Terms of Service

1. Agreement to these terms

These Terms of Service form a binding agreement between you and EcoRate ("EcoRate", "we", "us") governing your use of the EcoRate mobile application, website, commercial portal, and related services (together, the "Services").

By creating an account, scanning a product, or otherwise using the Services, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Services. If you are using the Services on behalf of an organisation, you represent that you have authority to bind that organisation.

2. What EcoRate provides

EcoRate is an independent verification platform for packaging sustainability claims. The Services include:

• A consumer application that identifies products by barcode or image and returns a sustainability assessment expressed as a letter grade from A to F.
• Identification of environmental marketing claims that in our assessment may not be substantiated under applicable regulatory frameworks.
• A commercial portal providing retailers and brands with compliance intelligence relating to their own products.
• Aggregate, de-identified data and analysis made available to researchers, regulators, and licensees.

We may add, modify, or discontinue features at any time. We will give reasonable notice before discontinuing a feature that commercial clients rely on materially.

3. Accounts and eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to create an account. If you are under the age of majority where you live, you must have permission from a parent or guardian.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials and for all activity under your account. Notify us promptly of any unauthorised use. You may not share, sell, or transfer your account.

You agree to provide accurate information and to keep it current.

4. Subscriptions and billing

Consumer subscriptions

Premium subscriptions renew automatically at the interval you selected until cancelled. You may cancel at any time through your account settings or the relevant app store; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. Fees already paid are not refunded except where required by law or where the app store's own refund policy applies.

Commercial subscriptions

Commercial subscriptions are governed by these terms together with any order form or written agreement executed between us. Where there is a conflict, the executed agreement prevails. Commercial fees are billed in advance and are non-refundable except as expressly stated in the applicable agreement.

We may change pricing on 30 days' written notice. Price changes take effect at your next renewal.

5. Nature of our ratings

Specifically:

• A grade reflects our assessment under our methodology at a point in time. It is not a certification, endorsement, warranty, or guarantee.
• A greenwashing flag indicates that, in our assessment, a particular claim may not be adequately substantiated under a referenced framework. It is not an assertion that any law has been broken or that any regulator has made a finding.
• Assessments rely on information that may be incomplete, outdated, or inaccurate, including data supplied by third parties and manufacturers.
• Packaging and formulations change. A grade may not reflect a product's current specification.
• Regulatory frameworks are complex, jurisdiction-specific, and subject to interpretation and change.

Our methodology, including the weighting of each scoring factor, is documented and available on request. Where a determination is adjusted through editorial review, the adjustment and its stated reason are recorded in an audit log.

Do not rely on EcoRate assessments as a substitute for legal advice, regulatory guidance, or professional compliance review. Brands and retailers remain solely responsible for the accuracy of their own environmental claims and for their own regulatory compliance.

6. Disputing a rating

If you are a brand, manufacturer, or retailer and you believe a grade or flag relating to your product is inaccurate, you may submit a dispute. We take these seriously and operate a documented review process.

To submit a dispute, contact us with:

• The specific product and the determination you are disputing.
• The basis on which you believe it is inaccurate.
• Supporting evidence — third-party certification, material specifications, testing results, or documentation of a packaging change.

We will acknowledge receipt within 3 business days and aim to complete review within 15 business days. Outcomes may include upholding the determination, adjusting it, withdrawing a flag, or updating the underlying product record. We will explain our reasoning in writing.

Every adjustment is recorded in an audit log together with the reason for it. Submitting a dispute does not oblige us to reach any particular outcome, and we reserve the right to publish that a determination was disputed and upheld.

7. Your contributions

You may submit ratings, reviews, reports, photographs, and other material ("Contributions"). You retain ownership of your Contributions.

By submitting a Contribution you grant EcoRate a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable licence to host, store, reproduce, adapt, publish, display, and distribute it in connection with the Services, including in aggregate analyses and research outputs.

You represent that your Contributions are your own, that you have the rights to grant this licence, and that they do not infringe the rights of any third party or contain anything unlawful.

We may moderate, edit, or remove Contributions at our discretion, including where they appear to be fraudulent, coordinated, defamatory, or otherwise in breach of these terms. We have no obligation to monitor Contributions but reserve the right to do so.

8. Acceptable use

You may not:

• Use the Services for any unlawful purpose or in breach of any applicable law.
• Submit false, fraudulent, or deliberately misleading ratings or reports, or coordinate with others to manipulate product scores.
• Scrape, crawl, harvest, or systematically extract data from the Services by automated means without our written permission.
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive the source code or scoring methodology except as permitted by law.
• Resell, sublicense, or commercially redistribute data obtained from the Services without a licence from us.
• Circumvent access controls, rate limits, or authentication mechanisms, or attempt to access accounts, data, or portals you are not authorised to access.
• Impersonate any person or organisation, or misrepresent your affiliation with one.
• Introduce malware or interfere with the integrity or performance of the Services.
• Use the Services to harass, threaten, or defame any person.

Access to administrative functions is restricted to authorised personnel. Any attempt to access restricted portals is a material breach of these terms and may be reported to law enforcement.

9. Intellectual property

The Services, including the scoring algorithm, greenwash detection methodology, product database, software, design, and the EcoRate name and logo, are owned by EcoRate and protected by intellectual property law.

Subject to these terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and use the Services for your personal use, or for your organisation's internal business use where you hold a commercial subscription. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

Product names, brand names, and trade marks referenced in the Services belong to their respective owners. Their appearance does not imply endorsement of, or affiliation with, EcoRate.

10. Commercial client terms

Where you access the Services under a commercial subscription, the following apply in addition:

• Scope of access — access is limited to data relating to your own organisation and to aggregate market data we make available. You may not attempt to access data relating to other clients.
• Authorised users — you are responsible for the acts and omissions of your personnel and for promptly removing access for departed personnel.
• Confidentiality — pricing, methodology documentation, and non-public platform information disclosed to you are confidential and may not be disclosed without our written consent.
• No editorial influence — a commercial subscription confers no right to influence, alter, suppress, or pre-approve any grade or flag relating to your products or those of any other party. Editorial independence is fundamental to the value of the Services.
• Permitted use of outputs — you may use grades and reports relating to your own products internally and in regulatory filings. Public use in marketing requires our prior written consent and must accurately represent the assessment.

11. Disclaimers

The Services are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranty of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement.

Without limiting the foregoing, we do not warrant that:

• Grades, flags, or other assessments are accurate, complete, current, or free from error.
• The Services will be uninterrupted, secure, or free from defects.
• Product information obtained from third-party sources is accurate.
• Use of the Services will result in regulatory compliance or avoid enforcement action.

Some jurisdictions do not permit the exclusion of certain warranties. Where that is the case, the exclusions above apply to the maximum extent permitted.

12. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, EcoRate and its officers, employees, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or business opportunity, arising out of or relating to your use of the Services, whether based in contract, tort, negligence, strict liability, or otherwise, and whether or not we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Our total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to these terms or the Services will not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid us in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) one hundred United States dollars.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless EcoRate and its officers, employees, and agents from any claim, demand, loss, liability, or expense, including reasonable legal fees, arising out of or relating to your use of the Services, your Contributions, your breach of these terms, or your violation of any law or third-party right.

14. Suspension and termination

You may stop using the Services and delete your account at any time.

We may suspend or terminate your access, with or without notice, where we reasonably believe you have breached these terms, where required by law, or where necessary to protect the Services or other users. For commercial clients, we will give written notice and a reasonable opportunity to remedy a breach capable of remedy.

Sections 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, and any other provision which by its nature should survive, survive termination.

15. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to its conflict of law principles.

Before commencing formal proceedings, you agree to contact us and attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute informally for a period of 30 days.

Where a dispute cannot be resolved informally, the courts located in Delaware will have exclusive jurisdiction, save that consumers resident in the European Union, the United Kingdom, or other jurisdictions conferring mandatory local rights may bring proceedings in their place of residence and benefit from the mandatory consumer protections of their home jurisdiction.

16. Changes to these terms

We may revise these terms from time to time. Where changes are material, we will provide at least 30 days' notice by email or through a prominent notice in the Services before they take effect. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance. If you do not agree to the revised terms, stop using the Services and cancel any subscription.