Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing, downloading, installing, creating an account, or otherwise using the opspoor mobile application, website, or related services (collectively referred to as the “Services”), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service (“Terms”).

If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not access or use the Services.

You must be at least 13 years old to use opspoor. If you are under the age of 18, you may only use the Services with the permission and supervision of a parent or legal guardian.

By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you meet the applicable age requirements and have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms.

opspoor may update or modify these Terms from time to time. Continued use of the Services after changes are published constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

2. Description of the Service

opspoor provides tools that allow users to record, view, validate, and interact with wildlife sighting information. This may include geographic location data, uploaded media such as photos or videos, and community engagement features that allow users to confirm, comment on, or discuss sightings.

Sightings show as “Awaiting confirmation” until confirmed by the community. opspoor does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or timeliness of any sighting or related information.

The Services are provided primarily for informational and community purposes. Wildlife sightings are contributed by users and may not always reflect real-time conditions.

opspoor may introduce new features, modify existing features, limit functionality, or discontinue parts of the Services at any time without prior notice.

Some features may be experimental or under development and may change or be removed without notice.

3. Wildlife & Safety Disclaimer (Assumption of Risk)

Wildlife activity is inherently unpredictable and may be dangerous. By using opspoor, you acknowledge and agree that wildlife sightings and related information are provided by users and may be inaccurate, outdated, incomplete, or misleading.

Wildlife locations can change rapidly and animals may move at any time. Sightings displayed on the platform should not be interpreted as real-time or guaranteed wildlife locations.

Following or attempting to locate wildlife based on information provided through the Services may involve travel, environmental hazards, and risks associated with wildlife encounters.

• You are solely responsible for your safety and personal conduct.
• You are responsible for complying with all park rules and conservation laws.
• You assume all risks associated with wildlife viewing or travel.

opspoor does not provide safety advice, navigation services, wildlife tracking services, or guarantees regarding animal presence, location, or behavior.

The Services must not be used for hunting, poaching, tracking wildlife for harmful purposes, or any illegal wildlife-related activity.

4. User Responsibilities

You agree to use opspoor in compliance with all applicable laws, conservation regulations, and park rules.

When using the Services, you agree that you will not:

• Harm, harass, or intentionally disturb wildlife.
• Use the Services to assist illegal wildlife activity, including poaching or unlawful hunting.
• Post false, misleading, or intentionally inaccurate sightings.
• Harass, threaten, intimidate, or abuse other users.
• Violate any conservation authority, park, or environmental regulations.
• Upload content that is unlawful, defamatory, or infringes the rights of others.

You are solely responsible for your actions both online and offline, including any decisions made based on information obtained through the Services.

5. Sensitive Wildlife & Moderation

opspoor may take measures to protect wildlife, users, and the integrity of the platform. Certain wildlife sightings may be restricted or modified to prevent misuse of sensitive location information.

At its sole discretion, opspoor may:

• Restrict, mask, generalize, delay, or remove sightings.
• Hide or reduce the precision of location data for sensitive species.
• Prohibit the posting of certain wildlife species.
• Remove or modify user-generated content that violates these Terms.
• Suspend or terminate user accounts that misuse the platform.

These actions may be taken to protect wildlife, prevent illegal activity, comply with conservation guidelines, or maintain a safe and responsible community.

opspoor is not obligated to monitor all user-generated content, but reserves the right to review, remove, or modify content at any time if it is deemed harmful, misleading, or in violation of these Terms.

6. User Accounts

Certain features of the Services may require you to create an account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.

You agree to provide accurate and complete information when creating an account and to keep your account information up to date.

You must notify opspoor immediately if you become aware of any unauthorized access, suspected security breach, or misuse of your account.

You may not impersonate another person, create accounts using false information, or create multiple accounts to evade restrictions, suspensions, or bans imposed by opspoor.

opspoor reserves the right to suspend, restrict, or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or are suspected of misuse.

7. User-Generated Content & License

Users may upload or submit content through the Services, including wildlife sightings, photos, videos, comments, and related information (“User Content”).

You retain ownership of the content you upload. However, by submitting User Content to opspoor, you grant opspoor a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, display, distribute, modify, adapt, crop, edit, translate, create derivative works from, and otherwise use such content for the purpose of operating, improving, and promoting the Services.

