Sign inGet started

Legal

Terms of Service

Last updated

This is the contract between you and Policy Monster. The two sections worth reading before anything else are we are not a law firm and limitation of liability.

The agreement

These Terms of Service (the Terms) are a binding contract between [to be confirmed before launch], doing business as Policy Monster (we, us, our), and the person or organisation using our service (you). They govern your access to and use of policy.monster, policies.policy.monster, and everything we publish, generate or host for you (together, the Service).

By creating an account, clicking to accept, or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you are agreeing on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent that you have authority to bind it, and you means that entity.

These Terms incorporate, and you also agree to, the Acceptable Use Policy, the Refund and Cancellation Policy, and, where we process personal data on your behalf, the Data Processing Addendum. Our Privacy Policy describes how we handle your own personal information; it is a disclosure rather than a contract term, and nothing in it reduces your rights under applicable privacy law.

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

Eligibility and your account

Who may use the Service

You must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract. The Service is offered for business and professional use. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly allow anyone under 18 to create an account.

You may not use the Service if you are barred from doing so under the laws of the United States or any other applicable jurisdiction, including if you are located in, or ordinarily resident in, a country or region subject to comprehensive US sanctions, or if you appear on any US government restricted-party list.

Account security

You are responsible for your account credentials and for everything done through your account. Keep credentials confidential, use a unique password, and tell us at security@policy.monster promptly if you suspect unauthorised access.

Where your account is an organisation, whoever holds an owner or admin role may add and remove members, make purchases, publish and unpublish documents, and delete data belonging to the organisation. Choose who holds those roles accordingly.

Accurate information

The documents the Service produces are only as accurate as the facts you give it. You agree that the information you enter — your legal name, your domain, what data your business collects, where your customers are — is true, complete and kept up to date. We do not verify it, and we are not responsible for a document that is wrong because the answers behind it were.

What the Service does

The Service may include:

  • a questionnaire that turns your answers into a structured set of facts about your business;
  • generation of documents — such as a privacy policy, terms and conditions, a CCPA notice and a refund policy — assembled from a versioned clause library and rendered from those facts;
  • export of those documents as HTML, Markdown, plain text, PDF or Word;
  • hosting of documents that include paid clauses at a stable URL on policies.policy.monster, with an immutable, timestamped version history;
  • automatic regeneration and republication of hosted documents when the underlying clause library is revised, where you have that feature enabled;
  • a consent banner and consent record log for your own website;
  • intake and deadline tracking for privacy rights requests made to you by your own users; and
  • a scan of a domain you have claimed, reporting cookies, scripts and third-party hosts it finds.

What the Service does not do

The Service does not make you compliant with any law. Compliance is an ongoing property of how your business actually behaves, not of the documents on your website. A generated policy that accurately describes practices you do not follow makes your position worse, not better.

We do not monitor your business, your website or your legal obligations. We do not represent that any document is sufficient, current or correct for your circumstances, and we do not act as your privacy officer, data protection officer, or GDPR or UK GDPR Article 27 representative.

Jurisdictional coverage

Our clause library covers the jurisdictions listed on policy.monster at the time you generate a document — at launch, the European Union (GDPR), the United Kingdom (UK GDPR) and California (CCPA/CPRA). It does not cover any other jurisdiction, and a document generated for a covered jurisdiction says nothing about your obligations anywhere else. We may add or remove jurisdictions; removal will be notified in advance to customers whose documents rely on it.

The scanner

The scan is a best-effort observation of publicly reachable pages on a domain you have claimed. It respects robots directives, is rate-limited, and will miss things — trackers loaded conditionally, behind authentication, or after consent. A clean scan is not a finding that your site is clean. You may only scan a domain you own or are authorised to test.

Your content and your documents

You own your content

Your Content means everything you put into the Service: questionnaire answers, business details, uploaded material, text you edit into a document, and the personal data of your own users that the Service processes for you. As between you and us, Your Content is yours. We claim no ownership of it.

You grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, copy, transmit, display, adapt and process Your Content solely to operate and support the Service for you — including to render documents, publish them at the URLs you ask us to publish them at, serve your consent banner, and keep backups. That licence ends when the content is deleted, subject to backup cycles described in the Privacy Policy.

You are responsible for Your Content and for having the rights necessary to give us that licence.

The documents you generate

Subject to your payment obligations and to these Terms, we grant you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, reproduce, modify, publish and distribute the documents the Service generates for you, for your own business purposes and for those of the entity you generated them for.

That licence survives the closure of your account: documents you have already generated and exported remain yours to use. What ends with your account is hosting, automatic updating, and access to the Service.

You may not, however:

  • resell, sublicense or redistribute generated documents as a document-generation, template or forms product, or as part of one;
  • use generated documents to build, train or evaluate a competing document-generation service or model; or
  • generate documents on behalf of third parties as a service, unless you have a written agency or partner agreement with us permitting it.

Feedback

If you send us suggestions or feedback about the Service, we may use them without restriction or obligation to you. We will not identify you as the source without your permission.

Our intellectual property

The Service — including the clause library, the questionnaire, the rendering engine, the software, the design, and the Policy Monster name and logo — is owned by us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual property law. These Terms grant you a limited, revocable, non-transferable right to use the Service; they transfer nothing else.

You may not:

  • copy, extract, scrape or systematically download the clause library or any part of it other than as documents generated for your own business;
  • reverse engineer, decompile or attempt to derive the source code or the clause selection logic, except where that restriction is unenforceable by law;
  • remove or obscure any proprietary notice; or
  • use our name, logo or brand in a way that suggests endorsement or partnership without our written permission.

Acceptable use

Your use of the Service is subject to the Acceptable Use Policy, which is part of these Terms. In summary: do not use the Service unlawfully, do not attack or overload it, do not use it to deceive people about your own data practices, and do not scan or publish under domains you do not control.

The hosted policy network exists so that a live legal document stays available. It is not general web hosting, a CDN for unrelated assets, or a place to publish content that is not a legal document for a site you operate.

Fees and payment

No subscriptions. The Service has no plans and never renews or charges you automatically. Creating, copying and downloading a document is free. Some clauses are paid: the price is shown next to the answer that adds one, and you pay once, per document, at checkout. A document whose paid clauses you have bought may also be hosted, and is then kept up to date, at no further charge.

Fees

Fees are those shown at checkout, in US dollars, exclusive of taxes. You authorise us and our payment processor to charge your payment method for the clauses you buy, applicable taxes, and any amounts you have otherwise agreed to pay.

We may change our prices. A change applies only to purchases made after it — never to clauses you have already bought.

What a purchase covers

A purchase covers the clauses it lists, for the document you bought them for. If you later change your answers so that the document needs a further paid clause, that clause is priced separately before the new version can be copied, downloaded or published. A refunded purchase is treated as never made: its clauses lock again, and a hosted document that depended on it stops being served.

Taxes

Prices exclude sales, use, VAT, GST and similar taxes. Where we are required to collect them, they are added at checkout. You are responsible for any taxes arising from your use of the Service other than taxes on our income.

Refunds

Refunds, and what happens to your data when you close your account, are covered in the Refund and Cancellation Policy.

Free documents

Free documents are provided as-is, with no availability commitment. We may change which clauses are free and which are paid; a change never takes away clauses you have already bought.

Third-party services

The Service depends on third parties — payment processing, email delivery, bot protection, hosting and error reporting among them. They are listed, with what each does and where it operates, on the Sub-processors page.

Payments are processed by Stripe (cards) or PayPal, whichever you choose at checkout. We never receive or store your full card number or your PayPal login. The provider’s own terms and privacy policy apply to its handling of your payment data.

If you connect a third-party account — for example by signing in with Google or GitHub — your use of that provider is governed by its terms, not ours. We are not responsible for third-party services, and their availability is outside our control.

Data protection

How we handle personal information about you — your account, your billing, your use of the Service — is described in the Privacy Policy.

