CalmTalk Terms of Use

Effective date: October 8, 2026

Welcome to CalmTalk. These Terms of Use ("Terms") are the rules for using the CalmTalk mobile app, the CalmTalk texting feature, and our related websites (together, "CalmTalk" or the "service"). CalmTalk is operated by Nedra Lukas, a sole proprietor based in Alberta, Canada ("CalmTalk", "we", "us").

We've tried to keep these Terms short and in plain English. Please read them, especially the sections on the AI filter, threat warnings, records, and liability.

The short version

• You must be 18 or older to use CalmTalk.
• CalmTalk uses AI to soften hurtful incoming messages. AI can make mistakes. The original message is always kept, so check it for anything important.
• Threat warnings are best-effort only. CalmTalk is not an emergency service, a crisis line, or a monitoring service. If you are in danger, call 911 or your local emergency number.
• We keep originals unchanged, but we can't promise any court or authority will accept them, and we don't give legal advice.
• Use CalmTalk (including your private texting number) lawfully and respectfully: no harassment, threats, spam, stalking, or impersonation.
• Messaging or texting someone through CalmTalk still counts as contact. Don't use CalmTalk to contact someone if a protection order, restraining order, no-contact order, or parenting or other court order forbids or limits it.
• Subscriptions are billed and cancelled through Google Play and renew automatically until you cancel.
• Nothing in these Terms takes away rights you have under consumer protection laws where you live.

1. Accepting these Terms

By creating an account or using CalmTalk, you agree to these Terms and confirm you have read our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree, please don't use CalmTalk.

2. Who can use CalmTalk

• You must be at least 18 years old.
• You must be able to enter a binding agreement and not be barred from using the service under the laws that apply to you.
• CalmTalk is for personal, non-commercial use, such as communicating with someone you can't cut off, like an ex, a family member, a landlord, or a coworker. It is not for bulk, marketing, or business messaging.

If we learn that someone under 18 has an account, we will close it.

3. Your account

• Give accurate information when you sign up, and keep it up to date.
• Keep your password private. You are responsible for activity on your account unless it happened because of our failure to keep it secure.
• Tell us right away at nedra.anne.lukas@gmail.com if you think someone has accessed your account without permission.
• One person per account. Don't share, sell, or transfer your account.

4. How the kindness filter works, and its limits

CalmTalk's kindness filter uses artificial intelligence (currently OpenAI, accessed through our server) to rewrite hostile incoming messages in a calmer tone. You choose the filter level (Gentle on the free plan; Balanced and Strong with Premium). Optional tags can show what was changed, for example "Name-calling removed".

Please understand the limits:

• AI can make mistakes. It may miss hostile content, soften too much or too little, change the meaning, or flag content that is harmless.
• Softened text is an interpretation, not the sender's words. The sender did not write the softened version and has not approved it.
• The original is always kept unchanged and you can see it at any time with "View original". Always check the original before relying on a message for anything important, such as schedules, money, children's health or safety, deadlines, or legal matters.
• We never change what you send. Your messages are delivered exactly as you write them. The person you message may also use the filter, so they may see a softened version of your message.
• The filter is a tool to help you cope; it is not counselling, therapy, mediation, or advice of any kind.

5. Threat warnings are best-effort, not monitoring

When a message may contain a real threat (for example, violence, harm to children, stalking, or self-harm), CalmTalk does not soften it and shows a safety warning instead, so you don't miss something important.

• Threat warnings are best-effort. The AI can miss threats or flag messages that are not threats. No warning does not mean a message is safe.
• We do not monitor your conversations, review your messages in real time, or contact police, child protection, or anyone else on your behalf.
• CalmTalk is not an emergency service or a crisis line. If you or someone else is in danger, call 911 or your local emergency number. If you are thinking about harming yourself, contact a local crisis line (in Canada and the US you can call or text 988).

6. Records and original messages

CalmTalk keeps original messages unchanged so you have a reliable record. Original messages can't be edited or deleted inside the app. Some features (such as evidence exports, which produce a PDF of originals with digital fingerprints called hashes) are designed to help you keep organized records. The shared calendar works the same way: schedule changes are proposals the other person accepts or declines, and each step is kept in a timestamped change log that can't be edited.

