Terms of Service

1. Parties, acceptance, and capacity

These Terms of Service (the "Terms") are a binding agreement between you and primarylaw.ai Ltd, operating as "Pardoned" ("Pardoned," "we," "us," "our").

You accept these Terms by checking the acceptance checkbox presented at checkout. That checkbox is required, is never pre-ticked, and is recorded together with the exact version of these Terms shown to you (see §18). You must be at least 18 years old — or the age of majority in your province or territory, if higher — and have the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract. If you do not accept these Terms, do not purchase or use the Service.

No account exists, and no contract is formed, before successful payment. Your account is created at the moment of successful payment.

2. Definitions

• "Service" means the Pardoned website, eligibility quiz, document-preparation wizards, generated Documents, customer portal, and related support, taken together.
• "Documents" means the application forms, statements, checklists, and supporting materials generated by the Service based solely on information you provide.
• "Government Body" means the Parole Board of Canada (PBC), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and any court or police service, as applicable to your Case.
• "Case" means a single application matter you are preparing through the Service (a record suspension application, a Form I-192 waiver application, or both under the Border Package).
• "Government Fees" means fees charged directly by a Government Body for filing or processing an application. Government Fees are not our fees, are set and changed by governments without notice to us, and never pass through Pardoned.
• "Refund Policy" means the published Refund Policy & Reapplication Guarantee (doc_key refund_policy), rendered at /refunds and incorporated into these Terms by §7.
• "Privacy Policy" means the published Privacy Policy (doc_key privacy), rendered at /privacy and incorporated into these Terms by §12.

3. What the Service is — and is not

Pardoned is self-help document-preparation software. The Service helps you: (a) determine, from your own answers, whether you may meet the published eligibility criteria for a Canadian record suspension under the Criminal Records Act or a U.S. entry waiver (Form I-192); (b) collect and organize the information and supporting documents those applications require; (c) generate completed application forms and supporting documents based solely on the information you provide; and (d) track the status of your own application as you report it to us.

You are the applicant and the sole preparer of your application. Pardoned does not select legal strategies, does not assess the legal sufficiency of your documents, does not represent you before any Government Body, does not submit, transmit, or file anything with any Government Body on your behalf, has no communication channel with any Government Body about your application, and does not receive, hold, or transmit Government Fees. Filing, and everything that follows filing, is done by you.

General information presented by the Service — including eligibility check results — is a restatement of published government rules. It is general information, not advice about your situation, and not a decision about any application.

4. No legal advice; no lawyer-client relationship

Pardoned is not a law firm, is not a licensed immigration consultancy, and does not provide legal advice, legal opinions, or representation of any kind. No lawyer-client, consultant-client, advisory, or fiduciary relationship is created by your use of the Service, by any communication with our support team, or by anything the Service generates. Communications with Pardoned are not protected by solicitor-client privilege. No lawyer or licensed representative reviews your Documents.

If you need advice about your specific situation, consult a lawyer licensed in your province or territory; for Canadian immigration matters, a lawyer or a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant; for U.S. immigration matters, a U.S.-licensed attorney. Our support team can point you to official referral directories.

The support firewall, stated plainly: everyone at Pardoned, on every channel, answers questions only by restating published information, with citations to official sources. Any question about how the rules apply to your specific situation receives one of two responses — a full refund under the Refund Policy's refund-or-referral promise, or a referral to a licensed professional — never a personal answer. There are no exceptions, for anyone.

5. No outcome promise

Decisions on record suspension applications are made solely by the Parole Board of Canada. Decisions on Form I-192 waiver applications are made solely by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Pardoned has no influence over, involvement in, or visibility into those decisions or their timing, and nothing we sell can change either. Nothing in the Service — including a "likely eligible" result on our free eligibility check, any generated Document, or any statement by our support team — is a promise, prediction, or assurance that any application will be accepted for processing, processed within any timeframe, or granted. Eligibility check results depend entirely on the accuracy and completeness of your answers and on government rules that can change after you check.

6. Our fees, Government Fees, and taxes

Our fees are stated in Canadian dollars at checkout and charged via Stripe Checkout at the price displayed to you before you pay. Applicable taxes are calculated and added via Stripe Tax based on your location. The price you see at checkout, plus tax, is everything you pay us.

Government Fees are separate, are paid by you directly to the relevant Government Body, and never pass through Pardoned or Stripe. Current Government Fees (interpolated at render time from our fee reference data — never hardcoded):

• Canadian record suspension: C$50 — paid by you to the Receiver General for Canada.
• U.S. Form I-192 waiver: US$1100 if filed electronically via CBP's e-SAFE portal, or US$1100 if filed on paper with USCIS. The channel available to you is determined by the U.S. government, not by Pardoned.

