Terms of Service

Effective: August 2026

Table of Contents

1. What ProofInk.AI Does

ProofInk.AI provides AI-powered feedback on grant proposals and research papers. Our service uses large language models to analyze your documents and generate structured reviews, scores, and suggestions. We are not a funding agency, publisher, or peer review service.

Important: ProofInk.AI is an assistive tool. Our AI-generated feedback is not a substitute for human expert review, official agency evaluation, or peer review. You should not rely solely on our output when making submission decisions.

2. Acceptance of Terms

By creating an account or using any part of the ProofInk.AI platform, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service, our Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Subprocessors list, and our AI Disclaimer. If you do not agree with any of these terms, you may not access or use the service.

We reserve the right to update these terms from time to time. Any new features or changes to the service shall be subject to the most current version of these Terms.

Electronic communications: By creating an account, you consent to receive electronic communications from us, including account confirmations, service notifications, and important updates about changes to our terms or policies. These communications satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. You may opt out of non-essential marketing emails at any time via the unsubscribe link in any such email.

3. User Account and Registration

You must be at least 18 years old to use this service. By using ProofInk.AI, you represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years of age.

You must provide accurate information when creating an account. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your password and account. ProofInk.AI cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage resulting from your failure to maintain the security of your account.

One person or entity per account — shared accounts are not permitted. You are responsible for all content posted and activity that occurs under your account.

4. Your Documents and Intellectual Property

You retain full ownership and all intellectual property rights to every document you upload, including grant proposals, research papers, solicitation documents, and any other materials. We do not claim any rights to your content.

By uploading documents, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive, revocable license to process them through our AI systems solely for the purpose of generating your review. This license terminates when your documents are deleted.

You represent and warrant that you have the necessary rights to upload and process the documents you submit, and that doing so does not infringe on any third-party rights.

Copyright in your uploaded documents: ProofInk.AI makes no claim of copyright or other ownership in any document you upload. You may delete your uploaded documents at any time, and doing so immediately terminates the limited processing license described above.

Copyright complaints: If you believe that a document uploaded by another user infringes your copyright, you may notify us at [email protected] with (a) a description of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed, (b) information reasonably sufficient to identify the material you believe is infringing, and (c) your contact information. We will review the complaint in good faith and may remove or disable access to the material and/or suspend the uploading user’s account pending resolution. Because ProofInk.AI does not host uploaded documents for public or third-party viewing — each user’s documents are private and accessible only to that user — this process is offered as a matter of policy.

Ownership of generated reports: The feedback reports, scores, and analysis ProofInk.AI generates from your documents ("Reports") are produced substantially by artificial intelligence. Because works generated without meaningful human authorship may not be eligible for copyright protection under current U.S. law, ProofInk.AI does not assert exclusive copyright ownership over the specific content of any individual Report. You are free to use, keep, print, share, and incorporate your own Reports for your own purposes. This does not extend to the underlying software, prompts, scoring rubrics, evaluation methodology, and system architecture used to generate Reports, which remain the proprietary intellectual property of ProofInk.AI; nothing in these Terms grants you any right to copy, reverse-engineer, resell, or redistribute our underlying system or methodology.

5. How We Handle Your Documents

Core commitment: We will never use your uploaded documents to train AI models. Our AI service providers are also contractually prohibited from using your data for model training.

Document retention depends on which plan you use:

6. Acceptable Use

You agree to use ProofInk.AI only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You are solely responsible for the content you upload and the decisions you make based on the feedback you receive.

ProofInk.AI is designed for reviewing grant proposals, research papers, and similar academic documents. The service provides AI-generated structural and presentational feedback only. It does not constitute and should not be relied upon as medical, legal, financial, clinical, or professional advice of any kind.

6a. Sensitive Data Disclaimer

Do not upload documents containing protected health information (PHI), personally identifiable patient data, or classified/export-controlled material. ProofInk.AI is not HIPAA-compliant and is not intended for processing healthcare data. The service is not designed to handle data subject to ITAR, EAR, or other export-control regulations.

You are solely responsible for ensuring that documents you upload do not contain sensitive data that is subject to regulatory requirements beyond what ProofInk.AI provides. This includes but is not limited to:

If your institution requires FERPA compliance for student work (e.g., dissertations, thesis proposals), please ensure that documents uploaded to ProofInk.AI have been reviewed by your institution's compliance office. ProofInk.AI processes documents solely for generating feedback, does not share data with third parties beyond our AI providers (under strict API terms), and supports full account and data deletion at any time — but we do not represent FERPA compliance.

