Checked & Verified – Terms of Use

1. Nature of the Services

• Checked & Verified provides tools and indicators that help users determine whether phone calls, text messages, emails, and digital communications appear to originate from registered or participating entities.
• Checked & Verified does not provide fraud detection guarantees, cybersecurity certifications, or legal/financial advice.
• The Services are informational only.

2. Eligibility & Account Requirements

To use the Services:

• Individuals must be at least 13 years old.
• Enterprise accounts must be created by authorized representatives.
• Information submitted must be accurate and current.
• Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of credentials.
• We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.

3. No Guarantee of Accuracy or Fraud Prevention

You acknowledge that:

• No system can prevent all fraud or impersonation.
• Verification indicators may be unavailable, incorrect, delayed, or incomplete.
• Fraud may still occur even while using the Services.
• Checked & Verified does not guarantee that legitimate communications will always be marked as verified or that fraudulent ones will always be marked as suspicious.
• The Services are provided on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis.
• You assume all risk associated with your use of the Services.

4. Data Collection, Use & Privacy

We may collect:

• Registration data
• Communication metadata
• Device information
• Usage analytics
• Organization verification data
• User-submitted scam reports

4.1 Use of Data for Marketing and Analytics

Checked & Verified may use collected data—including anonymized, de-identified, or aggregated data—for:

• Marketing and promotional materials
• Public education campaigns
• Insights, analytics, and research
• Product improvements
• Industry reports
• Demonstrations of fraud trends

4.2 Personal Identifying Information (PII) Protection

We will never share, sell, trade, disclose, or release personal identifying information (PII) without your express written permission, unless legally required.

4.3 Data Sharing

We may share non-PII with:

• Law enforcement
• Regulators
• Fraud research groups
• Industry partners
• Service providers supporting our platform

All shared data is anonymized or aggregated and cannot reasonably identify any user or organization.

5. Industry-Specific Compliance

Checked & Verified does not independently create compliance with HIPAA, FERPA, GLBA, NERC-CIP, PCI DSS, FINRA, FFIEC, CMS, state/federal procurement rules, or any other regulatory or sector-specific frameworks.

• Healthcare: no PHI is required.
• Education: no FERPA records are required.
• Government: no classified or restricted data is required.
• Financial institutions: no regulated financial data is required.

Your organization maintains full responsibility for its own compliance obligations.

6. Organizational Responsibilities

Organizations agree to:

• Submit accurate communication channel information
• Maintain and update verified channels
• Not misuse verification badges or identity indicators
• Ensure lawful use of the platform
• Accept that verification may be revoked at any time

Organizations remain solely responsible for all communication they distribute, whether verified or not.

7. User Responsibilities

Users agree not to:

• Misuse the Services
• Submit fraudulent information
• Engage in scraping, reverse engineering, or unauthorized access
• Upload malware or harmful code
• Abuse the scam-reporting mechanisms

8. Scam Reporting

User-submitted scam reports:

• May be shared in anonymized or de-identified form
• May be forwarded to law enforcement
• Are not guaranteed to be investigated
• Are not grounds for reimbursement or compensation

Checked & Verified is not responsible for retrieving lost funds or resolving disputes.

9. Service Availability

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue the Services at any time without notice.

We are not responsible for:

• Outages
• Carrier or internet failures
• Incorrect or missing verification indicators
• Delayed processing
• Platform malfunctions
• Data corruption

10. Intellectual Property

All trademarks, software, content, analytics, designs, indicators, and platform functionality are owned by Checked & Verified. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or reverse-engineer any part of the Services.

11. Limitation of Liability (Maximum Claim: $100)

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW:

Checked & Verified, its employees, officers, partners, and affiliates shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive, or exemplary damages.

Checked & Verified is not liable for fraud losses, impersonation damages, misinterpretation of verification data, or reliance on platform signals.

Your exclusive remedy is to discontinue use of the Services.

11.1 Maximum Damages Cap

IN ALL CASES, THE MAXIMUM TOTAL LIABILITY OF CHECKED & VERIFIED ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES SHALL NOT EXCEED:

ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (USD $100).

This cap applies even if a remedy fails of its essential purpose.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold Checked & Verified harmless from all claims, losses, damages, liabilities, and expenses resulting from:

• Your use of the Services
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your organization's negligence or misconduct
• Submission of false or misleading verification data
• Any regulatory or compliance breach by your organization

13. Termination

We may terminate or suspend any user or organization account at any time, with or without cause.

14. Binding Arbitration Agreement

14.1 Agreement to Arbitrate

You agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Services shall be resolved by final and binding arbitration, rather than in court, except that users may bring individual claims in small-claims court.

14.2 Arbitration Rules

Arbitration shall be conducted by a neutral arbitrator under the rules of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) or a comparable arbitration body.

14.3 Location

Arbitration shall take place in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, unless otherwise mutually agreed.

14.4 Class Action Waiver

YOU AGREE THAT DISPUTES WITH CHECKED & VERIFIED MAY ONLY BE BROUGHT INDIVIDUALLY, AND NOT AS PART OF A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION.

14.5 Jury Trial Waiver

You waive any right to a jury trial.

15. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

16. Amendments

Checked & Verified may update these Terms at any time. Continued use of the Services constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

17. Contact Information

For questions or support regarding these Terms: