Terms of Service
DRAFT — this page is not yet reviewed by counsel and is not a complete Terms of Service. The section below (Data Source Markings) documents how ClearFind labels data by source and handling requirement; the surrounding legal boilerplate (liability limits, arbitration, etc.) still needs full drafting before this is a real, bindable ToS.
Scope and Acceptable Use
ClearFind is built for licensed private investigators conducting lawful investigative work. By using this service you attest that every search has a lawful, authorized purpose, and that results are not used for employment, tenant, credit, or insurance screening — ClearFind is not a consumer reporting product under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. See the attestation you complete at signup and at each search for the specific representations you're making.
Data Source Markings
Every result ClearFind returns is labeled with where it came from and how you're permitted to handle it — a source (the agency or provider) and a marking (a handling requirement). Both travel with the data itself: they're captured at the moment a search runs, stored with the result, and shown on the result card and in any export — not recomputed later, so the label you see always reflects what applied when you actually received that data.
These markings are ClearFind's own labels, not a government classification system — no official body has classified this data. We use them because a piece of data's legal handling requirement depends entirely on where it came from, and that requirement doesn't disappear once the data leaves our system and enters your case file.
Sourced from a public record with no contractual restriction on further sharing. Safe to include in reports, share with clients, courts, or opposing counsel as part of normal casework.
Obtained under ClearFind's paid license with the source agency. Use within your case is covered by that license, but confirm with ClearFind before redistributing this data outside your direct engagement.
Gated by a specific statute (e.g., the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act) requiring a certified permissible purpose. Use ONLY for the purpose you certified at search time — misuse can carry civil and criminal liability for you personally, not just a contract breach.
Sourced from a proprietary/commercial provider. Not shareable outside your direct case use without that provider's consent.
A source's marking can change if its legal or contractual status changes (e.g., a source moves from a free public search to a paid licensed feed with redistribution terms) — this only affects records fetched after the change. Results you already have keep the marking that applied when you received them.
Data Retention and Deletion
Deleting a search removes it from your account view. ClearFind retains an internal, access-restricted audit record independent of that deletion, as evidence that every search had a documented lawful purpose — see your account's search history for details.
AI Usage
ClearFind offers two optional, opt-in AI-assisted features: an AI Assistant on the search form that can answer questions about how to use the platform and suggest search fields from a plain-language description, and AI Web Search, a selectable source (grouped under "Open Source" on the search form, alongside Federal/State/County/City) that searches the open web for a subject. Neither is required to use ClearFind. If you select AI Web Search, it runs alongside whatever other sources you picked and its findings appear on your results page like any other source's, each one persistently labeled AI-generated — attaching any result (AI-sourced or not) to a case is always a separate, explicit action you take.
Models and providers
Both features run on DeepSeek-V4, an openly-licensed AI model, hosted on Fireworks AI's U.S. infrastructure rather than any vendor's own hosted API — this specifically avoids routing your search subject's identifying details through infrastructure operated by a company subject to a foreign government's data-access laws. The AI Web Search feature additionally uses Tavily to run the underlying web searches.
Security and data retention
Data sent to Fireworks AI and Tavily is encrypted in transit. Fireworks AI applies zero data retention by default for the model ClearFind uses and does not train on submitted data without explicit opt-in — ClearFind has not opted in to that. Tavily commits to zero data retention on search queries, and ClearFind has additionally disabled Tavily's account-level setting that would otherwise permit use of query data, rather than relying on Tavily's default policy alone. Vendor policies can change, and Tavily's own published terms separately describe a broader clause allowing use of customer input for AI model training in some circumstances — ClearFind has opted out of that at the account level, but you should still avoid entering more identifying detail into these features than your search actually needs. AI Assistant conversations are not stored on ClearFind's own servers; they exist only for the duration of your browser session.
Use limits and verification
Using AI Web Search requires the same lawful-purpose and non-FCRA-use attestation as any other search, since it also sends subject identity details to a third party. Usage of both features is capped daily per organization to control cost and misuse. AI Web Search findings are AI-generated summaries of public web content, not verified public records — they carry a persistent "AI-assisted — verify independently" label wherever they appear and must never be treated as a confirmed source of record without independent verification.
[Placeholder — remaining sections need full legal drafting]
Limitation of liability, warranty disclaimers, indemnification, arbitration/dispute resolution, termination, governing law, and other standard ToS provisions belong here — not yet drafted. Do not treat this page as a complete or enforceable Terms of Service until an attorney has reviewed it.