This license allows opspoor to display your content within the platform, share it within the community, and use it for platform promotion (including on opspoor's official social media accounts, with credit to your username where reasonably practicable), educational purposes, or service improvements. You can opt out of having your sightings featured on opspoor's public website or social media accounts at any time via the "Public Sharing" setting in the app.

Content that opspoor has already shared or featured in accordance with this license (for example, in a social media post) may remain available after you delete that content or your account, although opspoor will not feature it in new posts once you have opted out or deleted it.

You represent and warrant that you own the rights to the content you upload or have obtained all necessary permissions to share that content through the Services. This includes photos and videos you took yourself, and, where people appear in your content, their consent to its use as described in these Terms. You must not upload photos, video, or other material created by someone else without their permission.

You are solely responsible for the User Content you upload. opspoor does not review User Content for ownership or authenticity, does not endorse it, and accepts no responsibility or liability for User Content that infringes the rights of a third party. Any such claim is between the claimant and the user who uploaded the content (see also Section 12 and Section 24).

opspoor reserves the right to remove, modify, or restrict User Content that violates these Terms or is considered harmful, misleading, unlawful, or inappropriate.

8. Subscriptions & Payments

Certain features of the Services may be available through paid subscriptions or in-app purchases.

All subscriptions and in-app purchases are processed exclusively through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and are subject to the billing terms, conditions, and policies of those platforms.

opspoor does not process, collect, or store payment card information directly. All payment transactions are handled by the applicable app store provider.

Subscriptions may automatically renew unless canceled by the user through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store account settings.

Pricing and availability of subscription features may change from time to time. Any price changes will be communicated through the applicable app store where required.

Refunds, billing disputes, and subscription cancellations must be handled through the applicable app store provider in accordance with their policies.

9. Intellectual Property

All software, platform functionality, design elements, graphics, trademarks, logos, and branding associated with opspoor are the exclusive property of opspoor or its licensors and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws.

Except as expressly permitted by these Terms, you may not copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works from, reverse engineer, or otherwise exploit any part of the Services without prior written permission from opspoor.

The name “opspoor”, associated logos, and branding may not be used without prior written permission.

10. Service Availability

The Services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. opspoor does not guarantee that the Services will always be available, uninterrupted, secure, or free from errors.

From time to time, the Services may be unavailable due to maintenance, updates, technical issues, or circumstances beyond our control.

opspoor may modify, suspend, limit, or discontinue parts of the Services at any time without prior notice.

opspoor is not responsible for any loss, inconvenience, or disruption resulting from temporary service interruptions or technical issues.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, opspoor and its owners, affiliates, partners, and service providers shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or related to the use of the Services.

This includes, but is not limited to, damages resulting from reliance on wildlife sightings, inaccurate information, wildlife encounters, travel decisions, service interruptions, or loss of data.

opspoor is not liable for any User Content, including claims that User Content infringes copyright, privacy, or other rights of a third party. Users are solely responsible for the content they upload.

opspoor is not responsible for personal injury, property damage, or other losses that may occur while attempting to view wildlife or traveling based on information obtained through the Services.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the total liability of opspoor arising from or relating to the Services shall not exceed the amount paid by you to opspoor in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim.

If you have not paid any fees to opspoor, liability shall be limited to the minimum amount permitted by applicable law.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless opspoor, its owners, affiliates, partners, and service providers from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including legal fees) arising from or related to:

• Your use of the Services.
• Any content you upload or share through the Services.
• Your violation of these Terms.
• Your violation of applicable laws, park rules, or conservation regulations.
• Any harm caused to other users, wildlife, or third parties as a result of your actions.

opspoor reserves the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification, in which case you agree to cooperate fully with such defense.

13. Termination

opspoor may suspend, restrict, or terminate your access to the Services at any time, with or without notice, if you violate these Terms or engage in conduct that may harm the platform, other users, wildlife, or the integrity of the Services.

opspoor reserves the right to remove or disable user accounts, restrict access to certain features, or delete content that violates these Terms or applicable laws.

Upon termination of your account, your access to the Services may be immediately revoked. Certain information or content you previously submitted may remain available within the platform where removal would negatively affect platform functionality or community records.

opspoor shall not be liable for any loss resulting from the suspension or termination of your account in accordance with these Terms.

14. Governing Law

These Terms and any disputes arising from or related to the Services shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa.

Any legal action or proceeding arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of South Africa.

15. Changes to These Terms

opspoor may update or modify these Terms from time to time to reflect changes to the Services, legal requirements, or operational practices.

