Terms of Service

Last Updated: September 26, 2026

1. Agreement to Terms

By accessing or using Archivis ("Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you disagree with any part of these terms, you may not access the Service.

2. Description of Service

Archivis is a self-service platform for creating, preserving, and publishing biographies. The Service includes:

• Free tier: Self-authored biography creation using our guided questionnaires and editing tools.
• Premium subscription: Adds AI-assisted writing features, including AI-generated prompts, conversational refinement, and speech-to-text transcription for questionnaire responses.
• Publishing fee: A one-time fee, paid per biography by all users (Free or Premium), to publish a biography to the public archive at archivis.org.
• Institutional subscriptions: Per-organization subscriptions that include Premium features and publishing access for a designated number of members. Pricing is tiered based on the number of members covered.

Archivis stores biography content and associated photographs on secure cloud infrastructure and displays published biographies on archivis.org.

3. User Accounts

3.1 Account Creation

• You must provide accurate, complete information during registration
• You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials
• You must be at least 18 years old to create an account
• One person may only create one account

3.2 Account Security

• You are responsible for all activities under your account
• Notify us immediately of any unauthorized access
• We are not liable for losses caused by unauthorized use of your account

4. Subscriptions, Publishing Fees, and Payment

4.1 Free Tier

• The Free tier requires no payment and provides access to self-authored biography creation tools.
• Free tier users may publish biographies by paying the one-time publishing fee described in Section 4.3.

4.2 Premium Subscription

• Premium is a recurring subscription that unlocks AI-assisted features (prompts, chat-based refinement, speech-to-text transcription).
• Subscriptions auto-renew at the end of each billing period until canceled.
• Pricing and billing frequency are displayed at the time of subscription and are subject to change with notice for future billing periods.
• All prices are in USD.
• Payment is processed via Stripe.

4.3 Publishing Fee

• A one-time fee, paid per biography, is required to publish a biography to the public archive at archivis.org.
• The publishing fee applies to all individual users, regardless of whether they are on the Free or Premium tier.
• Once a publishing fee is paid for a biography, that biography may be published, unpublished, and re-published without additional charge.

4.4 Institutional Subscriptions

• Institutional subscriptions are recurring subscriptions purchased by an organization to provide Premium features and publishing access to a designated number of its members.
• Pricing is offered in tiers based on the number of members covered.
• The institution is the contracting party and is responsible for payment.
• While the subscription is active and the member's seat is assigned, covered members receive Premium features and may publish biographies without paying an individual publishing fee.
• If an institution's subscription ends, or a member is removed from the institution, the consequences described in Section 6.5 apply.

4.5 Refund Policy

4.6 Cancellation

• You may cancel a Premium or institutional subscription at any time from your account settings or by contacting support@archivis.org.
• Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period; you retain access to subscribed features until that date.
• Canceling a subscription does not unpublish biographies. Published biographies remain published unless you explicitly unpublish them or delete your account.
• Refunds, where applicable under Section 4.5, are processed within 7-10 business days.

5. Service Availability and Responsibilities

5.1 Service Availability

• We make commercially reasonable efforts to keep the platform available 24/7.
• The Service may be temporarily unavailable for maintenance, updates, or due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control.
• Features available at any given time depend on your subscription tier (Free, Premium, or institutional).

5.2 Customer Responsibilities

You agree to:

• Provide truthful, accurate information for your biography
• Maintain the security of your account credentials
• Comply with these Terms and the content guidelines in Section 10
• Promptly review AI-generated content for accuracy before publishing (see Section 16)

5.3 Our Responsibilities

We agree to:

• Maintain the platform features included in your subscribed tier
• Process payments and manage subscriptions accurately
• Preserve your stored content in accordance with Section 7
• Provide customer support via support@archivis.org

6. Content and Intellectual Property

6.1 Your Content

• You retain ownership of the information, stories, and photos you provide
• You grant Archivis a license to use this content solely to create your biography
• You represent that you have the right to share all content provided
• You are responsible for ensuring content doesn't infringe on others' rights

