terms of service

Welcome to cynoa. These terms are the agreement between you and cynoa for using our services. We have tried to keep them clear instead of burying you in legal language. By using cynoa, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use cynoa.

In these terms, "cynoa," "we," "us," and "our" refer to the operator of cynoa. "You" means the person using cynoa. "Services" means the cynoa website, app, and anything connected to them.

Who can use cynoa

You must be at least 13 years old to use cynoa. If you are under 18, you should have a parent or guardian's permission to use it, and by using cynoa you confirm that you have it. By using cynoa, you confirm that you meet these requirements and that the information you give us is accurate.

What cynoa is, and what it is not

Cynoa is a tool that helps you explore paths after high school and think through your options. It is meant to inform and support you.

Cynoa is not a substitute for a professional. It does not give personalized financial, investment, legal, or medical advice. Anything cynoa tells you about costs, deadlines, financial aid, admissions odds, job markets, or similar topics is general information that can change and can sometimes be wrong or out of date. Always double-check important details with the official source (a school, a program, a government website, a counselor, or another qualified person) before you make a decision based on it.

Cynoa does not guarantee any outcome. Using cynoa does not guarantee that you will get into a school, receive a scholarship, get a job, or reach any particular goal. Your future depends on you and on many factors outside our control.

About the AI

Cynoa’s chat is powered by artificial intelligence. AI can make mistakes, misunderstand you, "make things up," or give incomplete or outdated answers. You are responsible for reviewing and verifying anything cynoa tells you before you rely on it, especially for anything important. Treat what cynoa says as a helpful starting point, not the final word, and never as your only source.

Your account

To use some features, you may need to create an account. You agree to give accurate information, keep your login secure, and not share your account with others. You are responsible for activity that happens under your account. If you think someone else is using your account, contact us right away.

Using cynoa responsibly

When you use cynoa, you agree not to:

• Use it for anything illegal or harmful.
• Try to break, hack, overload, or disrupt the service, or get around its security or safety features.
• Copy, scrape, reverse engineer, or resell the service or its content, or use it to build a competing product.
• Use it to harass, harm, exploit, or deceive others, or to create content that is hateful, dangerous, sexual, or otherwise inappropriate.
• Use it to break the law or violate anyone's rights.
• Misrepresent your age or identity.

If you misuse cynoa, we may limit, suspend, or close your access.

Your content and your data

You keep ownership of what you put into cynoa. By using cynoa, you give us permission to use your content as needed to provide and improve the service for you, and to send it to our AI provider so the chat can respond, as described in our Privacy Policy. How we handle your information is explained in that Privacy Policy, and by using cynoa you also agree to it.

If you send us feedback or suggestions, we may use them to improve cynoa without any obligation to you.

Third-party services

Cynoa relies on third-party services (like our AI provider, hosting, and sign-in). Your use of cynoa may also be subject to those providers' terms, and we are not responsible for third-party services we do not control.

Cynoa is free

Cynoa is free to use. Because it is free and still growing, we provide it "as is." We may add, change, or remove features, and we may pause or stop the service, at any time. We will try to give notice of major changes when we reasonably can.

Our brand and content

The cynoa name, logo, star mark, design, and content belong to us and are protected by law. You may not use them without our permission, except as needed to use cynoa normally.

Disclaimers

Cynoa is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including any implied warranties of accuracy, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not promise that cynoa will always be accurate, complete, available, secure, or error-free.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent allowed by law, cynoa and its operator will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss or decision that results from your use of, or reliance on, cynoa. To the fullest extent allowed by law, our total liability for any claim relating to cynoa will not exceed one hundred U.S. dollars ($100), since cynoa is a free service. Some places do not allow certain limits, so some of these may not apply to you.

Indemnification

To the extent allowed by law, you agree to cover us for claims, losses, or costs that arise from your misuse of cynoa or your violation of these terms. We do not expect this to apply to normal, good-faith use of cynoa as intended.

Ending your use

You can stop using cynoa and delete your account at any time. We can also suspend or end your access if you break these terms, misuse the service, or if we need to for legal or safety reasons. Some parts of these terms, like the disclaimers, limitation of liability, and ownership, continue to apply even after you stop using cynoa.

Disputes and governing law

We would much rather solve any problem directly, so if you have a concern, please contact us first and give us a chance to make it right. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Minnesota and the United States, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute that cannot be resolved informally will be handled by the courts located in Minnesota, unless the law that applies to you provides otherwise.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as cynoa grows. When we do, we will update the "last updated" date above, and if the changes are significant, we will try to give you a clearer heads-up. Using cynoa after a change means you accept the updated terms.

The rest

If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest still applies. These terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the full agreement between you and cynoa about the service. We may transfer our rights and duties under these terms (for example, if cynoa is passed to another operator); you may not transfer yours without our permission.

Contact

If you have any questions about these terms, contact us at:

Cynoa is a free tool built to help students. These terms exist to keep it safe and fair for everyone who uses it.