However:

• We make no promise that any court, tribunal, police service, or other authority will accept, admit, or give weight to CalmTalk records or exports. Whether a record is accepted is up to the decision-maker and the rules that apply where you are.
• Records depend on the information we receive. For example, we can't confirm who was physically typing on the other person's phone, and text messages pass through phone carriers we don't control.
• CalmTalk is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Nothing in the app, our website, or our support messages is legal advice. For legal questions, talk to a lawyer where you live.
• You are responsible for keeping your own copies of anything you may need (for example, by downloading exports) before you delete your account. See Section 16.

7. The texting bridge (private phone number)

With the higher Premium tier, you can get a private CalmTalk phone number (provided through our partner Twilio). The other person can text that number like any normal number without installing CalmTalk. Their texts are filtered in your app and the originals are saved, and your replies go out to them as text messages from your private number. For now, texting is available for Canadian phone numbers only.

If you use the texting bridge, you agree that:

• You will use it lawfully, including laws about anti-spam, consent to receive messages, telemarketing, privacy, and recording or keeping communications where you and the other person live.
• You will only text people you already have a genuine reason to communicate with, such as an ex, a family member, a landlord, or a coworker. No marketing, bulk messages, automated messages, or messages to people you don't know.
• You will only text someone who has agreed to get texts from you, or who texted your CalmTalk number first. When you add a text contact, you confirm this. CalmTalk won't send your first text to someone until they have texted your number or you have confirmed they agreed.
• If you text someone first, your first text includes a short notice. When the person has not texted your CalmTalk number before, your first text to them starts with a short intro that includes your name (you can edit the wording) and ends with "Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for info." This notice is required and can't be removed, and we keep a record of when it was sent. If the person texted your number first, nothing is added to your replies.
• You will not use it to harass, threaten, or contact someone who has asked you to stop, or in breach of any court order, protection order, or no-contact condition.
• Texting someone through your CalmTalk number still counts as contact. Texts from your private number are contact with that person just like texts from your own phone, even though they come from a different number. Do not use the texting bridge to text someone if a protection order, restraining order, no-contact order, bail condition, or parenting or other court order forbids or limits contact with them (see also Section 8).
• You will respect opt-outs. If the other person replies STOP (or similar), they will stop receiving texts from your CalmTalk number, and you must not try to get around this.
• The number is ours to assign, not yours to keep. It is licensed to you only while your plan is active. If you cancel or downgrade, the number may be turned off. If you delete your account, the number is turned off right away, held for 90 days, and then released to the phone carrier, which may later assign it to someone else. CalmTalk never gives your number to another CalmTalk user. We can't transfer ("port") it to you, and we may need to change your number if a carrier or Twilio requires it.
• Calendar texts. If you use the shared calendar with a text contact, CalmTalk texts them a plain summary of each change you propose from your private number, and their YES or NO reply is recorded as their answer. These texts follow the same rules as your other texts (including the first-text notice and STOP).
• Limits apply. Carriers and Twilio set rules, filters, and limits on text messaging. Some messages may be delayed, filtered, or not delivered, and some features (such as picture messages or international texting) may not be available everywhere. We may set reasonable usage limits to prevent abuse.
• Fees. The other person's mobile carrier may charge them their normal texting rates. Your own data charges may apply to using the app.
• People who text your number are not CalmTalk users and have not agreed to these Terms. We handle their information on your behalf as described in our Privacy Policy, and you are responsible for how you use what they send you.

8. Acceptable use

CalmTalk exists to make difficult conversations safer. You agree not to use CalmTalk to:

• harass, bully, threaten, intimidate, or abuse anyone;
• stalk, track, monitor, or control someone, or contact someone in breach of a protection order, restraining order, no-contact order, bail condition, or parenting or other court order;
• impersonate anyone or misrepresent who you are;
• send illegal content, including content that sexually exploits or endangers children (which we report to authorities as the law requires), non-consensual intimate images, or hate speech;
• send spam, scams, phishing, malware, or unsolicited marketing;
• break any law, or violate anyone's privacy or intellectual property rights;
• create fake records, tamper with or misrepresent CalmTalk records or exports, or use them to mislead a court or anyone else;
• interfere with, overload, reverse-engineer, scrape, or try to get around the security or limits of CalmTalk, except where the law allows this despite this restriction;
• access another person's account or messages without permission.

Messages through CalmTalk still count as contact

Sending someone a message in CalmTalk, or texting them through a private CalmTalk number, is contact with that person. This is true even if the kindness filter softens what they see, and even if they don't use the CalmTalk app. Do not use CalmTalk to contact someone if a protection order, restraining order, no-contact order, bail condition, or parenting or other court order forbids or limits contact with them. If an order allows only limited contact (for example, only about the children, or only in a certain way), you are responsible for following it. CalmTalk can't check what your order allows; if you're not sure, ask a lawyer.

