App Terms of Service

1. About this document.

This document is the legally binding agreement between you and Gart covering your use of the Gart App on Android. It is written to be read, not buried.

We call out key points inline. We hide nothing in footnotes or cross-references.

2. What the app is and is not.

The Gart App is a privacy-first emergency alert tool. It lets you share your encrypted location and a short message with a pre-selected group of trusted contacts ("Watchers") in the moment you need their attention.

The App is not:

• Not an emergency service. Gart does not connect you to police, fire, paramedics, or any public emergency dispatcher. In a life-threatening situation, always call your local emergency number (112 in Europe, 911 in the US).
• Not a monitoring service. Gart runs no live monitoring. No one at Gart watches your alerts. Alerts are delivered to your Watchers only.
• Not a guarantee of safety. The App is a communication tool. Whether your Watchers see the alert, how fast they respond, and what they do with it are outside our control.
• Not a replacement for a security plan. The App supplements personal security measures. It does not replace them.

3. Beta program.

The App is currently in beta, pre-release software. This means:

• No service level agreement. We make no commitments on uptime, alert delivery latency, or feature availability during the beta period.
• Breaking changes. We may change, remove, or reset features, including user data, with limited or no advance notice.
• Access may end. We may close, extend, or restructure the beta program at any time. Beta access does not guarantee continued access or future pricing.
• Feedback is expected. By participating in the beta, you agree to report bugs and issues through the App's feedback channel. This is how you help make the product work.

These limitations do not reduce the emergency-use cautions in Section 2. Beta or not, always call emergency services in a life-threatening situation.

4. Eligibility.

By using the App, you confirm that you have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement under the laws of your jurisdiction.

If you are using the App on behalf of an organisation, you confirm that you have authority to bind that organisation to these Terms.

5. Your identity and keys.

The Gart App uses the Nostr protocol. Your identity in the App is a cryptographic keypair, a Nostr private key (nsec) and its corresponding public key (npub). You are responsible for this keypair.

• Key custody is yours. Your private key is stored locally on your device in Android secure storage (Android Keystore). We do not hold it, cannot retrieve it, and cannot reset it.
• Loss of key means loss of identity. If you lose your private key and have no backup, your Nostr identity cannot be recovered. Back up your nsec in a secure location.
• Compromise is irreversible. If your private key is exposed to a third party, anyone holding it can act as you on the Nostr network. Gart cannot revoke a key or restore account control.
• You are responsible for your account activity. All actions taken using your keypair are attributed to you.

We recommend using an external Nostr signer (such as Amber, via NIP-55) so your private key never touches the Gart App directly.

6. Decentralised infrastructure.

The App routes alerts and messages through the Nostr protocol, a public, decentralised relay network operated by independent third parties. Gart does not own or control these relays.

7. Emergency use.

The App's alert feature is designed for genuine personal safety emergencies. You agree to use it only for that purpose.

• False alerts. Triggering alerts when no emergency exists wastes your Watchers' time and degrades trust.
• Test alerts. The App provides a dedicated test mode for drills. Do not use live alerts to test the system.
• Watcher response is voluntary. Gart cannot compel your Watchers to act on an alert. Their response is their own decision.

8. Emergency contacts.

The App sends alerts to the Watchers you designate in your group. You are responsible for:

• Consent. Every Watcher must actively accept a group invitation before they can receive your alerts. By adding someone as a Watcher, you confirm you have their consent to receive emergency notifications from you.
• Currency. Keeping your Watcher list current. If a Watcher's contact information or availability changes, update your group.
• Readiness. Ensuring your Watchers understand their role and have the App installed and configured to receive alerts.

Gart is not responsible for alerts that fail to reach a Watcher due to an outdated group, a Watcher's device settings, or relay unavailability.

9. User responsibilities.

By using the App you agree to:

• Use the App only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms.
• Not use the App to harass, threaten, or surveil another person without their explicit consent.
• Not attempt to circumvent, reverse-engineer, or interfere with the App's encryption or authentication mechanisms.
• Not use the App to transmit unlawful, defamatory, or fraudulent content.
• Keep your device secure. A compromised device may compromise your private key and your group's communications.
• Comply with all applicable local laws regarding location sharing, privacy, and the use of cryptographic tools.

10. Privacy.

Your use of the App is subject to our App Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. The Privacy Policy explains what data the App collects, what it does not collect, and how decentralised data flows work in practice.

The short version: we cannot read your messages or your location. We cannot see your alerts. Your private keys never leave your device. We store anonymous analytics on our own infrastructure.

11. Intellectual property.

The App, its design, codebase, and all related materials are the property of Gart or its licensors. Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of any intellectual property to you.

We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the App on your Android device for the purposes described in these Terms.

The Nostr protocol is open-source and not owned by Gart. Your Nostr keypair and the events you publish belong to you.

12. Limitation of liability.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law:

• We provide the App "as is" and "as available." We make no warranty that it will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of security vulnerabilities.
• Gart is not liable for any failure to deliver an alert, delay in delivery, or loss of data resulting from relay unavailability, network conditions, device settings, or factors outside our control.
• Gart is not liable for the actions or inaction of your Watchers in response to an alert.
• Gart is not liable for outcomes that result from your use or non-use of the App.
• In all cases where liability cannot be excluded, Gart's total liability to you is limited to the amount you paid for the App (if any) in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

Some jurisdictions do not allow exclusion of implied warranties or limitation of liability. In those jurisdictions, the limitations above apply to the maximum extent permitted by law.

13. Indemnification.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Gart and the individuals working on it from any claims, losses, or damages arising from:

• Your breach of these Terms.
• Your use or misuse of the App.
• Your violation of any third party's rights, including the privacy rights of your Watchers or other contacts.
• Any false or misleading alerts you trigger.

14. Termination.

You may stop using the App at any time by uninstalling it. Uninstalling removes locally stored data from your device.

We may suspend or terminate your access to Gart-operated services (including the Blossom backup server and any future account infrastructure) if:

• You violate these Terms.
• You repeatedly misuse the alert feature.
• We are required to do so by law.
• We discontinue the service, with reasonable notice where possible.

Because your identity is a Nostr keypair, termination of access to our servers does not delete your keypair nor prevent you from using it in other Nostr apps.

15. Changes to these terms.

We may update these Terms. Material changes will be communicated through the App, by email (if you have provided one), or via a notice on this page at least 14 days before they take effect.

Continued use of the App after the effective date of revised Terms constitutes acceptance of those Terms.

16. Governing law.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Czech Republic, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles.

If you have a dispute, raise it with us first via the contact form. We will respond and work to resolve it directly.

17. Contact.

Questions about these Terms: contact us via our website form.

Bug reports and app feedback: use the in-app feedback button or the feedback channel listed in the User Manual.