Terms of Service

Watch-IP provides an HTTP API that returns geolocation, network, and risk-signal data. Depending on the endpoint, this data is derived from Cloudflare's edge network for a visitor calling the API directly from their own browser (GET /v1/geo), or computed for IP addresses or email addresses that you supply about your own end users or other third parties (GET/POST /v1/lookup, POST /v1/email/validate, POST /v1/risk/check).

The Service is offered on the plans described at watch-ip.com/pricing, each with its own included request volume, sustained rate limit, and number of allowed origin domains. We may add, change, or retire endpoints and plans over time; we'll make reasonable efforts to give notice of changes that materially reduce functionality on a plan you're subscribed to.

You need an account and at least one API key to use the Service beyond the public documentation. Publishable keys (used with GET /v1/geo and POST /v1/email/validate) are origin-locked: we only return data when the request's Origin or Referer matches an origin you've registered for that key. Secret keys (used with /v1/lookup and /v1/risk/check) are server-to-server credentials and must never be exposed in client-side code, mobile apps, or any place a third party could extract them.

You're responsible for keeping your registered origins accurate, for safeguarding your secret keys and dashboard credentials, and for all activity that occurs under your account, whether or not you authorized it. Tell us promptly at security@watch-ip.com if you believe a key has been compromised, and we'll help you rotate it.

You may use the Service only for lawful purposes and in compliance with these Terms, our Privacy Policy, and (where applicable) our Data Processing Addendum. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree not to:

• exceed, or attempt to circumvent, the rate limits, request volume, or origin restrictions of your plan (for example, by proxying requests through multiple keys or origins to evade a limit);
• use the Service to build or contribute to a competing IP geolocation, threat-intelligence, or lookup product, or to systematically reconstruct our underlying threat lists or GeoIP data through repeated queries;
• use geolocation, VPN/Tor/datacenter, or risk-scoring output as the sole automated basis for a decision that produces legal or similarly significant effects for an individual (e.g. denying access to housing, employment, credit, insurance, or essential services) without a meaningful human review step;
• use the Service to discriminate against, single out, or take adverse action against individuals on the basis of a protected characteristic that can be inferred or approximated from location data;
• submit to /v1/lookup, /v1/risk/check, or /v1/email/validate any data you are not lawfully entitled to submit, including data about individuals collected without an adequate legal basis or in violation of a notice you gave them; or
• interfere with, disrupt, reverse-engineer, or attempt unauthorized access to the Service, its underlying infrastructure, or other customers' data.

Paid plans are billed in advance on a monthly or annual basis through our payment processors, Stripe and PayPal. By subscribing to a paid plan you authorize us (through our processor) to charge your chosen payment method for the applicable fees, plus any taxes we're required to collect (for example, GST/HST on Canadian accounts).

If a payment fails or your account falls into arrears, we may downgrade your plan, throttle your keys to the free tier's limits, or suspend the Service until payment is received. Fees are non-refundable except where required by law or as we otherwise state at the time of purchase. We'll give at least 30 days' notice before a price increase takes effect for an existing subscription.

Our Privacy Policy describes how we handle data about your website visitors and end users when you use the Service, and about you and your team when you use our dashboard. If you use /v1/lookup, /v1/risk/check, or /v1/email/validate with personal data about individuals in the EU/EEA, UK, or other jurisdictions with similar requirements, our Data Processing Addendum applies and is incorporated into these Terms by reference once executed.

You represent that you have all rights, consents, and legal bases necessary to submit any data you send us, and to receive and act on the data we return to you (including under applicable privacy notices to your own end users).

Geolocation is inherently approximate: IP-based location can reflect an ISP's routing infrastructure or a VPN exit node rather than a device's physical location, and can be off by a city, region, or occasionally a country. Threat, VPN/Tor/datacenter, and disposable-email signals are derived from third-party and community-maintained lists that are refreshed periodically (currently on a roughly 4-hour cycle) and are never guaranteed complete or current.

The Service must not be used as the sole basis for decisions where inaccuracy could cause physical harm (e.g. emergency dispatch, life-safety systems) or as a substitute for required export-control, sanctions, or KYC/AML screening — those obligations require authoritative, purpose-built data sources, not a general-purpose geolocation API.

We own the Service, including its software, documentation, compiled threat lists, and GeoIP mappings, and all intellectual property rights in them. Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to call the API and use the dashboard for your own internal business purposes and to serve your own end users. You retain all rights to the data you submit to the Service and to your own application code.

You may not resell, sublicense, or provide standalone access to the Service's underlying data (as opposed to a product or feature you've built using it) without our prior written consent.

Each party may receive non-public information from the other (for example, your usage volume and architecture, or our unreleased features and pricing). Each party agrees to use the other's confidential information only to perform its obligations under these Terms and to protect it with the same degree of care it uses for its own confidential information, but no less than reasonable care.

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We don't warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that its geolocation, threat, or risk output will be accurate or complete.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, neither party will be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, or data, arising out of or related to these Terms or the Service, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, each party's total liability arising out of or related to these Terms will not exceed the fees you paid us for the Service in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim. These limits don't apply to a party's indemnification obligations, a breach of the Confidentiality section, or liability that can't be limited under applicable law.

You'll defend, indemnify, and hold us harmless from third-party claims arising from your use of the Service in violation of these Terms, your Acceptable Use obligations, or your violation of applicable law with respect to data you submit to the Service.

These Terms remain in effect for as long as you have an account. Either party may terminate for convenience by closing the account (you, from the dashboard) or by giving 30 days' written notice (us). We may suspend or terminate your access immediately for a material breach of these Terms — including non-payment, abusive or fraudulent use, or a security risk to the Service or other customers — and will restore access if the breach is cured within any notice period we provide.

On termination, your right to use the Service ends and we'll delete or de-identify your account data in line with the retention periods in our Privacy Policy, except where we're required to retain records (e.g. billing records) for longer.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. The parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in Ontario, Canada for any dispute not subject to an arbitration agreement separately signed by the parties.

We may update these Terms from time to time. If a change is material, we'll notify you by email or an in-dashboard notice at least 14 days before it takes effect. Continued use of the Service after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms; if you don't agree, you should stop using the Service and close your account before the change takes effect.