Terms of Service

1. The agreement

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are an agreement between ScoutNest ("ScoutNest," "we," "us") and you. They cover the ScoutNest web app, mobile apps, website and related emails (the "Service"). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree, please don't use the Service.

When you sign up a troop, pack, crew or ship (a "troop"), you confirm that you're authorized to act for it, and you accept these Terms on the troop's behalf as well as your own. We call that person, and anyone they make an admin, a troop admin.

2. Who can use ScoutNest

• Adults (18 or older) can create troops and accounts.
• Scouts can use ScoutNest only through an invitation from their troop. A scout under 18 must have a parent's or guardian's permission. A scout under 13 can have a login only with a parent's or guardian's consent, given to ScoutNest as described in our Children's Privacy Notice; ScoutNest checks the scout's age and keeps the login switched off until a parent consents. The parent or guardian accepts these Terms on the scout's behalf.
• You can't use the Service if we've previously removed you from it, or if the law doesn't allow you to.

3. Accounts and access

• Give accurate information and keep it up to date.
• Keep your sign-in secure. Don't share your account; each person should have their own.
• You're responsible for what happens under your account. Tell us right away if you think someone else has used it.
• One person can belong to more than one troop. What you can see and do in each troop depends on the role that troop gives you.

4. Troop admin responsibilities

Troop admins decide who joins the troop in ScoutNest and what they can do. By running a troop on ScoutNest, the troop agrees to:

• invite only people who belong in the troop, and remove access promptly when someone leaves or should no longer have it;
• have the right to add the information it puts into ScoutNest, including any notices or permissions the law or the troop's chartered organization requires;
• get a parent's or guardian's permission before adding a scout's information or inviting a scout to sign in, and never try to give a scout under 13 a login without their parent's consent through ScoutNest (for example, by entering a wrong birthdate);
• confirm an adult as a scout's parent or guardian in ScoutNest only if you know that to be true;
• give leadership roles and permissions only to adults who are entitled to them under the troop's and Scouting America's rules, including current Youth Protection Training where required;
• use ScoutNest's safety features as intended and not work around them (see Youth safety); and
• handle requests from members about their own information, with our help where needed.

5. Your troop's content

You own it. Everything you and your troop put into ScoutNest — rosters, events, messages, photos, notes, financial records and so on ("Content") — belongs to you or your troop.

You give us permission to host, store, copy, display and send your Content only as needed to provide, secure and support the Service for you. This permission ends when the Content is deleted from the Service, except for copies in backups that expire on their regular schedule and anything we must keep by law.

You're responsible for your Content, and you confirm you have the right to share it. That includes photos of other people: only upload photos you have permission to share, and follow your troop's photo policy.

Export. You can ask us for a copy of your troop's Content at any time, including after you stop using ScoutNest, as described in Ending your use.

6. Acceptable use

Use ScoutNest to run Scouting activities. Don't use it to:

• harass, threaten, bully, or harm anyone, or post hateful, sexually explicit or violent material;
• contact a young person in a way that breaks Youth Protection rules, or try to get around ScoutNest's parent-copying, privacy or approval features;
• share someone's personal information without permission, or collect information about members for purposes unrelated to the troop;
• send spam, chain messages, or commercial or political solicitations unrelated to the troop;
• upload anything illegal, or that infringes someone else's rights;
• access another troop's information, another person's account, or any part of the Service you're not authorized to use;
• probe, scan or test the Service's security, or disrupt or overload it, except through a coordinated disclosure with us;
• copy, resell or reverse-engineer the Service, or use automated tools to scrape it; or
• break any law.

We may remove Content or suspend access that violates these rules, and we'll report suspected child exploitation or abuse to the authorities.

7. Youth protection

ScoutNest includes features that support Scouting's Youth Protection policies — for example, copying a scout's parent on every message to or from that scout, and limiting who can see a scout's contact details. These features help, but they don't replace your troop's responsibilities: training, two-deep leadership, supervision and reporting stay with the troop and its adults. See Youth safety for details and how to report a concern.