Where you use the Service to handle personal data belonging to your own users — consent records, privacy rights requests, and anything else your visitors submit through features we operate for you — you are the controller and we act as your processor. The Data Processing Addendum applies to that processing, is incorporated into these Terms, and takes effect without either of us needing to sign anything further.

You are responsible for having a lawful basis for the personal data you put into the Service, for giving your own users the notices they are entitled to, and for responding to their rights requests. We help you track those requests; we do not answer them for you.

Availability and changes to the Service

We work to keep the Service, and hosted documents in particular, available. We do not promise uninterrupted or error-free operation, and we do not offer a service level agreement unless one is agreed with you in writing.

We may modify, add to or discontinue features. If we stop hosting documents you have paid for, or make a change that materially reduces what a purchase gave you, we will give at least 30 days’ notice by email where practicable, so you can export your documents and publish them elsewhere.

We may perform maintenance, and will try to schedule anything disruptive outside peak hours. Emergency maintenance may happen without notice.

Suspension and termination

By you

You may stop using the Service and close your account at any time. See the Refund and Cancellation Policy for what happens to your documents and data.

By us

We may suspend or terminate your access if:

  • you materially breach these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy;
  • a payment you made is reversed through a chargeback or payment dispute;
  • your use presents a security, legal or operational risk to us, to other customers, or to the public; or
  • we are required to do so by law.

Except where the breach is severe, unlawful, or presents an immediate risk, we will give notice and a reasonable opportunity to fix the problem first. Where we suspend rather than terminate, we will restore access once the cause is resolved.

We may also discontinue the Service entirely on at least 90 days’ notice, with a pro-rata refund of prepaid fees and an opportunity to export your documents.

Effect of termination

On termination, your right to use the Service ends and hosted documents stop being served. Documents you have exported remain licensed to you under Your content and your documents. Data deletion and export windows are set out in the Refund and Cancellation Policy and the Data Processing Addendum.

Sections that by their nature should survive do: We are not a law firm, Your content and your documents, Our intellectual property, Disclaimer of warranties, Limitation of liability, Indemnification, Disputes and General, together with any accrued payment obligation.

Disclaimer of warranties

The Service and every document it generates are provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranty of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express, implied and statutory, including the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, accuracy and non-infringement, and any warranty arising from course of dealing or usage of trade.

We specifically make no warranty that any generated document is legally sufficient, accurate, current, or appropriate for your business; that it complies with the law of any jurisdiction; that it will be accepted by any court, regulator, auditor, app store or counterparty; or that using it will avoid liability, enforcement or penalty.

We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure or error-free, or that defects will be corrected.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties. Where that is the case, the exclusions above apply to the fullest extent permitted, and you may have rights that this section cannot limit.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither we nor our officers, employees, contractors, suppliers or licensors will be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost revenue, lost business, lost goodwill, lost or corrupted data, regulatory fines or penalties, or the cost of substitute services — whether in contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability or otherwise, and whether or not we were advised that such damages were possible.

Our total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will not exceed the greater of (a) the total fees you paid us in the twelve months immediately before the event giving rise to the claim, and (b) one hundred US dollars (US$100).

These limits apply even if a limited remedy fails of its essential purpose, and they apply to all claims in aggregate, not per claim.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited — including liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for death or personal injury caused by negligence, and any liability under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act or other consumer protection law that may not be waived.

You acknowledge that the fees for the Service reflect this allocation of risk, and that we would not provide the Service on these terms without it.

Indemnification

You will defend, indemnify and hold harmless Policy Monster and its officers, employees and contractors from and against any third-party claim, and any resulting loss, damage, liability, penalty, cost or reasonable legal fee, arising out of or relating to:

  • Your Content, or the personal data you put into the Service;
  • your use of the Service, or of any document generated by it;
  • your reliance on a generated document without independent legal review, and any claim that a document was inadequate, inaccurate or non-compliant;
  • your breach of these Terms or of the Acceptable Use Policy; or
  • your violation of any law or of the rights of a third party.

