Legal
Terms of Service
Last updated [EFFECTIVE DATE]
Tidewater is not an emergency service
Do not use Tidewater to report emergencies. Tidewater is not monitored around the clock, and reports are not guaranteed to be seen or acted on quickly. If there is an immediate threat to life, safety, or property — a fire, a downed power line, a crash, a gas leak — call 911 or your local emergency number.
1. Who can use Tidewater
You must be at least 13 years old to use Tidewater. By using Tidewater, you confirm you meet this requirement and can form a binding agreement.
2. What Tidewater does
Tidewater lets you photograph and report public infrastructure issues. We use automated classification to triage reports and forward them to the responsible city. Tidewater is a reporting tool — we are not a government agency, and we do not repair infrastructure ourselves.
3. Your account
- You may use Tidewater with a Google account, an email and password, or an anonymous guest session.
- Keep your login credentials secure; you are responsible for activity under your account.
- Provide accurate information and keep it current.
4. Your reports and content
Ownership and license
You keep ownership of the photos and content you submit. You grant Tidewater a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, process, blur, display, and share that content as needed to operate Tidewater — including sharing reports with the relevant city and displaying blurred photos publicly within the app.
Your responsibilities for what you submit
- You have the right to capture and submit the photo, and doing so does not break any law or violate anyone’s rights.
- You will photograph the infrastructure issue only, and avoid capturing identifiable people, bystanders, or readable license plates. (Automatic blurring is a safeguard, not a guarantee — see the Privacy Policy.)
- Your reports are truthful and submitted in good faith.
5. Acceptable use
You agree not to:
- Submit false, misleading, or spam reports.
- Upload illegal, harassing, hateful, or infringing content.
- Photograph people to harass, surveil, or harm them.
- Attempt to bypass rate limits or security measures.
- Reverse-engineer, scrape, or overload the service.
- Upload malware or malicious code.
- Impersonate others or misrepresent your affiliation.
- Use Tidewater for any unlawful purpose.
6. Automated classification and city action
- Tidewater’s AI classification is automated and may be inaccurate. We do not warrant that any classification, severity, or emergency flag is correct.
- Submitting a report does not guarantee that any issue will be seen, prioritized, or fixed. Cities decide what to do with reports on their own terms and timelines.
- Tidewater is not responsible for a city’s action, inaction, or response time.
7. Third-party services
Tidewater relies on third-party services (including Google, Supabase, mapping providers, and sign-in providers). Your use of features powered by them may also be subject to their terms, and we are not responsible for third-party services.
8. Intellectual property
Tidewater — including its software, design, and branding — is owned by [YOUR ORG / TEAM NAME]and protected by intellectual-property laws. These Terms don’t grant you rights to our trademarks or to copy the app, except to use Tidewater as intended.
9. Disclaimers
Tidewater is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that Tidewater will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, or that classifications or routing will be accurate.
10. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, [YOUR ORG / TEAM NAME]and its team will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss arising from your use of (or inability to use) Tidewater, your reliance on a classification, or any city’s response or lack of response.
11. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold [YOUR ORG / TEAM NAME] harmless from claims and costs arising out of your content, your use of Tidewater, or your violation of these Terms or any law.
12. Termination
You can stop using Tidewater at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access if you violate these Terms or to protect Tidewater or its users. Some report records may remain with cities after your account is closed.
13. Changes to Tidewater and these Terms
We may change Tidewater or these Terms. We’ll update the “Last updated” date, and significant changes may be highlighted in the app. Continued use after changes means you accept the new Terms.
14. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of [GOVERNING-LAW JURISDICTION, e.g. State of Georgia, USA], without regard to conflict-of-law rules.
15. Contact
Questions about these Terms? Contact [YOUR ORG / TEAM NAME] at [contact@your-domain.com].