← Place Notes · Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

Effective October 1, 2026

These terms are an agreement between you and Affinitive Partners LLC (“we”, “us”). They cover your use of the Place Notes app and the placenotes.net website (together, the “Service”). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree, don't use the Service.

Section 15 contains a binding arbitration agreement and class-action waiver. It affects how disputes are resolved. You can opt out within 30 days.

1. Who can use Place Notes

You must be at least 13 years old, or the minimum age required in your country to use online services without a parent's permission. If you're under 18, you confirm that a parent or guardian has agreed to these terms. You also can't use the Service if you're barred from doing so by law.

2. Your account

Give accurate information when you sign up, and keep your password secure. You're responsible for activity on your account. Tell us right away if you think someone else is using it. Usernames can't impersonate other people or organizations, and they can't be offensive or infringe anyone's rights. We may reclaim or change a username that breaks these rules.

3. Your notes and content

You own the notes you write. By adding a note to the Service, you give us two licenses:

1. To run the Service: a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, copy, sync, display, and send your notes, so we can provide the Service to you and show notes to the people you choose to share them with. This license ends when you delete the note or your account. It continues for copies people already added to their own accounts from a link you shared, and for backups kept for a limited time.
2. To use anonymized notes: a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, and sublicensable license to use, copy, modify, combine, analyze, publish, and share your notes in anonymized form, for any purpose, including commercial purposes. For example, we may use them to improve the Service, to show what people say about places, or to create reports or datasets we share with others. This license continues after you delete the note or your account.

“Anonymized” means we remove your email, username, account ID, and other account details, and we remove or generalize anything in the note text that identifies you or another person, so the note can't reasonably be linked to you. We won't try to re-identify anonymized notes. We'll also require anyone we share them with not to try. We won't share notes in a form that identifies you except as described in our Privacy Policy. Place information, such as a place's name and location, isn't personal information and may be kept with anonymized notes.

You're responsible for what you write and share. Only share content you have the right to share. When you share a note, anyone who has the link can see it, and anyone who adds it keeps their own copy. See the Privacy Policy for details. We don't review notes before they're stored or shared. We may remove content, or disable a shared link, that we reasonably believe breaks these terms or the law.

4. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Use the Service for anything illegal, or to harass, threaten, stalk, or harm anyone.
• Share content that is unlawful, defamatory, hateful, sexually explicit, or that infringes someone else's intellectual property or privacy. This includes other people's personal information without their permission.
• Use shared notes to send spam or unsolicited promotions.
• Access or collect data from the Service by automated means, such as scraping or bots, except through features we provide. This includes bulk requests to shared links.
• Try to get into other people's accounts or data, or probe, scan, or test our security without permission.
• Interfere with or overload the Service or the third-party services it relies on, including the OpenStreetMap services used for place search.
• Copy, modify, reverse engineer, decompile, or make derivative works from the app, except as the law expressly allows despite this restriction.
• Resell or commercially exploit the Service without our written permission.

5. Location, reminders, and safety

Nearby reminders depend on your phone's location services, battery settings, network connection, and operating system limits. They may be late, inaccurate, or not appear at all. Don't rely on Place Notes for anything where a missed or wrong reminder could cause harm, such as medical, safety, legal, or financial matters. Don't use the app while driving or in any way that distracts you from your surroundings. Obey the law and respect private property. A note or listing is not an invitation or permission to enter any place.

6. Place information

Place names, addresses, locations, and chain information come from OpenStreetMap and other third-party sources. They're provided by volunteers and may be incomplete, outdated, or wrong. We don't guarantee that any place exists, is open, or is where the app shows it. Place data is © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License.

7. Our intellectual property

The Service, including the app, the website, the design, and the Place Notes name and logo, belongs to us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. We give you a personal, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the app on devices you own or control, for your personal, non-commercial use, under these terms. We reserve all rights not expressly granted. Open-source components are licensed under their own terms.

If you send us ideas or feedback, we may use them without any obligation to you.

8. Third-party services

The Service relies on third parties, such as hosting, email, maps, and place search, and it's distributed through the Apple App Store and Google Play. Your use of their services may also be subject to their terms. We're not responsible for third-party services, and we may change the providers we use.

9. Supporter badges and purchases

You can buy optional supporter badges in the app. They're a voluntary way to support Place Notes. They don't unlock features or give you any advantage, and they have no cash value. Each badge is a one-time purchase that's tied to your account. It can't be transferred to another account or exchanged for money.

Purchases are processed by Apple or Google and are subject to their payment terms. We never see your payment card details. Refunds are handled by Apple or Google under their refund policies. Except where the law requires otherwise, we don't give refunds ourselves. Prices are shown in the app before you buy, and they may change for future purchases. If we change or discontinue badges, or the Service ends, badges you've bought have no further value. Nothing will be owed to you for them, except as the law requires.

