Terms of Service
Last updated: 2026-05-19
Lawyer-reviewed copy pending (F#70). Developer-authored placeholder. Use as a description of the system, not as a binding agreement.
1. Acceptance
By creating an Ad Marginem account or using any Ad Marginem client (desktop, mobile, browser extension, Word add-in), you agree to these Terms. If you don't agree, don't use the service.
2. The service
Ad Marginem provides a research workspace: a paper library, PDF reader, annotation tools, notes, whiteboards, citation formatting, and cross-device sync. Free-tier features run locally; paid-tier features include cross-device sync, larger storage quotas, and institutional support (post-MVP).
3. Your account
- You must be 13 or older (16 in the EU) to use Ad Marginem.
- You're responsible for keeping your credentials secure.
- One account per individual; sharing is not permitted on the personal tier.
- Account deletion runs through a 30-day cool-off; you can cancel during that window.
4. Your content
You retain all rights to the papers, notes, annotations, and other content you upload to Ad Marginem. You grant us a limited license to store, process, and transmit your content solely for the purpose of providing the service. We do not use your content to train machine-learning models. We do not sell your content. We do not advertise to you based on your content.
5. Acceptable use
- No uploading material you don't have the right to store or share.
- No automated scraping of the Ad Marginem servers beyond published API rate limits.
- No attempts to break sandboxing, exfiltrate other users' data, or evade access controls.
- No use for illegal purposes.
6. Subscriptions & payment (post-MVP)
Paid plans renew automatically until cancelled. You can cancel at any time; access continues until the end of the billing period. Refunds are issued at our discretion for accidental charges and billing errors. We use Stripe to process payments — see subprocessors for details.
7. Termination
You can delete your account at any time. We can suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or that present security risks; in such cases we'll give you notice and a reasonable opportunity to export your data unless the violation is severe.
8. Disclaimers
Ad Marginem is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. The service depends on infrastructure from Cloudflare, Neon, AWS, and other sub-processors; outages or data incidents in those services may affect availability. You're responsible for keeping independent backups of any work you can't afford to lose.
9. Limitation of liability
To the extent permitted by law, Ad Marginem's liability for any claim arising out of or related to the service is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim. We are not liable for indirect, consequential, or punitive damages.
10. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of Ontario, Canada. Disputes are resolved in the courts of Toronto, Ontario.
11. Changes
Material changes are emailed to all accounts at least 30 days before they take effect. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.