Legal · Terms of Service
Effective July 1, 2026. These terms are an agreement between clearbound, Inc. ("clearbound", "we") and the entity that creates an account ("you", the "Customer"). By creating an account or using the service you accept them. If you have a signed enterprise agreement with us, that agreement controls where the two conflict.
clearbound provides a platform for verifying businesses: registry checks, beneficial-ownership mapping, watchlist screening, document review, risk scoring, and continuous monitoring, delivered through an API and a dashboard as described in the documentation. We may improve or modify features over time; we will not materially degrade the core functionality you pay for during a subscription term without notice.
Sandbox mode (using sk_test_ keys) is provided for development and evaluation. Sandbox results are synthetic, carry no compliance value, and must not be used to make real onboarding decisions.
You may use the service only to verify businesses you have a legitimate business relationship with, or are evaluating one with, in support of your own onboarding, compliance, or risk processes. You must not:
We may suspend access immediately where continued use presents a security risk, legal exposure, or harm to the service, and will notify you and work to restore access as quickly as the issue allows.
clearbound provides evidence and calibrated recommendations; the onboarding decision, and the regulatory responsibility for it, remains yours. You are responsible for: determining that your use of KYB data is lawful in your jurisdictions; configuring decision thresholds and review policies appropriate to your risk appetite; giving any notices and obtaining any permissions required to submit a business, its documents, and its owners' data for verification; and maintaining your own AML program where the law requires one. A decision: approve from the API is an input to your program, not a legal determination.
Our Privacy Policy describes how we handle personal data, and our Data Processing Agreement — incorporated into these terms for all customers — governs the business-subject data we process on your instructions, including the subprocessor list, the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, and breach-notification commitments. Security controls are described on the security page. You retain all rights in the data you submit; we use it only to provide the service to you.
We own the service, our models, and our documentation. You own your data and the verification records generated for you, and you may export and retain them (including after termination) for your compliance files. You grant us a limited license to process your data to operate the service, and we may use aggregated, de-identified usage statistics — never traceable to you or any verified business — to improve the platform. Feedback you choose to give us may be used without obligation.
Each party will protect the other's non-public information with at least the care it applies to its own, use it only to perform under these terms, and disclose it only to personnel and advisors bound by equivalent obligations, or where required by law with prompt notice to the other party where lawful. This obligation survives termination for five years; trade secrets are protected for as long as they remain trade secrets.
We warrant that the service will perform materially as described in the documentation and that we will provide it with reasonable skill and care. Except for that, the service is provided "as is": registries and watchlists are third-party sources that can be incomplete, delayed, or wrong, and we do not warrant that any verification result is error-free or that the service will be uninterrupted. Uptime commitments, where applicable, are set out in your plan's service level agreement, and service credits there are your exclusive remedy for availability failures.
Neither party is liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, or goodwill, even if advised of the possibility. Each party's total aggregate liability under these terms is capped at the amounts you paid us in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim. These caps do not apply to your payment obligations, either party's indemnification obligations, breach of confidentiality, or liability that cannot be limited by law (including gross negligence and willful misconduct).
We will defend you against third-party claims that the service, used as permitted, infringes their intellectual-property rights, and we will pay resulting damages finally awarded or agreed in settlement. You will defend us against third-party claims arising from the data you submit, your onboarding decisions, or your use of the service in breach of section 3 or 4, and pay resulting damages likewise. The indemnified party must give prompt notice, reasonable cooperation, and sole control of the defense to the indemnifying party.
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, excluding its conflict-of-law rules, and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in San Francisco County, California. The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply. Nothing in this section prevents either party from seeking injunctive relief in any competent court.
We may update these terms as the service and the law evolve. For material changes we will email account owners at least 30 days before the new terms take effect; continued use after that date is acceptance. Changes never apply retroactively, and pricing changes follow section 5, not this section.
Questions about these terms: legal@clearbound.xyz · clearbound, Inc., 548 Market Street, PMB 61429, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA.