Candango Terms of Service

Welcome to Candango. These Terms of Service ("Terms") form a legally binding contract between you ("you", "User", "Creator", "Agency", "Sponsor", or "Brand") and Candango, Inc. ("Candango", "we", "us", "our"), regarding your access to and use of the Candango website, platform, application, API, and related services (collectively, the "Services").

By accessing or using the Services, you represent that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, you must immediately discontinue all use of the Services.

1. The Creator Integrity Index (CII) - Informational Tool Only

The Creator Integrity Index (CII) is our proprietary algorithmic scoring system.

• Informational Purposes Only: All CII scores, ratings, analytics, reports, media kits, and data are provided strictly as general informational and benchmarking tools. They are subjective statistical estimates based on available public and authorized third-party data at a given moment.
• No Professional Advice: The Services do not constitute financial, legal, business, employment, or investment advice. We do not endorse, certify, or guarantee any creator's reliability, quality, or suitability for any purpose.
• No Guarantees: We make no representations or warranties regarding accuracy, completeness, reliability, timeliness, or usefulness of any score or data. Third-party data (including YouTube API) can be inaccurate, incomplete, or unavailable.
• No Business Outcome Guarantees: We do not guarantee that any CII score will result in brand deals, sponsorships, revenue, or positive outcomes.

2. Non-Reliance and Estoppel (Critical for Agencies & Sponsors)

You acknowledge that Candango is a passive data aggregator, not a talent agency, broker, guarantor, or fiduciary.

• Agency/Sponsor Non-Reliance: Agencies, sponsors, and brands expressly agree that they will not rely on any CII score or Candango data as the primary or sole basis for hiring, contracting, or making financial decisions. You must conduct your own full independent due diligence, background checks, legal reviews, and risk assessments. You assume all risk associated with any influencer engagement.
• Creator Waiver: Creators waive any claims against Candango for alleged "loss of opportunity," lost income, reputational harm, or career damage resulting from their CII score, changes to their score, or platform actions.

3. FICO Reference Policy

Any reference to "FICO" or "FICO score" on our platform or marketing materials is used solely in a nominative, comparative sense for illustrative purposes only. FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation. Candango is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Fair Isaac Corporation. Our comparison is not intended to imply any relationship or equivalence between the two systems.

4. Accounts, Authentication, and Third-Party Dependencies

• You must authenticate via Google/YouTube OAuth. You are solely responsible for the security of your accounts and credentials.
• The Services heavily depend on third-party APIs (especially YouTube). We are not liable for any changes, downtime, data limitations, or policy shifts by third parties.
• Prohibited Conduct: See Section 10 (Acceptable Use Policy) below.

5. Intellectual Property

All Candango technology, algorithms, CII scoring methodology, designs, logos, trademarks, and content (except your uploaded/authenticated data) are owned exclusively by Candango. You are granted a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Services solely for your internal business or personal purposes while in compliance with these Terms.

6. User Content and Data

You grant Candango a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to access, analyze, process, and display data from your authenticated channels solely to provide the Services. You represent and warrant that you have all necessary rights to connect and grant access to such data.

7. Beta / Experimental Disclaimer

The Services, including the CII scoring system, are currently in development/beta phase. Features, scores, and functionality may change significantly, contain errors, or be discontinued at any time without notice. You acknowledge that use of beta or experimental features is at your own risk.

8. Absolute Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, OR UNINTERRUPTED OPERATION.

9. Limitation of Liability & Liquidated Damages

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL CANDANGO, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, GOODWILL, BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES, OR DATA.

NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY, OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CLAIM OR CAUSE WHATSOEVER SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE LESSER OF (i) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO CANDANGO IN THE THREE (3) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (ii) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (USD $100.00). This is a liquidated damages provision agreed to by the parties as a reasonable estimate of potential harm.

10. Acceptable Use Policy

You agree not to:

• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to discover the CII algorithm or source code;
• Scrape, data mine, or systematically extract data from the Services;
• Submit false, misleading, or manipulated information;
• Use the Services for any unlawful, fraudulent, or harmful purpose;
• Attempt to bypass any security measures or interfere with the Services;
• Use the Services in any way that violates applicable laws or third-party rights.

Violation of this policy may result in immediate termination of your access.

11. DMCA / Copyright Policy

We respect intellectual property rights. If you believe content on the Services infringes your copyright, please send a DMCA notice to legal@candango.com containing all required elements under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. We reserve the right to remove allegedly infringing content and terminate repeat infringers.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Candango and its personnel from any claims, losses, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from:

• Your use of or reliance on the Services;
• Your breach of these Terms;
• Any disputes with third parties related to your use of CII scores or platform data.

13. Force Majeure

Candango shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, war, terrorism, riots, embargoes, fire, flood, strikes, internet or API failures, YouTube policy changes, or governmental actions.

14. Export Control & Restricted Users

The Services are subject to U.S. export control laws. You represent that you are not located in, or a national of, any country subject to U.S. embargo or sanctions, and you will not use the Services in any violation of any export restrictions.

15. Dispute Resolution

• Governing Law: Laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, without regard to conflict of laws principles.
• Venue: Exclusive jurisdiction in state or federal courts located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
• Binding Arbitration (at Candango's option): Disputes may be resolved by binding arbitration under AAA rules.
• Class Action Waiver: All disputes must be brought on an individual basis only. No class, consolidated, or representative actions.
• Attorney Fee Shifting: If Candango prevails in any legal action or arbitration, you shall pay 100% of our reasonable attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses.

16. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access at any time, with or without cause, without notice or liability.

17. Modifications to Terms

We may update these Terms at any time. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance of the new Terms.

18. Severability and Waiver

If any provision is held invalid, the remainder remains enforceable. Our failure to enforce any right does not waive that right.

19. Contact

Legal inquiries: legal@candango.com