We will notify you of any such claim, give you control of the defence (except that we may participate with our own counsel at our expense), and cooperate reasonably. You may not settle a claim in a way that imposes an obligation or admission on us without our written consent.

Governing law, arbitration and class action waiver

Governing law

These Terms and any dispute arising out of them or the Service are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, United States, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

If you are a consumer resident in the European Union or the United Kingdom, this choice of law does not deprive you of the protection of mandatory provisions of the law of your country of residence, and you may bring proceedings in your local courts.

Informal resolution first

Before starting arbitration or litigation, you agree to contact us at legal@policy.monster with a written description of the dispute and the relief you want, and to give us 30 days to resolve it. Most disputes end here.

Binding arbitration

If we cannot resolve a dispute informally, you and we agree that it will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer or Commercial Arbitration Rules, as applicable, and not in court before a judge or jury. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this section.

You and we are giving up the right to a trial by jury.

Class action waiver. Disputes will be brought only in an individual capacity. Neither you nor we may bring a claim as a plaintiff or class member in a class, collective, consolidated or representative action, and the arbitrator may not consolidate claims or preside over any form of representative proceeding. If this waiver is held unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim — and only that claim — will proceed in court, and the rest of this section still applies.

Arbitration will take place in [to be confirmed before launch] County, Florida, or, at your election, by telephone, video or on written submissions only. The arbitrator may award the same individual relief a court could, and the award may be entered as a judgment in any court with jurisdiction.

How to opt out of arbitration

Arbitration is not compulsory. You may opt out by emailing legal@policy.monster with the subject line “Arbitration opt-out”, stating your account email, within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. Opting out costs nothing, affects nothing else in these Terms, and will not be held against you in any way.

Exceptions and venue

Either of us may bring an individual claim in small claims court, and either of us may seek injunctive relief in court to protect intellectual property or to stop unauthorised access to the Service. For any dispute not subject to arbitration, you and we consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in [to be confirmed before launch] County, Florida.

Time limit

Any claim arising out of these Terms or the Service must be brought within one year after it arises, except where a longer period is required by law. Otherwise it is permanently barred.

Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. The date at the top of this page always reflects the current version.

For changes that materially and adversely affect you, we will give at least 30 days’ notice by email to the address on your account, or by a notice in the product, before they take effect. Continuing to use the Service after that date means you accept the new Terms. If you do not accept them, cancel before they take effect, and we will refund prepaid fees for the unused remainder of your term.

A change to the arbitration section will not apply retroactively to a dispute of which we already had notice.

General

Entire agreement

These Terms, together with the policies they incorporate, are the entire agreement between you and us about the Service, and replace any prior understanding. If you have a separate written agreement with us that conflicts with these Terms, that agreement controls to the extent of the conflict.

Severability and waiver

If any provision is held unenforceable, it is modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or severed if it cannot be, and the rest remains in force. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.

Assignment

You may not assign these Terms without our written consent. We may assign them to an affiliate or in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, on notice to you.

Force majeure

Neither party is liable for a failure to perform caused by something outside its reasonable control, including natural disaster, war, terrorism, labour dispute, government action, internet or utility failure, or the failure of an upstream provider. This does not excuse an obligation to pay.

Notices

We give notice by email to the address on your account, or by posting in the product. You give notice to us at legal@policy.monster, or by post to Policy Monster, [to be confirmed before launch]. Keep your email address current; notice sent to a stale address still counts as given.

Independent contractors

Nothing here creates a partnership, joint venture, employment, franchise or agency relationship between us.

No third-party beneficiaries

These Terms are for you and us. Nobody else acquires rights under them, except that our officers, employees, contractors, suppliers and licensors may rely on Disclaimer of warranties, Limitation of liability and Indemnification.

Export and sanctions

You will comply with US export control and sanctions laws, and you represent that you are not a restricted party under them.

Language

These Terms are written in English. Any translation is provided for convenience; the English version controls.

How to contact us

[to be confirmed before launch], trading as Policy Monster, organised under the laws of the State of Florida, United States.

Questions about this document can be sent to legal@policy.monster, or by post to Policy Monster, [to be confirmed before launch].