6.2 Your Biography

• You own your biography and its content from the moment you create it. Your subscription or payment status does not affect this ownership.
• You may export, share, or reproduce your biography freely.
• If you choose to publish your biography on archivis.org, you grant Archivis the license described in Section 6.3 to display it. Publication requires payment of the publishing fee (Section 4.3) for individual users, or an active institutional subscription seat for institutional members.
• Before publishing you must confirm that you own, or have permission to use, all of the text and photographs in the biography, and you choose the license under which the published biography may be reused: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 (the default), Creative Commons BY 4.0, or all rights reserved. Your choice is shown on the published biography.
• You may unpublish your biography on archivis.org at any time. Removal of a copy deposited with the Internet Archive is subject to Section 7.3.

6.3 Publication License

When you publish a biography on archivis.org, you grant Archivis a non-exclusive, worldwide license to display, store, and distribute that biography on the public archive for as long as it remains published. This license terminates when you unpublish the biography or delete your account, except as described in the next paragraph.

If you choose to preserve your biography at the Internet Archive (selected by default when you publish; you may deselect it and deposit later), you also authorize Archivis to deposit a copy of the published biography (its text, summary facts, photographs and a machine-readable summary) with the Internet Archive (archive.org), a non-profit digital library, under the license you selected. That copy is held and made available by the Internet Archive under its own terms of use. Because the purpose of the deposit is permanence, this authorization is irrevocable to the extent necessary for the Internet Archive to retain the deposited copy, and it survives unpublishing on archivis.org and the closure of your account.

6.4 Sample Work

With your permission, we may use portions of your biography as anonymous samples for marketing purposes. You may opt out at any time.

6.5 Institutional Account Membership

If you access the Service as a member of an institutional subscription:

• You retain full ownership of your biography content under the same terms as individual users.
• The institution administrator can see that you are a member of the institution (your email address) but cannot access your biography content, drafts, or questionnaire responses.
• If your institution's subscription ends, or you are removed from the institution, your biography content remains yours and accessible to you in read-only form. You will lose access to Premium features and will need an individual Premium subscription or publishing fee to use those features again.
• Biographies you previously published while covered by an institutional subscription remain published unless you unpublish them or delete your account.

7. Data Storage and Preservation

7.1 Storage Commitment

• We maintain your biography and associated files on secure cloud infrastructure (AWS)
• We implement industry-standard security practices and backup procedures
• We make commercially reasonable efforts to preserve your content long-term

7.2 No Absolute Permanence Guarantee

7.3 Internet Archive Deposit

To give published biographies a home that does not depend on Archivis, we deposit them, when you choose, with the Internet Archive (archive.org). Please understand what that means before you choose it:

• It is permanent. The Internet Archive does not let depositors delete items. Unpublishing your biography on archivis.org, editing it, or deleting your account does not remove the copy at archive.org. Revisions you publish are added to the archive item; earlier versions are retained there.
• Removal is a request, not a right. If you or someone named in the biography asks us to, we will forward a removal request to the Internet Archive, which reviews such requests under its own policies. We cannot guarantee the outcome or the timing.
• Biographies name other people. Family members and others described in your biography will be described in the archive copy too. You are responsible for what the biography says about them (Section 6.1).
• What is deposited. Only the published biography: its text, the summary facts shown beside it, its photographs, the license you chose and a link back to archivis.org. Questionnaire answers, drafts, version history and your account details are never deposited.
• The Internet Archive is independent of us. Its availability, policies and continued existence are outside our control. We also keep our own copy of every deposited edition on our infrastructure.

If you prefer, publish on archivis.org first and deposit later from your published biography page. Nothing is deposited until you choose to.

