Trawline Terms of Service

Last updated: 24 September 2026

1. About these Terms

1.1 These Terms of Service ("Terms"), together with the Acceptable Use Policy in Schedule A, are the agreement between you and us for your use of Trawline: the website at trawline.dev, the Trawline API, its documentation and tool-discovery files, and your account (together, the "Service"). "Trawline", "we" and "us" mean the operator of the Service. You can contact us at blairephantom@gmail.com.

1.2 You accept these Terms when you create an account, obtain an API key or use the Service. If you do not accept them, do not use the Service.

1.3 Our Privacy Policy, our Data Sourcing & Takedown page and our Copyright Policy also apply to your use of the Service. If one of them conflicts with these Terms, these Terms prevail, except that the Privacy Policy decides how we handle personal data.

2. Early access

2.1 Trawline is in early access. While it is, new accounts can be created by invitation only, and an invitation may be used only by the person it was sent to.

2.2 During early access the Service is still being built. Platforms, endpoints, fields, prices and limits can change, and some features are marked as in testing. A feature marked as in testing is provided as it is, may return incomplete results, and may be changed or withdrawn at any time.

2.3 Your decision to use or pay for the Service must not depend on any feature, platform or improvement that has been mentioned but not yet released.

3. Who may use the Service

3.1 The Service is provided for business and professional use only. It is not offered to consumers. By using it you confirm that you use it for purposes related to your trade, business, craft or profession.

3.2 You must be at least 18 years old. If you accept these Terms on behalf of an organisation, you confirm that you are authorised to bind it, and "you" then means that organisation.

3.3 Accounts must be created by a person, not by automated means. Each person may hold one account unless we have agreed otherwise in writing.

3.4 You may not use the Service if you, or the organisation you act for, are the target of sanctions, or are located in a country or region under comprehensive sanctions, under the laws that apply to you or to us, including those of the European Union, the United Nations, the United Kingdom and the United States.

4. What the Service is — and what it is not

4.1 Public data only. The Service provides information that a platform makes publicly available to anyone. It does not provide content that can be seen only after logging in, paying, or being given access by its owner, and we do not get around login screens, paywalls or other access controls.

4.2 Not affiliated. Trawline is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any platform whose content it provides. Platform names are used only to identify the source of data. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.

4.3 How results are provided. We obtain publicly available information from third-party platforms and process it, including with automated and AI-assisted processing, to deliver the results you request. Results may be kept temporarily for up to 24 hours to deliver the Service and then expire. Those temporary copies are not linked to the customer who requested them. We do not build, keep or offer a database of people.

4.4 Free text is passed through as published. Structured fields are normalised, but free text — such as captions, descriptions, comments and profile bios — is returned as the platform published it. It can therefore contain personal data, including contact details that its author chose to make public. No response we define contains an e-mail, phone or postal-address field, and we may choose not to return some free-text fields, such as account bios on some platforms, because they often contain contact details.

4.5 No media downloads. The Service does not provide downloads of other people's videos or media files.

4.6 Availability. Platforms change their services without notice, so the platforms, endpoints and fields available through the Service vary over time. Any status or monitoring information we publish is an informational signal, not a promise of availability. We do not offer a service-level agreement or an uptime commitment.

5. Accounts and API keys

5.1 You can create an account with an e-mail address and password, or through a third-party sign-in provider. You must give accurate information and use an e-mail address you control.

5.2 One free allowance per sign-up identity. The free credit allowance is given once per sign-up identity: one e-mail address, or one account at the third-party sign-in provider. We keep a non-reversible record of that identity so that deleting and re-creating an account does not grant the allowance again.

5.3 Keep your keys secret. You are responsible for all activity under your account and API keys. Your API key is shown to you only once and we cannot display it again. Send it only in the Authorization: Bearer header and never in a URL, where it can end up in logs; a key sent in a URL may be refused. Tell us promptly at blairephantom@gmail.com if you believe a key or your account has been compromised. We are not responsible for loss caused by a key or password you did not keep safe.

