← back to small fire

small fire — Terms of Service (beta)

Last updated: October 21, 2025

Plain-English summary (not a substitute for the legal terms): small fire is an AI-mediated experience for adults. It produces perspective and simulation, not facts or professional advice. You are responsible for your Inputs and how you use Outputs. Don't use small fire to harm people, break laws, impersonate institutions, evade enforcement, or exploit minors. We may refuse or block requests that create legal/safety risk. Read the full terms.

CRITICAL SAFETY WARNING

IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING A MEDICAL, MENTAL HEALTH, OR SAFETY EMERGENCY, IMMEDIATELY:

Small fire is not monitored 24/7 and CANNOT provide emergency assistance. The Services are not therapy, counseling, crisis intervention, or mental health treatment. They do not establish a therapist-patient, doctor-patient, or any professional care relationship.

1) Contract, parties, and structure

These Terms of Service (the "Terms") form a binding agreement between small fire ("small fire," "we," "us," or "our") and the person using our services ("you"). "Services" means our websites, apps, and AI-mediated experiences, including associated APIs, content, and documentation. By accessing or using the Services, you accept these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

2) Eligibility & compliance

3) Accounts, security, and misuse

Keep credentials confidential and notify us promptly of suspected compromise at everyone@smallfire.ai. We may suspend or terminate accounts to protect users, the public, or the Services.

4) Key definitions

5) Your rights in Inputs; license to us

You retain ownership of Inputs. You grant small fire a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, process, reproduce, and create derivatives of Inputs as reasonably necessary to provide, maintain, secure, and improve the Services; operate safety systems; comply with law; and as otherwise described in the Privacy Policy. We reserve the right (but have no obligation) to monitor, review, or modify Inputs and Outputs for compliance, safety, and quality purposes. Where applicable, you represent that you have obtained all required permissions for submitted personal data.

6) Your rights in Outputs; third-party rights

As between you and small fire, and subject to applicable law and third-party rights, we grant you a non-exclusive, worldwide license to use, reproduce, and create derivative works from Outputs for lawful purposes while you comply with these Terms. You are responsible for evaluating and clearing third-party rights (e.g., privacy, publicity, trademark, copyright) before publishing or commercializing Outputs.

7) Perspective-only; no professional advice

DO NOT RELY ON OUTPUTS AS FACTUAL, ACCURATE, OR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. The Services simulate reasoning and generate predictions that may be inaccurate, misleading, biased, or harmful even when they appear authoritative. OUTPUTS ARE PERSPECTIVE ONLY and NOT PROFESSIONAL ADVICE (legal, medical, financial, psychological, safety, or otherwise).

DO NOT use the Services for:

You must apply independent judgment, consult qualified professionals, and verify all critical facts before acting on any Output.

8) Acceptable Use (illustrative, not exhaustive)

You will not use the Services to:

  1. Defame private individuals or make unverified accusations; solicit or publish doxxing targets (home addresses, real-time locations, non-public contacts).
  2. Impersonate governments, banks, news outlets, or others; forge credentials/IDs; or misrepresent affiliation.
  3. Meaningfully facilitate illegal activity or bypass enforcement (e.g., evading police/courts, malware, trafficking, non-consensual surveillance).
  4. Target or harass individuals or protected classes, incite violence, or promote extremist/terror content.
  5. Exploit minors or generate/request sexual content involving minors.
  6. Infringe IP or privacy rights, including mass scraping where prohibited or generating content that violates third-party rights.
  7. Manipulate at scale (covert influence ops, undisclosed deepfakes) or publish synthetic media without disclosures required by law or platform rules.
  8. Undermine Service integrity (rate-limit abuse, reverse engineering except where non-waivable, automated access beyond our allowances, security testing without permission).
  9. High-risk uses where errors could cause death, injury, or severe damage (e.g., medical triage, critical infrastructure) without a separate signed agreement expressly permitting such use.

Violation may result in a minimum of immediate suspension or termination without refund, plus legal action and cooperation with law enforcement where appropriate.

9) Safety systems; refusals; appeals

We use automated systems and, where feasible, manual review to filter, throttle, or refuse prompts or accounts that create legal or safety risk. Response times for appeals may vary as we are a small team. You may request review of a refusal by emailing everyone@smallfire.ai with context; we may reconsider at our discretion but cannot guarantee specific response times during beta.

10) Model vendors & third-party services

The Services rely on third-party cloud/model providers, analytics, payments, and other services. Your use may be subject to their terms. We are not responsible for third-party services we do not control. Where we surface vendor-specific restrictions, those are incorporated by reference.

11) Feedback & usage learnings

If you provide feedback, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use it. We may use aggregated/anonymized usage learnings to improve the Services.

12) Your representations and warranties

By using the Services, you represent and warrant that:

  1. You have the legal capacity to enter into this agreement and are not prohibited from using the Services under applicable law.
  2. Your use of the Services will not violate any third-party rights, including intellectual property, privacy, or contractual rights.
  3. You will not rely on Outputs as factual, accurate, or constituting professional advice of any kind.
  4. You understand that AI-generated content may be incorrect, biased, incomplete, or harmful, and you accept full responsibility for how you use Outputs.
  5. You have obtained all necessary permissions and consents to submit any personal information or proprietary content as Inputs.

13) Beta status; changes; availability

The Services are in beta and provided "AS IS" / "AS AVAILABLE." As a small, early-stage service:

We will make reasonable efforts to maintain service quality and communicate significant changes, but cannot guarantee uninterrupted availability during beta.

14) Warranties disclaimed

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ACCURACY. WE DO NOT WARRANT UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE SERVICE OR THAT OUTPUTS WILL BE RELIABLE, SAFE, OR MEET YOUR NEEDS. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY SMALL FIRE OR ITS REPRESENTATIVES CREATES A WARRANTY.

THESE DISCLAIMERS APPLY TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW.

15) Indemnity by you

You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless small fire and its affiliates, directors, employees, contractors, and suppliers from claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from: (a) your Inputs or your use of Outputs, including Outputs you publish, distribute, or share with third parties; (b) your breach of the Policies; (c) your violation of law or third-party rights; or (d) claims by your end users or anyone you share Outputs with.

16) Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SMALL FIRE AND ITS SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, GOODWILL, OR DATA, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SMALL FIRE'S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICES WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF CAD $100 OR THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO SMALL FIRE FOR THE SERVICES IN THE THREE (3) MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY; IF YOU USE FREE OR BETA SERVICES, SMALL FIRE'S TOTAL LIABILITY IS CAD $0.

THESE LIMITATIONS APPLY EVEN IF A REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE AND TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS; IN SUCH CASES, THE ABOVE APPLIES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED.

17) Force majeure

Small fire is not liable for delays or failures in performance caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including acts of God, war, terrorism, pandemics, government actions, labor disputes, internet failures, power outages, third-party service provider outages, or limitations of individual developer capacity.

18) Binding arbitration and class action waiver

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.

Agreement to Arbitrate: Except for disputes relating to small fire's intellectual property rights or your breach of Section 8 (Acceptable Use), you and small fire agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services will be resolved through binding individual arbitration administered by the ADR Institute of Canada Inc., under its Arbitration Rules, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Class Action Waiver: You and small fire agree to bring claims against each other only in an individual capacity and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims and may not preside over any form of representative or class proceeding.

Opt-Out: You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by sending written notice to everyone@smallfire.ai within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. Your notice must include your name, address, and a clear statement that you wish to opt out of the arbitration agreement.

Arbitration Process: The arbitration will be conducted by a single arbitrator. The arbitrator's decision is final and binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. You and small fire agree to maintain the confidentiality of any arbitration proceedings.

Exceptions: Either party may bring a claim in small claims court in Vancouver, BC if it qualifies. Either party may also seek injunctive or equitable relief in court for matters relating to intellectual property, confidential information, or unauthorized use of the Services.

