Terms of Service
These terms govern your use of SentinelHQ software, services, and infrastructure.
Table of Contents
1. Acceptance of Terms 2. Description of Services 3. Account Registration 4. Subscription Plans & Billing 5. Intellectual Property & Licenses 6. User Responsibilities 7. Prohibited Uses 8. Privacy & Data 9. Service Availability 10. Disclaimer of Warranties 11. Limitation of Liability 12. Indemnification 13. Termination 14. Governing Law 15. Contact1. Acceptance of Terms
By accessing, downloading, or using any SentinelHQ software, services, or infrastructure ("Services"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you (or the entity you represent) ("User") and SentinelHQ Inc., a Delaware corporation ("SentinelHQ," "we," "us," or "our").
If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use our Services. If you are using the Services on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms.
2. Description of Services
SentinelHQ provides an open-core home and commercial security platform including:
- Self-hosted software — downloadable platform for local deployment
- Cloud relay infrastructure — TURN/STUN servers for remote camera access
- Cloud backup services — encrypted video and event storage
- License keys — software licenses unlocking premium features on self-hosted deployments
- OEM/Firmware SDK — tools for manufacturing partners to build compatible hardware
- Managed hosting — fully managed SentinelHQ instances (Enterprise only)
Self-hosted deployments: When you run SentinelHQ on your own hardware, your camera footage, recordings, and personal data are stored entirely on your infrastructure. SentinelHQ Inc. has zero access to locally stored data. This is by design and is a core feature of our platform.
3. Account Registration
To access paid features or the cloud relay, you must create an account. You agree to:
- Provide accurate, current, and complete registration information
- Maintain and promptly update your account information
- Maintain the security of your account password
- Accept responsibility for all activities under your account
- Notify us immediately of any unauthorized account access at [email protected]
You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. We reserve the right to refuse service or terminate accounts at our discretion.
4. Subscription Plans & Billing
4.1 Plans
We offer several subscription tiers as described on our pricing page. The self-hosted Community edition is free and subject to the terms herein regarding acceptable use and licensing.
4.2 Payment
Paid subscriptions are billed in advance on a monthly or annual basis. By providing payment information, you authorize us to charge your payment method. We accept major credit cards, PayPal, ACH bank transfer (Enterprise), and cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC via Coinbase Commerce).
4.3 Price Changes
We may change subscription prices. We will provide at least 30 days' notice via email before any price increase takes effect. Continued use of paid services after the notice period constitutes acceptance.
4.4 Taxes
Prices are exclusive of applicable taxes. Sales tax, VAT, and GST may be added based on your location as required by law. You are responsible for any applicable taxes.
4.5 License Keys
Software license keys are tied to the server machine ID at activation. License keys may be transferred once per 12-month period. License keys are non-refundable after the 14-day return window except as required by law.
5. Intellectual Property & Licenses
5.1 Open-Core License
The SentinelHQ Community Edition source code is licensed under the MIT License. Premium features ("Enterprise Features") are proprietary and require a valid license key. The distinction is documented in the source repository's LICENSE.md file.
5.2 License Grant (Paid)
Upon purchasing a license or active subscription, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable (except as stated in 4.5) license to use the applicable SentinelHQ software for your internal business or personal purposes.
5.3 Restrictions
You may not: (a) resell, sublicense, or distribute Enterprise Features without a white-label agreement; (b) reverse engineer proprietary components; (c) remove copyright notices; (d) use the SentinelHQ name or logo without written permission.
6. User Responsibilities
You are solely responsible for:
- Compliance with all applicable privacy, surveillance, and wiretapping laws in your jurisdiction
- Obtaining proper consent before recording individuals
- Securing your self-hosted installation (passwords, firewall, updates)
- The content of all recordings made using the platform
- Any legal obligations related to your surveillance activities (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, state surveillance laws)
⚠️ Important: Surveillance laws vary widely by location. In many jurisdictions, recording without consent is illegal. You are solely responsible for ensuring your use of SentinelHQ complies with local laws. Consult a legal professional if unsure.
7. Prohibited Uses
You may not use SentinelHQ to:
- Record individuals without lawful basis or required consent
- Conduct unauthorized surveillance of minors
- Stalk, harass, or monitor individuals without their knowledge in violation of law
- Circumvent or attempt to circumvent license enforcement mechanisms
- Use our relay infrastructure for non-security streaming (e.g., live streaming services)
- Conduct any activity that violates applicable laws or regulations
- Attempt to gain unauthorized access to our systems or other users' accounts
- Use the platform for commercial purposes beyond what your license permits
8. Privacy & Data
Our handling of your personal data is described in detail in our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference.
For self-hosted deployments: we do not access, store, or process your camera footage. We may collect telemetry data to improve the platform unless you opt out via TELEMETRY_ENABLED=false in your configuration.
9. Service Availability
Cloud relay services are subject to our Service Level Agreement. We target 99.9% monthly uptime for relay infrastructure. Self-hosted software availability is entirely within your control and is not subject to any SLA.