5.4 Usage limits apply to each key. We may limit, pause, revoke or suspend a key at any time to protect you, other customers, the people whose data passes through the Service, or the Service itself.

6. Credits

6.1 Credits pay for calls. The credit cost of each type of call is shown on the website and in our API documentation at the time of the call.

6.2 Free allowance. A new account receives a one-time free credit allowance, as shown on the website when the account is created, subject to section 5.2.

6.3 Credits do not expire. No credit on your account expires: not the free allowance, not credits you buy, and not credits added by a plan.

6.4 How a call is charged. A call is charged the credit cost shown for its type. Some calls, currently transcripts, are charged by the measured length of the content, in the units shown on the website, so their exact charge is known only once the content has been measured; the charge is then exact, not an estimate. If a measured charge would exceed your balance, the call is declined and nothing is charged: your balance never goes negative.

6.5 Per-call limit. A default per-call credit limit applies, as described in our API documentation. You can raise it for a single call with the maxCredits parameter. A call that would exceed the limit is declined and nothing is charged.

6.6 What is not charged. A call that fails is not charged, and neither is a declined call. A result delivered from a temporarily kept copy is charged at the normal credit cost, because credits pay for the answer, not for our cost of producing it.

6.7 Receipts. Every charged response carries a request identifier. You can use it to look up, free of charge, what that call did to your credits.

6.8 Changes to credit costs. The credit cost of calls may change, including for reasons outside our control. We announce changes on the website or by e-mail before they apply, and a change applies only to calls made after it takes effect. A change never removes credits already on your account.

6.9 Credits have no cash value and cannot be sold or transferred to another account. They can be refunded only as described in section 7.

7. Purchases, payment and refunds

7.1 When this section applies. During early access, credits and plans are not yet on sale and no payment is taken. This section applies once purchases open, which we will announce on the website.

7.2 Payment and taxes. Payments are processed by our payment provider; we do not receive or store your full card details. Prices may be shown without taxes; any applicable taxes are added as shown at checkout.

7.3 Plans. A plan renews at the end of each billing period shown at purchase until you cancel. You can cancel at any time; cancelling stops future renewals and does not remove credits already on your account. A new plan price applies only from your first renewal after we have announced it.

7.4 Refunds. Purchased credits and plans are generally not refundable. We may grant a refund, at our discretion, where there is a solid justification, such as fraud, a billing mistake or an error in the Service. To ask, contact us at blairephantom@gmail.com with the request identifier or payment details concerned.

7.5 If the closure is ours. If we stop offering the Service, or close your account although you have not breached these Terms, we will tell you in advance wherever we can so that you can use your credits, and we treat either event as a solid justification for a refund request about unused purchased credits under section 7.4.

7.6 Questions about a charge. If you believe a charge is wrong, tell us as soon as you can at blairephantom@gmail.com, with the request identifier. We check it against our records and correct any mistake.

7.7 Reversed payments. If a payment is reversed or disputed, we may suspend the account and the credits bought with that payment until the matter is resolved.

8. Your responsibilities for the data you obtain

8.1 You decide which public content to request, for what purpose, and what to do with the results. You are responsible for your use of the results.

8.2 Results can contain personal data. You act as an independent controller of any personal data in the results for your own use of it. You are responsible for having a lawful basis, giving any notices the law requires, answering requests from the people concerned about the copies you hold, and complying with every law that applies to you, including data-protection, e-privacy, copyright, consumer-protection and anti-spam laws.

8.3 Use only the personal data you need, keep it only for as long as you need it, and keep it secure.

8.4 You are responsible for complying with any third-party terms that apply to your use of results. If guaranteed compliance with a platform's own terms is essential for your use, use that platform's official API.

8.5 Your use of the Service and of results must comply with the Acceptable Use Policy in Schedule A.

9. AI-generated output

9.1 Some features, such as summaries, are produced with AI-assisted processing, and transcripts can be produced automatically. Every summary is labelled "AI-generated opinion, not a verified fact."

9.2 AI output and automatic transcripts can be incomplete or wrong, and can repeat mistakes found in the source content. Check them before you rely on them.

9.3 You must not present AI output as verified fact, use it as the sole basis for a decision about an identifiable person, show it to others in a way that hides that it is an AI-generated opinion, or claim that it was written by a person.

9.4 Different customers who make similar requests may receive similar AI output, and AI output may not be protected by intellectual-property rights.

9.5 We do not use your requests, or the results we deliver to you, to train AI models.

10. Intellectual property

10.1 The Service, its software, documentation and brand belong to us or our licensors. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable right to use the Service under these Terms.

10.2 Content published on platforms, including the words spoken in a video that a transcript reproduces, belongs to its authors or other rights holders. We grant you no rights in it. Every result names the platform it came from and when it was fetched, and most results also include the URL of the source. You are responsible for making sure that your use of results, and of any content they reproduce, is lawful.

10.3 As between you and us, we claim no ownership of results, and we give no assurance that results are free of third-party rights.

10.4 If you send us feedback or suggestions, we may use them freely and without any obligation to you.

10.5 We will not name you, or show your logo, as a Trawline customer without your permission.

11. Copyright, removal requests and illegal content

Rights holders, and people whose content appears in results, can contact us as described in our Copyright Policy and our Data Sourcing & Takedown page. Anyone can report illegal content or misuse of results at blairephantom@gmail.com. We may suspend or terminate the accounts of customers who repeatedly infringe the rights of others.

12. Privacy and security

12.1 Our Privacy Policy describes how we handle your account data and the limited data about other people that passes through the Service.

12.2 We protect account data with appropriate technical and organisational measures. If a security incident is likely to affect your account data, we will tell you without undue delay after we become aware of it, with what we know and what you should do.

13. Changes to the Service

We may add, change, suspend or remove any part of the Service. Where we know that a field cannot be returned, the result says so. We aim to give notice on the website before a breaking change to a versioned API format, but we may make changes without notice where security, the law or a platform requires it.

14. Suspension and termination

14.1 We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service, or any API key, if you breach these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, if your use creates a risk for us, other customers, the people whose data passes through the Service or any platform, if we suspect fraud or abuse, if a payment is not made or is reversed, or if the law requires it. We give notice where it is reasonable and lawful to do so, and act without notice where that is needed to protect people or the Service.

14.2 You may stop using the Service at any time. You can delete your account in your account settings by typing DELETE. Deletion is scheduled for 7 days later and you are logged out everywhere immediately. You can cancel it before it runs by logging in and choosing "Cancel deletion"; logging in alone does not cancel it. After that it runs automatically.

14.3 Remaining credits are lost when you delete your account, or when we terminate it because of a breach, fraud or abuse, and they are refunded only as provided in section 7. Check your balance before you ask for deletion.

14.4 Sections 6.9, 7.4 to 7.7, 8, 9.2 to 9.4, 10, 14.3, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 20, and Schedule A, continue to apply after termination.

15. Disclaimers

The Service and all results, including features marked as in testing, are provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent permitted by law, we make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of accuracy, completeness, availability, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. Platform content can be wrong, incomplete, out of date or removed by its author, and platforms can change or restrict access at any time. We are not responsible for the platforms or for content published on them.

16. Limitation of liability

16.1 To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive loss or damage, or for any loss of profits, revenue, business, goodwill or data, however caused.

16.2 To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with the Service or these Terms is limited to the total amounts you paid us for the Service in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim.

16.3 Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability that cannot be limited or excluded by law, such as liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, gross negligence, or death or personal injury caused by negligence.

17. Indemnity

You will defend, indemnify and hold us harmless against any claims, losses, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or relating to your use of the Service or of results, your breach of these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, or your violation of any law or of the rights of any third party.

18. Governing law and disputes

18.1 If a dispute arises, contact us first at blairephantom@gmail.com; both sides will try in good faith to settle it informally before going to court.