Governing Law: This arbitration agreement is governed by the Arbitration Act (British Columbia) and federal laws of Canada applicable therein.

19) IP complaints; notice frameworks

Copyright/DMCA or Canadian notice-and-notice. Send notices to everyone@smallfire.ai with: (i) your contact info; (ii) identification of the work; (iii) the allegedly infringing material/location; (iv) a good-faith statement of unauthorized use; (v) your signature. We will review and respond but may need additional time during beta as we are a small operation. Where appropriate, we may notify the user and remove/disable access.

Counter-notice: Provide a statement under penalty of perjury that the material was removed by mistake, your contact info, and consent to jurisdiction in Vancouver, BC.

20) Privacy; data processing

Our Privacy Policy (below) describes how we collect and use data, including:

By using the Services, you consent to those practices as described in the Privacy Policy.

21) Suspension, termination, and survival

We may suspend or terminate access for suspected violations, legal/safety risk, or Service protection. We will make reasonable efforts to provide notice where feasible, but may take immediate action in serious cases. Upon termination, Sections 4-7 and 12-25 survive.

22) Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms at any time, particularly during beta as we refine our service. If changes are material, we will provide reasonable notice (e.g., email or in-product notification) at least 30 days before the effective date where feasible. For minor changes, we may provide shorter notice or update the "Last updated" date. Changes become effective on the stated date.

If you do not agree to the modified Terms, your sole remedy is to stop using the Services. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the modified Terms.

23) Governing law; venue; injunctive relief

These Terms are governed by the laws of British Columbia, Canada, and applicable federal laws of Canada, without regard to conflicts of law principles. Subject to Section 18 (Arbitration), exclusive venue for any court proceedings lies in courts located in Vancouver, BC, and you consent to personal jurisdiction there. Either party may seek injunctive or equitable relief in court for unauthorized use of IP, confidential information, or the Services.

24) Export, anti-corruption, and sanctions

You represent that you are not subject to Canadian, U.S., or other applicable sanctions and will comply with export controls and anti-corruption laws (including the CFPOA). Government users obtain only the rights set out in these Terms.

25) Miscellaneous

Entire Agreement: These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement and supersede all prior understandings.

Severability: If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable, the parties intend for it to be reformed to the minimum extent necessary to be valid while preserving the parties' intent. If reformation is impossible, the provision will be severed without affecting the validity of the remaining provisions.

Assignment: You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or similar corporate transaction.

Waiver: Our failure to enforce any right or provision does not constitute a waiver of that or any other right. Any waiver must be in writing.

No Agency: Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, employment, or agency relationship.

Notices: Notices to small fire must be sent to everyone@smallfire.ai. Notices to you will be sent to the email address associated with your account. We will respond as quickly as reasonably possible given our small team size.

Contact: For questions about these Terms, email everyone@smallfire.ai.

Annex A — Legal vs. reputational risk; examples

Benign transforms (e.g., summarize/translate) of otherwise restricted content may be allowed when the transform clearly reduces harm and does not meaningfully facilitate wrongdoing.

small fire — Privacy Policy (beta)

Last updated: October 21, 2025
Effective date: September 26, 2025

This Privacy Policy explains how small fire ("small fire," "we," "us") collects, uses, and shares information about people who use our websites, apps, and AI-mediated experiences (the "Services"). It applies to adults 18+ only.

Plain-English summary (not a substitute for the policy):

1) Who we are; how to contact us

2) What we collect

We collect information in the categories below. Exact data varies by feature, device, and settings.

