing or leaderboards) or changes in the law. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date above and, for material changes, give you reasonable advance notice — normally in the App or by email. Changes are not retroactive. If you continue to use the Services after a change takes effect, you accept the updated Terms; if you do not agree, stop using the Services and, if you wish, delete your account. Changes to §19 do not apply to disputes of which we had notice before the change.

22. General terms

• Entire agreement. These Terms, the Privacy Policy and the EULA are the entire agreement between you and us about the Services and replace any earlier agreements.
• Severability. If any provision is found unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted and the remaining provisions remain in full force.
• No waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later.
• Assignment. You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms. We may assign them to a successor or affiliate, for example in a merger or sale, and will notify you if we do.
• Force majeure. We are not liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control.
• Export and sanctions. You may not use the Services if you are in a country subject to comprehensive sanctions or are a sanctioned person, and you will comply with applicable export-control laws.
• App stores. Google Play and any other store through which you obtain the App is not a party to these Terms and has no obligation to provide support or maintenance for the App; it may enforce these Terms as a third-party beneficiary to the extent its own terms provide.
• Language. These Terms are written in English. Any translation is for convenience only; the English version controls to the extent permitted by law.

23. Contact us

Questions about these Terms? We're happy to help.

Email: support@spotzo.app
Web: spotzo.app