Terms of Service
These terms are an agreement between you and PCGuard (“we”, “us”) for the use of PCGuard. Please read them with our Privacy Policy, Refund & Cancellation Policy and Cookie Policy. By creating an account or using PCGuard you agree to these terms.
Who we are#
PCGuard is run by the PCGuard team. You can contact us at [email protected]. If we need to contact you, we will use the email address on your account.
The service#
PCGuard helps parents and guardians supervise a child's Windows PC. It is made up of:
- PCGuard Child, a Windows service, tray helper and pairing window installed on the child PC, with an optional browser extension for Chrome and Edge;
- PCGuard Parent for Windows and for Android; and
- the web dashboard, included with the Family plan.
PCGuard works in two modes:
- Cloud mode. The child PC keeps an outbound connection to our servers. You manage it from the web dashboard or the Parent apps, from anywhere.
- Direct mode. The Parent apps connect to the child PC over your own Tailscale network. Monitoring data and commands go straight between your devices. Our servers handle only your account, your subscription and the licence checks.
PCGuard is in public beta. Features may change, and some may be added or removed as the product develops.
Who can use PCGuard#
You must be 18 or older and able to enter into a binding contract to create an account. You must give accurate account details and keep them up to date. PCGuard is for personal and household use.
Using PCGuard lawfully and responsibly#
PCGuard can see what runs on a PC and can control it, so it must be used with care. You agree that you will:
- install PCGuard Child only on PCs that you own or are entitled to administer;
- use PCGuard only to supervise children you are the parent or legal guardian of, or are otherwise responsible for;
- tell your child, in a way that suits their age, that PCGuard is installed and what it does;
- never use PCGuard to monitor or control an adult, such as a partner, family member or employee, without their knowledge and agreement; and
- follow the laws that apply to you, including privacy, data protection and computer misuse laws.
You decide what PCGuard monitors and enforces, and you are responsible for that use. For Cloud-mode data about the child PC, we act on your instructions, as our Privacy Policy explains.
Your account and security#
Keep your password secret and do not share your account with anyone outside your household. You are responsible for what happens in your account. If you think someone else has used it, change your password and email [email protected] straight away. To protect you or the service, we may suspend access if we see signs of misuse.
Plans, billing and renewal#
Subscriptions
- Starter (Direct) includes 1 child PC and the Windows and Android Parent apps over Tailscale.
- Family (Cloud) includes 4 child PCs, Cloud mode and the web dashboard.
- Subscriptions are billed monthly in advance through Stripe and renew automatically until you cancel. Prices are shown in US dollars, and Stripe shows the final total, including any tax, before you pay. Stripe's own terms also apply to the payment.
- You can cancel at any time in Manage subscription. Access continues to the end of the paid period. Refunds are covered by our Refund & Cancellation Policy.
Child-PC slots
Each plan includes the number of child PCs above. You can add extra slots at checkout or later. Stripe charges extra slots added mid-period pro rata. An account can hold up to 50 child PCs. Your own phone and computer never use a slot, and a child PC managed from several Parent apps counts once.
Price changes
We will tell you about a price change at least 30 days before it applies to your next renewal. If you do not want to pay the new price, you can cancel before it takes effect.
Lifetime licences
A lifetime licence covers Direct mode for the lifetime of the PCGuard product and service. It does not mean your lifetime or ours. Once it is issued to your Parent app, the licence works offline, so the app keeps working without our servers. It does not include Cloud mode or the web dashboard. We may end the PCGuard service with reasonable notice; if we do, the licence ends with it.
When a plan ends
When a subscription ends or is not paid, Parent sign-in and remote control stop. Rules that are already on the child PC keep working there until you uninstall PCGuard Child.
Things you must not do#
- Use PCGuard to break the law or to watch or control anyone without the right to do so.
- Get around licence checks, device limits or payment, or share one licence beyond your plan.
- Copy, sell or redistribute the apps, or reverse engineer them except as the law allows.
- Attack, overload or probe our servers, or interfere with other customers.
- Use another person's account, or give false details when you sign up.
Availability and limits of the service#
We work to keep PCGuard running and secure, but during the beta we cannot promise that it will be uninterrupted or error-free. We may need to pause it for maintenance, updates or security reasons.
PCGuard depends on things we do not control: your internet connection, Windows, the browsers it supports, Stripe and, in Direct mode, Tailscale. Commands such as lock or restart need the child PC to be online.
PCGuard makes getting around rules harder, not impossible. For example, a child with an administrator account on the PC can still change system settings. PCGuard supports supervision; it does not replace it.
Shutdown and restart commands close programs on the child PC without saving, so any unsaved work there may be lost.
Third-party services#
Payments are handled by Stripe, and Direct mode uses your own Tailscale account. Their terms and privacy policies apply to your use of them. We are not responsible for services we do not run, but we choose the providers we rely on with care.
Your licence to use the apps#
While your plan is active, we give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to install and use the PCGuard apps on devices you own or administer, as these terms allow. We, or our licensors, own the apps, the service and the PCGuard brand.
Your data#
Our Privacy Policy explains what we collect, why, how long we keep it and your rights. Rules and reports in Direct mode stay on your devices. For Cloud mode, we process data about the child PC to provide the service to you.
Our responsibility to you#
We do not exclude or limit our liability where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, and for breach of your rights as a consumer under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
If we break these terms or fail to use reasonable care and skill, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result. Loss is foreseeable if it was obvious it would happen, or if we both knew it might happen when you started using PCGuard.
If defective digital content we supply damages a device or digital content that belongs to you, we will repair the damage or pay you fair compensation. We are not liable where you could have avoided the damage by installing an update we offered free of charge, or by following our setup instructions.
PCGuard is for domestic and private use. We are not liable for business losses, such as loss of profit, business or business opportunity.
As far as the law allows, our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose and £100. This limit does not apply to the liabilities in the first paragraph of this section.
Ending this agreement#
You can stop using PCGuard at any time. Cancel your subscription in Manage subscription, uninstall the apps, and email us if you want your account deleted.
We may suspend or close your account if you seriously or repeatedly break these terms, use PCGuard unlawfully, or do not pay, or if the law requires it. Where it is reasonable, we will tell you first and give you a chance to fix the problem. If we end the service for any other reason, we will give you reasonable notice and refund any amount you have paid for a period you will not receive. We may end complimentary or beta access with reasonable notice.
After your account closes, we delete or anonymise your data as described in our Privacy Policy.
Changes to these terms#
We may update these terms when the law, our services or our business change. If a change matters to you, we will tell you by email or in the apps at least 30 days before it takes effect. The date at the top of this page shows the latest version. If you do not agree with a change, you can cancel before it takes effect. At checkout we ask you to accept the version that is current then.
Governing law and disputes#
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you may also bring proceedings in your local courts. If you live in the European Union, you keep the protection of the mandatory consumer laws of your country and may bring proceedings there.
If you have a complaint, please email us first so we can try to resolve it.
General#
- We may transfer this agreement to another organisation. We will tell you if we do, and your rights will not be reduced. You may transfer it only with our written agreement.
- If a court finds part of these terms invalid, the rest stays in force.
- If we do not enforce a right straight away, we can still enforce it later.
- Nobody else has a right to enforce these terms.
Contact#
Questions about these terms: [email protected].