Terms & Conditions

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the WatchDawg mobile application, website, and related services (collectively, the "Service").

WatchDawg provides a community safety platform that enables users to submit, view, and explore location-based reports concerning incidents, observations, suspicious activity, property-related concerns, and other community safety matters.

By creating an account, accepting these Terms, submitting a report, accessing the Service, or otherwise using WatchDawg, you agree to be bound by these Terms.

If you do not agree to these Terms, do not create an account or use the Service.

These Terms should be read together with our:

• Privacy Policy;
• Data Policy; and
• Reporting Guidelines.

Together, these documents form the rules governing your use of WatchDawg.

1. About WatchDawg

WatchDawg is a community safety information platform.

WatchDawg is not:

• a police service;
• an emergency service;
• a 911 service;
• a private security service;
• an investigative authority;
• a criminal records service;
• a substitute for contacting police or emergency services; or
• a system for determining whether an individual has committed a crime.

Reports available through WatchDawg are primarily submitted by users and may not have been independently investigated or verified.

You must not rely on WatchDawg as your only source of information when making decisions concerning personal safety, criminal activity, emergencies, legal rights, or the actions of another person.

2. Acceptance of These Terms

By using WatchDawg, you confirm that:

• you have read and understand these Terms;
• you agree to comply with these Terms;
• the information you provide to us is truthful to the best of your knowledge; and
• you will use WatchDawg only for lawful and legitimate purposes.

Your use of the Service may also be subject to additional terms presented in connection with particular features.

3. Eligibility and Age Requirements

You must be at least 16 years old to create or use a WatchDawg account.

If you are under the age of majority in the province, territory, state, or country where you reside, you may use WatchDawg only with the consent and supervision of a parent or legal guardian to the extent required by applicable law.

By creating an account, you represent that you satisfy these requirements.

WatchDawg may suspend or delete an account if we reasonably believe that the account was created by an individual who does not meet the applicable age requirements.

4. Accounts

Certain features require a WatchDawg account.

When creating or maintaining an account, you agree to:

• provide accurate and current information;
• maintain the security of your account credentials;
• not allow another person to use your account improperly;
• not create an account on behalf of another person without authorization;
• not impersonate another individual, business, public authority, or organization; and
• notify WatchDawg if you become aware of unauthorized access to your account.

You are responsible for activity occurring through your account to the extent permitted by law.

We may require additional verification where reasonably necessary to protect the Service, investigate misuse, or process certain account requests.

5. Limited Licence to Use WatchDawg

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, WatchDawg grants you a limited, personal, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and non-sublicensable right to access and use the Service for its intended purposes.

This licence does not permit you to:

• copy or commercially exploit the WatchDawg software;
• scrape or systematically extract data except where expressly authorized;
• reproduce substantial portions of the Service;
• access administrative or restricted areas without authorization;
• reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive source code except where such restriction is prohibited by law;
• circumvent access restrictions or security measures; or
• use WatchDawg to develop a competing database or service without authorization.

All rights not expressly granted to you are reserved by WatchDawg.

6. WatchDawg Is Not an Emergency or Police Reporting Service

Submitting a report through WatchDawg does not constitute a report to:

• 911;
• a police service;
• a fire department;
• emergency medical services;
• a municipal authority;
• a government agency; or
• any other official authority.

WatchDawg does not guarantee that police, emergency services, municipalities, or any other authority will see or respond to a report submitted through the Service.

If someone is in immediate danger or you are experiencing an emergency, call 911 or the appropriate emergency service.

Where an official police report is required, you must use the reporting process of the applicable police service.

WatchDawg should not be used to delay or replace contacting emergency or law-enforcement authorities where their assistance is appropriate.

7. Community Reports and User-Generated Content

WatchDawg contains user-generated content.

A report appearing on WatchDawg does not mean that WatchDawg:

• independently verified the report;
• determined that the reported conduct occurred;
• endorses the user's conclusions;
• determined that an identified or described individual committed an offence; or
• considers the report to be evidence of criminal responsibility.

Reports should generally be treated as community-submitted observations rather than official findings of fact.

8. Reporting Standards

When submitting a report, you agree to act honestly and in good faith.