18.2 These Terms and any dispute arising out of or in connection with them are governed by the laws of the country in which the operator of Trawline is established, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules and excluding the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The competent courts of that country have exclusive jurisdiction, unless mandatory law provides otherwise.

19. Changes to these Terms

19.1 We may change these Terms. The date at the top shows the current version, and we give earlier versions on request.

19.2 We announce material changes by e-mail and on the website at least 14 days before they take effect. Changes required by law or for security, and changes that only concern new features, may take effect sooner.

19.3 If you continue to use the Service after a change takes effect, you accept the updated Terms. If you do not agree, stop using the Service; you may delete your account.

20. General

20.1 These Terms, together with the documents they refer to, are the entire agreement between you and us about the Service.

20.2 If any provision is found invalid or unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.

20.3 You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our consent. We may assign or transfer ours, including as part of a reorganisation or sale of the Service.

20.4 We are not liable for any delay or failure caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including changes made by platforms, outages of services provided to us, network failures or changes in law.

20.5 Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, agency or employment relationship between you and us.

20.6 We send notices to the e-mail address on your account, and you can send notices to us at blairephantom@gmail.com. Notices and other communications sent electronically meet any requirement for them to be in writing.

20.7 These Terms are written in English. If we provide a translation, the English version prevails.

Schedule A — Acceptable Use Policy

The Service reads public data. How that data is used decides whether a use is fair to the people it is about. These rules apply to every use of the Service and of results, including by anyone to whom you give results.

A1. People are not targets. You must not use the Service or results to:

1. monitor, track or profile a specific private individual's activity, movements, relationships or associations over time, or compile a file about a private individual;
2. stalk, harass, intimidate, threaten or dox anyone;
3. make or support decisions about a person's employment, housing, credit, insurance, education, access to services or legal status, or infer or target people by racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade-union membership, health, sex life or sexual orientation, genetic or biometric data, or criminal offences;
4. make automated decisions about identifiable people that have legal or similarly significant effects, or present AI-generated output as a factual finding about a person;
5. extract, compile or enrich e-mail addresses, phone numbers or postal addresses, or send unsolicited marketing;
6. identify people who chose to be anonymous or pseudonymous, or link a person's accounts across platforms where they have not publicly linked them themselves;
7. build facial-recognition or other biometric databases;
8. target children, or process children's data for profiling or marketing.

A2. Content and rights. You must not use the Service or results to:

1. infringe copyright or any other right, including by republishing full transcripts or media without the rights holder's permission;
2. process, store or distribute child sexual abuse material or other illegal content — if you encounter it in a result, stop processing it and report it to us at blairephantom@gmail.com and to the competent authorities;
3. defame anyone, including by presenting AI-generated output as fact about them.

A3. Honest use. You must not use the Service or results to:

1. commit fraud, phishing or scams, or impersonate a person, brand or organisation;
2. create or spread disinformation, or run campaigns that manipulate political or public debate;
3. produce fake engagement — such as fake followers, likes, views, reviews or comments — or manipulate rankings, ratings or search results;
4. send spam or bulk unsolicited messages.

A4. The Service itself. You must not:

1. share, sell or publish API keys, or let anyone outside your organisation use your key;
2. create accounts by automated means, create multiple accounts to obtain the free allowance more than once, or pass an invitation to someone it was not sent to;
3. try to get around rate limits, credit limits, billing controls or access restrictions;
4. probe, attack, overload, scrape or reverse-engineer the Service, or access it other than through the documented API and website;
5. use or try to use the Service to obtain content that requires a login, payment or other permission to see;
6. resell the Service, or offer results as a competing data service, without our written permission.

A5. Legal compliance. You must comply with every law that applies to your use, including data-protection, e-privacy, anti-spam, consumer-protection, copyright, export-control and sanctions laws.

A6. Reporting misuse. Anyone — including people who are not our customers — can report a breach of this policy to blairephantom@gmail.com. Please say what happened, where, and include any evidence you have.

A7. Enforcement. We may investigate suspected breaches, suspend or terminate keys and accounts without notice, and report illegal activity to the competent authorities.