What you're agreeing to

By creating an Orbit account or using the Orbit app, you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree with either, don't create an account — and if you already have one, delete it.

Who can use Orbit

  • Parent accounts must be created by an adult (18 or older). You agree that you are, in fact, an adult.
  • Child accounts are created by a parent on behalf of their own child. By creating a child account, the parent consents to the processing of the child's data described in our Privacy Policy.
  • Only create child accounts for children you have authority to act for. Don't create an account for someone else's child.

Your account

  • Keep your password safe. Don't share it.
  • You're responsible for what happens on accounts you control — your own, and any child accounts you've created.
  • Each person gets one account. Don't create additional accounts to evade suspensions.
  • If someone else gains access to your account, tell us as soon as you can so we can help you lock it down.

Acceptable use

Don't use Orbit to:

  • Harass, bully, threaten, or abuse another person, inside or outside your family network.
  • Distribute content that sexually exploits children, or any content unlawful where you are.
  • Impersonate another person or misrepresent who you are to bypass contact approval.
  • Send malware, phishing links, or anything intended to harm another user's device.
  • Try to break, probe, or reverse-engineer our systems outside of responsible-disclosure channels.
  • Use Orbit for commercial messaging, marketing, or spam.
  • Build an automated tool or bot that interacts with our service without written permission.

If we find you doing any of these, we'll suspend or terminate the account, and in the case of illegal activity, cooperate with the relevant authorities.

Your content

The messages, display names, filter rules, and avatars you put into Orbit belong to you. We don't own any of it, and we don't claim a licence to reuse it commercially.

Because messages are end-to-end encrypted, we never see their contents on our servers anyway. (See the Security page for how that works in practice.)

Beta status

Orbit is pre-launch. That means:

  • Things may break. We'll fix them as fast as we can.
  • Features may change, appear, or be removed without notice during beta.
  • We may contact you to ask about how it's going — feedback is optional, but welcomed.
  • We reserve the right to reset beta data before general launch, with at least 14 days' notice by email if that becomes necessary.

Pricing

Orbit is free during the beta period. When we introduce paid plans, we'll tell every existing user by email at least 30 days before anything changes, and offer a generous free tier for smaller families. We will never start charging a card without an explicit, in-app opt-in.

The free educational library previewed on our approach page will remain free in perpetuity, as a matter of principle.

Ending the relationship

  • You can delete your account at any time from the app. Deletion removes account data within 30 days, as described in the Privacy Policy.
  • We can suspend or terminate an account if it violates these terms or puts other users at risk. We'll explain why when we can do so without tipping off a bad actor.
  • If we shut Orbit down — we'll give at least 60 days' notice by email and keep the data-export tool available until that date.

No warranty, limited liability

The service is provided "as is" and "as available." During beta especially, don't rely on Orbit for anything safety-critical.

To the fullest extent the law allows, we're not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from use of the service. Nothing in these terms limits any liability we can't legally exclude.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the operating entity is based at the time a dispute arises. We'll publish that here once the company structure is finalised. Until then, use of Orbit remains subject to the acceptable-use and safety provisions above.

Changes to these terms

When we change these terms materially, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top and email every account holder at least 14 days before the change takes effect. If you don't agree with a change, delete your account during that window.

How to reach us

Email hello@orbit.family for any question about these terms, or abuse@orbit.family to report behaviour you believe violates them (addresses reserved at launch).