Terms of Service

Effective Date: May 16, 2026

These Terms of Service ("Terms") cover three things, with different rules for each:

• The Desktop App — open-source software you run on your computer.
• Perch — our hosted photo-sharing service.
• Cloud Compute — our hosted, paid analysis service.

Each section below makes clear which it applies to.

Part A — The Open-Source Desktop App

A1. License

The Project Kestrel desktop application is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3 (AGPLv3). The license text governs your rights to use, modify, and redistribute the software. The license text is included with the application and available at https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.html.

A2. AS-IS warranty disclaimer

THE DESKTOP APP IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. THIS LANGUAGE IS REQUIRED BY AGPLv3 AND IS NOT NEGOTIABLE.

This is important: the desktop app makes decisions about which of your photos to keep and which to discard. It will sometimes be wrong. Always review its recommendations before deleting anything. Keep backups.

We have made our best effort to ensure that Project Kestrel itself cannot delete your photos: the code is designed never to delete your original photos — any deletion is initiated by you. Note that analyzing your photos creates additional files (thumbnails, metadata, exports stored in a .kestrel/ subfolder of the analyzed directory) that take some disk space; by using Kestrel, you accept that.

A3. Limitation of liability (Desktop App)

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE AUTHORS AND MAINTAINERS OF PROJECT KESTREL SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PHOTOS, LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, OR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE DESKTOP APP.

A4. Telemetry

The desktop app sends a small amount of anonymous telemetry. This is documented in detail in the Privacy Policy. The non-optional portion (machine UUID, OS, version, daily-active heartbeat, analysis image count, analysis speed stats) is required to use the app. Optional, detailed telemetry can be enabled or disabled in settings. Crash reports can also be disabled.

A5. Acceptance for the desktop app

By installing and using the desktop app, you accept these terms.

Part B — Hosted Services (Perch and Cloud Compute)

Parts B through I apply only if you create an account and use Perch or Cloud Compute. If you only use the desktop app locally, none of this section applies to you.

B1. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. By creating an account, you represent that you meet the minimum age requirement and that you are legally able to enter into these Terms.

B2. Account creation and security

You must provide accurate information when creating an account. You are responsible for the activity that occurs under your account and for keeping your password secure. Notify us immediately at support@projectkestrel.org if you suspect unauthorized access.

B3. Acceptable use

When using the hosted services, you agree:

• To use these services only through the official Project Kestrel app developed and distributed by Project Kestrel LLC on projectkestrel.org. Third-party clients, modified builds, or automated scripts are not permitted.

And you agree NOT to:

• Upload content that you do not own or do not have permission to share.
• Upload content that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, sexually explicit, or hateful.
• Upload content depicting minors in any unsafe or inappropriate context.
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to other accounts or our infrastructure.
• Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of our systems without prior written permission. (Good-faith security research: contact support@projectkestrel.org.)
• Use the services to send spam, mass-unsolicited communications, or to scrape other users' content.
• Use the services to train a machine-learning model on bird photography that is not yours, without permission.
• Resell or sublicense the hosted services.
• Circumvent storage or compute quotas.

We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these rules.

B4. Your content and ownership

You retain ownership of every photo, comment, and other piece of content you upload to Perch ("Your Content"). We do not claim ownership of your photos.

You grant Project Kestrel a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, resize, transcode, and display Your Content solely to provide the hosted services to you and to the audience you have selected. The scope of this license is bounded by your visibility setting: a "draft" perch is licensed only to display to you; a "restricted" perch only to display to the people you've shared it with; a "public" perch to display to the public.

This license ends when you delete the content or your account, except where retention is required by law or for reasonable backup periods (no longer than 30 days).

No-marketing clause. Project Kestrel will not feature, promote, advertise with, or otherwise use Your Content in any marketing material, social media post, press communication, or external promotion of the Project Kestrel services without your separate, express, written permission. This includes Your Content even where its visibility is set to "public" — public visibility grants display rights within Perch; it does not grant marketing rights to us.

B5. DMCA / copyright

We respect copyright. If you believe content on Perch infringes your copyright, submit a notice at perch.projectkestrel.org/dmca (or email support@projectkestrel.org) including:

• Your contact information.
• A description of the copyrighted work.
• The URL of the allegedly infringing material on Perch.
• A statement under penalty of perjury that you are the rights holder or authorized to act for them.
• A statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorized.
• Your physical or electronic signature.

We will remove or disable infringing content and notify the uploader. The uploader may submit a counter-notice. Repeat infringers will have their accounts terminated.

B6. Perch — service description and limits

Perch is a photo-sharing service for bird photographers. At launch:

• Free tier: 2 GB total storage.
• Visibility options: draft (also called private), restricted (specific people), unlisted (anyone with the link), public.
• Default visibility for a new perch is draft (private) — only you can see it.

We may change these limits with notice.

B7. Cloud Compute — service description, billing, refunds, cancellation

Cloud Compute is a paid service that runs the Project Kestrel analysis pipeline on our GPU infrastructure.

Billing. Cloud Compute is billed through Clerk's billing integration. The current pricing is shown on the Cloud Compute page at sign-up. Pricing may change with at least 30 days' notice to existing subscribers.

Refunds. No refunds are issued once a billing cycle has started. We strongly encourage testing Cloud Compute on the free plan before subscribing. If you need help or encounter issues, contact support — we may assist you or offer a refund for the affected billing period at our discretion.

Cancellation. You may cancel at any time from the MyAccount dashboard. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period; you retain access until then.

Service availability. We do not commit to a specific uptime SLA at launch. We will make a reasonable effort to keep the service available.

Sub-processor. Cloud Compute uses Modal.com for GPU execution. By using Cloud Compute, you consent to your submitted images being processed by Modal in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

B8. Hosted-services AS-IS / limitation of liability

THE HOSTED SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL LIABILITY ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE HOSTED SERVICES SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US FOR THE SERVICE IN THE 30 DAYS PRECEDING THE CLAIM.

WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF DATA, EVEN IF WE WERE ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY.

B9. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Project Kestrel and its maintainers from any claim, loss, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from:

• Your Content,
• Your violation of these Terms,
• Your violation of any third-party rights, including intellectual-property rights.

B10. Termination

You may stop using the hosted services or delete your account at any time from MyAccount. Account deletion removes your profile, your perches, and your Cloud Compute job history.

We may suspend or terminate your account for violation of these Terms, for fraudulent or illegal activity, or for non-payment (for paid services). We will provide reasonable notice except where doing so would risk harm to other users or to us.

B11. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute arising from these Terms or your use of the hosted services will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Texas, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

B12. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. When we do, we will:

• Update the Effective Date at the top.
• Update legal.json on the marketing site.
• Require you to review and accept the new Terms before you can upload to Perch or submit a Cloud Compute job. You will not be locked out of viewing your existing content, downloading existing results, managing your account, or deleting your account.

Material changes will be summarized in an in-product notice.

B13. Open-source software vs. hosted services — separation

For clarity: Parts A and B are distinct. The desktop app's AGPLv3 license is not affected by these hosted-service Terms. Nothing in Part B restricts your AGPLv3 rights to the desktop source code. Likewise, AGPLv3 does not entitle you to use the hosted services without an account, without paying applicable fees, or in violation of the acceptable-use rules in B3.

B14. Contact

support@projectkestrel.org