Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

Welcome to Criteria Guru. By accessing or using our AI-powered essay evaluation service ("Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you disagree with any part of these terms, you may not access the Service.

2. Description of Service

Criteria Guru provides AI-powered essay evaluation and feedback services specifically designed for IB MYP students. Our Service:

• Analyzes essays against IB MYP criteria (A, B, C, D)
• Provides criterion-based feedback and improvement suggestions
• Offers band-level assessments aligned with IB standards
• Does NOT write, rewrite, or generate essay content for you
• Acts as a feedback tool, not an essay writing service

3. User Eligibility and Accounts

3.1 Age Requirements

• Users must be at least 13 years old to create an account
• Users under 13 require parental/guardian consent and supervision
• Parents and teachers may create accounts on behalf of students with proper authorization

3.2 Account Responsibilities

You are responsible for:

• Maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials
• All activities that occur under your account
• Notifying us immediately of any unauthorized access
• Providing accurate and current information
• Updating your account information when necessary

4. Acceptable Use Policy

4.1 Permitted Uses

You may use the Service to:

• Submit your own original essays for feedback
• Review criterion-based analysis and improvement suggestions
• Track your writing progress over multiple submissions
• Learn about IB MYP assessment criteria and standards

4.2 Prohibited Uses

You agree NOT to:

• Submit another person's work without permission
• Use feedback to plagiarize or submit AI-generated content as your own
• Reverse engineer or attempt to extract our AI models or algorithms
• Abuse the system through excessive automated submissions or spam
• Share accounts or access credentials with others
• Violate any laws or regulations in your jurisdiction
• Upload malicious content including viruses, malware, or harmful code
• Harass or harm other users or our staff
• Resell or redistribute our Service or feedback without authorization

5. Academic Integrity Statement

Student Responsibility: Using our Service to learn and improve is encouraged. Submitting our feedback as your own work, or using it to plagiarize, violates academic integrity and may result in account termination and notification to your institution.

6. Intellectual Property Rights

6.1 Your Content

You retain all ownership rights to essays and content you submit ("Your Content"). By submitting Your Content, you grant us a limited license to:

• Process and analyze Your Content to provide feedback
• Store Your Content in your account for your access
• Use anonymized, aggregated data for service improvement (NOT your specific essays)

We do NOT: Claim ownership of your essays, use them to train AI models, share them with third parties, or add them to plagiarism databases.

6.2 Our Content

The Service, including its design, functionality, feedback formats, and proprietary algorithms, is owned by Criteria Guru and protected by intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works without our written permission.

7. Feedback and Disclaimers

7.1 Nature of Feedback

Our AI-powered feedback is designed to:

• Provide educational guidance based on IB MYP criteria
• Suggest areas for improvement in your writing
• Help you understand assessment standards

7.2 Important Disclaimers

8. Pricing and Payment

8.1 Free Trial and Paid Plans

• We offer a free trial allowing limited submissions
• Paid plans provide additional submissions and features
• Pricing is displayed clearly before purchase
• All prices are in USD unless otherwise specified

8.2 Billing and Refunds

• Subscription plans renew automatically unless cancelled
• You can cancel at any time through your account settings
• Refunds are provided within 14 days of purchase if no submissions have been processed
• We reserve the right to change pricing with 30 days' notice

9. Service Availability and Modifications

• We strive for 99.9% uptime but cannot guarantee uninterrupted service
• Scheduled maintenance will be announced in advance when possible
• We may modify, suspend, or discontinue features with reasonable notice
• We are not liable for service interruptions or data loss (maintain your own backups)

10. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW:

• THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND
• WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ACADEMIC OUTCOMES, GRADES, OR ASSESSMENT RESULTS
• WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
• OUR TOTAL LIABILITY SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS
• WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THIRD-PARTY CONTENT OR SERVICES

Some jurisdictions do not allow limitation of liability, so these limitations may not apply to you.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold Criteria Guru harmless from any claims, damages, or expenses arising from:

• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any laws or third-party rights
• Your misuse of the Service
• Content you submit to the Service

12. Termination

12.1 By You

You may terminate your account at any time through account settings or by contacting us.

12.2 By Us

We may suspend or terminate your account if you:

• Violate these Terms
• Engage in fraudulent or abusive behavior
• Fail to pay applicable fees
• Pose a security or legal risk

Upon termination, your access will cease, and we may delete your data per our Privacy Policy.

13. Dispute Resolution

13.1 Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of [Your Jurisdiction], without regard to conflict of law principles.

13.2 Dispute Resolution Process

1. Informal Resolution: Contact us first to resolve disputes informally
2. Mediation: If informal resolution fails, we agree to mediation
3. Arbitration: Binding arbitration as a last resort (where permitted by law)

14. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms periodically. We will notify you of material changes via:

• Email notification
• In-app notification
• Website banner

Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance. If you disagree with changes, discontinue use and close your account.

15. General Provisions

• Entire Agreement: These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Criteria Guru
• Severability: If any provision is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect
• No Waiver: Failure to enforce any right does not waive that right
• Assignment: You may not assign these Terms; we may assign to affiliates or successors
• Force Majeure: We are not liable for delays due to circumstances beyond our control

16. Contact Information