Legal Notices & Terms of Service
1. Overview & architecture
The Circle of Care is a privacy-first, installable progressive web application that helps families and personal caregivers organize, record, and coordinate care information for an individual (the “Cared-For Person”) — a shared medication journal, appointments, vital-sign logs, care-team roles, an emergency profile, and printable physician summaries.
The App operates under two technical architectures: (1) Local-first default (Free tier) — all personal health information resides strictly on your local device; no clinical entries, vitals, or medication names are transmitted to or processed by our servers; and (2) Zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption (paid / synced circles) — synchronized records are encrypted on the client device before transport. The Company and its hosting providers hold only unreadable ciphertext; encryption and decryption keys remain under the exclusive control of the care-circle owner and authorized invited devices.
2. Medical, emergency & clinical disclaimers
2.1 Not medical advice — not a medical device
THE CIRCLE OF CARE IS STRICTLY A PASSIVE ADMINISTRATIVE, LOGISTICAL, AND RECORD-ORGANIZING TOOL. IT IS NOT A MEDICAL DEVICE, DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE, NURSING, OR PHARMACY, AND DOES NOT RENDER CLINICAL, DIAGNOSTIC, PHARMACOLOGICAL, OR TREATMENT ADVICE.
THE APP, INCLUDING ALL VITALS TRACKING, MEDICATION TIMERS, DOSAGE LOGS, PHYSICIAN SUMMARIES, AND REMINDERS, IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL CONVENIENCE ONLY. IT CANNOT DETECT CONTRAINDICATIONS, OVERDOSES, MEDICATION INTERACTIONS, OR ADVERSE CLINICAL DECLINES. NEVER RELY ON THIS APP TO DETERMINE MEDICATION DOSES, PHARMACOLOGICAL SCHEDULES, OR CLINICAL INTERVENTIONS.
ALWAYS CONSULT A LICENSED PHYSICIAN, PHARMACIST, OR QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROVIDER FOR ANY MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS, PRESCRIPTION VALIDATION, OR TREATMENT PLAN. NEVER DISREGARD, ALTER, OR DELAY SEEKING COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE BECAUSE OF AN ENTRY, ALERT, SUMMARY, OR DEFICIENCY WITHIN THIS APPLICATION.
2.2 Not an emergency response dispatch system
DO NOT USE THE CIRCLE OF CARE OR ITS “ALERT ALL CAREGIVERS” FEATURE FOR LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCIES, URGENT RESCUE, OR ACUTE MEDICAL CRISES.
THE CIRCLE OF CARE IS NOT LINKED TO 911, EMERGENCY FIRST RESPONDERS, PUBLIC SAFETY DISPATCH, HOSPICE TRIAGE, OR ANY MONITORING STATION. IN-APP ALERTS DEPEND ON CELLULAR NETWORKS, LOCAL DEVICE PERMISSIONS, BATTERY LEVELS, AND PUSH NOTIFICATION RELAYS, WHICH MAY DELAY, CORRUPT, OR FAIL ENTIRELY. IN ANY EMERGENCY, IMMEDIATELY CALL 911 (OR YOUR LOCAL EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SERVICE) OR PROCEED DIRECTLY TO AN EMERGENCY ROOM.
3. Terms of Service
3.1 Eligibility & account registration
You must be at least eighteen (18) years of age and legally competent to execute a binding contract to create an account or administer a care circle. Sign-in operates via one-time codes sent to your registered email address; you are solely responsible for protecting access to that email inbox.
3.2 Service scope & core free tier
The basic local-first version of the App is provided free of charge. We reserve the right to modify, adjust, or discontinue core components at any time without liability.
3.3 Zero-knowledge encryption & irrevocable key responsibility
- Family-controlled keys. All encryption keys are generated and held on your authorized devices. Ahlchemy Author Company does not hold, manage, escrow, or transmit your private decryption keys.
- Irrecoverable key loss. IF THE CIRCLE OWNER AND AUTHORIZED CAREGIVERS LOSE LOCAL DEVICE ACCESS, LOSE GENERATED BACKUPS, OR PURGE LOCAL STORAGE ACROSS ALL AUTHORIZED HARDWARE, THE ENCRYPTED CLOUD ARCHIVE CANNOT BE RESTORED OR DECRYPTED BY AHLCHEMY AUTHOR COMPANY. WE DO NOT HAVE THE TECHNICAL CAPABILITY TO RECOVER CIPHERTEXT DATA WHEN KEYS ARE LOST.
- Local offline storage. Devices permitted into a circle retain decrypted local copies for offline use. Revoking a caregiver’s access stops future cloud synchronization but cannot remotely delete records already cached on hardware in that person’s possession.
3.4 User responsibility for clinical accuracy
You retain absolute responsibility for verifying the factual and clinical accuracy of all data entered, including drug names, dosages, administration routes, schedules, physician details, and advance directives. We perform no clinical cross-checks, OCR auditing, or pharmacological verification.
3.5 Acceptable use & administrative circle authority
You agree not to: (1) use the App for unlawful, unauthorized, or predatory purposes; (2) access any care circle you have not been granted permission to; (3) reverse-engineer, intercept, decrypt, or attack the cryptographic architecture or application firewalls; (4) transmit malware or automated scraping bots; or (5) resell, sub-license, or lease access except as expressly permitted under licensed seats on an active Agency tier. The designated Circle Owner holds exclusive authority to invite, assign roles to, suspend, or revoke caregiver access.
3.6 Professional caregiver & agency tiers — non-covered operations warranty
- Independent tool only. The App is a software workflow tool, not a home-health agency, nursing registry, employer, or clinical supervisor. We bear no responsibility for care rendered by independent aides or agency personnel.