10. Disclaimer of Warranties
THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, SENTINELHQ DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR COMPLETELY SECURE. YOU USE THE SERVICES AT YOUR OWN RISK.
11. Limitation of Liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SENTINELHQ'S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIMS UNDER THESE TERMS SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF: (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (B) $100 USD.
SENTINELHQ SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL.
12. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless SentinelHQ Inc. and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from: (a) your use of the Services; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your surveillance activities; or (d) your violation of any third-party rights.
13. Termination
Either party may terminate the agreement. You may cancel your subscription at any time through the billing portal. We may suspend or terminate your account immediately for violations of these Terms. Upon termination, your right to use paid features ceases, but your self-hosted installation may continue under the MIT Community License.
14. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to conflict of law provisions. Any disputes shall be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Delaware, and you consent to such jurisdiction.
For EU users: Nothing in these Terms limits your rights under applicable EU consumer protection law or GDPR.
15. Contact
Questions about these Terms: [email protected]
SentinelHQ Inc., 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801, United States
Privacy Policy
We believe in radical transparency about how we handle your data — which is very little of it.
🔒 Core principle: When you self-host SentinelHQ, your camera footage never touches our servers. We designed the entire system around this principle. We are not in the business of selling your data — our business is selling software and relay infrastructure.
1. What We Collect
1.1 Account Data
When you create an account: name, email address, hashed password, organization name, and billing information (processed by Stripe — we never see full card numbers).
1.2 Billing Data
Subscription status, plan type, payment history. Processed by Stripe Inc. (PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant) or PayPal. We store only billing status and subscription metadata, not raw payment card data.
1.3 Usage Data (Optional Telemetry)
With your consent (opt-out available), we collect anonymous usage statistics: feature usage frequency, error rates, performance metrics. No camera footage. No personally identifiable information. Disable via TELEMETRY_ENABLED=false.
1.4 Relay Traffic Metadata
When using our cloud relay: connection timestamps, bytes transferred (for billing metered plans), and relay node used. We do not inspect or store the content of relayed connections — video is end-to-end encrypted.
1.5 Support Communications
If you contact support, we retain the content of communications for up to 3 years to improve our service.
2. What We Do NOT Collect
- Camera footage (self-hosted deployments)
- Motion event recordings or thumbnails (self-hosted)
- Facial recognition or biometric data
- Location data beyond IP-based region detection
- Content of two-way audio communications
- Information about individuals captured on your cameras
3. Cloud Backup (Opt-in)
If you subscribe to our cloud backup service, your recordings and event thumbnails are encrypted client-side on your server using a key derived from your account credentials before transmission. We store the encrypted blob. We cannot decrypt it. The encryption key is never sent to our servers.
4. How We Use Data
| Purpose | Data Used | Legal Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Provide and improve services | Account, usage data | Contract performance |
| Billing & invoicing | Billing data | Contract performance |
| Customer support | Account, communications | Legitimate interest |
| Security & fraud prevention | Account, IP logs | Legitimate interest |
| Product analytics | Anonymous telemetry | Consent (opt-out) |
| Marketing | Email only | Consent (explicit) |
5. Data Sharing
We never sell your data. We share data only with:
- Stripe / PayPal — payment processing
- AWS / Hetzner — cloud infrastructure (encrypted data only)
- Postmark — transactional email delivery
- Legal requirements — if required by valid legal process with proper legal authority
6. Your Rights (GDPR / CCPA)
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to: access your data, correct inaccurate data, delete your account and data, export your data in machine-readable format, opt out of marketing emails, and lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
Exercise your rights: [email protected] — we respond within 30 days.
7. Data Retention
Account data: retained while account is active + 90 days after deletion. Billing records: 7 years (legal requirement). Support tickets: 3 years. Anonymous telemetry: aggregated and anonymized indefinitely.
8. Security
We employ: TLS 1.3 in transit, AES-256 at rest, bcrypt password hashing, SOC 2 Type II compliant infrastructure, annual penetration testing, and responsible disclosure program at [email protected].
9. Contact
Data Protection Inquiries: [email protected]
EU Representative: [email protected]
Acceptable Use Policy
Rules for using SentinelHQ services responsibly and legally.
Permitted Uses
- Monitoring your own property (home, business, vehicle)
- Security monitoring with proper notice and consent
- Building security products using our OEM SDK (with appropriate license)
- Authorized security research and penetration testing of your own systems
- Academic research with appropriate IRB approval and participant consent
Prohibited Uses
Violations may result in immediate account termination and may be reported to law enforcement.
- Illegal surveillance — recording in places with a reasonable expectation of privacy without consent
- Stalking or harassment — monitoring individuals without lawful authority
- Minor surveillance — covert monitoring of minors outside of lawful parental monitoring
- Relay abuse — using our TURN infrastructure for purposes other than security camera relay
- License circumvention — attempting to bypass, crack, or circumvent license key enforcement
- Resale without license — sublicensing or reselling Enterprise Features without a white-label agreement
- Law enforcement sales — without explicit written agreement, selling our platform to law enforcement or government surveillance agencies is prohibited
- Hate, harm, abuse — using the platform to facilitate violence, discrimination, or abuse
Relay Infrastructure Fair Use
Cloud relay plans include fair-use bandwidth limits. Accounts exceeding 5x the plan average may be asked to upgrade or may face bandwidth throttling. Relay infrastructure may not be used for live streaming services, CDN purposes, or VPN replacement.
