Terms of Use

Draft — not reviewed by counsel. Items marked [TBD-counsel] are still under legal review and may change.

Version 0.3 (draft) · Last updated: 2026-11-07 · Effective: when published (see section 14 for what changed)

These Terms of Use ("Terms") are an agreement between you and Ringle, Inc. ("Kairu", "we", "us"). They apply to www.kairuhq.com, the free online book, the waitlist, the HERON Check, the Kairu mobile apps for iPhone and Android (the "app"), the Kairu Pro subscription and any other Kairu product that links to them (together, the "Service"). By using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information. It is part of these Terms.

1. Who can use Kairu

  • You must be 18 or older to join the waitlist, take a HERON Check or use any feature that collects information from you. Anyone may read the free book.
  • You must be able to make a binding agreement, and the law must not prohibit you from using the Service.
  • If you use the Service for your employer or another organization, you confirm that you may accept these Terms for it.
  • Your account. An account is for one person. Keep your sign-in methods (passkeys, your email account where we send sign-in codes, and Google account) secure, and tell us through the contact form if you think someone else used your account. We may suspend or close accounts used to get around limits on free checks or otherwise break these Terms.

2. What the Service includes

  • The online book and free content. The book Effective Business Communication: The HERON Method, videos and other content are free to read and watch.
  • The waitlist. You can join a waitlist for the HERON Check. Joining does not guarantee an invitation or a date.
  • The HERON Check (beta). You record a spoken answer (up to 90 seconds) and receive a level for each of the five moves, one focus move and a Before/After rewrite of one of your sentences. The HERON Check is in beta: we are still testing it, and results can change as we improve it. Without Kairu Pro, the number of free HERON Checks is limited — currently one every 7 days in the app, and your first check on the website. We show how many you have left before you start. At first, the HERON Check on the website is open only to people we invite.
  • Lessons and history. Short lessons, and a history of your past checks and results while you keep them.
  • Kairu Pro. A paid monthly subscription, sold in the app, that removes the limit on HERON Checks. Section 2A explains how it works. Other paid features (for example, drills and roleplays) may be added; we will show prices and any extra terms before you buy.

2A. Kairu Pro subscription and automatic renewal

  • What you get. Kairu Pro gives you unlimited HERON Checks while your subscription is active, subject to section 5 (fair use: no automated or shared use). Features in beta may change.

  • Who sells it. You buy Kairu Pro through Apple's App Store or Google Play, and Apple or Google charges your Apple Account or Google Account. Their payment terms also apply.

  • Price. The price, the billing period (one month) and any taxes are shown in the app next to the Subscribe button before you buy. You pay when you confirm the purchase.

  • Automatic renewal. Kairu Pro renews automatically every month, and you will be charged the monthly price at the start of each new period, until you cancel.

  • How to cancel. You can cancel at any time:

    • on iPhone: Settings → your name → Subscriptions → Kairu Pro → Cancel Subscription (or in the App Store app);
    • on Android: Google Play → Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions → Kairu Pro → Cancel subscription;
    • or in the app: Account → Manage subscription, which takes you to the same place.

    On the App Store, cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period to avoid the next charge. When you cancel, you keep Kairu Pro until the end of the period you already paid for, and you are not charged again. Deleting the app or your Kairu account does not cancel your subscription.

  • Free trials and offers. If we offer a free trial or an introductory price, we show its length and the price that applies after it before you start. Unless you cancel before the trial or offer ends, it turns into a paid monthly subscription automatically. For a free trial longer than 31 days, we remind you 3 to 21 days before it ends.

  • Price changes. If we raise the price, Apple or Google tells you before the new price applies and, where their rules require it, asks you to agree. We also email you as soon as Apple or Google tells us the change is scheduled. You can cancel before it applies. [TBD-counsel: the California notice window (7–30 days before) depends on when the store schedules the change]

  • Notices we send. After you subscribe, we email you a confirmation with these terms, the price and how to cancel. We also remind you about your subscription at least once a year. We keep a record of your agreement to automatic renewal.

