Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using CountyPulse ("the Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, you must stop using the Service immediately. You must be at least 18 years old or have parental consent to use this Service.

2. Description of Service

CountyPulse aggregates publicly available data from over 50 federal, state, and local government sources. We compute proprietary analytical scores, rankings, and metrics from this data. All data is presented for informational and research purposes only. CountyPulse is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any government agency.

3. User Accounts & Subscriptions

You are responsible for maintaining the security and confidentiality of your account credentials. You must provide accurate and current account information.

CountyPulse offers subscription tiers: Free ($0), Prospector ($39/month), and Investor ($79/month). All billing is handled by Stripe. Subscriptions involve recurring charges until cancelled. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. No partial refunds are provided. Disputes are handled via Stripe.

CountyPulse reserves the right to change pricing with 30 days' notice to active subscribers.

4. Acceptable Use

You may not:

• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose
• Redistribute, resell, or sublicense CountyPulse data or computed metrics without written consent
• Represent CountyPulse data as your own original research
• Use the Service to make automated decisions affecting individuals (e.g., lending, hiring, insurance)
• Attempt to reverse-engineer proprietary scoring algorithms
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service infrastructure
• Create derivative datasets for commercial distribution

5. Anti-Scraping & AI/ML Prohibition

Automated access to the Service using bots, scrapers, crawlers, spiders, or any other automated means is prohibited without prior written consent from CountyPulse.

The use of any data from CountyPulse to train, fine-tune, or evaluate artificial intelligence or machine learning models is expressly prohibited. Systematic downloading, caching, or mirroring of data is prohibited.

Rate limiting and access controls are enforced. Circumvention of these controls constitutes a violation of these Terms. CountyPulse reserves the right to seek injunctive relief and recover damages for violations.

Violations may constitute unauthorized access under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. § 1030). All robots.txt directives must be respected; ignoring them constitutes a breach of these Terms.

6. Intellectual Property

Underlying government data is in the public domain and is not owned by CountyPulse. However, CountyPulse's proprietary computed metrics, scores, rankings, pillar calculations, opportunity indices, and saturation formulas are copyrighted original works.

The compilation, arrangement, and presentation of data on CountyPulse is protected by compilation copyright. Site design, branding, logos, and written content are owned by CountyPulse. Users retain ownership of content they submit (e.g., contact form messages).

You are granted a limited license to access and use data for personal, non-commercial research. Any commercial use requires prior written permission from CountyPulse.

7. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

CountyPulse does not guarantee:

• The accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of any data
• That government source data is free from errors or revisions
• That computed scores, rankings, or metrics reflect actual current economic conditions
• Uninterrupted or error-free service availability

Government Data Disclaimer: Data is sourced from public government records that may be revised, corrected, or updated by the issuing agency after publication. Time lags exist between data collection and publication. CountyPulse is not responsible for errors in source data.

Computed Metrics Disclaimer: Proprietary scores, rankings, grades, and indices are analytical tools based on statistical models. They are not predictions, guarantees, or representations of future performance or economic conditions.

8. Limitation of Liability

In no event shall CountyPulse, its officers, directors, employees, or agents be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, data, business opportunities, goodwill, or other intangible losses, regardless of legal theory.

CountyPulse's total aggregate liability is capped at the greater of: (a) fees paid by you in the 12 months preceding the claim, or (b) $100 USD.

CountyPulse is not liable for any decision made or action taken in reliance on data, scores, rankings, or analytics provided through the Service. Some jurisdictions do not allow exclusion of certain warranties or limitation of liability; in such cases, liability is limited to the fullest extent permitted by law.

9. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless CountyPulse from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from: your violation of these Terms; your misuse of data or computed metrics; any third-party claims resulting from your use of the Service; or your violation of any applicable law or regulation.

10. Dispute Resolution & Arbitration

Informal Resolution First: Before filing any claim, both parties must attempt to resolve disputes informally by contacting contact@countypulse.net. Both parties agree to negotiate in good faith for at least 30 days.

Mandatory Binding Arbitration: Any dispute not resolved informally shall be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules. Arbitration shall take place in Forsyth County, Georgia, or remotely at the arbitrator's discretion.

The arbitrator's decision is final and binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. Each party bears its own arbitration costs; filing fees are split per AAA rules. The arbitrator may award injunctive or declaratory relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief.

Small Claims Exception: Either party may bring qualifying claims in small claims court in Forsyth County, Georgia.

11. Class Action Waiver

You agree to resolve disputes with CountyPulse on an individual basis only. You waive any right to participate in a class action, collective action, or representative proceeding. You waive any right to a jury trial.

If this waiver is found unenforceable, the entire arbitration agreement (Section 10) shall be void, but all remaining Terms survive.

12. Termination

CountyPulse may suspend or terminate your access at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice. Grounds for termination include but are not limited to: violation of these Terms, suspected fraud, extended inactivity, or non-payment.

Upon termination, your right to access the Service ceases immediately. Sections 6 (Intellectual Property), 7 (Disclaimer), 8 (Limitation of Liability), 9 (Indemnification), 10 (Arbitration), 11 (Class Action Waiver), and 13 (Governing Law) survive termination.

13. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Georgia, USA, without regard to conflict of law provisions. Venue for any permitted court proceedings shall be the state or federal courts located in Forsyth County, Georgia.

14. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary or severed. All remaining provisions continue in full force and effect.

15. Changes to Terms

CountyPulse reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time. Material changes will be communicated with 30 days' advance notice via email to registered users and/or prominent notice on the site. Continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of modified Terms.

16. Contact Information

For questions about these Terms, contact us at contact@countypulse.net.