Terms of Service

1. Acceptance and scope

By creating an account, signing into the Service, issuing or using an API key, or invoking the MCP endpoint, you accept these Terms on behalf of yourself and, where applicable, the organization you represent. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

When you create an account through the Service’s signup flow, you must affirmatively accept these Terms and the Privacy Notice. We record that acceptance (including timestamp, account identifier, IP address, and a version hash of the Terms and Privacy Notice presented) for audit and enforceability.

Enterprise, research, education, or evaluation engagements may be governed by a separate written agreement (an “Order Form” or master agreement). To the extent that agreement conflicts with these Terms, the executed agreement controls for the parties to it.

2. Eligibility and accounts

• You must be at least the age of majority in your jurisdiction and capable of forming a binding contract.
• You are responsible for the security of your account credentials and API keys, and for all activity under your account.
• Researcher and educator access is granted after a short eligibility review; commercial resale or operational revenue services are out of scope for that tier and require an Enterprise agreement.
• We may suspend or terminate accounts for violations of these Terms, abuse, or risk to the Service or other users.

Free and complimentary accounts. Free-tier, trial, beta, and other complimentary access is provided at our sole discretion, without service-level commitments, and creates no entitlement to continued access, features, quotas, or data export beyond what the Privacy Notice requires. We may suspend, limit, or terminate free or complimentary accounts at any time, with or without cause or prior notice, including (without limitation) for suspected abuse, quota farming, multi-accounting, disposable-email use, scraping, evasion of anti-abuse controls, or any risk to the Service, other users, or third parties. Paid or Order Form customers are governed by their agreement; this paragraph does not reduce remedies we have under those agreements for abuse or breach. Free accounts are not to be used for commercial use. Please contact us if you would like commercial use access of the platform. Similarly, use of the Service or its outputs for legal, evidentiary, or litigation-support purposes requires a paid license authorizing that use, please contact sales (sales@decryptads.com) or see § 8.

3. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Use the Service to violate applicable law, infringe rights, or evade sanctions or anti-abuse controls;
• Submit, upload, or paste login credentials, payment-card data, government-identification numbers, special-category or sensitive personal data, or regulated health or financial records; or submit any content you are not authorized to share. (Impression and bid logs may contain online identifiers such as IP addresses or advertising IDs; you may submit these, and we process them only as your processor under § 4 and the Privacy Notice.)
• Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service except under a written authorized testing program (see our Vulnerability disclosure policy);
• Circumvent rate limits, authentication, email verification, captchas, audit logging, or usage metering;
• Create or operate multiple free accounts, share a free account among multiple people, or use sockpuppet / disposable-email schemes to obtain additional free quota;
• Scrape, bulk-download, or systematically harvest the Service or its corpus via automated means beyond fair interactive or API/MCP use under your plan’s rate limits and monthly quota;
• Use the free tier (including free-tier API keys or MCP) to reconstruct the corpus at scale, or as a substitute for researcher / enterprise privileged tools;
• Resell, sublicense, or otherwise commercially redistribute the Service or its outputs except as expressly permitted;
• Use of the Service or its outputs for legal, evidentiary, litigation-support, or formal regulatory or enforcement purposes without a paid license that authorizes such use (contact sales@decryptads.com);
• Use crawled or aggregated data to harass identifiable individuals or to make solely automated decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects on individuals;
• Access or use the Service from a country or region, or while listed on a denied- or blocked-party list, to which export of US-origin technology is prohibited (including under the US Export Administration Regulations and OFAC sanctions programs).

Crawls and submissions you direct. When you trigger a crawl, fetch, or analysis of a third-party host through the Service, you represent that you are authorized to access and process that host’s content for that purpose. You are responsible for any third-party claims arising out of your use of the Service to access third-party systems, including under the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the UK Computer Misuse Act, or analogous foreign laws.

Abuse reports. Report suspected abuse of the Service to abuse@decryptads.com. We may investigate reports and take action (including suspension or termination) without notifying the reported account when doing so could compromise an investigation or the security of the Service.

4. Submitted data and submissions

Some features let you upload or paste content (for example, ads.txt / app-ads.txt / sellers.json text, OpenRTB bid requests or responses, impression or bid logs, and SupplyChain JSON). Together with files we crawl on your behalf and metadata you generate using the Service, these are “Submissions.”