- HIPAA representation & non-covered posture. Unless an explicit, written Business Associate Agreement (BAA) has been negotiated and counter-signed by an authorized officer of Ahlchemy Author Company, YOU EXPRESSLY WARRANT THAT YOU WILL NOT USE THE APP TO CREATE, RECEIVE, TRANSMIT, OR MAINTAIN PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION (PHI) AS A COVERED ENTITY OR BUSINESS ASSOCIATE GOVERNED BY HIPAA.
- Healthcare agencies or covered entities requiring enterprise BAA integration must contact admin@ahlchemy.org to request a custom compliance contract before entering regulated patient data.
3.7 Subscriptions, billing, negative-option disclosure & click-to-cancel
- Tiers. Family (Pro Annual): $4.99/month billed as a recurring annual charge of $59.88/year. Family Lifetime: $99.00 one-time (covers the commercial operational lifetime of the product, not the purchaser’s natural lifespan). Care Pro: $29.00/month recurring. Agency: $99.00/month recurring.
- Automatic renewal (negative-option disclosure). BY SUBSCRIBING TO A RECURRING PLAN, YOU EXPRESSLY AUTHORIZE AHLCHEMY AUTHOR COMPANY (VIA STRIPE, INC.) TO AUTOMATICALLY CHARGE YOUR PAYMENT METHOD ON A RECURRING BASIS AT THE THEN-CURRENT RATE UNTIL YOU CANCEL.
- Click-to-cancel. You may cancel at any time without fees or telephone-retention obstacles via in-app Account Settings, which launches the self-service Stripe Billing Customer Portal. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid billing cycle.
- Refunds. Subscription fees are earned upon billing and non-refundable except where a statutory withdrawal period applies. Family Lifetime purchases carry a fourteen (14) day money-back guarantee via written notice to admin@ahlchemy.org.
3.8 Intellectual property & limited license
We grant you a personal, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited license to use the App on personal devices. You retain ownership of your entered records and grant us a limited license to host, transmit, and replicate the ciphertext of your content solely to deliver the synchronization service.
3.9 Disclaimers of warranty
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE APP AND ALL SYNCHRONIZATION NETWORKS, MEDICATION TIMERS, AND REPORT EXPORTS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITH ALL FAULTS, AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL FUNCTION CONTINUOUSLY, DELIVER TIMELY NOTIFICATIONS, OR MAINTAIN PERMANENT STORAGE INTEGRITY. YOU ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR REGULARLY EXPORTING OFFLINE BACKUPS VIA THE IN-APP BACKUP UTILITY.
3.10 Limitation of liability & bodily-injury exclusion
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL AHLCHEMY AUTHOR COMPANY OR ITS AFFILIATES, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF PROFITS, OR MENTAL ANGUISH, ARISING FROM USE OF THE APP.
EXPRESS BODILY-INJURY AND CLINICAL-RELIANCE EXCLUSION: TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL LIABILITY FOR PERSONAL INJURY, BODILY HARM, ILLNESS, MEDICATION ERRORS, DOSING DISCREPANCIES, EMERGENCY-RESPONSE FAILURES, MEDICAL COMPLICATIONS, OR WRONGFUL DEATH RESULTING FROM OR ATTRIBUTABLE TO: (A) ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN HEALTH DATA ENTERED BY ANY USER; (B) DELAYS OR FAILURES IN IN-APP ALERTS, TIMERS, OR NOTIFICATIONS; (C) ANY CAREGIVER’S, PHYSICIAN’S, OR FIRST RESPONDER’S RELIANCE ON EXPORTED SUMMARIES; OR (D) INABILITY TO ACCESS ENCRYPTED RECORDS DUE TO LOST KEYS OR HARDWARE FAILURE.
AGGREGATE LIABILITY CAP: IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOU PAID US FOR THE SERVICE IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED UNITED STATES DOLLARS ($100.00 USD).
3.11 Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Ahlchemy Author Company, its officers, contractors, and agents from any claims, liabilities, damages, and legal expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of: (1) medical care or health decisions administered or withheld by you or your associates; (2) clinical inaccuracies, medication errors, or omissions in data you enter; (3) your breach of these Terms; or (4) for professional/agency users, any claim of statutory non-compliance or breach of patient privacy arising out of your organizational workflow.
3.12 Governing law, mandatory arbitration & class-action waiver
- Governing law. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are governed by the laws of the State of Missouri, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.
- Informal resolution. Before filing any formal claim, you must send a written dispute notice to admin@ahlchemy.org; both parties agree to negotiate in good faith for thirty (30) days.
- Binding individual arbitration. Any unresolved dispute shall be settled by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, sited in Webster County, Missouri, or conducted virtually for claims under $10,000.
- CLASS-ACTION & JURY-TRIAL WAIVER. ALL DISPUTES MUST BE RESOLVED ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. YOU AND AHLCHEMY AUTHOR COMPANY WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO COMMENCE OR JOIN ANY CLASS ACTION, CONSOLIDATED OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING, AND WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY.
4. App stores (Apple & Google)
If you install from the Apple App Store or Google Play, you also agree to that store’s terms. These Terms are between you and Ahlchemy Author Company — not Apple or Google — which are not responsible for the App or its support; where required, Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms.
5. Accessibility
We strive to conform with WCAG 2.1 Level AA and include a simplified “Senior View,” high-contrast layouts, and larger text. If you encounter a barrier, contact admin@ahlchemy.org.
Contact
Ahlchemy Author Company · Attn: Legal, Privacy & Compliance · admin@ahlchemy.org · Jurisdiction: Webster County, Missouri, USA