Terms of Service
The rules for using Cothenticity, including an honest statement of what a receipt does and does not prove.
1. Agreement
These Terms govern your use of Cothenticity (the "Service"), operated by Sam Squared Softwares. By using the Service you accept them. If you do not accept them, do not use the Service.
2. What the Service does — and what it does not
Cothenticity records structural metadata about an editing session in your browser, computes a SHA-256 hash chain over that record, verifies the chain on our server, and publishes it as a "receipt" at a public link.
The limit of what a receipt proves. A receipt is evidence that a recorded editing session occurred as recorded and has not been altered since it was sealed. It is not proof of authorship, originality, quality, ownership of copyright, or the absence of AI involvement beyond what was recorded.
Specifically, the Service can be defeated by a determined actor — for example by transcribing AI-generated text by hand, or by automating keystrokes. We make no representation that a receipt is immune to such circumvention. Do not rely on a receipt as the sole basis for a hiring, academic, disciplinary, payment, or legal decision.
3. Your responsibilities
- You must have the right to publish everything contained in a receipt, including the snapshots of your work.
- You must not publish confidential, unlawful, infringing, or personal information belonging to others.
- You must not misrepresent how a deliverable was produced, or use the Service to manufacture misleading proof.
- You must not attempt to forge, replay, or circumvent verification, or attack the Service or its infrastructure.
- You are solely responsible for safeguarding your manage key.
4. Public receipts
Publishing makes a receipt, including your work's snapshots, publicly accessible to anyone with the link. You grant us the limited licence necessary to store, reproduce and display that receipt for the purpose of operating the Service. You keep all ownership of your work. That licence ends when you unpublish.
5. Availability
The Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis during this early period. We may change, suspend, or discontinue any part of it, and we do not guarantee uptime, durability, or that links will remain resolvable indefinitely. Keep your own copies of anything you care about — the receipt JSON is downloadable for exactly this reason.
6. Removal
We may remove any receipt that we reasonably believe is unlawful, infringing, abusive, or harmful, without notice.
7. Disclaimers and liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, nor for lost profits, lost business, lost data, or reputational harm. Where liability cannot be excluded, our total aggregate liability is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the three months preceding the claim, or ZAR 1,000.
Nothing here excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including under the South African Consumer Protection Act where it applies to you.
8. Indemnity
You will indemnify us against claims arising from your content, your use of the Service, or your breach of these Terms.
9. Changes
We may update these Terms; the version and effective date above will change. Continued use after a change constitutes acceptance.
10. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, and the courts of South Africa have jurisdiction, without prejudice to mandatory consumer protections in your own country.
11. Contact
[email protected]
Sam Squared Softwares (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2026/536077/07
Registered office: 84 Donovan Street, Glen Austin, Midrand, Gauteng, 1685, South Africa