7.3 Data Export

• You may request a complete export of your biography and files at any time
• We strongly recommend maintaining your own backups
• Export requests are fulfilled within 7 business days

7.4 Account Inactivity

• Accounts inactive for 5+ years may be archived
• We will attempt to contact you at the email address on file before archiving
• Archived content can be restored upon request

8. Business Continuity and Changes

8.1 Service Modifications

• We reserve the right to modify or discontinue the Service with 90 days notice
• If we discontinue the Service, active subscriptions will be canceled and any prepaid amounts covering periods after the discontinuation date will be refunded on a pro-rata basis
• Terms may be updated; continued use constitutes acceptance

8.2 Business Transfer

In the event of acquisition, merger, or sale:

• Your data may be transferred to the acquiring entity
• You will be notified of the transfer and new ownership
• You will have 60 days to request data export and account deletion
• The acquiring entity must honor existing terms or offer refunds

8.3 Business Closure

If Archivis ceases operations:

• We will provide 90 days notice when possible
• You will have 90 days to download your complete data
• After this period, we cannot guarantee data availability
• Partial refunds may be issued for incomplete work at our discretion

9. Prohibited Uses

You may not use the Service to:

• Violate any laws or regulations
• Infringe on intellectual property rights
• Impersonate others or provide false information
• Harass, abuse, or harm others
• Distribute malware or engage in malicious activity
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to our systems

10. Content Guidelines

Your biography must not contain:

• Defamatory, libelous, or fraudulent content
• Content that infringes on others' rights
• Explicit or gratuitously violent content
• Hate speech or discriminatory content
• Content promoting illegal activities

We reserve the right to refuse service or remove content that violates these guidelines.

11. Limitation of Liability

11.1 Service "As-Is"

The Service is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind, express or implied.

11.2 Liability Cap

Our total liability for any claim arising from these Terms or the Service shall not exceed the amount you paid to Archivis in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

11.3 Excluded Damages

We are not liable for:

• Indirect, incidental, or consequential damages
• Lost profits, data, or business opportunities
• Damages resulting from third-party services (AWS, payment processors)
• Unauthorized access to your account due to your negligence

11.4 Force Majeure

We are not liable for failures caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control (natural disasters, pandemics, infrastructure failures, etc.).

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Archivis, its employees, and contractors from any claims, damages, or expenses arising from:

• Your violation of these Terms
• Content you provide that infringes on others' rights
• Your misuse of the Service

13. Dispute Resolution

13.1 Informal Resolution

Before filing any claim, you agree to contact us at support@archivis.org to resolve the dispute informally.

13.2 Arbitration

If informal resolution fails, disputes will be resolved through binding arbitration rather than court proceedings, except for small claims court matters.

13.3 Class Action Waiver

You agree to resolve disputes individually, not as part of a class action or consolidated proceeding.

13.4 Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to conflict of law principles.

14. Privacy

Your use of the Service is also governed by our Privacy Policy, available at archivis.org/privacy. By using the Service, you consent to our data practices as described in the Privacy Policy.

15. Third-Party Services

We use third-party services including:

• AWS (hosting and storage)
• Stripe (payment processing)
• Google Workspace (email communications)
• OpenAI (AI-assisted content generation where applicable)
• Internet Archive (long-term preservation of published biographies, when you choose it; see Section 7.3)

These services have their own terms, and we are not responsible for their actions or policies.

16. AI-Assisted Content

Premium and institutional subscriptions include AI-assisted features such as AI-generated prompts, conversational refinement of your responses, and speech-to-text transcription of voice recordings. By using these features, you acknowledge:

• AI is used to assist you in drafting and refining content based on the information you provide
• AI-generated content may include inaccuracies, omissions, or fabricated details ("hallucinations")
• You are responsible for reviewing and verifying all AI-assisted content before publication
• You retain full ownership of all content, including AI-assisted portions
• Your content is processed by our AI providers solely to generate output for you and is not used to train their models (see our Privacy Policy and Data Processing Agreement)

17. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full effect.

18. Contact Information

For questions about these Terms:

• Email: support@archivis.org
• Website: archivis.org

19. Entire Agreement

These Terms, along with our Privacy Policy and Data Processing Agreement, constitute the entire agreement between you and Archivis regarding the Service.