Reports should focus on what you:

• personally observed;
• reasonably experienced;
• reasonably witnessed;
• discovered concerning your own property; or
• otherwise have a legitimate factual basis to report.

Where reasonably possible, you should distinguish between:

• what you directly observed;
• what someone else told you;
• an inference or assumption; and
• a confirmed fact.

You should provide only information reasonably relevant to the incident being reported.

9. Descriptions of People and Vehicles

WatchDawg permits users to provide factual descriptions that are reasonably relevant to an incident.

Examples may include:

• clothing;
• approximate physical description;
• vehicle make;
• vehicle model;
• vehicle colour;
• licence plate information;
• direction of travel;
• location;
• time;
• behaviour observed; and
• distinguishing characteristics relevant to the report.

The ability to include descriptive information does not permit users to accuse, threaten, harass, shame, stalk, or encourage retaliation against another person.

Users should avoid identifying private individuals by name unless doing so is lawful, reasonably necessary, factually supported, and permitted under our Reporting Guidelines.

10. Prohibited Content

You must not submit, upload, publish, transmit, or otherwise use WatchDawg to distribute content that includes or promotes:

• knowingly false, fabricated, fraudulent, or intentionally misleading information;
• false accusations of criminal or unlawful conduct;
• unsupported allegations identifying a specific person as having committed a crime;
• defamation;
• harassment;
• bullying;
• stalking;
• intimidation;
• threats;
• incitement to violence;
• encouragement of retaliation or confrontation;
• vigilantism;
• instructions to locate, pursue, confront, detain, harm, or punish another person;
• hate speech;
• discriminatory slurs;
• content attacking people based on protected characteristics;
• sexual exploitation;
• pornography;
• sexually explicit material;
• sexual content involving minors;
• child sexual abuse material;
• gratuitously graphic or excessively violent material;
• promotion of terrorism or extremist violence;
• impersonation;
• fraud;
• scams;
• spam;
• unauthorized advertising;
• malicious disclosure of personal information;
• doxxing;
• private contact information published without a legitimate reason;
• passwords, financial credentials, or other highly sensitive information;
• content that violates another person's intellectual property rights;
• illegal goods, services, or activities;
• content designed primarily to humiliate or shame an identifiable person; or
• any other content that violates applicable law, these Terms, or the Reporting Guidelines.

WatchDawg may maintain additional moderation standards through its Reporting Guidelines.

11. No Vigilantism or Confrontation

WatchDawg is intended to support awareness, not confrontation.

You must not use WatchDawg information to:

• organize a confrontation;
• pursue or follow another person;
• threaten another person;
• attempt to detain someone;
• encourage others to retaliate;
• interfere with a police investigation;
• interfere with emergency responders;
• organize harassment;
• expose someone's private home or location for retaliation; or
• take enforcement action into your own hands.

If you believe criminal activity has occurred, contact the appropriate police service.

12. Photos and Videos

You may upload photographs or videos where the feature is available.

You are responsible for ensuring that your uploaded media:

• was lawfully obtained;
• is relevant to the report;
• does not violate another person's rights;
• does not contain prohibited content; and
• complies with applicable law and our Reporting Guidelines.

WatchDawg does not guarantee that faces, licence plates, residences, or other identifying details will automatically be blurred or removed.

You should carefully review media before uploading it.

13. Your Responsibility for Submitted Content

You are responsible for content you submit through your account.

By submitting content, you represent that:

• you have the lawful right to submit it;
• to the best of your knowledge, it is not intentionally false or misleading;
• submitting it does not knowingly violate another person's rights;
• it complies with these Terms; and
• you are not submitting it for an unlawful, malicious, retaliatory, or harassing purpose.

You should not submit content solely because of rumours, stereotypes, personal disputes, or speculation.

14. Ownership of User Content

As between you and WatchDawg, you retain any ownership rights you may have in original content you submit.

You do not obtain ownership rights in the WatchDawg platform, database, software, branding, analytics, or other proprietary materials merely because your content is included within them.

15. Licence You Grant to WatchDawg

By submitting content to WatchDawg, you grant WatchDawg a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use the content as reasonably necessary to operate, maintain, secure, improve, moderate, promote, and provide the Service.

This licence includes the right to:

• host;
• store;
• reproduce;
• display;
• format;
• transmit;
• process;
• analyze;
• categorize;
• moderate;
• create technical derivatives necessary to operate the Service; and
• make the content available through the WatchDawg platform.

