Terms of Service

hello hero is a macOS app released as a public research preview. Features and functionality may change before its full release. By downloading, accessing, or using hello hero, you agree to these Terms. If you use hello hero for an organization, you confirm that you have authority to accept these Terms for it.

1. The service

hello hero is a local-first knowledge workspace for recordings, transcripts, meeting summaries, notes, files, team workspaces, and AI-assisted work. Some features run on your Mac. Other features, including sign-in, sync, collaboration, calendar connections, hosted transcription, AI processing, and billing, require internet services.

2. Eligibility and authority

You must be legally capable of entering into these Terms. If local law requires a minimum age or parental authorization, you may use the service only when that requirement is satisfied. The service is not directed to children. An organization is responsible for activity by users it authorizes and for configuring workspace membership and permissions.

3. Accounts and security

You must provide accurate account information, protect access to your Google or Microsoft account and Mac, and promptly tell us if you suspect unauthorized access. You are responsible for activity performed through your account unless applicable law says otherwise.

Keep your recovery kit secure and available. Anyone with the recovery key and your encrypted local data may be able to recover that data. If you lose every trusted device and the recovery key, hello hero may be unable to recover the encrypted content.

4. Recording and transcription

You may use hello hero only to record or transcribe conversations when you have a lawful basis to do so. Laws and workplace rules differ by country and context. Before starting, you must provide any required notice, obtain any required consent, respect confidentiality obligations, and stop if recording is not permitted. hello hero does not determine whether a recording is lawful and does not obtain participant consent for you.

5. Your content

You retain ownership of content you create or upload. You grant us and our processors a limited right to host, transmit, reproduce, format, and process that content only as needed to provide, secure, and support the features you request and to comply with law.

You confirm that you have the rights and permissions needed for content you submit. You must not upload, record, share, or process content that unlawfully infringes intellectual property, privacy, confidentiality, publicity, or other rights.

6. Team workspaces and sharing

When you share content or add members to a workspace, those authorized members may be able to access, copy, edit, export, or further share it according to their role and the available product controls. Workspace owners and administrators are responsible for membership, permissions, and lawful use within their organization. Removing a member does not recall copies they already exported or obtained.

7. Hosted processing and third parties

Local-first does not mean every feature runs locally. When you request hosted transcription or AI processing, relevant audio, prompts, transcripts, notes, files, or other context are sent to the providers needed to complete the request. When you connect a calendar, sign in, or pay, the relevant Google, Microsoft, Convex, Polar, Cloudflare, Soniox, OpenRouter, or selected model-provider terms may also apply. Our Privacy Policy explains these data flows.

8. AI and transcription limitations

• Live transcripts are drafts and may contain omissions, duplicated words, incorrect speakers, or other errors.
• Summaries and AI responses are generated from available context and may be inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, or unsuitable.
• You must review outputs before using or sharing them, especially for legal, medical, financial, employment, safety, or other consequential matters.
• You must not present generated output as verified fact when you have not checked it.

9. Acceptable use

You must not:

• use the service unlawfully or to violate another person's rights;
• record or monitor someone without the notice or consent required by law;
• upload malware, interfere with the service, probe it without authorization, or bypass security or usage controls;
• access another account, workspace, content, or key without permission;
• use automated means to overload, scrape, resell, or exploit the hosted service except through an interface we expressly permit;
• use the service to create or facilitate fraud, harassment, abuse, or illegal discrimination.

10. Plans, credits, and payment

Some hosted features require credits or a paid plan. Prices, included usage, currency, taxes, renewal terms, and feature limits are shown before purchase or in the app. Polar processes payment. You authorize the charges shown at checkout.

If a plan renews automatically, you can cancel future renewal through the available account or billing controls. Cancellation does not retroactively refund a completed billing period. Credits are service units, not money, and cannot be transferred or redeemed for cash. Refunds are provided where stated at purchase or required by applicable law. We may correct pricing or crediting errors and will not remove statutory consumer rights.

11. Software license

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to install and use the hello hero app for your own or your organization's internal purposes. Except where law permits otherwise, you may not copy, sell, sublicense, reverse engineer, circumvent protections, or create a competing hosted service from hello hero software or materials.

12. Our intellectual property

hello hero, its software, design, brand, and documentation are owned by us or our licensors. These Terms do not transfer that ownership. If you provide feedback, you allow us to use it without restriction or compensation, but you are not required to provide feedback.

13. Changes, availability, and beta features

We may update the app, models, providers, features, limits, or compatibility as the service evolves. We may suspend a feature for maintenance, security, legal, or operational reasons. Beta or preview features may change or stop without notice. Keep independent backups or exports of content that is important to you.

14. Suspension and termination

You may stop using the service at any time. We may restrict or suspend access when reasonably necessary to address a security risk, non-payment, unlawful conduct, material breach of these Terms, harm to another user, or a legal requirement. Where practical, we will give notice and an opportunity to resolve the issue.

On termination, your license ends and hosted access may stop. Provisions that by their nature should continue, including ownership, payment obligations, disclaimers, liability limits, and dispute terms, survive. Data handling after termination follows our Privacy Policy.

15. Disclaimers

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the service is provided "as is" and "as available". We do not promise uninterrupted availability, perfect transcription, error-free output, compatibility with every device or service, or that AI output will be accurate or fit for a particular purpose. Nothing in these Terms limits a warranty or consumer right that cannot lawfully be excluded.

16. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, neither party is liable for indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential loss, or for lost profits, revenue, goodwill, or data, arising from the service. Our total liability arising from the service will not exceed the amount you paid us for the service during the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.

These limits do not apply to fraud, wilful misconduct, death or personal injury caused by negligence, breach of confidentiality or data-protection duties where liability cannot be limited, or any other liability that applicable law does not allow us to exclude or limit.

17. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Slovak Republic, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Courts with jurisdiction over our registered office will have jurisdiction, unless mandatory law gives you the right to bring a claim elsewhere. If you are a consumer, you retain the mandatory protections of the country where you live.

Before filing a formal claim, contact us and give us a reasonable opportunity to resolve the issue informally.

18. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms to reflect product, provider, legal, or security changes. We will post the updated Terms and revise the date above. If a material change requires additional notice or consent, we will provide it. Continued use after the effective date means you accept the updated Terms where permitted by law.

19. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent to privacy@hellohero.ai.