Terms of Service

1. Eligibility and Age Requirements

The Service is designed for competitive debate participants, including high school and college students.

Users aged 13–17: You may use the Service with the consent of a parent or legal guardian. By using the Service, you represent that your parent or legal guardian has reviewed and agreed to these Terms on your behalf. We may request verification of parental consent at any time.

Users under 13: The Service is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that a user is under 13, we will promptly delete their account and associated data. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 13 has provided personal information to us, contact us at hello@backfile.app.

Users 18 and older: By using the Service, you represent that you are at least 18 years old or have the consent of a parent or legal guardian.

2. Description of Service

Backfile is a debate preparation tool that assists competitive debaters in parsing, indexing, searching, and organizing debate evidence documents. The Service uses artificial intelligence to analyze document structure, classify arguments, and recommend evidence from the user's own uploaded files.

Preparation tool only.The Service is designed and marketed as a research and preparation tool. Backfile does not generate fabricated evidence, create fictitious citations, or produce content designed to deceive tournament officials or judges. All evidence recommendations are sourced from the user's own uploaded documents.

Not an in-round assistant. Backfile is not designed or intended to serve as a real-time in-round debate assistant. Users are solely responsible for compliance with all applicable tournament rules, league regulations, and competition guidelines regarding the use of technology, AI tools, and electronic devices during competition.

No guarantee of competitive outcomes. The Service does not guarantee any particular competitive result, tournament placement, or debate outcome. AI-generated recommendations and rankings are provided as suggestions and may contain errors or inaccuracies. Users are responsible for evaluating and verifying all recommendations before use.

3. User Accounts

You must create an account to use the Service. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and to keep your account information updated. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.

One account per person. Each account is intended for use by a single individual. Sharing account credentials is prohibited except within Team plan accounts where shared access is a feature of the plan.

Account security. You must notify us immediately at hello@backfile.app if you become aware of any unauthorized access to or use of your account.

4. Subscription, Payment, and Billing

Plans and pricing. The Service is offered through subscription plans as described on our pricing page at backfile.app/pricing. Pricing, features, and plan availability are subject to change. We will provide at least 30 days' notice before changing prices for existing subscribers.

Free trial. New accounts include a 7-day free trial. No payment information is required during the trial period. At the end of the trial, you must select and pay for a plan to continue using the Service.

Billing cycles. Subscriptions are available on monthly or annual billing cycles. Monthly subscriptions are charged on the same date each month. Annual subscriptions are charged once per year. Annual billing includes a 10% discount compared to the equivalent monthly rate.

Cancellation. You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings. Upon cancellation, your access continues through the end of your current billing period. No partial refunds are provided for unused portions of a billing period.

Refunds. Refunds are provided at our sole discretion. If you experience a significant service disruption or billing error, contact us at hello@backfile.app.

Failed payments. If a payment fails, we will attempt to charge the payment method on file up to three times. If payment cannot be collected, your account may be suspended or downgraded.

5. Your Content and Intellectual Property

You own your content.You retain all ownership rights to the documents, evidence files, cards, analytics, and other materials you upload to the Service (“Your Content”). We do not claim any ownership interest in Your Content.

License to us. By uploading content to the Service, you grant Backfile a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to process, index, store, and analyze Your Content solely for the purpose of providing the Service to you. This license terminates when you delete your content or close your account.

No sharing between users. Your Content is never shared with, disclosed to, or made accessible to other users of the Service, unless you are on a Team plan and have explicitly enabled shared access with designated team members.

AI processing.Your Content is processed by third-party AI services (currently Anthropic's Claude API) for the purpose of document classification, argument analysis, and evidence ranking. Content sent to AI services is processed in accordance with those providers' data processing terms. We send only the minimum content necessary for analysis (tags, citations, and highlighted text — not full document bodies) and do not use Your Content to train AI models.

Our intellectual property. The Service, including its software, design, branding, logos, documentation, and all underlying technology, is owned by Backfile LLC and protected by applicable intellectual property laws. These Terms do not grant you any rights to use our trademarks, trade names, or branding.

6. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Use the Service to fabricate, forge, or misattribute evidence or citations
• Use the Service to violate any tournament rules, league regulations, or competition guidelines
• Share, redistribute, or resell access to the Service or its outputs
• Attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, or extract source code from the Service
• Use the Service to harass, defame, or harm other individuals
• Upload content that infringes on the intellectual property rights of others
• Use automated tools, bots, or scripts to access the Service beyond its intended interface
• Attempt to circumvent usage limits, access controls, or security measures
• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms.

7. Tournament Rules Compliance

Your responsibility. Compliance with tournament rules regarding technology use is solely your responsibility. Tournament rules vary by organization (NSDA, CEDA, NDT, NPDA, TOC, state associations, and individual tournaments) and may change at any time.

Current landscape.As of the date of these Terms, the NSDA permits the use of AI to guide students to articles, ideas, and sources, but prohibits citing generative AI as a source and prohibits quoting or paraphrasing text directly from generative AI sources in events where speeches must be original work. Backfile is designed to comply with this framework by recommending evidence from the user's own files rather than generating new evidence.

No legal advice.This section is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. We do not guarantee that the Service complies with any particular tournament's rules, and we are not responsible for any penalties, disqualifications, or sanctions arising from your use of the Service in competition.

8. Third-Party Services

The Service integrates with third-party services including:

• Anthropic (Claude API): For AI-powered document analysis and argument classification
• Stripe: For payment processing
• Supabase: For anonymous usage telemetry

Your use of these services is subject to their respective terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for the acts or omissions of third-party service providers.

9. Service Availability and Modifications

No uptime guarantee.The Service is provided on an “as available” basis. We do not guarantee uninterrupted access, and the Service may be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance, updates, or circumstances beyond our control.

Modifications. We may modify, update, or discontinue features of the Service at any time. We will provide reasonable notice of material changes that negatively affect your use of the Service.

Beta features.Some features may be designated as “beta,” “preview,” or “coming soon.” Beta features are provided without warranty and may be modified or removed at any time.

10. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

IN NO EVENT SHALL BACKFILE LLC, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, USE, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STATUTE, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY.

OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO US IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS, OUR LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Backfile LLC and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any tournament rules or competition regulations; or (d) your infringement of any third-party rights.

12. Dispute Resolution

Governing law. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

Informal resolution. Before filing any formal dispute, you agree to contact us at hello@backfile.app and attempt to resolve the dispute informally for at least 30 days.

Jurisdiction. Any dispute not resolved informally shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Harris County, Texas.

13. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by email or through the Service at least 30 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of updated Terms constitutes acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the Service and cancel your subscription.

14. Miscellaneous

Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Backfile LLC regarding your use of the Service.

No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.

Assignment. You may not assign or transfer your rights under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights and obligations under these Terms without restriction.

15. Contact

Questions about these Terms may be directed to:

Backfile LLC
Email: hello@backfile.app
Location: Houston, TX