DRAFT for owner review, not yet in force. Have a lawyer review before launch.

API terms of service

Effective date: [date]. These terms cover the Saidwire Speech-to-Text API (the "API"). They sit alongside our general Terms of use; where the two differ, these terms govern your use of the API. "We" means [Saidwire legal entity name], Kansas City, Missouri. "You" means the person or organisation that holds the API account.

1. Your account and keys

Keep your API keys secret. Anyone with your key can use the API on your account, and you are responsible for usage made with it. If a key leaks, revoke it and ask us for a new one; tell us at support@saidwire.com. Don't put long-lived keys in browsers, mobile apps or public code. We may revoke a key we believe is exposed or misused.

2. Beta

The API is in private beta. Features, limits and message formats may change; we'll give at least 14 days' notice by email of any change that breaks existing clients, except for urgent security or legal reasons. During the beta there is no uptime commitment unless we agree one in writing.

3. Your audio and your transcripts

• You own your audio and the transcripts the API returns to you. We claim no rights in them.
• You give us permission to process your audio only to provide the API to you: to transcribe it, to detect speech and turns, and to count usage.
• We don't store your audio. It is processed in memory and discarded when your stream ends.
• We don't log transcript text, and we don't use your audio or transcripts to train or improve models, unless you ask us to in writing (for example, to help debug a problem you report).
• Our API privacy notice explains what we do keep (usage records and technical logs) and for how long.

4. Your responsibilities for the audio you send

You must have the right to send us the audio you send. In particular, you are responsible for:

• getting any consent the law requires to record or transcribe a conversation, including all-party consent where a call involves people in places that require it, and telling people when they're talking to an automated system where the law requires it;
• giving your own users any privacy notice the law requires about speech-to-text processing; and
• any regulated data you choose to send. Don't send health, payment card or other specially regulated data unless we have signed an agreement with you that covers it.

5. Acceptable use

Don't use the API to:

• intercept, record or transcribe communications without the consent the law requires, or to secretly monitor people;
• identify people from their voice, or build voiceprints, without their consent;
• harass, threaten, defraud or impersonate anyone, or support any unlawful activity;
• break the security of the API, get around rate or usage limits, or share keys to let others avoid paying;
• resell the API itself as a speech-to-text service without a written reseller agreement with us (building your own product on top of it is fine); or
• send audio that contains malware or is crafted to disrupt the service.

We may suspend a key or account that breaks these rules or puts the service or other customers at risk. Where we can, we'll tell you first and give you a chance to fix it.

6. Benchmarking

You may benchmark the API and publish the results. We ask, but don't require, that you publish your method and settings and let us know so we can check our side and link to your results.

7. Fees and billing

• Usage is measured in seconds of audio received by the API, from the first byte of a stream to its end, silence included. Time a connection is open without audio is not billed.
• Prices are those shown on saidwire.com/api or in your order form when the usage happens. We'll give at least 30 days' notice by email of any price increase.
• Free trial credit has no cash value and expires as stated when it's issued.
• Payment is processed by our payment provider. Charges are in US dollars and exclude taxes, which we add where required.
• If a payment fails, new streams may be refused until it's fixed. If you think a charge is wrong, tell us within 60 days and we'll look into it; usage records are kept for that purpose.

TODO-DEPLOY #3: billing increment, minimum charge, prepay or monthly invoice, refunds of unused prepaid credit.

8. Limits

Your plan sets limits on streams at once and new streams per minute. The current defaults are in the API docs. We may lower limits temporarily to protect the service.

9. Confidentiality and security

We protect your audio, transcripts and account information with reasonable technical and organisational measures, including encryption in transit (TLS) and restricted staff access. We'll tell you without undue delay if we learn of a security incident affecting your data.

10. No warranty

Speech recognition makes mistakes. The API is provided "as is" and "as available". To the extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose and accuracy of transcripts. Don't rely on the API alone where a mistake could cause injury, a legal consequence or significant financial loss without a human check.

11. Liability

To the extent the law allows: neither side is liable to the other for indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, or lost profits, revenue or data; and our total liability arising from the API is limited to the fees you paid us for the API in the 12 months before the claim (or US$100 if greater). These limits don't apply to liability that cannot be limited by law.

12. Ending

You can stop using the API and close your account at any time. We can end the beta or your access with 30 days' notice, or immediately for a serious breach of these terms. On ending, you pay for usage up to that point; sections 3, 10, 11 and 13 survive.

13. General

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Missouri, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules, and disputes go to the state or federal courts located in Jackson County, Missouri. We may update these terms; for material changes we'll email account holders at least 30 days before they take effect. If you have a signed agreement with us, it governs where it differs from these terms.

Contact

Saidwire, Kansas City, Missouri · support@saidwire.com