When updates are made, the “Last updated” date at the top of this page will be revised.

Continued use of the Services after updated Terms are published constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the Services.

16. Subscription Cancellation

Subscriptions purchased through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store automatically renew for the same subscription period unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period.

You can manage or cancel your subscription at any time through your Apple App Store or Google Play Store account settings. opspoor does not have the ability to cancel subscriptions on your behalf, as all billing is handled directly by the applicable app store.

If you cancel a subscription, you will continue to have access to premium features until the end of the current billing period. No partial refunds are provided for unused time within a billing period, except where required by applicable law or app store policy.

17. Account Deletion

Users may request deletion of their opspoor account at any time through the in-app account deletion feature available within the account or settings section of the Services.

When an account is deleted, access to the Services will be revoked and personal account information associated with the account will be removed or anonymized where reasonably possible.

Certain content previously submitted by the user, such as wildlife sightings, comments, or media, may remain available within the platform where removal would negatively affect community records, data integrity, or platform functionality.

opspoor may retain limited information where required for legal compliance, fraud prevention, security purposes, or wildlife protection investigations.

18. Data Retention

opspoor retains personal information and platform data only for as long as necessary to operate the Services, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce these Terms, and protect wildlife and platform integrity.

Information associated with user accounts may be deleted, anonymized, or aggregated when it is no longer required for operational or legal purposes.

In certain circumstances, limited information may be retained for longer periods where required for legal compliance, fraud prevention, security investigations, or wildlife protection purposes.

Further details about how data is collected, used, stored, and retained are described in the opspoor Privacy Policy.

19. Location Services

opspoor uses geographic location information to enable features such as recording wildlife sightings, displaying sightings on maps, providing location-based insights, and improving the overall functionality of the Services.

Location information may be provided directly by users or collected through device location services such as GPS, depending on the permissions granted by the user on their device.

Users may control or disable location permissions through their device settings; however, certain features of the Services may not function properly without location access.

To protect wildlife and prevent misuse of sensitive location data, opspoor may reduce the precision of location information, delay the visibility of certain sightings, or restrict location details for sensitive species.

20. Prohibited Activities

Users may not use the Services for any unlawful, harmful, or abusive activity.

Prohibited activities include, but are not limited to:

• Using the platform to assist poaching, illegal hunting, or wildlife trafficking.
• Attempting to track or locate wildlife for harmful or illegal purposes.
• Uploading false, misleading, or intentionally deceptive sightings.
• Harassing, threatening, or abusing other users.
• Uploading unlawful, offensive, or infringing content.
• Attempting to interfere with, disrupt, or gain unauthorized access to the Services.

opspoor reserves the right to remove content, suspend accounts, or restrict access to the Services for users who engage in prohibited activities.

21. Third-Party Services

The Services may rely on or integrate with third-party services, including but not limited to mobile app stores, mapping providers, analytics services, cloud infrastructure providers, and other technology partners.

These third-party services operate under their own terms of service and privacy policies. opspoor does not control and is not responsible for the content, policies, or practices of such third-party providers.

Your use of third-party services through the platform may be subject to the terms and conditions of those providers.

22. Force Majeure

opspoor shall not be liable for any delay or failure in performance of the Services resulting from circumstances beyond its reasonable control.

Such circumstances may include, but are not limited to, natural disasters, power outages, telecommunications failures, cyberattacks, infrastructure failures, acts of government, or other events beyond the reasonable control of opspoor.

During such events, the availability or functionality of the Services may be limited, suspended, or interrupted.

23. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, that provision shall be deemed severed from these Terms.

The remaining provisions of these Terms shall remain in full force and effect and continue to be binding.

24. Copyright Complaints & Content Takedown

If you believe that content on opspoor was uploaded without your permission or infringes your copyright or other rights, please email support@opspoor.com with the subject line "Content Complaint" and include:

• Your name and contact details.
• A description of the work you claim is infringed, and proof that you own it.
• The location of the content in the app or on the website (for example, a link or the sighting details).
• A statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorized, and that the information in your complaint is accurate.

On receiving a valid complaint, opspoor will promptly remove or disable access to the content while the matter is reviewed, and may notify the user who uploaded it. Users who repeatedly upload content they do not own may have their accounts suspended or terminated.

25. Contact

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests related to these Terms or the Services, you may contact opspoor at:

Email: support@opspoor.com

opspoor may use this contact information for inquiries related to legal matters, account issues, or privacy requests.