• You retain ownership of your Submissions and represent that you have the rights necessary to provide them.
• You grant Svart Works a worldwide, non-exclusive license to host, process, parse, index, hash, fingerprint, validate, and display Submissions for the purpose of operating and securing the Service for you. We improve the Service, our models, and our investigation logic only using aggregated or de-identified data, not raw Submissions attributable to you.
• You agree that we may share aggregated, de-identified, or fingerprint-style derivatives (for example, schain topology hashes, cluster signatures, anonymized risk indicators) with the broader transparency community to support investigation work, unless your Order Form prohibits it. We treat such derivatives as “de-identified” under California Civil Code § 1798.140(m), do not attempt to re-identify them, and contractually prohibit recipients from doing so.
• You will not submit login credentials, payment-card data, government-identification numbers, or special-category / sensitive personal data. As the party that decides what to submit, you are responsible for the lawfulness of your Submissions and for holding any rights, notices, or consents needed to provide them. If you become aware that a Submission contains personal data that should not have been provided, contact privacy@decryptads.com or support@decryptads.com and we will work with you to delete or minimize it, subject to legal hold and audit requirements.

Feedback license. If you provide ideas, suggestions, or feedback about the Service, you grant Svart Works a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable license to use that feedback for any purpose, with no obligation to credit or compensate you.

See the Privacy Notice for details on how we handle data, including Submissions.

5. Intellectual property

The Service, including its software, models, scoring logic, dashboards, data schemas, documentation, and brand, is owned by Svart Works and its licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the Service in accordance with these Terms and your plan.

Public IAB Tech Lab specifications and third-party file content (ads.txt, app-ads.txt, sellers.json, buyers.json, adagents.json, schain payloads) remain the property of their respective publishers and licensors; nothing in these Terms grants you rights in those files beyond what their original publication terms allow.

6. Fees, plans, and billing

Plan terms, usage limits, and pricing are described on Pricing and in any Order Form. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, fees are non-refundable and exclude taxes. We may change pricing for future renewal terms with reasonable notice.

Quotas and limits. Monthly request quotas, rate limits, and feature eligibility may change for free and paid plans. Reaching a quota or rate limit is not a breach by Svart Works and does not entitle you to continued unmet demand, a reset, or an upgrade. Circumventing metering, quotas, or plan restrictions is a breach of these Terms. Free-tier quotas are not a commitment of capacity and may be reduced or withdrawn under § 2.

Unless an Order Form states otherwise, payment is made by the method set out in the Order Form or invoice (for example, bank transfer). Where a third-party payment provider is used to process a payment, that provider’s terms may also apply to the payment transaction.

7. Service availability and changes

We work to keep the Service available but do not guarantee uninterrupted operation. We may modify, add, or remove features; deprecate API or MCP endpoints with reasonable notice; perform maintenance; or impose reasonable rate limits. Service-level commitments (uptime targets, support response times, scheduled maintenance windows) are not part of these public Terms; they apply only when expressly set out in an Order Form or master services agreement signed by Svart Works.

8. Disclaimers

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available.” To the maximum extent permitted by law, Svart Works disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy, and freedom from defects.

Risk indicators, clusters, fingerprints, validators, scoring, and analytics produced by the Service are investigative aids. They are not legal conclusions, certifications, or determinations of guilt, wrongdoing, or compliance. Operational, contractual, or enforcement decisions remain your responsibility and require independent review.

Legal and evidentiary use. Use of the Service, its exports, dossiers, or other outputs for legal, evidentiary, litigation-support, regulatory, or enforcement purposes, including but not limited to: submission to a court, regulator, or counterparty, or reliance on outputs to support a legal claim or determination, requires a paid license authorizing such use (for example: a Legal Package plan or an Order Form). To obtain such, please contact sales@decryptads.com. Even under such a license, outputs remain investigative aids as described above and require independent verification; a paid license does not convert scores, clusters, or risk indicators into legal conclusions, certifications, or determinations of wrongdoing or compliance.

9. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Svart Works will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost revenue, lost data, or business interruption, arising out of or related to the Service or these Terms, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

Svart Works’ aggregate liability for any claim arising out of or related to these Terms or the Service will not exceed the greater of (a) the fees you paid us for the Service in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the claim, or (b) one hundred US dollars (US$100).

The disclaimers and limitations in this section do not apply to: (i) your indemnification obligations under these Terms; (ii) breach of confidentiality; (iii) our willful misconduct or fraud; or (iv) liabilities that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law. Order Forms with enterprise customers may set different (typically higher) liability caps and additional carve-outs; in that case the executed Order Form controls for the parties to it.

10. Indemnification

You agree to defend and indemnify Svart Works and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your Submissions; (b) your use of the Service, including any crawl, fetch, or analysis of a third-party host that you direct through the Service; (c) your breach of these Terms or applicable law (including unauthorized-access claims under the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the UK Computer Misuse Act, or analogous foreign laws); or (d) your infringement or violation of any third-party right.