Enforcement
Report violations to [email protected]. We will investigate and take appropriate action including account suspension, service termination, and referral to law enforcement where required.
Refund Policy
We want you to be happy. Here's exactly when and how refunds work.
Subscriptions
| Situation | Refund | How to Request |
|---|---|---|
| Cancellation within 14-day trial | Full refund | Self-serve or email |
| First month, cancelled within 48hr | Full refund | Email support |
| Annual plan, cancel within 30 days | Full refund | Email support |
| Annual plan, cancel after 30 days | Pro-rated remaining months | Email support |
| Monthly plan mid-cycle cancellation | No refund (access until period end) | Self-serve cancellation |
| Service outage > 24hrs (our fault) | Pro-rated credit | Automatic |
License Keys
License keys are eligible for a full refund within 14 days of purchase if the software does not function as described. After 14 days, license keys are non-refundable.
Exceptional Circumstances
We review refund requests case by case for exceptional circumstances (e.g., medical emergency, documented technical failure on our end). Contact [email protected] with details.
EU Consumer Rights
EU customers have a 14-day right of withdrawal for digital services under the Consumer Rights Directive, unless they explicitly request immediate access to the service (e.g., activating a license key or starting relay access). Our 14-day trial policy is designed to align with and exceed these requirements.
How to Request
Email [email protected] with subject "Refund Request" and your account email. We process refunds within 5–10 business days. Crypto payments are refunded in USD equivalent via bank transfer or store credit at your preference.
Service Level Agreement
Our uptime commitments and credit schedule for cloud relay and managed services.
Uptime Commitment
| Service | Uptime Target | Applies To |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud Relay (US-East) | 99.9% monthly | Relay, Pro, Enterprise |
| Cloud Relay (EU-West) | 99.9% monthly | Pro, Enterprise |
| Cloud Relay (AP-Southeast) | 99.5% monthly | Pro, Enterprise |
| Cloud Backup API | 99.9% monthly | Relay, Pro, Enterprise |
| Dashboard / API | 99.5% monthly | All paid plans |
| Self-hosted software | N/A (your infra) | All |
Credit Schedule
If we fall below the uptime commitment, you are eligible for service credits:
| Monthly Uptime | Credit |
|---|---|
| 99.0% – 99.9% | 10% of monthly fee |
| 95.0% – 99.0% | 25% of monthly fee |
| < 95.0% | 50% of monthly fee |
Credits are applied automatically to the next invoice. Credits do not apply to outages caused by user error, DDoS attacks, third-party providers, or scheduled maintenance windows.
Scheduled Maintenance
Maintenance windows are announced ≥ 72 hours in advance at status.sentinelhq.io. Maintenance is scheduled during low-traffic periods (02:00–05:00 UTC). Maintenance time does not count against uptime calculations.
Gold SLA (Enterprise Add-on)
Enterprise customers with Gold SLA add-on ($200/mo) receive: 99.95% uptime commitment, 4-hour maximum incident response time, dedicated Slack channel, and monthly uptime review calls.
Status & Incidents
Real-time status: status.sentinelhq.io
Subscribe to incident notifications via email, RSS, or webhook.
Cookie Policy
A short, plain-English explanation of how we use cookies on sentinelhq.io.
Cookies We Use
| Cookie | Purpose | Duration | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
sentinel_session | Keep you logged in | Session / 30 days | Essential |
sentinel_csrf | Security protection | Session | Essential |
billing_toggle | Remember monthly/annual preference | 30 days | Functional |
_ph_* | Anonymous product analytics (PostHog) | 1 year | Analytics |
We do not use advertising cookies, Facebook Pixel, Google Ads tracking, or any third-party behavioral advertising technology. We're a privacy company. We mean it.
Opt Out
Essential cookies cannot be disabled (login won't work). Analytics cookies can be disabled at any time via our cookie preferences (footer → "Cookies") or by setting DoNotTrack in your browser.
Open Source Licenses
SentinelHQ is built on and contributes to open-source software.
SentinelHQ Community Edition
The SentinelHQ Community Edition (core platform, MQTT protocol implementation, MediaMTX integration, and device firmware SDK base) is released under the MIT License. Copyright © 2025 SentinelHQ Inc. Full license text at github.com/sentinelhq.
Key Dependencies
| Software | License | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Laravel (PHP) | MIT | Application framework |
| MediaMTX | MIT | RTSP/HLS/WebRTC media server |
| Mosquitto | EPL-2.0 | MQTT broker |
| FFmpeg | LGPL 2.1+ | Video processing |
| PostgreSQL | PostgreSQL License | Database |
| Redis | BSD 3-Clause | Cache & queues |
| Coturn | BSD | TURN/STUN relay |
| ESP-IDF | Apache 2.0 | Device firmware (ESP32) |
Full dependency list and license texts: THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.md