  • Refunds. Payments are handled by Apple or Google, so refund requests go to them under their policies (Apple: reportaproblem.apple.com; Google: Google Play order history). We cannot refund store purchases ourselves. This does not limit any refund right you have by law.

  • Billing problems. If a renewal payment fails, Apple or Google may retry it. Kairu Pro may stay on for a short grace period and then stop until the payment succeeds.

  • Restore and accounts. A subscription works for the Kairu account that was signed in when you bought it. Use "Restore purchases" in the app if you reinstall the app or change phones.

[TBD-counsel: confirm this section meets Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §17600 et seq. (as amended by AB 2863) and other state automatic-renewal laws when Apple or Google is the merchant of record]

We may change, pause or stop any part of the Service. We will try to give notice of major changes when we reasonably can.

3. Your content

"Your content" means the recordings you make, the transcripts made from them, and anything else you submit (for example, waitlist answers or messages to us).

  • You own your content. We do not claim ownership of it.
  • Our limited license. You give us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, transcribe, analyze and process your content only to provide the Service to you — for example, to make your transcript, score your answer and show you your results — and to keep the Service secure and follow the law. This license ends when your content is deleted, except for copies we must keep by law.
  • Other uses need your opt-in. We use your content for research, to improve our scoring, or as an example in our book, videos or marketing only if you separately agree (see section 5 of the Privacy Policy).
  • Your responsibility. Only record yourself. Do not include other people's personal information, your employer's confidential information or anything you do not have the right to share.

4. AI-generated feedback

  • The HERON Check is in beta. Results and rewrites are created automatically, using speech recognition and an AI model (Anthropic's Claude). They can be wrong, incomplete or a poor fit for your situation.
  • The feedback is about the sentences you said, not about you as a person, your accent, or your culture. We do not score accents.
  • The feedback is for learning only. It is not professional, career, legal, medical or employment advice, and it is not a certification or a test result that you or anyone else should use to make hiring, promotion or other employment decisions.
  • Use your own judgment before using any suggested sentence at work.
  • If feedback seems wrong or offensive, use "Report this feedback" in the app or our contact form.

5. Rules for using the Service

Do not:

  • break the law or anyone's rights, including privacy and intellectual property rights;
  • record or upload anyone else's voice, or content you do not have the right to share;
  • submit content that is illegal, harassing, hateful, sexually explicit or threatening;
  • try to get around invite limits, free-use limits or other access controls (for example, by creating many identities to get extra free checks);
  • copy, scrape, crawl or download the Service or its content in bulk, or use it to build a competing product or train AI models, except as allowed in section 6;
  • reverse-engineer, attack, overload or interfere with the Service or its security;
  • pretend to be someone else, or misrepresent your connection with Kairu.

We may suspend or end your access if you break these rules.

6. Our content and intellectual property

  • The book, the HERON method materials, videos, lessons, site design, and the Kairu name and logo belong to Kairu or its licensors. All rights reserved.
  • You may read and watch our content for your own personal, non-commercial learning. You may share links to it, and quote short passages with credit to Kairu and a link, as allowed by law (for example, fair use).
  • You may not copy, republish, sell, translate or make derivative works of our content, or use it for training, workshops or other commercial purposes, without our written permission.
  • The Kairu name, logo and "HERON" method name may not be used in a way that suggests we endorse you or your product.
  • Copyright concerns. If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, tell us through our contact form and choose "Copyright".

7. Feedback

If you send us ideas or suggestions about the Service, we may use them without paying you or owing you anything. This does not give us any right to your recordings or other content beyond section 3.

The Service may link to other websites or use services run by others (for example, the video platforms where we publish our videos). We are not responsible for their content or practices. Their own terms and privacy policies apply.

9. Ending your use

You may stop using the Service at any time, delete your account in the app (Settings → Delete account) or ask us to delete your information (see the Privacy Policy). Deleting your account does not cancel a Kairu Pro subscription; cancel it first as described in section 2A. We may suspend or end your access if you break these Terms, if we must do so by law, or if we stop offering the Service. Sections 3 (to the extent needed), 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13 continue after your use ends.

10. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE". TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT PROMISE THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT FEEDBACK WILL BE ACCURATE, OR THAT USING THE SERVICE WILL LEAD TO ANY PARTICULAR RESULT IN YOUR JOB OR CAREER.

Some states do not allow these disclaimers, so some of them may not apply to you.

11. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW:

  • WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST EARNINGS, LOST JOB OPPORTUNITIES OR LOST DATA, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE;
  • OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATED TO THE SERVICE IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM AND (B) US $100 [TBD-counsel].

These limits apply whatever the legal theory, even if we were told the damages were possible. They do not limit liability that cannot be limited by law. Some states do not allow these limits, so some of them may not apply to you.

12. Indemnity

If you break these Terms or the law while using the Service, and someone makes a claim against us because of it, you agree to cover our reasonable costs and losses from that claim, to the extent allowed by law. [TBD-counsel]

13. Governing law and disputes

[TBD-counsel] The governing law, the courts or forum for disputes, and whether to use individual arbitration with a class-action waiver (and, if so, an opt-out window and small-claims exception) are decisions for counsel. Until they are made, this section reads:

These Terms are governed by the laws of [State], without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in [County, State], except that either party may bring a claim in small-claims court if it qualifies. Before filing a claim, please contact us through our contact form so we can try to resolve it informally within 30 days.

14. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. We will post the new version here and update the "Last updated" date. If a change is material, we will tell you by email, on the site or in the app at least 14 days before it takes effect [TBD-counsel]. If you keep using the Service after a change takes effect, you accept the new Terms. If you do not agree, stop using the Service. A change to the price or automatic-renewal terms of Kairu Pro follows section 2A.

Change log

  • Version 0.3 (2026-11-07, draft). Added the Kairu apps, Kairu Pro and its automatic-renewal terms (section 2A), the beta status and current free-check limit of the HERON Check (section 2), reporting AI feedback (section 4), deleting your account in the app (section 9), and Apple App Store terms (section 17).
  • Version 0.2 (2026-11-06, draft). First published version.

15. General

  • These Terms (with the Privacy Policy and any extra terms you accept for paid features) are the whole agreement between you and us about the Service.
  • If a court finds part of these Terms unenforceable, the rest stays in effect.
  • If we do not enforce a part of these Terms right away, we do not give up the right to enforce it later.
  • You may not transfer your rights under these Terms. We may transfer ours as part of a merger, sale or reorganization, or to a company in our corporate group.
  • We may send you notices by email or on the site. You agree to receive them electronically.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms: kairuhq.com/contact (or email support@kairuhq.com, which replies automatically with a link to the contact form)

Privacy requests: kairuhq.com/privacy/request

Ringle, Inc., 400 Concar Dr, San Mateo, CA 94402

17. Additional terms for the iPhone app

If you got the app from Apple's App Store, these terms also apply:

  • These Terms are between you and Ringle, Inc. only, not Apple. Ringle, Inc., not Apple, is responsible for the app and its content.
  • Your license to use the app is limited to Apple-branded devices you own or control, as allowed by the Usage Rules in Apple's Media Services Terms and Conditions.
  • Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the app.
  • If the app does not conform to any warranty that applies, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any) for the app. To the fullest extent allowed by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation for the app.
  • Ringle, Inc., not Apple, is responsible for any claims about the app, including product liability claims, claims that the app does not meet legal or regulatory requirements, and claims under consumer protection, privacy or similar laws.
  • If someone claims that the app or your use of it infringes their intellectual property rights, Ringle, Inc., not Apple, is responsible for investigating, defending, settling and discharging the claim.
  • You confirm that you are not in a country subject to a U.S. government embargo or designated as a "terrorist supporting" country, and that you are not on any U.S. government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
  • You must follow any third-party terms that apply when you use the app (for example, your mobile carrier's terms).
  • Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.

Questions or complaints about the app: kairuhq.com/contact, or Ringle, Inc. at the address in section 16.