Government Bodies change their fees, forms, processes, and timelines at their own discretion and without notice to us. Such changes are outside our control, are your responsibility to pay or comply with as the applicant, and are not a failure of the Service and not grounds for a refund of our fees, except as the Refund Policy or applicable consumer protection law provides.

7. Refund Policy and Reapplication Guarantee — incorporated by reference

Our Refund Policy & Reapplication Guarantee (doc_key refund_policy), published at /refunds, is incorporated into these Terms by reference and forms part of this agreement. That document — as published at the version in force when you purchased, or any later version more favourable to you — is the single, complete, and authoritative statement of: when you are entitled to a refund; how the pre/post-generation boundary is determined by your case status; the refund-or-referral promise described in §4; and the terms of the "denied → free reapplication preparation" guarantee, including its claim window, evidence requirements, scope, and exclusions.

These Terms deliberately do not restate refund tiers, percentages, or windows. If any statement about refunds anywhere else — including elsewhere in these Terms — conflicts with the published Refund Policy, the published Refund Policy governs. Government Fees are never refundable by us, because we never receive them.

8. Your responsibilities; accuracy of your information

The Service generates Documents solely from what you tell us. You agree that you will:

1. provide information that is truthful, accurate, and complete, and correct it promptly if it changes;
2. personally review every generated Document, in full, before signing or filing it — the Service's output is a draft for your review, and you are the only person who verifies it;
3. file your own application, meet your own deadlines, respond to your own government correspondence, and pay your own Government Fees;
4. not use the Service if you are subject to any order, condition, or circumstance that would make your application or your use of the Service unlawful; and
5. obtain the supporting records (for example, RCMP-certified fingerprints, local police records checks, and court information) yourself, from the bodies that issue them.

Pardoned is not responsible for the consequences of false, inaccurate, or incomplete information you provide, of alterations you make to Documents after generation, or of your failure to review, file, or follow up on your own application. False statements to a Government Body can be an offence; the truthfulness of your application is yours alone.

9. Accounts and security

Accounts use magic-link email authentication only — there are no passwords. You are responsible for maintaining control of the email account associated with your Pardoned account; anyone who controls that email account can access your Case. Notify us at info@pardoned.ai immediately if you believe your email account is compromised. Before payment, your quiz answers exist only on your own device (browser local storage) — we do not see or store them, and we cannot recover them.

10. Acceptable use

You agree not to: (a) scrape, crawl, or systematically extract content or data from the Service; (b) resell, sublicense, or redistribute access to the Service or its templates; (c) submit another person's personal or criminal-record information without lawful authority to act for them; (d) use the Service to harass, defraud, or impersonate anyone, or to prepare an application you know to be false; (e) probe, disable, or circumvent the Service's security or access controls, or attempt to access another person's Case; (f) introduce malicious code; or (g) use the Service other than through the interfaces we provide. We may suspend or terminate access for breach of this section (see §17).

11. Intellectual property and licence

We (and our licensors) own the Pardoned software, site content, templates, and branding, including all intellectual property rights in them. These Terms give you no rights in them except the licence in this section.

Your information stays yours. You retain all rights in the information you provide. You grant us a limited, non-exclusive licence to use that information solely to provide the Service to you, as described in the Privacy Policy — and for nothing else.

Your Documents are yours to use. Documents generated for your Case are licensed to you perpetually and without restriction for use in connection with your own government application, including copying, editing, and filing them. You may not resell generated Documents or use them as templates for third parties.

12. Privacy — incorporated by reference

Our Privacy Policy (doc_key privacy), published at /privacy, describes what we collect, why, who processes it, how long we keep it, and your rights of access, correction, withdrawal of consent, and deletion. It is incorporated into these Terms by reference. Where these Terms and the Privacy Policy conflict about personal information, the Privacy Policy governs.

13. Third-party services and government changes

The Service depends on third-party providers (identified in the Privacy Policy) and on government systems, forms, portals, and rules that we do not control. We are not responsible for: outages, errors, or changes in government websites or filing portals (including CBP's e-SAFE); changes to government forms, fees, eligibility rules, or processing practices after your Documents are generated; or acts and omissions of Government Bodies. Where a government change makes a generated Document unusable before you file it, contact support — the Refund Policy and, where applicable, your consumer-law rights govern the remedy.

14. Disclaimer of warranties

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available," and we make no warranties, representations, or conditions of any kind, express, implied, or statutory — including implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, merchantable quality, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, and any warranty that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that generated Documents will be accepted by any Government Body.

