TERMS OF SERVICE

Terms of Service

Last updated: March 2026 · Version 1.0

By using CITAQ, you agree to these terms. Read them carefully — they define what CITAQ is, what it is not, how the credit system operates, and what happens when operators violate platform constraints.

Regulatory Classification

WHAT CITAQ IS NOT
CITAQ is verification infrastructure. It occupies none of the following regulatory categories:
EU AI Act / DSA Art. 27

NOT an AI recommender system. CITAQ is a deterministic evidence retrieval system. No algorithmic recommendations are produced. HTTP enforcement header: X-CITAQ-Classification: verification-infrastructure

ISO 17065

NOT a product certification body. CITAQ verifies claim-evidence linkage, not product conformity. Verification Status is not equivalent to certification.

Digital Markets Act (DMA)

NOT a market gatekeeper. CITAQ does not control access to end markets, does not rank operators, and does not determine commercial visibility.

FTC Act (Endorsements)

NOT making product endorsements. Verification Status is not a recommendation. CITAQ does not endorse, promote, or vouch for any product's commercial claims.

GDPR Article 28

NOT a data processor for operator customer data. Operators are data controllers for their consumer data. CITAQ processes only B2B product catalog data.

EU AI Act Annex III

NOT a high-risk AI system. CITAQ does not make decisions about individuals, creditworthiness, employment, education, or access to essential services.

Securities Regulation

NOT a credit rating agency, financial advisor, or investment advisor. No output from CITAQ constitutes financial advice.

Product Liability

NOT a product liability insurer. CITAQ provides evidence linkage infrastructure. Operators retain sole responsibility for product safety, compliance, and accuracy.

CITAQ is: An evidence verification infrastructure platform that links product claims to third-party evidence sources and issues time-bounded, cryptographically signed verification credentials. Operators remain solely responsible for the accuracy, legality, and commercial truthfulness of all submitted claims.

What Verification Means

VERIFICATION STATUS — SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

Verification Status represents point-in-time evidence verification. It does not constitute:

NOTISO 17065 certification
NOTRegulatory approval of any kind
NOTProduct performance guarantee
NOTProduct or operator endorsement
NOTOngoing compliance certification
NOTLegal compliance determination

Verification credentials are time-bounded and expire when evidence expires. Status reflects evidence linkage only, not claim truthfulness. All credentials include a mandatory point-in-time disclaimer per platform architecture (PROHIBITION-006).

Credit System Terms

CITAQ operates on a credit-based system. All platform operations consume credits from your wallet. New operator accounts receive 100 welcome credits. There are no subscription tiers, no monthly minimums, and no credit expiry.

MINIMUM COST PER OPERATION
0.01 credits

Every compute, storage, network, and LLM operation has a minimum cost of 0.01 credits. Zero-cost operations are not possible on this platform.

WELCOME CREDITS
100 credits

All new operator accounts receive 100 welcome credits upon completing the onboarding flow. No payment required for initial assessment.

CREDIT EXPIRY
None

Credits do not expire. There is no minimum monthly spend. No automatic charge if your wallet balance is unused.

COST ESTIMATION
0.01 credits

Running a cost estimate before execution costs 0.01 credits. Estimates are valid for 5 minutes. The estimate cost is not refunded if execution is cancelled.

REFUND POLICY
72-HOUR AUTOMATIC REFUND

Credits automatically refunded within 72 hours for completed operations that did not produce a usable result.

30-DAY OPERATOR DISPUTE

Operators may dispute a credit charge within 30 days. Submit disputes to billing@citaq.io with operation ID and reason.

PARTIAL EXECUTION

If a multi-step operation fails mid-execution, you pay only for completed primitives. Uncommitted reservations are voided automatically.

PLATFORM ERRORS

Any operation that fails due to a platform error (HTTP 5xx, rate limit 429) results in zero credit charge.

Acceptable Use

The following activities are prohibited on the platform. Violations trigger the strike enforcement system below.