7. Prohibited Activities

You agree not to:

8. Pricing and Payments

Current pricing is displayed on our website. Payments are processed by our Merchant of Record (currently Paddle), who handles all payment transactions and tax compliance globally. All payment data is handled by Paddle — we do not store your credit card details.

No recurring charges: All ProofInk.AI plans are one-time purchases (Single Deep Feedback Report, 3-Pack Lab Suite, Lab Bundle). Nothing auto-renews, and no payment method is charged on a recurring basis.

Prices may change with 30 days' notice. A price change never affects credits you have already purchased — those remain valid at the terms under which you bought them. Free tier users receive a limited number of quick reviews per account — this is a lifetime allocation, not renewable.

Refunds are handled under Section 9 below and our payment provider’s Refund Policy.

9. Refunds

Purchases are made through our payment provider and Merchant of Record, Paddle, which is the seller of record for your transaction. Refunds are therefore handled under Paddle’s Refund Policy, which applies to all purchases of ProofInk.AI products.

You may request a refund within 14 days of your purchase. To do so, use the "View receipt" link in your purchase confirmation email, or visit paddle.net and select the refund option. Refunds are processed by Paddle; if you cannot locate your receipt, email [email protected] and we will direct you.

Where required by the consumer protection laws of your country, statutory withdrawal or cancellation rights apply in addition to the above, and those rights always take precedence. Nothing in these Terms limits any mandatory consumer right you have.

Approved refunds are issued to the original payment method, normally within 14 days of approval. If a refund is issued, access to the corresponding purchased credits ends.

If you experience a technical problem that prevents delivery of a review, contact us at [email protected] and we will re-run the review or arrange a refund.

9a. Statutory Cancellation Rights

Depending on the country or region where you created your account, you may have a statutory right to cancel a purchase within a short period after buying (often referred to as a "cooling-off" or "withdrawal" period). Where such a right applies to you, nothing in these Terms limits it.

Immediate access to digital services: Our reviews and Lab Suite features are digital services and digital content supplied without a tangible medium. By purchasing and then requesting or starting performance — for example, by running a review, generating a report, or accessing Lab Suite features — you expressly request immediate performance and acknowledge that, to the extent permitted by the law applicable to you, any such statutory cancellation right is lost once the service has been fully performed, and that for partially performed services you may be charged for the portion already supplied. This request and acknowledgment are presented and recorded at the point of purchase through our payment provider (Paddle).

If you believe you are entitled to a cancellation or refund under the law applicable to you, contact us at [email protected] or request it directly through our payment provider, and it will be processed in accordance with Section 9 and Paddle’s Refund Policy.

How to submit a formal request: Because Paddle is the Merchant of Record for your purchase and processes all payments and refunds, any formal statutory cancellation, withdrawal, or refund request can be submitted directly to Paddle’s buyer support at paddle.net, where you can look up your transaction and select the refund option. You may also reach us at [email protected] and we will coordinate with Paddle on your behalf.

10. Service Availability

We strive to provide reliable and uninterrupted service, but we cannot guarantee that the service will be available at all times or free from errors. We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the service at any time without notice.

We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason at any time.

10a. Service Discontinuation and Wind-Down

We may decide to permanently discontinue the ProofInk.AI service. If we do, we will provide at least thirty (30) days' advance notice to registered users (by posting a notice on our website and/or emailing the address associated with your account) before the service goes offline.

During that notice period, you will be able to use any remaining prepaid review credits and to export or download your data (including your reports and uploaded documents) before access ends.

Unused prepaid credits: Although one-time purchase credits do not expire during normal operation, this Section governs what happens if the service is permanently discontinued. For any prepaid, unused one-time purchase credits remaining in your account at the end of the wind-down notice period, we will provide a pro-rata refund of the unused portion, calculated from the original purchase price and processed through our payment provider (Paddle) to your original payment method. As an alternative to a refund, and at our discretion, we may instead (a) extend the wind-down period to allow additional time to use remaining credits, or (b) arrange for a successor service to honor your remaining credits on substantially equivalent terms; where we do so and you accept, that satisfies our obligation under this Section as to those credits. Pro-rata refunds under this Section are calculated on the unused portion of your purchase.

11. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. PROOFINK.AI EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

THE AI-GENERATED FEEDBACK AND ANALYSIS PROVIDED BY PROOFINK.AI ARE FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR USEFULNESS OF ANY CONTENT GENERATED BY THE SERVICE.