A) Information you provide

B) Automatically collected information

C) Information from third parties

3) Why we use information (purposes of processing)

Information Type How We Use It Legal Basis
Account data Authenticate you, maintain your account, send service emails Contractual necessity
Inputs & Outputs Generate AI responses, improve models, detect abuse Contractual necessity, legitimate interest
Usage/device data Understand how Services are used, fix bugs, improve features, prevent abuse Legitimate interest
Payment data Process payments, prevent fraud, maintain records Contractual necessity, legal obligation
Support communications Respond to requests, fix problems, improve Services Contractual necessity, legitimate interest

Specific purposes:

  1. Provide the Services: Process your Inputs to generate Outputs; maintain your account; deliver requested features
  2. Security & abuse prevention: Detect and prevent fraud, malware, spam, harassment, policy violations; protect users and the Services; maintain trust and safety systems
  3. AI improvement & research: Evaluate and improve AI model quality, accuracy, safety, and reliability; develop better prompts, interfaces, and guardrails; train and fine-tune models
  4. Analytics & product development: Understand usage patterns; identify bugs and performance issues; develop new features; conduct research
  5. Communications: Send transactional emails (account security, service updates, policy changes); respond to support requests; send optional marketing emails if you opt in
  6. Legal compliance: Comply with applicable laws; respond to lawful requests; enforce our Terms of Service; protect our rights and those of users and the public

We follow data minimization principles and privacy-by-design practices, especially during beta when features and processes are still evolving.

4) AI training and model improvement

This is important, so please read carefully.

We use your Inputs, Outputs, and feedback to improve our AI systems. This includes:

Human review: We may manually review a sample of conversations to assess quality and safety. Reviewers are bound by confidentiality obligations, and access is logged. Human review may occur when:

Techniques we use: Where feasible, we employ aggregation, anonymization, filtering of sensitive information, and other privacy-protective measures.

Current limitation: During beta, use of your data for AI improvement is a required part of using the Services. We may offer opt-out options in the future, but they are not currently available.

Third-party model providers: We use third-party AI model providers (see Section 5A) who process your Inputs and Outputs to generate responses. These providers may use your data to improve their own models under their data processing agreements with us, which require protection of your information and compliance with this Policy.

5) Sharing and disclosures

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only as described below:

Service providers (processors): We share information with companies that help us operate the Services, under contracts requiring them to protect your data and use it only for specified purposes:

Safety and legal obligations: We may disclose information when we believe it's necessary to:

Business transfers: If small fire is involved in a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or bankruptcy, your information may be transferred to the successor entity, subject to this Policy.

With your consent: We may share information for other purposes with your explicit consent.

5A) Key service providers

We currently use the following categories of service providers who may process your personal information:

Category Purpose Example Providers
Cloud hosting Store data, run infrastructure Major cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or similar)
AI model providers Process Inputs to generate Outputs Leading AI model vendors
Analytics Understand usage, improve Services Privacy-focused analytics tools
Payment processing Handle transactions Stripe
Email delivery Send account and service emails Standard email service providers

Data Processing Agreements: We maintain agreements with service providers requiring appropriate security measures and limiting use of your data.

International providers: Some service providers operate globally and may process data in the United States and other countries (see Section 6).

Changes: As a beta service, our providers may change. Material changes to key providers will be reflected in updates to this Policy.

6) International transfers

Your information may be processed in:

Different privacy laws: Countries outside Canada may have different privacy protections. Some countries (including the U.S.) may allow government access to data under laws like FISA.

Safeguards we use:

For European/UK users: We provide appropriate safeguards under GDPR Article 46 and UK GDPR. Contact us for copies of our transfer mechanisms.

For Canadian users: We comply with valid legal process but will challenge overly broad requests where possible.

7) How long we keep information (retention)

Information Type Retention Period Why
Active account data While your account is active Provide Services
Deleted account data 90 days after deletion request Allow account recovery, legal obligations
Inputs & Outputs Up to 12 months from creation (during beta) Service improvement, safety systems, AI training
Safety/abuse flags Up to 3 years after incident Protect users and Services
Aggregated/anonymized data Indefinitely Cannot identify you
Payment records 7 years Tax and accounting laws
Support communications 3 years after resolution Service improvement, legal defense
Cookies See Section 10 Varies by type

Your deletion rights: You can request deletion of your data (see Section 8). We will comply except where we must retain data for:

After retention periods expire, we securely delete or anonymize information so it can no longer identify you.