10. Changes to the Service

We may add, change, or remove features, and we may suspend or stop the Service, at any time. If we plan to shut down the Service, we'll try to give you reasonable notice so you can save your notes.

11. Ending your use

You can stop using the Service at any time, and you can delete your account in the app (Account → Delete account). We may suspend or end your access if you break these terms, if the law requires it, or to protect the Service or other users. Sections 3 (as to shared copies and anonymized notes), 6, 7, 9 (as to purchases already made), and 12–17 survive after your access ends.

12. Disclaimers

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, express or implied. This includes warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, and accuracy. We don't warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free. We also don't warrant that reminders will be delivered, that place information is accurate, or that your notes will never be lost. Keep your own copy of anything important.

13. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we and our officers, employees, and suppliers won't be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages. We also won't be liable for any loss of data, profits, or goodwill arising from your use of the Service. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid us for the Service in the 12 months before the claim, or (b) US $50.

Some places don't allow these limits, so they may not fully apply to you. Nothing in these terms limits liability that can't be limited by law.

14. Indemnity

You agree to defend and indemnify us against claims, damages, and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, that arise from your content, your use of the Service, or your breaking these terms or the law.

15. Governing law and disputes

Please read this section carefully. It requires you and us to resolve most disputes through individual binding arbitration instead of in court, and it waives class actions and jury trials.

Governing law. These terms are governed by the laws of California, USA, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this section.

Try to resolve it informally first. Before starting arbitration or a small-claims case, send us a written notice at legal@placenotes.net. Include your name, your account email, a description of the dispute, and what you're asking for. We'll try to resolve it with you. If it isn't resolved within 60 days, either of us may proceed.

Binding arbitration. Except as described below, any dispute, claim, or controversy between you and us arising out of or relating to these terms or the Service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration. This includes questions about whether a dispute can be arbitrated. The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, before a single arbitrator. It will take place in the county where you live, or by video or phone, or on written submissions if you prefer. We'll pay the filing, administration, and arbitrator fees that the AAA's rules assign to businesses. The arbitrator may award the same individual relief a court could, but only for you individually.

Small-claims exception. Either of us may instead bring an individual claim in small claims court in the county where you live, or in Contra Costa County, California, as long as the claim qualifies and stays there as an individual case.

Other exceptions. Either of us may go to court to stop infringement or misuse of intellectual property. Nothing in this section prevents you from seeking public injunctive relief where California law does not allow that right to be waived. Any such request will be decided in court after the individual arbitration ends.

Class-action and jury waiver. You and we may bring claims against each other only individually, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not combine more than one person's claims. You and we each waive the right to a jury trial.

If the class-action waiver is found unenforceable for a particular claim, that claim (and only that claim) will be decided in court, not arbitration. Any other part of this section found unenforceable will be severed, and the rest remains in effect.

Your right to opt out. You can opt out of this arbitration agreement within 30 days after you first accept these terms. Email legal@placenotes.net with your name, your account email, and a clear statement that you're opting out of arbitration. Opting out doesn't affect any other part of these terms.

Courts. For any dispute that isn't arbitrated, you and we agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Contra Costa County, California, except for small-claims cases as described above.

If you live in the EU or UK, this arbitration section doesn't apply to you. You may bring claims in the courts where you live, and you keep the protection of your local consumer laws.

16. App store terms

If you downloaded the app from the Apple App Store:

• These terms are between you and us, not Apple. Apple isn't responsible for the app or its content.
• Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the app.
• If the app fails to meet an applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple may refund the purchase price, if any. To the maximum extent the law allows, Apple has no other warranty obligation for the app.
• Apple isn't responsible for any claims relating to the app or your use of it, including product liability, legal or regulatory compliance, consumer protection, or intellectual property claims. We are responsible for those, as set out in these terms.
• You confirm that you're not in a country subject to a U.S. government embargo or designated as supporting terrorism, and that you're not on any U.S. government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
• Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and may enforce them against you.

If you downloaded the app from Google Play, Google Play's terms also apply to your download and use.

17. General

These terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and us about the Service. If any part is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. Our not enforcing a term isn't a waiver of it. You may not transfer these terms without our consent. We may transfer them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

18. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. We'll post the new version here and update the effective date. If we make significant changes, we'll notify you in the app or by email before they take effect. If you keep using the Service after that, you accept the new terms.

19. Contact

Affinitive Partners LLC
653 Augusta Drive
Moraga, CA 94556
Email: legal@placenotes.net