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Terms of Service

Last updated: March 17, 2026

1. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("Buyer," "you," or "your") and FirstHandAPI, Inc. ("FirstHandAPI," "we," "us," or "our") governing your access to and use of the FirstHandAPI platform, API, documentation, and related services (collectively, the "Service").

By creating an organization account, generating API keys, or submitting jobs to the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you are using the Service on behalf of an organization, you represent and warrant that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Description of Service

FirstHandAPI is an API-first crowdsourced content collection marketplace. Buyers post jobs requesting files (images, audio, video) via REST API. Workers accept jobs and upload content. Every submission is scored by AI for quality (1-5 stars), and approved files are delivered to the buyer's per-job folder. The Service supports image, audio, and video file formats.

Job acceptance is immediate. AI scoring is asynchronous. The Service operates on a queue-first model where workers are matched to jobs based on trust scores, job category, and availability.

3. Account Registration

To use the Service, you must register an organization and generate at least one API key. API keys are issued with environment-specific prefixes: fh_live_ for production and fh_test_ for sandbox. You are responsible for:

  • Safeguarding your API keys. API keys provide full access to your organization's resources and must be treated as secrets.
  • All activity that occurs under your API keys, whether authorized by you or not.
  • Maintaining accurate and current registration information.
  • Promptly revoking any API key you believe has been compromised.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use the Service to:

  • Submit content that is illegal, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise objectionable under applicable law.
  • Submit content that exploits minors or facilitates human trafficking.
  • Reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to derive the source code, algorithms, or data models of the Service.
  • Circumvent, disable, or interfere with rate limits, security features, or access controls.
  • Use the Service to build a competing crowdsourced content collection platform.
  • Interfere with the integrity of the worker trust scoring system or attempt to manipulate scoring outcomes.
  • Exceed published rate limits or engage in patterns of API usage designed to degrade service performance.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access for violations of this policy, with or without prior notice depending on the severity of the violation.

5. Credit Billing

The Service operates on a pre-paid credit model. You purchase credits in advance, and credits are consumed when jobs are completed. Credit pricing varies by job category, priority lane, and volume tier. Key billing terms:

  • Pre-paid: Credits must be purchased before submitting jobs. Jobs submitted without sufficient credit balance will be rejected.
  • No refunds: Credit purchases are non-refundable, except within a 7-day window from purchase date for unused credits. Refund requests must be submitted to billing@firsthandapi.com.
  • Expiration: Unused credits expire 12 months from the date of purchase. Expired credits cannot be recovered or refunded.
  • Auto-top-up: If enabled, your account will be automatically charged when your balance falls below the configured threshold. You may disable auto-top-up at any time.

6. Service Level Disclaimers

We publish target turnaround times for each scoring lane (Fast, Standard, Deep) and target API uptime percentages. These targets are best-effort performance goals, not contractual guarantees. Actual performance may vary based on job complexity, worker availability, and system load.

Enterprise customers with a separate Master Service Agreement (MSA) may receive contractual SLA commitments with defined remedies. Such commitments are governed by the MSA and supersede this section.

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

7. Intellectual Property

Your content: You retain all ownership rights to the job content you submit to the Service. By submitting content, you grant FirstHandAPI a limited, non-exclusive license to process that content solely for the purpose of performing the scoring services you have requested.

Our platform: FirstHandAPI retains all rights to the platform, including the API, routing algorithms, trust scoring models, aggregate worker performance data, and all associated intellectual property. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right to our proprietary technology or data.

Aggregate data: We may use de-identified, aggregate data derived from Service usage (such as submission volume trends and category distributions) to improve the Service. Such aggregate data does not include your job content or identify you or your organization.

8. Worker Conduct

Workers on the FirstHandAPI platform are managed by FirstHandAPI. Workers are not your employees, agents, or contractors. You may not attempt to directly contact, hire, or solicit workers who have completed your jobs. FirstHandAPI is solely responsible for worker onboarding, training, AI quality scoring, compensation, and conduct.

9. Confidentiality

Worker access to your job content is strictly scoped. Workers see only the content necessary to complete their assigned job and cannot access other jobs, organization details, or historical submissions. All worker access is logged and auditable. Workers are bound by confidentiality obligations as a condition of their participation on the platform.

10. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL FIRSTHANDAPI, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, USE, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE.

OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO FIRSTHANDAPI IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100).

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless FirstHandAPI and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or in connection with: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any applicable law or regulation; or (d) the content you submit to the Service.

12. Termination

You may terminate your account at any time by revoking all API keys and contacting us to close your organization. We may suspend or terminate your access immediately, without prior notice, if you violate these Terms or engage in activity that we reasonably believe may cause harm to the Service, its users, or workers.

Upon termination: (a) your right to use the Service ceases immediately; (b) any remaining credit balance is forfeited unless the termination is initiated by us without cause, in which case we will refund your remaining unused credits; (c) we will retain and delete your data in accordance with our Privacy Policy retention schedule.

13. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, United States, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in San Francisco County, California.

14. Dispute Resolution

Before filing any formal legal proceeding, you agree to attempt to resolve any dispute informally by contacting us at legal@firsthandapi.com. We will attempt to resolve the dispute informally within 30 days. If the dispute is not resolved within that period, either party may proceed with binding arbitration administered by JAMS under its Streamlined Arbitration Rules, conducted in San Francisco, California. The arbitrator's decision shall be final and binding.

CLASS ACTION WAIVER: YOU AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEEDINGS WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION.

15. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any applicable Master Service Agreement, constitute the entire agreement between you and FirstHandAPI regarding the Service and supersede all prior agreements, understandings, and communications, whether written or oral. If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

16. Contact

For questions about these Terms, contact us at:

FirstHandAPI, Inc.
Email: legal@firsthandapi.com