Terms & Conditions

Welcome to ShieldMate (https://shieldmate.org). By accessing this website, you agree to these Terms and Conditions.

1. No professional advice

ShieldMate is an educational platform. The stories, expert notes, and guides provided are for general informational purposes only.

• Not expert advice: content does not constitute legal, financial, or professional security advice.
• No warranty: we do not warrant that the information is accurate, complete, or applicable to your circumstances. Use of any information or recommendations is at your own risk.
• No endorsement: mention of specific tools or services is illustrative and is not a formal endorsement.

2. Not an emergency service

ShieldMate is NOT an emergency response service. If you are in immediate danger or a crime is currently in progress, contact your local emergency services (for example, 000 in Australia, 911 in the USA).

• For reporting cyber crime, contact your national authority (for example, ReportCyber in Australia).

3. Help directory disclaimer

We provide a directory of contact details for third-party organizations (police, helplines, and others) as a convenience. We do not guarantee the accuracy of these details or the quality of service provided by these third parties.

4. The message checker

Our message checker at /check examines a message, link, or email file you provide and reports specific technical observations about it. The following apply to that tool.

• It cannot tell you something is safe. The checker only ever reports concerns. Finding nothing does not mean a message is genuine, and we never state or imply that it is. Many scams contain none of the technical signs the tool looks for.
• It is not advice about your situation. The output is general information and education, not a professional assessment, and not a recommendation to act or refrain from acting.
• It describes the message, not any organization named in it. A scammer choosing to impersonate a company tells you nothing about that company. Nothing the checker reports is a statement about any third party’s conduct, security, or integrity.
• You must not rely on it as your only safeguard. It may miss a genuine scam, and it may raise concerns about a legitimate message. Verify anything that matters directly with the organization involved, using contact details you already had.
• We do not keep what you submit. The message is processed and discarded. See our Privacy Policy for what that means in practice, including the third-party services a link is checked against.
• Acceptable use. Do not use the checker to test whether your own messages evade detection, to submit content you have no right to share, or to send automated or bulk requests. We rate limit the tool and may block access.

5. Eligibility

This website is intended for users aged 18 years or older. By using the site, you represent that you meet this age requirement.

6. Story submissions

By submitting a story to ShieldMate, you agree to the following:

• License: you grant Spell Shield Pty Ltd a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, edit, and publish your submission.
• Originality: you represent that the story is based on your own experience and is not copied from third-party sources.
• Moderation and editing: we respect your voice and will strive to preserve the original intent of your story. We reserve the right to edit, modify, truncate, or re-write submissions, primarily to ensure clarity, maintain a safe environment, and remove any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or harmful content.
• Prohibited content: you must not submit content that is defamatory, intentionally false, or intended to harass individuals or businesses.

7. Finality of submissions

Because we do not use accounts or track personal identifiers:

• No right of deletion: once a story is submitted, we cannot reliably verify the identity of the author. All submissions are considered final and part of our public archive.
• Goodwill review: we may, at our sole discretion, redact or remove a story if a user provides a compelling reason, but we are under no legal obligation to do so if the author’s identity cannot be verified.

8. Reserved right to report

While we are a private entity and not a law enforcement agency, we reserve the right to report any submission to relevant authorities if it describes an immediate threat to life, child exploitation, or a serious ongoing criminal act.

9. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by the Australian Consumer Law:

• As-is service: ShieldMate is provided “as-is.” We do not guarantee 100% uptime.
• Liability cap: the Company’s total liability for any claim arising from your use of the site is limited to $10.00 AUD.
• Consequential loss: we are not liable for any indirect or consequential loss resulting from your reliance on the site content.

10. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of South Australia. You agree to the jurisdiction of the courts of South Australia for any disputes.

11. Voluntary support

ShieldMate accepts voluntary contributions via Stripe. These are goodwill contributions, not purchases. They do not entitle you to any services, features, or preferential treatment, and all contributions are non-refundable. Payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe and is subject to their terms and conditions.

12. Contact

Email: hello@shieldmate.io