You also authorize WatchDawg to process submitted content using automated systems, including artificial intelligence, for purposes such as moderation, classification, similarity detection, security, and trend analysis.

Subject to our Privacy Policy and Data Policy, WatchDawg may also:

• aggregate report information;
• de-identify information;
• combine reports into statistics or datasets;
• create maps and trend analysis;
• produce analytical reports;
• create derived data products; and
• license or commercially provide aggregated, statistical, trend-based, public, or appropriately de-identified information.

Where information remains personal information, WatchDawg will handle it in accordance with applicable privacy law and our Privacy Policy.

You are not entitled to compensation merely because information derived from your report contributes to an aggregated dataset, trend analysis, enterprise product, or other WatchDawg service.

This licence continues for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the Service or for information WatchDawg is legally permitted to retain.

16. Automated Analysis and Artificial Intelligence

WatchDawg may use automated systems or artificial intelligence to:

• moderate content;
• identify potentially prohibited content;
• categorize reports;
• identify similarities between reports;
• identify geographic or temporal trends;
• assist administrators;
• reduce abuse; and
• improve platform functionality.

Automated systems can make mistakes.

A similarity result does not establish that:

• the same person was involved;
• the same vehicle was involved;
• the same property was involved;
• two incidents are connected;
• a crime occurred; or
• any individual is responsible for wrongdoing.

Automated results are informational tools only and must not be treated as findings of identity, guilt, liability, or criminal responsibility.

17. Moderation

WatchDawg may use a combination of:

• automated screening;
• user reports;
• administrator review;
• technical detection systems; and
• other moderation methods.

WatchDawg may, where reasonably appropriate:

• refuse publication;
• place content into a moderation queue;
• temporarily hide content;
• restrict visibility;
• remove content;
• request additional information;
• apply warnings;
• restrict an account;
• suspend an account; or
• permanently terminate an account.

The fact that content enters a moderation queue does not mean that WatchDawg has concluded the content violated these Terms.

Similarly, publication of content does not mean WatchDawg has verified or endorsed it.

18. Reporting Objectionable Content

Users may report content they reasonably believe violates these Terms or our Reporting Guidelines.

WatchDawg will review reports and take action where appropriate based on factors such as:

• the nature of the content;
• severity of the alleged violation;
• available context;
• history of prior violations;
• risk to other users; and
• applicable legal requirements.

Knowingly abusing the reporting system, including repeatedly submitting false reports about legitimate content or users, may itself constitute a violation of these Terms.

19. Blocking

WatchDawg provides or may provide functionality allowing users to block other users or content where appropriate to the design of the Service.

Blocking may prevent or limit your ability to view content associated with another user or otherwise interact with that user's content.

Blocking does not necessarily:

• remove the blocked user's content from WatchDawg generally;
• prevent WatchDawg administrators from accessing the content;
• prevent the content from being reviewed for moderation purposes; or
• constitute a determination that the blocked user violated these Terms.

WatchDawg may independently suspend or remove an account where appropriate.

20. Enforcement and Account Suspension

WatchDawg may restrict, suspend, or terminate access where we reasonably believe:

• you violated these Terms;
• you repeatedly violated the Reporting Guidelines;
• your account was used fraudulently;
• your activity creates a security risk;
• your activity creates a meaningful risk of harm;
• you are abusing another user;
• you are attempting to manipulate the platform;
• suspension is necessary to comply with law; or
• continued access could materially harm WatchDawg or its users.

Serious violations may result in immediate suspension or termination without prior warning where appropriate.

21. Appeals and Moderation Decisions

Where WatchDawg provides an appeal or review process, you may request reconsideration of eligible moderation decisions.

WatchDawg is not required to restore content merely because a user disagrees with a moderation decision.

We may preserve moderation records where reasonably necessary for platform security, enforcement, legal compliance, dispute resolution, or prevention of repeated abuse.

22. Account Deletion

You may request deletion of your WatchDawg account through the account functionality provided within the Service.

Where required by an application marketplace or applicable law, WatchDawg will also provide an external method for initiating account deletion.

Account deletion is generally permanent.