Consumer-rights savings clause. Some jurisdictions — including provinces whose consumer protection legislation applies to you — do not allow the exclusion or modification of certain warranties, conditions, or remedies. Nothing in this section or these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any condition, warranty, right, or remedy implied or imposed by applicable law that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted, or modified — including any deemed conditions or warranties under provincial consumer protection legislation. This section applies only to the extent such law permits.

Flag for Nick (carried from spec): Ontario CPA 2002 s.9 (implied warranty of reasonably acceptable quality for consumer services) cannot be disclaimed; similar provisions exist in BC (BPCPA) and Quebec (CPA). The savings clause above is load-bearing — do not trim it.

15. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law:

1. Cap. Pardoned's total aggregate liability for all claims arising out of or relating to the Service or these Terms — whether in contract, tort (including negligence), statute, or otherwise — is limited to the total amount you paid Pardoned for the Case giving rise to the claim.
2. Excluded damages. Pardoned is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for loss of opportunity, income, employment, business, travel, immigration status, or reputation, however arising — including damages arising from any government decision or delay, any change in government rules or fees, or your reliance on generated Documents you did not verify — even if we were advised such damages were possible.
3. Government Fees. Pardoned is not liable for Government Fees you pay, since we never receive them.
4. Basis of the bargain. The pricing of the Service reflects this allocation of risk: we prepare documents from your information for a fixed fee; the application, its filing, and its outcome are yours.

Exceptions and savings. Nothing in this section limits or excludes liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law, including liability arising from our gross negligence, wilful misconduct, or fraud, or death or personal injury caused by our negligence; and nothing in this section limits any right or remedy you have under applicable consumer protection legislation. Each limitation in this section applies separately and only to the extent permitted by the law that applies to you; if any part of it is unenforceable against you, the remainder still applies.

Flag for Nick: same consumer-protection tension as §14 — Ontario CPA 2002 s.9, BC BPCPA, Quebec CPA. The savings language in §§14, 15, 19–21 is load-bearing; do not trim.

16. Indemnity (narrow)

If a third party (including a Government Body) brings a claim against Pardoned arising from information you provided that was false or that you knew to be materially incomplete, or from your unlawful use of the Service, you agree to compensate us for the losses and reasonable costs that claim causes us. This section does not apply to claims arising from our own breach of these Terms or violation of law, and does not limit any right you have under applicable consumer protection legislation.

Flag for Nick: the spec's recommendation is omit-or-narrow (consumer indemnities are of doubtful enforceability and read badly). The text above is the decision-ready narrow option, confined to false information and unlawful use. Deleting this section entirely remains the alternative — see ops/legal/flag-register.md item 2.

17. Suspension and termination

You can leave any time. You may stop using the Service whenever you want. The Refund Policy (§7) governs any refund; the Privacy Policy (§12) governs deletion of your data, including the crypto-shred deletion mechanism.

We can terminate for cause. We may suspend or terminate your access if you materially breach these Terms (including §8 and §10), if the law requires it, or if we reasonably believe your use creates a risk of fraud or harm. If we terminate before your Documents are generated, you receive a full refund; if we terminate after generation for a reason other than your breach, you receive a pro-rata refund. Termination for your material breach does not by itself extinguish refund rights you already hold under the published Refund Policy or applicable consumer protection law.

Survival. Sections that by their nature should survive do survive termination, including §§2, 4, 5, 7 (for accrued rights), 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 (if adopted), and 19–22.

18. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. Every version is hash-recorded and published in a version history at /terms/versions, and the version and effective date always appear at the top of this page. Material changes do not apply to you silently: if you have an active Case, you will be asked to re-accept the updated Terms in the portal before continuing, and your re-acceptance is recorded against the exact new version. If you do not accept a material change, you may stop using the Service, and the Refund Policy governs any refund. Changes never apply retroactively to reduce rights you had already accrued — including your rights under the Refund Policy version in force when you purchased.

19. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Manitoba and the federal laws of Canada applicable in that province, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. This choice of law does not deprive you of the protection of any mandatory consumer protection law of the province or territory where you reside.

20. Dispute resolution

Talk to us first (non-binding). If you have a dispute with us, contact info@pardoned.ai and tell us. We commit to responding substantively within 10 business days and working with you in good faith for 30 days to resolve it — most disputes are refund questions the published Refund Policy already answers. This step is voluntary: it never limits, delays, or waives your right to go to court or a tribunal at any time.

