Terms of Service

Last updated: March 9, 2026

Welcome to Root. By creating an account or using the Root mobile application ("the App"), you agree to these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, please do not use the App.

1. About Root

Root is a platform for understanding different perspectives on important topics. Users respond to questions with their stance (agree or disagree) and reasoning, explore the reasoning of others through a layered drill-down system, and engage in moderated breakout room discussions. Root uses AI to cluster common themes in responses and to moderate breakout room conversations.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use Root. If you are under 18, you represent that you have your parent's or legal guardian's permission to use the App. By using Root, you represent that you meet these requirements.

3. Your Account

You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials. You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account. You agree to provide accurate information when creating your account and to keep it up to date. You may not create accounts for others without their permission or create multiple accounts to circumvent restrictions.

4. User Content

You retain ownership of the content you create on Root, including your responses, breakout room messages, and sources you submit. By posting content on Root, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, display, and distribute your content within the App and for the purpose of operating and improving Root. This includes processing your content with AI services to cluster themes and moderate discussions.

You agree that your responses contribute to aggregated consensus data that is displayed to other users. While your individual responses are not publicly attributed to you outside of breakout rooms, the substance of your reasoning may appear in AI-generated theme clusters visible to other users.

5. Community Guidelines

Root is designed to foster productive discussion across different perspectives. When using Root, you agree not to:

Harassment and Abuse: Engage in personal attacks, threats, bullying, or harassment of other users. Disagree with ideas, not people.

Hate Speech: Post content that promotes hatred, discrimination, or violence against individuals or groups based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected characteristics.

Spam and Manipulation: Post repetitive, irrelevant, or misleading content. Do not create multiple accounts to manipulate consensus data or artificially inflate response counts.

Misinformation: Deliberately spread false information. If you cite facts or statistics, do so in good faith and provide sources when possible.

Illegal Content: Post content that violates any applicable law, promotes illegal activities, or infringes on the intellectual property of others.

Impersonation: Impersonate other users, public figures, or Root staff.

6. Moderation

Root uses a combination of AI moderation and peer-based reporting to maintain discussion quality. In breakout rooms, an AI moderator may intervene to redirect conversations, provide context, or de-escalate tensions. The AI moderator does not represent Root's position on any topic — it serves only as a facilitator.

Users can report messages that violate community guidelines. If a majority of active participants in a breakout room report a user, that user may be removed from the room. Repeated removals may result in restrictions on your account.

We reserve the right to remove content, restrict accounts, or take other action if we determine that a user has violated these Terms or community guidelines.

7. AI Features

Root uses artificial intelligence to provide several features, including response clustering, breakout room moderation, and context provision. AI-generated content (such as theme clusters and moderator messages) is provided for informational purposes and to facilitate discussion. AI outputs do not represent facts, expert opinions, or the views of Root. Users should exercise their own judgment when interpreting AI-generated content.

8. Intellectual Property

The Root app, including its design, features, code, and branding, is owned by Root and protected by intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or reverse-engineer any part of the App without our written permission.

9. Privacy

Your use of Root is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which explains how we collect, use, and protect your information.

10. Account Deletion

You may delete your account at any time from the Settings menu in the App. Account deletion is permanent and removes all your personal data, including your profile, responses, messages, and sources. Some aggregated or anonymized data derived from your content (such as consensus percentages) may persist after deletion as it is not personally identifiable.

11. Disclaimers

Root is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. We do not guarantee that the App will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components. We are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any user-generated content or AI-generated content on the platform.

Root is a platform for discussion and perspective-sharing. Content on Root does not constitute professional advice of any kind, including legal, financial, medical, or psychological advice.

12. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Root and its operators shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the App, including but not limited to loss of data, loss of profits, or damages resulting from interactions with other users.

13. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes through the App or by updating the date above. Your continued use of Root after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree with changes, you should stop using the App and delete your account.

14. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any disputes arising from these Terms or your use of Root shall be resolved in the courts located in Virginia.

15. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms, contact us at tryroot.app@gmail.com.