Following account deletion, WatchDawg will delete or de-identify personal information associated with your account in accordance with our Privacy Policy, subject to lawful retention requirements.

Public reports and related information may be:

• deleted;
• de-identified;
• disassociated from your account; or
• retained where permitted or required by law.

Information that has been irreversibly aggregated or de-identified may continue to be retained and used.

Information may also remain temporarily in secure backup systems until those backups are overwritten according to ordinary retention practices.

23. Intellectual Property

WatchDawg and its licensors own all rights in the Service that are not user-generated content, including:

• software;
• source and object code;
• databases;
• platform architecture;
• visual design;
• graphics;
• trademarks;
• trade names;
• logos;
• branding;
• compilations;
• analytics;
• proprietary methodologies; and
• other intellectual property.

"WatchDawg" and associated branding may not be used without authorization except where permitted by law.

24. Feedback

If you voluntarily provide ideas, suggestions, comments, or feedback concerning WatchDawg, you authorize us to use that feedback without restriction or compensation, provided that doing so does not override rights you have in personal information under applicable law.

25. Third-Party Services

WatchDawg may rely on third-party services for features such as:

• hosting;
• mapping;
• geocoding;
• authentication;
• artificial intelligence;
• analytics;
• communications; and
• other technical infrastructure.

Third-party services may be subject to their own terms and policies.

WatchDawg is not responsible for third-party services that are outside our control, except to the extent responsibility cannot lawfully be excluded.

26. Availability and Changes to the Service

WatchDawg may modify, update, suspend, discontinue, add, or remove features from time to time.

We do not guarantee:

• uninterrupted availability;
• that every feature will remain available;
• that the Service will be error-free;
• that every report will be published;
• that every report will remain available indefinitely; or
• compatibility with every device or operating system.

We may conduct maintenance or temporarily restrict access where reasonably necessary.

27. No Guarantee of Accuracy

WatchDawg does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, truthfulness, completeness, timeliness, or reliability of user-generated reports.

Reports may contain:

• errors;
• incomplete information;
• mistaken observations;
• outdated information;
• conflicting accounts; or
• information subsequently determined to be incorrect.

You are responsible for exercising your own judgment when viewing reports.

28. No Professional Advice

Information available through WatchDawg is provided for general community-awareness purposes.

It does not constitute:

• legal advice;
• law-enforcement advice;
• medical advice;
• emergency-management advice;
• professional security advice; or
• an official risk assessment.

You should consult an appropriate professional or authority when professional guidance is required.

29. Safety Decisions

You assume responsibility for decisions you make based on information available through WatchDawg.

Do not expose yourself or another person to danger in order to:

• verify a report;
• photograph an incident;
• obtain additional information;
• confront someone;
• follow someone; or
• investigate suspicious activity.

Personal safety should take priority over gathering information for WatchDawg.

30. Disclaimer of Warranties

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, WatchDawg is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis.

WatchDawg disclaims warranties and conditions not expressly stated in these Terms, whether express, implied, statutory, or otherwise, including implied warranties or conditions of:

• merchantable quality;
• fitness for a particular purpose;
• availability;
• non-infringement; and
• uninterrupted or error-free operation.

Nothing in these Terms excludes any warranty, condition, right, or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded.

31. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, WatchDawg and its directors, officers, employees, contractors, affiliates, and service providers will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, punitive, or consequential damages arising from or relating to your use of the Service.

This may include, where permitted by law, loss arising from:

• reliance on an inaccurate report;
• failure to receive a report or notification;
• deletion or moderation of content;
• temporary unavailability;
• actions taken by another user;
• unauthorized use of the Service;
• loss of data;
• loss of opportunity; or
• business interruption.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, WatchDawg's aggregate monetary liability arising out of or relating to your use of the Service will not exceed the greater of:

(a) CAD $100; or
(b) the amount you personally paid to WatchDawg for the applicable Service during the 12 months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

These limitations do not apply to liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

Nothing in these Terms limits any rights or remedies available to consumers under applicable consumer protection legislation that cannot legally be waived.

32. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to indemnify and hold WatchDawg and its directors, officers, employees, and representatives harmless from third-party claims, losses, liabilities, costs, or reasonable legal expenses arising directly from:

• content you knowingly or unlawfully submit;
• your infringement of another person's rights;
• your unlawful use of the Service;
• fraud or intentional misconduct by you; or
• a material breach of these Terms.

