Terms of Service

1. Who we are

ScholarOut is a student profile network operated from Canada. In these terms, "ScholarOut", "we", "us" and "our" mean the operator of scholarout.com and its related services. "You" means anyone who visits or uses ScholarOut, including students, parents and guardians, and visitors who view public profiles or scholarship campaigns.

2. Accepting these terms

By creating an account, or by using ScholarOut in any way, you agree to these Terms, our Privacy Policy, our Cookie Policy, our Acceptable Use Policy and our Community Guidelines. If you do not agree, do not use ScholarOut.

If you are under the age of majority in your province, state or country (18 or 19 in most of Canada), you may only use ScholarOut with the knowledge and permission of a parent or legal guardian, who agrees to these Terms on your behalf and is responsible for your use of the service.

3. Who can join

ScholarOut enforces the following age rules when an account is created:

• You must be at least 12 years old. Sign-up is refused for anyone under 12.
• If you are under 16, you must provide your parent or guardian's full name, email address and phone number. Your profile stays private — hidden from search and from other users — until your parent or guardian approves it through the link we send them.
• You must give your real name and real date of birth. Providing false age or parent information is a serious breach of these Terms and will result in your account being removed.
• You may hold only one account, and you may not create an account for someone else (except a parent or guardian helping their own child sign up).

4. Parents and guardians

By approving a student's profile, a parent or guardian confirms that they are that student's parent or legal guardian, that they consent to the student using ScholarOut, and that they consent to the collection and use of the student's information as described in our Privacy Policy.

Parents and guardians may ask us at any time to review, correct or delete their child's information, or to close their child's account, by contacting us through the Contact Us page.

5. Your account

You are responsible for keeping your password secure and for everything that happens under your account. Tell us right away if you think your account has been accessed without your permission.

You may delete your account at any time from your profile page. Deletion is permanent: your profile, entries, photos, videos, connections and campaigns are erased and cannot be recovered.

6. Your content

You own the content you post — your profile information, achievements, photos and videos. By posting it, you give ScholarOut a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, display and reproduce that content only as needed to operate and improve the service (for example, showing your public profile to people you share your link with). This licence ends when you delete the content or your account, except for copies held for a limited time in backups or where we must keep them by law.

You confirm that you have the right to post everything you upload, that it is truthful, and that it does not include anyone else's personal information or image without their permission.

If you choose a shareable link, anyone with the link can see what that setting allows. Think carefully before posting, and never post your home address, phone number, school timetable or other information that could be used to locate you.

7. Scholarship campaigns

Students may create microscholarship campaigns with a goal between $100 and $10,000. At present, campaigns accept pledges only — no money is collected or processed through ScholarOut.

When payments are introduced, donations will be paid toward the student's tuition directly at their school, not to the student or their family. ScholarOut will keep a 3% service fee, and card or PayPal processing fees will be added on top for the donor. Students will be shown and asked to confirm these terms before creating a campaign, and these Terms will be updated before any payment is accepted.

Pledges and donations are voluntary gifts. They are not purchases, do not buy any goods or services, and are not tax-deductible charitable donations — ScholarOut is not a registered charity. Campaign descriptions must be accurate; misleading or fraudulent campaigns will be removed.

8. Acceptable use

You must follow our Acceptable Use Policy and Community Guidelines. In particular, you must never use ScholarOut to contact a minor for any inappropriate purpose, to bully or harass anyone, or to collect other users' information.

9. Suspension and removal

We may remove content, restrict features, or suspend or delete any account, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe it breaches these Terms, puts a student at risk, or exposes ScholarOut or others to legal liability. Where we believe a child is in danger, we may report it to police or child protection authorities, including Cybertip.ca.

10. Our intellectual property

The ScholarOut name, owl logo, website design and software belong to ScholarOut and are protected by Canadian and international law. See our Intellectual Property page for details.

11. Disclaimers

ScholarOut is provided "as is" and "as available". We do not verify every statement users make about their achievements, and we do not guarantee any educational, admissions, employment or scholarship outcome. We do not promise the service will be uninterrupted or error-free.

Nothing in these Terms limits any rights you have under consumer protection laws that cannot be waived, including laws in your province.

12. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, ScholarOut will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, or for loss of data, opportunities or goodwill, arising from your use of the service. Our total liability for any claim relating to ScholarOut is limited to CAD $100. These limits do not apply to liability that cannot be limited by law, such as liability for gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

13. Indemnity

If you are an adult user, you agree to compensate ScholarOut for losses and reasonable legal costs arising from your breach of these Terms or your misuse of the service. For users under the age of majority, this obligation rests with the parent or guardian who approved the account, to the extent permitted by law.

14. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If changes are significant, we will notify you on the site or by email before they take effect. Continuing to use ScholarOut after changes take effect means you accept them.

15. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply there. Any dispute will be heard by the courts of Ontario, unless the consumer protection law of your place of residence gives you the right to bring proceedings where you live.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent to us through the Contact Us page or by email to info@scholarout.com.