9. Blocking, reporting, and our right to suspend accounts

• Block a contact at any time (in the chat's settings). Their new messages and texts are still stored as originals for your records, but they are hidden from you and do not notify you. You can unblock them in Privacy & safety. They are not told.
• Report a message (long-press it, then Report message) or a whole conversation that you think breaks these Terms. The person you report is not told. Reports help us keep CalmTalk safe, but we don't promise to review every report within any set time or to take any particular action.
• Other safety tools include app lock, quick exit, and calm notifications. These help with privacy on your device but can't guarantee that no one else will see your phone.
• We may warn you, limit features (including the texting bridge), suspend, or close your account if we reasonably believe you have broken these Terms or the law, created risk or harm for others, or exposed us or our partners to legal liability. Where reasonable and safe, we will tell you why and give you a chance to respond. We may also preserve or disclose information where the law requires it, as described in our Privacy Policy.

10. Free and Premium plans; subscriptions

• Free: messaging, the Gentle filter level, threat warnings, saved originals, and basic shared planning tools.
• Premium: paid features such as stronger filter levels (Balanced and Strong) and other features shown in the app. A higher Premium tier includes the texting bridge. Features in each plan may change over time, and some listed features may be marked "coming soon".

Paid plans are bought through Google Play (we use RevenueCat to manage subscription status):

• Billing: Google Play charges the payment method on your Google account. We never see your card or bank details. Prices are shown in the app and on Google Play before you buy, and taxes may apply.
• Automatic renewal: subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period (for example, monthly or yearly) at the then-current price unless you cancel before the renewal date.
• How to cancel: cancel in the Google Play Store app (Profile, Payments and subscriptions, Subscriptions). Deleting the app or your CalmTalk account does not cancel a Google Play subscription. After you cancel, you keep Premium until the end of the period you've paid for.
• Refunds: refunds are handled by Google Play under Google Play's refund policies, except where the law where you live requires otherwise. You can also email us at nedra.anne.lukas@gmail.com and we'll help where we can.
• Free trials and offers, if any, will be explained at the time you sign up, including when you'll start being charged.
• Price changes: we may change prices. We'll give you advance notice as required by Google Play and applicable law, and where required you will be asked to accept the new price before it applies. If you don't want to pay the new price, you can cancel before it takes effect.
• One-time purchases, if offered (such as a lifetime option), give you access to the included features for as long as we offer CalmTalk and your account remains in good standing. They don't include features sold separately, such as the texting bridge, unless the offer says so.

11. Third-party services

CalmTalk relies on other companies to work, including Google Play (app store and payments), RevenueCat (subscriptions), OpenAI (AI filtering), Twilio (phone numbers and texting), Supabase (accounts and data storage), and Expo and Google Firebase (notifications). Mobile carriers also handle text messages. These services have their own terms and privacy policies. We choose providers carefully, but we aren't responsible for their outages, errors, or policies, to the extent permitted by law.

12. Your content

• You own your messages and anything else you send through CalmTalk ("your content").
• You give us a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free permission to store, process, transmit, and display your content only as needed to operate, secure, and provide CalmTalk to you and the people you communicate with (for example, delivering messages, running the kindness filter, saving originals, and creating exports you ask for). This permission ends when your content is deleted from our systems, as described in our Privacy Policy, except where the law requires us to keep something longer.
• We do not use your messages for advertising and we do not sell them.
• You are responsible for your content and confirm you have the right to send it.

13. Our intellectual property

CalmTalk, including the app, its design, the CalmTalk name and logo, and our software, belongs to us or our licensors. We give you a personal, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the app on your devices for its intended purpose, in line with these Terms and Google Play's terms. If you send us feedback or ideas, we may use them without owing you anything.

14. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it (including sending message text to OpenAI for filtering), who helps us process it, how long we keep it, and your rights. It is part of these Terms.

15. Changes to CalmTalk

We are a small, independent service and CalmTalk will keep changing. We may add, change, or remove features. If we remove a major paid feature you have paid for, we will tell you in advance where reasonable and, where required by law or Google Play policy, offer a remedy such as a pro-rated refund. We may also stop offering CalmTalk altogether; if we do, we will give at least 30 days' notice where possible so you can export your records.

16. Deleting your account, and what remains

You can delete your account at any time, in the app (You > Delete account) or by following the steps at https://calmtalk.expo.app/delete-account.

