PhineasPHINEAS

Terms of Service

Version v1.0 · Effective April 28, 2026

1. Agreement to These Terms

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) form a binding agreement between you and Vinson Consulting (“we,” “us,” or “our”) governing your use of Phineas, available at phineas.app and any associated sites, applications, or services (collectively, the “Service”). By accessing or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Eligibility

The Service is intended for adult ESL educators and language professionals. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or use the Service. By using the Service, you represent that you are 18 or older.

The Service is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If we learn that we have collected such information, we will delete it.

3. Description of the Service

Phineas is a CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) teaching assistant. The Service allows you to:

  • Submit English-language text for analysis of its CEFR level (A1–C2)
  • View vocabulary and grammar breakdowns of submitted text
  • Request rewrites of submitted text targeting a different CEFR level
  • Receive teaching notes and pedagogical suggestions

Analyses and rewrites are produced by large language models (currently Google Gemini) operated by third-party sub-processors. See Section 8 (“AI-Generated Content”) for important disclaimers.

4. Beta Status and Changes to the Service

The Service is currently in free public beta. Features may change, break, or be removed without notice. We may, at our discretion, introduce paid tiers or commercial pricing in the future. If we do, we will give you reasonable advance notice and an opportunity to discontinue use of the Service before any charges apply to your account.

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service at any time. We are not liable to you or any third party for any modification, suspension, or discontinuation of the Service or any feature within it.

5. Accounts and Sign-In

The Service uses Google Sign-In for authentication. By signing in, you authorize us to receive your name, email address, and profile photo from Google. Access may be gated by a domain or email allowlist; inclusion on an allowlist does not entitle you to ongoing access.

You are responsible for:

  • Maintaining the security of your Google account
  • All activity that occurs under your Phineas account
  • Promptly notifying us at support@phineas.app of any unauthorized use

We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, the Acceptable Use Policy, or applicable law.

6. License from You to Us

When you submit text to the Service (“Submitted Text”), you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to:

  • Process the Submitted Text to provide the Service to you
  • Transmit the Submitted Text to our sub-processors (including Google Gemini) for analysis and rewriting
  • Cache or temporarily store the Submitted Text as necessary to deliver results

This license is limited to providing the Service to you. We do not use Submitted Text to train models, sell or share it for advertising, or use it for any purpose unrelated to delivering your requested analyses and rewrites. The license terminates when your account is deleted or when the Submitted Text is purged from our systems, whichever comes first.

You represent and warrant that you have the rights necessary to submit the text you submit, including any rights of third parties whose work or words appear in it. See our Acceptable Use Policy for restrictions on submitted content, including content involving minors or copyrighted material.

7. License from Us to You

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Service for its intended purpose: analyzing and adapting English-language text for ESL teaching and related educational use.

You may not:

  • Copy, modify, or create derivative works of the Service
  • Reverse engineer or attempt to extract the source code
  • Use the Service to build or train a competing product
  • Resell, sublicense, or commercially distribute access to the Service

8. AI-Generated Content

Analyses, rewrites, vocabulary breakdowns, and teaching notes are generated by AI (currently Google Gemini). AI-generated output:

  • May contain errors, omissions, or inaccuracies
  • May reflect biases present in training data
  • Should not be considered authoritative or definitive
  • Should be reviewed by a qualified educator before use in a classroom, assessment, or publication context

You are responsible for verifying AI-generated content before relying on it. We make no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness, or pedagogical appropriateness of any analysis or rewrite produced by the Service.

CEFR-level assessments produced by the Service are estimates based on a combination of bundled vocabulary data (derived from the EFLLex resource by UCLouvain, used under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) and AI inference. They are not certified CEFR assessments and should not be presented as such.

9. Acceptable Use

Your use of the Service is governed by our Acceptable Use Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. Violations may result in account suspension or termination.

In particular, you must not submit:

  • Personal information of minors or other individuals who have not consented
  • Copyrighted material that you do not have the right to analyze or rewrite
  • Content that is harassing, discriminatory, abusive, or unlawful
  • Automated, scripted, or bulk programmatic submissions outside what the Service interface supports

10. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains what we collect, how we use it, and your rights, including rights under GDPR and CCPA. By using the Service, you also agree to that policy.

11. Intellectual Property

The Service — including its code, design, branding, and the “PHINEAS” persona and name — is owned by Vinson Consulting and protected by intellectual property laws. The Service is licensed, not sold, to you.

The bundled CEFR vocabulary data is derived from the EFLLex resource by UCLouvain and is provided under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. Your use of vocabulary data through the Service must comply with that license, including its non-commercial restriction.

12. Termination

By you. You may stop using the Service at any time. You may request account deletion at support@phineas.app, which will delete your account data subject to the retention periods described in the Privacy Policy.

By us. We may suspend or terminate your access at any time for any reason, including:

  • Violation of these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy
  • Activity that poses a security or legal risk
  • Extended inactivity
  • Discontinuation of the Service

Sections that by their nature should survive termination — including Sections 6 (license to us, for content already submitted), 8 (AI disclaimers), 11 (IP), 13 (disclaimers), 14 (liability), 15 (indemnification), and 16 (dispute resolution) — survive termination of these Terms.

13. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT:

  • THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE
  • ANY ANALYSIS, REWRITE, OR TEACHING NOTE WILL BE ACCURATE OR APPROPRIATE FOR ANY PARTICULAR USE
  • DEFECTS OR ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED

14. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL VINSON CONSULTING, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE.

OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (a) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (b) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages, so portions of this section may not apply to you.

15. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Vinson Consulting and its affiliates from any claims, damages, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from:

  • Your use of the Service
  • Your violation of these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy
  • Your violation of any law or third-party right, including intellectual property rights in any text you submit

16. Dispute Resolution

Informal resolution first. Before filing any formal claim, you agree to contact us at support@phineas.app and attempt to resolve the dispute informally for at least thirty (30) days.

Binding arbitration. If informal resolution fails, any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. Arbitration will take place in California, United States, or by video conference. Each party will bear its own costs except as the arbitrator may otherwise award.

No class actions. You and we agree to bring claims only in an individual capacity, not as a plaintiff or class member in any class or representative proceeding.

Exceptions. Either party may bring an individual action in small-claims court, and either party may seek injunctive relief in court for intellectual-property infringement.

Opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing support@phineas.app within thirty (30) days of first accepting these Terms, with the subject line “Arbitration Opt-Out.”

17. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States and the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Subject to Section 16, exclusive jurisdiction lies with the state and federal courts located in Alameda County, California.

18. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will:

  • Update the version constant TOS_VERSION in our codebase
  • Display a re-acceptance prompt to existing users on next sign-in
  • Note the change on this page

Continued use of the Service after a revised version takes effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

19. Miscellaneous

Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and Acceptable Use Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service.

Severability. If any provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full effect.

Waiver. Our failure to enforce any right is not a waiver of that right.

Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our consent. We may assign them freely, including in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

No third-party beneficiaries. These Terms do not confer any rights on any third party.

20. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Reach us at:

Vinson Consulting
Email: support@phineas.app
Service: phineas.app