Courts. You may bring a claim in the courts of Manitoba or, where applicable law (including consumer protection legislation) gives you the right, in the courts or tribunals of your own province or territory. Nothing in these Terms prevents either party from using small claims court, and nothing in these Terms waives any right you have under applicable consumer protection law.

No arbitration requirement; no class-action waiver. These Terms do not require arbitration and do not waive your right to participate in a class proceeding. Those omissions are deliberate.

CEO-level flag for Nick — arbitration election (flag-register item 1). The operative clause above follows the spec's recommendation: no mandatory arbitration, no class-action waiver. Rationale on record: Ontario CPA 2002 ss. 7–8 voids pre-dispute arbitration clauses and class waivers in consumer agreements; Quebec CPA art. 11.1 does the same (Quebec users are not geo-blocked under the soft-defer); Uber v. Heller (SCC 2020) exposes any consumer arbitration clause to unconscionability attack; Douez v. Facebook (SCC 2017) weakens forum-selection against consumers. A clause void in the two biggest provinces buys nothing and reads predatory in a trust-critical category.

ALTERNATE CLAUSE — NOT IN FORCE — decision-ready text if Nick overrides the recommendation. (This alternate block is NOT part of the Terms; if adopted, it replaces the "Courts" and "No arbitration requirement" paragraphs above, and the adoption must be logged in ops/DECISIONS.md.)

Except where applicable consumer protection legislation gives you the right to proceed in court or before a tribunal (in which case that right is preserved in full), any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service that is not resolved informally shall be finally resolved by arbitration administered by a recognized Canadian arbitral institution under its rules, by a single arbitrator, seated in Manitoba, conducted by videoconference unless the arbitrator orders otherwise, with Pardoned paying the arbitrator's fees for consumer claims under C$25,000. Either party may instead bring an individual claim in small claims court. This paragraph does not waive any non-waivable right, including any right under the Ontario Consumer Protection Act, 2002, the BC Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act, or the Quebec Consumer Protection Act, and is severable to the maximum extent of its enforceability.

21. Consumer-rights savings clause (global)

This clause governs the whole agreement. You may have rights under the consumer protection legislation of your province or territory — for example the Ontario Consumer Protection Act, 2002, the British Columbia Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act, or the Quebec Consumer Protection Act — that cannot be excluded, restricted, or modified by contract. Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any such right, and every limitation, exclusion, disclaimer, and allocation of risk in these Terms applies only to the maximum extent permitted by the law that applies to you. Where a provision of these Terms would otherwise be void or unenforceable against you as a consumer, it is to be read down to the extent necessary to make it enforceable rather than struck, and if it cannot be read down, it is severed without affecting the rest of these Terms.

22. General terms

Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, it will be read down or severed per §21, and the remaining provisions continue in full force.

Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the documents they incorporate by reference (the Refund Policy and the Privacy Policy, each at the versions recorded against your acceptance), are the entire agreement between you and Pardoned about the Service, and supersede prior discussions. Nothing in this paragraph excludes liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or limits any non-excludable statutory right.

Assignment. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, provided your rights (including accrued refund and guarantee rights) are preserved. You may not assign your rights under these Terms without our written consent — a Case is personal to its applicant.

No waiver. Our not enforcing a provision is not a waiver of it.

Force majeure. Neither party is liable for delay or failure caused by events beyond its reasonable control; this never extends to your payment obligations already incurred or to our obligations under the Refund Policy.

Notices. We send notices to your account email (sender conventions below). You send notices to info@pardoned.ai.

Contact and business identity. Contact (including support and privacy): info@pardoned.ai. Registered business identity: primarylaw.ai Ltd; business number: [PENDING — added once entity is registered]. This identity block is a deliberate trust surface for the anonymous-founder architecture — registered business identity substitutes for founder identity.

23. Language

These Terms are presented in English only. Quebec purchasers are not geo-blocked from purchasing. Flag for Nick: the Charter of the French Language has implications for adhesion (consumer) contracts with Quebec consumers presented only in English; Quebec treatment as a whole (contract language, Law 25, CPA art. 11.1) is a flagged open item, accepted-risk per founder amendment 4, and must be a recorded, written decision in the decision log — not a silent omission. See ops/legal/flag-register.md item 7. No Quebec-specific clauses are drafted pending that decision.

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Email and contact conventions referenced throughout this document

Per 00-BUILD_PLAN.md §5 ruling R6: all Pardoned email is sent as Pardoned from no-reply@mail.pardoned.ai, reply-to info@pardoned.ai. The root domain never sends mail directly. Documents are never attached to email — they are available only by signing in to your portal, via links that expire in five minutes.

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