8) Your privacy rights

Depending on your location (particularly under PIPEDA, BC PIPA, GDPR, or UK GDPR), you may have the following rights:

How to exercise your rights:

  1. Email us at everyone@smallfire.ai
  2. Include: Your name, email address associated with your account, and specific request
  3. Verification: We will verify your identity before processing requests
  4. Response time: We will respond within 30 days (may extend to 45 days if complex, with notice)

If we deny your request, we will explain why and provide information about how to appeal or file a complaint.

Account deletion process:

  1. Email everyone@smallfire.ai with "Delete my account" from your registered email
  2. We verify your identity and confirm deletion
  3. Your account access is immediately revoked
  4. Personal information is deleted within 30 days per Section 7 retention schedules
  5. Anonymized/aggregated data may be retained

Complaints: You may file a complaint with:

9) Sensitive information

We do not require sensitive personal information (health conditions, financial account numbers, biometric data, precise geolocation), but you may voluntarily include it in your Inputs.

If you choose to share sensitive information:

Important reminder: The Services are not confidential professional services. We are not bound by doctor-patient, lawyer-client, or therapist-patient confidentiality. Do not share information you want kept strictly private.

Special categories (health, racial/ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, sex life): By voluntarily submitting such information, you provide implicit consent for us to process it as described in this Policy.

10) Cookies and similar technologies

Cookie Type Purpose Duration Can You Disable?
Essential Authentication, security, session management, core features Session or up to 90 days No – required for Services
Functional Remember preferences, language settings Up to 1 year Yes, but may affect experience
Analytics Understand usage patterns, improve Services Up to 2 years Yes

Specific tools we use:

Your controls:

Do Not Track: Most browsers offer a "Do Not Track" signal. Because there is no industry standard for responding to DNT signals, we do not currently alter our practices in response to DNT. However, you can control cookies through your browser settings.

We do not use:

11) Security

We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect your information:

Technical measures:

Operational measures:

Your responsibilities:

No perfect security: Despite our efforts, no system is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your information.

12) Data breach notification

If we experience a breach of security safeguards involving personal information that poses a real risk of significant harm, we will:

  1. Notify affected individuals as soon as feasible by email
  2. Notify the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as required by PIPEDA
  3. Notify other authorities as required by applicable law (GDPR, etc.)
  4. Provide information about the breach, potential harm, and steps we're taking

What we'll tell you:

13) Automated decision-making and content moderation

We use automated systems to:

Human review: You can request human review of:

How to request review: Email everyone@smallfire.ai with details about what happened and why you believe the decision was incorrect. We will review and respond, though we cannot guarantee reversal.

14) Marketing communications

We do not send marketing emails unless you opt in.

Types of communications:

To unsubscribe from marketing:

15) Children's privacy

The Services are strictly for adults 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided information:

If you are under 18: Do not use the Services or provide any information.

16) Third-party links and services

Our Services may link to or integrate with third-party services (payment processors, single sign-on providers, external resources). Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies, not this one.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party services we do not control.

17) Data accuracy

We rely on you to provide accurate information. You are responsible for keeping your account data current.

To update your information: Log into your account settings or email everyone@smallfire.ai with requested changes.

18) Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. If changes are material, we will:

Continued use of the Services after changes take effect signifies your acceptance of the updated Policy.

19) Contact us

Response times:

Annex A — For European/UK users (GDPR/UK GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area or United Kingdom, this section provides additional information required by GDPR/UK GDPR.

Legal bases for processing:

Your GDPR rights (in addition to Section 8):

International transfers: We transfer data outside the EEA/UK using Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the EU Commission. Contact us for copies.

Data Protection Officer: As a small operation, we are not currently required to appoint a formal DPO. Contact everyone@smallfire.ai for all data protection matters.

Retention: See Section 7. We retain data only as long as necessary for the purposes listed.

Annex B — For Quebec users

If you are located in Quebec, you have additional rights under Quebec's privacy laws:

Contact everyone@smallfire.ai to exercise Quebec-specific rights. We are committed to compliance with Quebec's Law 25 and related privacy legislation.