Terms of Service | Birder AI

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your use of the Birder AI mobile app, the birderai.comwebsite, and any related services (collectively, the “Service”) operated by Birder AI (“Birder AI,” “we,” “our,” or “us”). By downloading, installing, or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service. If you are between 13 and the age of legal majority where you live, you must have a parent or legal guardian’s consent. The Service is not intended for, and may not be used by, anyone under 13.

2. Your account

You sign in using Apple ID. You are responsible for keeping your Apple ID secure and for all activity on your Birder AI account. You agree to provide accurate information and to keep it current. You may not impersonate another person, harass other users, or use the Service to violate any law.

3. Subscriptions and payments

Birder AI is sold as an auto-renewing subscription billed monthly or annually through your Apple ID. Current pricing is shown in the app and on the App Store. New accounts receive a 3-day free trial of the full Service; if you do not cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends, your payment method will be charged for the regular subscription price and the subscription will begin renewing automatically. Without an active subscription or trial, AI identification features are not available.

Subscriptions automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel from Settings → Apple Account → Subscriptions on your iOS device. Refunds are issued by Apple at their discretion via reportaproblem.apple.com. We do not process refunds directly.

4. AI identification: no warranty of accuracy

The Service uses artificial intelligence (currently OpenAI’s GPT-4o vision model and the BirdNET sound classifier) to suggest bird species from your photos and audio. AI identifications are predictions, not guarantees. They can be wrong, especially with poor-quality images, juvenile birds, hybrids, or species in confusing plumages.

Do not rely on the Service for identification of species in legally regulated contexts — including but not limited to hunting, falconry, scientific research, or any activity subject to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Endangered Species Act, or analogous laws in your jurisdiction. You are solely responsible for verifying species identifications before taking any action based on them.

5. User content

“User Content” means any photo, audio recording, sighting, comment, profile information, or other material you submit to the Service. You retain ownership of your User Content.

By submitting User Content, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, modify (for technical purposes such as compression), publish, display, and distribute the User Content as needed to operate, provide, and promote the Service. If you mark a sighting as private, our license is limited to operating the Service for you (storage, sync, identification). Public sightings may be displayed in the community feed and on user profiles.

You represent and warrant that (a) you own or have the necessary rights to your User Content; (b) the User Content does not violate any third party’s rights or any law; and (c) you have permission to share any people, locations, or private property visible in your photos.

6. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

Use the Service to harass, threaten, defame, or stalk anyone.
Disclose precise locations of nest sites, roosts, or sensitive species in a way that could facilitate harm.
Upload content that infringes on copyrights or other intellectual-property rights.
Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract source code from the Service.
Scrape, crawl, or otherwise access the Service in ways not permitted by our robots policy or our APIs.
Submit User Content that is sexually explicit, violent, hateful, or unlawful.
Use the Service to develop a competing product or to train a competing AI model.
Falsify identifications or engage in fraudulent listing of sightings.

7. Third-party content and licenses

The Service includes reference photographs, audio recordings, and taxonomic data contributed by third parties under Creative Commons or similar open licenses, including:

Photos from iNaturalist (CC-BY, CC-BY-NC, and similar)
Recordings from xeno-canto (Creative Commons)
Taxonomy from the eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World

You are bound by the terms of the underlying licenses when you use that content. Attribution to the original creator is shown next to each item in the app and on the About / Attributions screen.

8. Privacy

Our collection and use of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference into these Terms.

9. Intellectual property

The Service, including its branding, design, source code, and original content, is owned by Birder AI and protected by intellectual-property laws. Except for the rights you grant in these Terms, you receive no license to our intellectual property.

10. DMCA / copyright complaints

If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, send a notice to info@jhobbie.comwith the subject “DMCA Notice.” Include: identification of the work; location of the allegedly infringing material; your contact information; a statement of good faith belief; a statement that the information is accurate and that you are authorized to act; and your physical or electronic signature.

11. Termination

You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time from inside the app. We may suspend or terminate your access if you breach these Terms, if we are required to by law, or if continued operation poses a risk to other users or to Birder AI. On termination, your right to use the Service ends immediately. Sections that by their nature should survive (ownership, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnity, governing law, miscellaneous) survive termination.

12. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR ACCURACY OF AI IDENTIFICATIONS. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.

13. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BIRDER AI AND ITS OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (B) US$50.

14. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold Birder AIharmless from any claim, loss, or expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from your User Content, your breach of these Terms, or your violation of any law or third-party right.

15. Governing law and dispute resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Indiana, USA, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute arising under these Terms will be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Marion County, Indiana, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts. If you live in a jurisdiction where this provision is not enforceable, the courts of your residence will have jurisdiction.

16. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If a change is material, we will notify you in the app or by email at least seven days before the change takes effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

17. Apple-specific terms

You acknowledge that these Terms are between you and Birder AI, not Apple, and that Apple is not responsible for the Service or its content. Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support. In the event of a failure to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any) of the app to you. Apple is a third-party beneficiary of these Terms and may enforce them against you.

18. Miscellaneous

If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and Birder AI regarding the Service.

19. Contact

Birder AI
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Email: info@jhobbie.com