This indemnification obligation does not apply to the extent a claim resulted from WatchDawg's own unlawful conduct or negligence for which liability cannot legally be excluded.

33. Consumer Rights

Nothing in these Terms is intended to exclude, restrict, or waive any right, remedy, warranty, protection, or statutory entitlement that cannot lawfully be excluded under applicable consumer protection legislation.

If any provision of these Terms conflicts with a mandatory consumer protection requirement, the mandatory requirement will prevail to the extent of the conflict.

34. Paid Plans and Purchases

If WatchDawg offers paid subscriptions, premium features, or other purchases, additional pricing and subscription terms may apply.

Where purchases are processed through the Apple App Store or Google Play, payment, billing, renewal, cancellation, and refund matters may also be governed by the applicable marketplace's terms.

Any applicable price, recurring billing arrangement, subscription period, and material conditions will be disclosed before purchase as required by applicable law and marketplace requirements.

35. Enterprise and Institutional Services

Organizations using enterprise, institutional, professional, government, research, or data services may be subject to a separate written agreement with WatchDawg.

If a separate written agreement conflicts with these Terms regarding the organization's enterprise service, the separate written agreement will govern to the extent of the conflict.

Consumer users remain subject to these Terms for their personal use of the Service.

36. Law-Enforcement and Government Access

The availability of WatchDawg information to a police service, municipality, government body, or other organization does not mean that WatchDawg operates on behalf of that organization.

Unless WatchDawg expressly states otherwise, no agency, police service, municipality, or government body:

• endorses WatchDawg;
• controls WatchDawg;
• verifies WatchDawg reports; or
• guarantees that WatchDawg information will be reviewed or acted upon.

WatchDawg may respond to lawful requests from authorities in accordance with applicable law and our Privacy Policy.

37. No Agency Relationship

These Terms do not create a partnership, joint venture, employment relationship, agency, fiduciary relationship, or franchise relationship between you and WatchDawg.

Users do not act as agents, investigators, representatives, or enforcement personnel for WatchDawg.

38. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time.

The "Last Updated" date at the beginning of these Terms identifies the most recent revision.

For minor administrative or operational changes, updated Terms may become effective when posted or otherwise communicated.

Where we make a material change that significantly affects users' rights or obligations, we will provide reasonable notice and, where required by law, request renewed acceptance.

Continued use alone will not override any requirement under applicable law to obtain express agreement to a material contractual change.

39. Termination of the Service

You may stop using WatchDawg at any time.

WatchDawg may discontinue all or part of the Service subject to applicable law and any contractual obligations applicable to paid services.

Sections that by their nature are intended to survive termination will continue to apply, including provisions concerning:

• intellectual property;
• licences previously granted where continued use is lawful and necessary;
• retained or de-identified information;
• disclaimers;
• limitations of liability;
• indemnification;
• dispute provisions; and
• enforcement records.

40. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable in Ontario, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

Subject to any mandatory rights available under applicable consumer law, disputes arising from these Terms or the Service will be submitted to courts of competent jurisdiction in Ontario, Canada.

Nothing in this provision deprives a consumer of a right to bring a proceeding in another jurisdiction where applicable law does not permit that right to be waived.

41. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is determined to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision will be interpreted or limited to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable where possible.

The remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

42. No Waiver

Failure by WatchDawg to enforce a provision of these Terms does not constitute a waiver of that provision or of our right to enforce it later.

43. Assignment

You may not transfer or assign your rights or obligations under these Terms without WatchDawg's prior written consent.

WatchDawg may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, corporate reorganization, financing, acquisition, sale of assets, or transfer of the Service, subject to applicable law.

44. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, Data Policy, Reporting Guidelines, and any additional terms expressly applicable to a feature or service, constitute the agreement between you and WatchDawg concerning your use of the Service.

A separate written enterprise or commercial agreement may supersede these Terms with respect to services specifically governed by that agreement.

45. Contact Information

Questions, complaints, moderation concerns, or legal inquiries concerning WatchDawg may be directed to:

WatchDawg

Email: support@watchdawg.ca

Website: www.watchdawg.ca

Users may also use the support and reporting functions available within the WatchDawg Service.