8. Early access, free trial and pricing

• Free trial. New troops start with a free trial with every feature unlocked.
• Early access. ScoutNest is new. During early access we'll work closely with troops, and features may change, be added or be removed as we improve the Service.
• No surprise charges. We'll never charge a troop unless it agrees to a paid plan. Before the trial ends we'll explain any plan options and their prices. If your troop doesn't choose a plan, we may pause the account; we'll keep its data for a reasonable time so you can come back or export it (see our Privacy Policy).
• Paid plans. If we introduce paid plans, their prices, billing terms and refund policy will be shown before you agree to them, and will form part of these Terms.

9. Our service

We'll work to keep ScoutNest available, secure and reliable, but we can't promise it will always be uninterrupted or error-free. We may need to take it down for maintenance, and we may change or discontinue features. If we make a change that significantly reduces what the Service does for your troop, we'll tell troop admins in advance where we reasonably can.

ScoutNest helps with record-keeping, but it isn't the official system of record for Scouting America membership, registration, advancement or training. Keep official records where your council requires them.

Some features send email or notifications through third-party providers. We can't guarantee that every message will be delivered or read, so don't rely on ScoutNest alone for emergencies or urgent safety information.

10. Feedback

We love hearing how to make ScoutNest better. If you send us ideas or suggestions, we may use them without owing you anything. We won't share your name with your feedback publicly without asking.

11. ScoutNest's property and trademarks

The Service — its software, design, text, graphics and the ScoutNest name and logo — belongs to ScoutNest and is protected by law. These Terms give you the right to use the Service, not to own it.

ScoutNest is an independent product. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Scouting America (formerly the Boy Scouts of America) or any other Scouting organization. "Scouting America," "Boy Scouts of America," "Cub Scouts," "Eagle Scout" and related names and marks belong to their owners and are used here only to describe the programs ScoutNest supports.

12. Ending your use

• You can stop using ScoutNest at any time. A member can leave a troop or ask the troop admin to remove them. A troop admin can ask us to close the troop's account.
• We may suspend or end access if you seriously or repeatedly break these Terms, if it's needed to protect members (especially young people), or if the law requires it. Where it's reasonable and safe, we'll tell you first and give you a chance to fix the problem.
• After an account closes, a troop admin can request an export of the troop's Content for a limited time, which we'll tell them when the account closes. After that we delete it, as described in our Privacy Policy.

Sections of these Terms that by their nature should continue — such as ownership, disclaimers, limitation of liability and governing law — survive after your use ends.

13. Disclaimers

We provide the Service with care, but to the extent the law allows, it's provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We don't warrant that the Service will meet every need, or that content created by other users is accurate.

Planning tools in ScoutNest — such as suggested checklists, activities, menus, gear lists and safety reminders — are general guidance. They don't replace your troop's own judgment, the Guide to Safe Scouting, or your council's requirements. Your troop remains responsible for the safety of its activities.

14. Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, ScoutNest won't be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost data, profits or goodwill, arising from your use of the Service. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the greater of the amount your troop paid us in the 12 months before the claim, or US$100.

Some places don't allow these limits, so they may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that can't be limited by law.

15. Indemnity

If someone brings a claim against ScoutNest because of Content you or your troop added, or because you broke these Terms or the law, you agree to cover the reasonable costs and losses that result, to the extent the law allows.

16. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. If you have a concern, please contact us first — most problems can be solved quickly and informally. Any dispute that we can't resolve will be decided in the state or federal courts located in Alameda County, California, and you and we agree to those courts' jurisdiction. If you're a consumer, you keep any rights your local law gives you.

17. General

• Changes. We may update these Terms. The date at the top shows the latest version. For significant changes we'll notify troop admins by email or in the app before they take effect. Continuing to use the Service after that means you accept the new Terms.
• Entire agreement. These Terms, our Privacy Policy, and any plan terms you agree to are the whole agreement between you and ScoutNest about the Service.
• Severability. If part of these Terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies.
• No waiver. If we don't enforce something right away, we haven't given up the right to enforce it later.
• Assignment. You can't transfer these Terms without our consent. We may transfer them if ScoutNest is reorganized or sold, and the new owner must honor them.

18. Contact us

Questions about these Terms? Use our contact form. A real person will reply, usually within one business day.