We are not liable for any decisions you make based on our output, including but not limited to grant submission decisions, publication decisions, or research direction changes. Our total aggregate liability to you for any and all claims arising from or relating to your use of the service is limited to the total amount you paid us in the three (3) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

IN NO EVENT SHALL PROOFINK.AI BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF GRANT OR PUBLICATION OPPORTUNITIES, LOSS OF DATA, OR LOSS OF GOODWILL, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) THE SERVICE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

The liability limitations in this Section 11 do not apply to, and shall not limit our liability for, damages arising from our gross negligence, willful misconduct, or fraud, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law. If a court or arbitrator finds any part of this limitation of liability unenforceable in a particular case, our liability in that case will be limited to the greatest extent permitted by applicable law, and the remainder of this Section shall remain in effect.

12. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless ProofInk.AI and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs, or expenses arising from your use of the service, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any third-party rights.

13. Agency Disclaimer

ProofInk.AI is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any funding agency or research council, including NSF, NIH, DOE, Simons Foundation (USA), NSERC, CIHR, SSHRC (Canada), ERC (EU), UKRI, Wellcome Trust, NIHR (UK), or any other organization. Review templates and evaluation criteria are based on publicly available solicitation documents and general grant-writing best practices — they do not constitute official agency guidance. All agency names, acronyms, and trademarks are the property of their respective organizations and are used solely for identification purposes.

13a. Third-Party Links

Our website or service may contain links to third-party websites or services that are not owned or controlled by ProofInk.AI. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party websites or services. You acknowledge and agree that ProofInk.AI shall not be responsible or liable for any damage or loss caused by or in connection with the use of any third-party content, goods, or services.

14. Account Termination

You may delete your account at any time from your profile settings. Upon account deletion, all your documents are permanently deleted and review content is cleared. A minimal account-history record is retained for internal audit purposes only, as described in Section 5 above.

We may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these terms, with or without prior notice. Upon termination, your data will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

15. Changes to These Terms

We may update these terms from time to time. We will provide at least 30 days' notice prior to any new material terms taking effect, which may include posting a notice on our website, updating this page, and/or notifying registered users by email. Continued use of the service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

16. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any disputes shall be resolved in the courts of Massachusetts, except as modified by Section 16a below.

International users: Where mandatory local laws provide you with rights that cannot be overridden by contract, those rights are not affected by this governing law clause. In particular, if you are located in the EU/EEA, UK, Canada, or Switzerland, the data protection provisions of your jurisdiction (including GDPR, UK GDPR, PIPEDA, and the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection) apply to our processing of your personal data. Our Privacy Policy, Data Processing Agreement, and Subprocessors page describe the specific measures we take to comply with these regulations.

16a. Dispute Resolution and Arbitration

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT AND TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION.

You and ProofInk.AI agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the service (a "Claim") shall be resolved through binding arbitration on an individual basis, rather than in court, except that: (a) either party may bring an individual Claim in small claims court if it qualifies, and (b) either party may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in court to prevent actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation, or violation of a party’s intellectual property or confidentiality rights.

Arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect. Arbitration will take place in Massachusetts, United States, or another location mutually agreed by the parties, or, for Claims under $10,000, may be conducted by telephone or written submission at the option of the party seeking relief.

CLASS ACTION WAIVER: YOU AND PROOFINK.AI AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s Claims and may not preside over any form of a class or representative proceeding.

Opt-out: You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing us at [email protected] within 30 days of first creating your account, stating that you decline to be bound by this Section 16a. If you opt out, this arbitration agreement and class action waiver will not apply to you, but the remainder of these Terms will continue to apply.

International users: If you are a consumer located in the EU/EEA, UK, or another jurisdiction whose mandatory consumer-protection laws limit or prohibit pre-dispute binding arbitration or class-action waivers, this Section 16a applies only to the extent permitted by those laws, and nothing in this Section limits any right you have under mandatory local law to bring a Claim before your local courts or a consumer protection authority.

17. General Provisions

Severability: If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid by a court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

Entire agreement: These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Subprocessors list, and AI Disclaimer, constitute the entire agreement between you and ProofInk.AI regarding your use of the service, and supersede any prior agreements between you and ProofInk.AI regarding the service.

Force majeure: We will not be liable for any failure or delay in performance to the extent caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, natural disasters, war, terrorism, labor disputes, internet or infrastructure failures, or failures of our third-party service providers (including our AI providers, payment processor, or hosting provider).

No waiver: Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not be considered a waiver of that right or provision.

Assignment: You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms without restriction, including in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

18. Contact

Questions about these terms? Email us at [email protected].

ProofInk.AI LLC
56 Broad St #53795, Boston, MA 02109