When you delete your account:

• We delete your account information, settings, push tokens, text-contact details and their messages and media, evidence exports, reports, blocks, and conversations no one else is in. In-app deletion happens right away; email requests are completed within 30 days. Backups are cleared as they expire (typically within a further 30 days), as described in our Privacy Policy. Some limited information may be kept longer where the law requires it (for example, purchase records for tax purposes) or to resolve disputes or prevent abuse.
• Deleted records can't be recovered. Download any exports you may need first.
• Messages already delivered outside CalmTalk stay with the recipient. Text messages you sent through the texting bridge are already on the other person's phone, and we can't recall them. Anything someone has already copied, screenshotted, forwarded, or exported (for example, in a PDF export) also stays in their records.
• Messages you already sent to other CalmTalk users stay in their records, because an original message is part of the recipient's record too. They keep the name that was shown in that conversation, with "(account deleted)" added, and no longer show your email (see our Privacy Policy). Your private texting number, if you had one, is turned off, held for 90 days, and then released to the phone carrier, which may later assign it to someone else. CalmTalk never gives it to another CalmTalk user.
• Deleting your account does not cancel your Google Play subscription. Cancel it in Google Play to avoid further charges.

17. Ending these Terms

You can stop using CalmTalk and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or end your access as described in Section 9, or if we stop offering CalmTalk. Sections that by their nature should continue (such as your content responsibilities, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnity, and governing law) continue after these Terms end.

18. Disclaimers

We work hard to make CalmTalk reliable and helpful, but, to the extent permitted by law:

• CalmTalk is provided "as is" and "as available". We don't promise it will always be available, uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, or that messages, texts, or notifications will always be delivered on time or at all.
• We don't promise that the kindness filter or threat warnings will be accurate or complete, or that records will be accepted by any court or authority.
• We are not responsible for what other people send you, how they behave, or what they do with messages you send them.
• We don't give any warranties beyond those set out in these Terms, except warranties or guarantees that can't be excluded by law. If you are a consumer, you may have legal rights (for example, under Alberta's Consumer Protection Act or the consumer laws where you live) that these Terms cannot limit.

19. Limitation of liability

To the extent permitted by law:

• We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for loss of data, profits, or opportunity, arising from your use of (or inability to use) CalmTalk.
• We are not liable for harm caused by relying on softened text instead of reading the original, by a threat warning that was missed or shown in error, by a message or notification that was delayed or not delivered, or by a court's or authority's decision about records.
• Our total liability to you for all claims relating to CalmTalk is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid us for CalmTalk in the 12 months before the claim arose, or (b) CA$100.

These limits do not apply to liability that can't be limited by law, such as liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud or wilful misconduct, and they don't affect your mandatory consumer rights.

20. Indemnity

If you use CalmTalk in a way that breaks these Terms or the law (for example, using the texting bridge to harass someone or send spam) and that causes a claim against us, you agree to cover our reasonable losses and costs from that claim, to the extent permitted by law. This doesn't apply to the extent the claim was caused by our own fault, and it doesn't apply where consumer law prevents it.

21. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as CalmTalk changes (for example, when we launch new features or new countries). We will update the effective date above and, for significant changes, tell you in the app or by email before the change takes effect (usually at least 30 days ahead, unless a change is needed sooner for legal or safety reasons). If you keep using CalmTalk after the change takes effect, the new Terms apply. If you don't agree, you can stop using CalmTalk, cancel your subscription, and delete your account.

22. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Alberta and the federal laws of Canada that apply there. Subject to the next sentence, disputes will be handled by the courts of Alberta. If you are a consumer, you keep the protection of the mandatory consumer laws of the place where you live, and you may be able to bring a claim in your local courts. Nothing in these Terms requires you to give up those rights.

Before starting a formal dispute, please contact us at nedra.anne.lukas@gmail.com so we can try to sort it out informally.

23. General

• These Terms and our Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between you and us about CalmTalk.
• If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest still applies.
• If we don't enforce a part of these Terms right away, we can still enforce it later.
• You can't transfer these Terms to someone else. We may transfer them if CalmTalk changes hands, as described in our Privacy Policy; your rights under these Terms won't be reduced as a result.
• Google is not a party to these Terms and is not responsible for CalmTalk; your use of Google Play is also governed by Google's terms.

24. Contact us

CalmTalk, operated by Nedra Lukas Alberta, Canada Email: nedra.anne.lukas@gmail.com