11. Termination

Either party may terminate access to the Service for material breach. We may suspend or terminate access for security, legal, or abuse reasons, including non-payment. Free and complimentary accounts may also be suspended or terminated under § 2 at any time, with or without cause or prior notice. On termination, your right to access the Service ends. The following sections survive termination of these Terms or your use of the Service: § 3 (Acceptable use), § 4 (Submitted data and submissions), § 5 (Intellectual property), § 6 (Fees) for any unpaid amounts, § 8 (Disclaimers), § 9 (Limitation of liability), § 10 (Indemnification), § 12 (Governing law and disputes), § 15 (General provisions), and § 16 (Copyright and takedown).

Aggregated, de-identified, or fingerprint-style derivatives produced before termination may be retained and used in accordance with § 4 and the Privacy Notice.

12. Governing law and disputes

Governing law, arbitration, and disputes. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.

Informal resolution. Before filing a claim, you agree to try to resolve the dispute informally by contacting legal@decryptads.com; if it is not resolved within 30 days, either party may proceed as set out below.

Binding arbitration. Except as stated below, any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved by final and binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its applicable rules, before one arbitrator, seated in Wilmington, Delaware (or conducted by video where available). Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Exceptions. Either party may (a) bring an individual claim in small-claims court, and (b) seek injunctive or equitable relief in the state or federal courts in Wilmington, Delaware for actual or threatened infringement or misuse of intellectual property or violation of § 3 (Acceptable use). For those matters, the parties consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of those courts.

Class-action waiver. Disputes will be brought only in an individual capacity; you and Svart Works waive any right to bring or participate in a class, collective, consolidated, or representative action. If this waiver is held unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim (and only that claim) will proceed in court rather than arbitration.

Delegation. The arbitrator decides threshold questions of arbitrability, except that a court decides whether the class-action waiver is enforceable.

Opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing legal@decryptads.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms; opting out does not affect the governing-law or venue provisions above.

13. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. For material changes, for example changes to arbitration, dispute resolution, liability, or how we may use Submissions, we will require you to affirmatively accept the updated Terms at your next sign-in before continued use, and we will record that acceptance as described in § 1. For non-material changes, we will post the updated Terms and update the “Last updated” date, and continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

14. Contact

Questions about these Terms: legal@decryptads.com. Report abuse of the Service to abuse@decryptads.com. General contact options live on the Contact page.

Postal: Svart Works Inc., a Delaware (USA) corporation, Wilmington, Delaware, United States.

15. General provisions

• Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Notice and any Order Form, constitute the entire agreement between you and Svart Works regarding the Service and supersede prior or contemporaneous understandings on that subject.
• Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force; the invalid provision will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable while preserving its intent.
• Waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later. Waivers are effective only if in writing and signed by an authorized representative of Svart Works.
• Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms or any rights under them without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets.
• No third-party beneficiaries. These Terms create no rights for any person who is not a party to them.
• Force majeure. Neither party is liable for failure or delay caused by events beyond its reasonable control (including acts of God, natural disasters, war, terrorism, civil unrest, labor disputes, internet or upstream provider outages, or governmental actions).
• Notices. Notices to you may be given by email to the address associated with your account or by posting in the Service. Notices to Svart Works must be sent to legal@decryptads.com with a copy to Svart Works Inc., Wilmington, Delaware, United States.
• Communications and product updates. By creating an account, you agree that we may contact you at the email address associated with your account. This includes (a) service messages: account, security, billing, legal, material-change, endpoint-deprecation, and other Service-operations notices which are part of providing the Service and which you cannot opt out of while you maintain an account; and (b) product and feature updates and related communications, for example: newsletters, feature announcements, research, event invitations, and offers. You may opt out of category (b) at any time using the unsubscribe link in those messages or by emailing support@decryptads.com; opting out does not stop the service messages in (a). Where applicable law requires consent for messages that constitute direct marketing (for example certain messages to recipients in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland), we send those messages only on the basis described in the Privacy Notice.
• US Government end users. The Service is “commercial computer software” and “commercial computer software documentation” as those terms are used in 48 C.F.R. § 2.101 and is provided to US Government end users only with the rights set out in these Terms.
• Open-source notices. The Service includes open-source software. Applicable license texts and attributions are available on request from legal@decryptads.com.

16. Copyright and takedown

If you believe content displayed by the Service infringes your copyright, send a notice to legal@decryptads.com (copy support@decryptads.com) identifying the work, the material and its location on the Service, your contact information, and a statement of your good-faith belief that the use is unauthorized. We will review and, where appropriate, remove or disable access to the material and, in appropriate cases, terminate repeat infringers.