Terms of Service
Effective Date: July 29, 2026
1. Acceptance of Terms
By accessing or using the Verified Credentials platform ("Service") operated by VectorGuard Labs ("we," "us," or "our"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use the Service.
These Terms apply to all visitors, users, and others who access the Service, including the hosted API at vercre.vectorguardlabs.com and the open-source SDK distributed via PyPI.
2. Description of Service
Verified Credentials is a W3C-compliant SDK with on-chain attestation anchoring. The Service enables users to:
- Issue, verify, and revoke verifiable credentials (KYC, AML, Accredited Investor)
- Anchor credential hashes on-chain (Base network) for tamper-proof verification
- Manage decentralized identifiers (DIDs) and cryptographic key material
- Access a REST API with 70+ endpoints for credential lifecycle management
3. Account Registration
To access certain features of the Service, you must register for an account by calling the onboarding endpoint. You agree to:
- Provide accurate and complete information during registration
- Maintain the security of your API key and credentials
- Accept responsibility for all activities under your account
- Notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account
4. Subscription Plans and Billing
The Service offers multiple subscription tiers (Starter, Professional, Growth, and Enterprise). By subscribing to a paid plan, you agree to:
- Pay the applicable fees as described on our pricing page
- Pay overage charges for usage exceeding your plan's included limits
- Provide valid payment information via Stripe
- Accept that fees are non-refundable unless otherwise stated
We reserve the right to change pricing with 30 days' prior written notice. Continued use of the Service after a price change constitutes acceptance of the new pricing.
5. Acceptable Use
You agree not to use the Service to:
- Issue fraudulent or misleading credentials
- Violate any applicable law or regulation
- Infringe upon intellectual property rights of others
- Interfere with or disrupt the Service or its infrastructure
- Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Service
- Circumvent rate limits or usage restrictions
- Resell or redistribute the Service without prior written consent
6. Intellectual Property
The Verified Credentials SDK is released under the MIT License. You may use, modify, and distribute the SDK in accordance with that license. The hosted Service, API, branding, and documentation remain the intellectual property of VectorGuard Labs.
You retain ownership of all credentials and data you create using the Service. We claim no intellectual property rights over your content.
7. Data and Privacy
Your use of the Service is also governed by our Privacy Policy. By using the Service, you consent to the collection and use of information as described therein.
Credential hashes anchored on-chain are publicly visible but do not contain personally identifiable information. Only cryptographic hashes are stored on-chain.
8. Service Level Agreement (SLA)
8.1 Applicability
This SLA applies exclusively to customers on the Enterprise tier of the Verified Credentials managed API at vercre.vectorguardlabs.com. Starter, Professional, and Growth plans receive best-effort service with no contractual uptime obligation or financial penalty.
8.2 Service Level Guarantees
For Enterprise customers, VectorGuard Labs guarantees the following service levels:
| Metric | Guarantee | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Uptime | 99.9% | No more than ~43 minutes of downtime per month |
| API Latency | p95 < 500ms | 95% of requests respond in under half a second |
| Credential Issuance | 99.5% success rate | No more than 5 failures per 1,000 issuance attempts |
8.3 Uptime Measurement
Monthly uptime is calculated based on the availability of the health endpoint (/v1/health) as monitored by VectorGuard Labs' infrastructure. Uptime percentage is calculated as:
Uptime % = ((Total Minutes in Month - Downtime Minutes) / Total Minutes in Month) × 100
8.4 Exclusions
The following are excluded from downtime calculations:
- Scheduled maintenance with at least 48 hours advance notice
- Issues caused by the customer's own systems or code
- Force majeure events (natural disasters, acts of war, government actions)
- DNS or network issues outside VectorGuard Labs' control
- Third-party service outages (blockchain network, payment processors)
8.5 Service Credits
If VectorGuard Labs fails to meet the uptime guarantee, Enterprise customers are entitled to service credits as follows:
| Monthly Uptime | Service Credit |
|---|---|
| 99.0% – 99.9% | 10% of monthly bill |
| 95.0% – 99.0% | 25% of monthly bill |
| Below 95.0% | 50% of monthly bill |
8.6 Credit Request Process
To receive service credits, Enterprise customers must:
- Submit a credit request via email to pavon@vectorguardlabs.com within 30 days of the incident
- Include the dates and times of the downtime event
- Provide any relevant logs or evidence of the service disruption
Credits are applied to the next monthly invoice and do not constitute a cash refund. Total credits in any billing period shall not exceed 50% of the monthly fee for that period.
8.7 Why Enterprise Customers Need an SLA
Banks, fintechs, and compliance providers integrate our API into their production systems. If the Verified Credentials service experiences downtime:
- Their customers cannot get verified
- Their compliance workflows break
- They potentially violate their own SLAs with their downstream customers
The SLA provides Enterprise customers with:
- A contractual guarantee they can present to their own compliance and legal teams
- Financial remedy (service credits) if we fail to deliver on our commitments
- Confidence that VectorGuard Labs is actively monitoring and invested in uptime
8.8 Infrastructure Backing
Our SLA commitment is backed by production-grade infrastructure including Prometheus SLO burn-rate alerts, automated health checks, canary deployments, and auto-rollback capabilities.
9. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, VectorGuard Labs shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, data, or business opportunities.
Our total liability for any claim arising from the Service shall not exceed the amount you paid to us in the 12 months preceding the claim.
10. Disclaimer of Warranties
The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure (except as expressly stated in the SLA for Enterprise customers).
11. Termination
We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time for violation of these Terms. Upon termination:
- Your right to use the Service ceases immediately
- Credentials already anchored on-chain remain publicly verifiable (blockchain data is immutable)
- We may delete your account data after 30 days
You may terminate your account at any time by contacting us. Prepaid fees for the current billing period are non-refundable.
12. Modifications to Terms
We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. We will notify users of material changes via email or a prominent notice on the Service at least 30 days before changes take effect. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the modified Terms.
13. Governing Law
These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.
14. Contact Information
If you have questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us:
- Email: pavon@vectorguardlabs.com
- Website: vectorguardlabs.com