HIGHFalse product claims submitted as verified
HIGHForged, manipulated, or altered evidence documents
HIGHClaim-evidence mismatches (linking evidence for claim A to claim B)
HIGHImpersonation of third-party certificate issuers or certifying bodies
HIGHAttempts to manipulate verification status through evidence fraud
MEDIUMBulk scraping of the verification API or operator catalog data
MEDIUMReverse-engineering or attempting to bypass credit enforcement
MEDIUMUsing platform output to make claims that imply ISO 17065 certification
HIGHSubmitting claims in HARD_BLOCK categories (medical cure claims, prohibited food claims)
MEDIUMMisrepresenting verification status in advertising or consumer-facing materials

Enforcement — Strike System

Evidence fraud and acceptable use violations are handled through a structured strike system. CITAQ will never suspend an account silently — operators receive mandatory email notification before any action is taken.

WARNING
TRIGGER

First verified claim-evidence mismatch or minor acceptable use violation

CONSEQUENCE

Affected claim suppressed from verification status. No credential impact. Email notification required.

STRIKE 1
TRIGGER

Repeated mismatch, unresolved warning, or moderate evidence fraud

CONSEQUENCE

L3 and L4 evidence sources locked for 30 days. Verification badge downgraded to available tier. Mandatory evidence audit required before reinstatement.

STRIKE 2
TRIGGER

High-severity evidence fraud or STRIKE 1 violation repeated within 90 days

CONSEQUENCE

All verification badges frozen for 90 days. Account enters mandatory review. Credentials cannot be issued or renewed during freeze period.

STRIKE 3
TRIGGER

Severe fraud, STRIKE 2 recurrence, or HARD_BLOCK category violation

CONSEQUENCE

Account locked permanently. Legal hold applied to all data. FTC reporting possible. Re-registration permanently banned. Affected credentials revoked with propagation to consumer surfaces within 60 seconds.

Mandatory notification: CITAQ will never suspend, lock, or freeze an operator account without sending a notification email before the action takes effect. Operators have 48 hours to respond to a WARNING before it escalates.

Platform Governance Constraints

CITAQ platform operations are governed by constitutional constraints that cannot be overridden by operators, administrators, or any single person. These constraints affect how your account is managed.

MULTI-APPROVAL OPERATIONS

Sensitive operations (account suspension, credit adjustments, evidence override) require 2-of-3 approver quorum. No single administrator can act unilaterally on your account.

IMMUTABLE AUDIT TRAIL

All actions on your account — including administrative actions — are logged to an immutable audit trail. You may request a copy of your account's audit log at any time.

NO SILENT DELETIONS

No data on your account will be deleted without your knowledge. Soft-delete flags are visible in your account dashboard. Permanent deletions require legal mandate.

NO SINGLE-OVERRIDE

No administrator can permanently override your verification status, credit balance, or account standing without quorum approval and audit logging.

Service Availability

TARGET SLA
99.9%
8.76 hours/year downtime allowance
DEGRADED MODE
Read-only
Write operations suspended during degraded state
CREDIT CHARGES
Zero
No credits charged during platform degraded or maintenance states

Planned maintenance windows are announced with minimum 72-hour notice. Emergency maintenance may proceed without advance notice but triggers automatic credit refund for operations that fail during the maintenance window.

Limitation of Liability

CITAQ IS NOT LIABLE FOR
Operator misrepresentation — false or misleading claims you submit for verification
Evidence tampering or forged documents submitted by the operator
Third-party certifier failures — revocations or changes by external certifying bodies
Product safety failures, injury, or damage related to any product on the platform
Regulatory changes that retroactively affect your verification status
AI system decisions made by third parties using CITAQ verification data
Loss of sales, revenue, or commercial opportunity resulting from verification status changes

CITAQ provides evidence linkage infrastructure. Product guarantees, regulatory compliance, and commercial accuracy remain the sole responsibility of the operator. CITAQ's maximum liability for any claim is limited to the credits consumed in the disputed operation.

Changes to These Terms

CITAQ may update these Terms with 30 days' advance notice via email and in-platform notification. Material changes require explicit operator acknowledgment before taking effect. Continued use of the platform after the notice period constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

Jurisdiction and Compliance

PRIMARY JURISDICTION
United States
EU COMPLIANCE FRAMEWORKS
GDPR · EU AI Act · DSA · EU DPP
DATA RESIDENCY
EU data in eu-central-1 (GDPR Art. 44)
CONTACT

Terms questions: legal@citaq.io

Billing disputes: billing@citaq.io

Evidence fraud reports: trust@citaq.io