Terms of Use

1. Welcome to Insect Scanner

These Terms of Use explain the rules for using Insect Scanner: Bug Identifier ("Insect Scanner", "the app", "we"), operated by Meroe AI.

By installing or using the app or the website, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the service.

2. What Insect Scanner is

Insect Scanner helps you find out what a bug is from a photo. It tells you its likely name, whether it is harmless or may be dangerous, and what to do about it.

The app also includes:

• A free Library and encyclopedia about insects and spiders.
• A personal collection of the bugs you find.
• A community where you can share finds, follow other explorers and earn points.

3. Who can use Insect Scanner

You must be at least 13 years old to use Insect Scanner. If you are under 18, use it with the permission of a parent or guardian, who accepts these terms on your behalf.

By using the app, you confirm that:

• You meet the minimum age.
• The information you enter is accurate.
• You won't use someone else's account without permission.
• You won't create extra accounts to get more free scans or to get around the app's limits or offers.

4. Your account

Insect Scanner creates an account for you automatically the first time you open the app. You don't need an email address or a password.

This account is linked to the app on your device. If you uninstall the app or clear its data, you may lose access to your account, your points and your saved finds, and we may not be able to recover them.

You are responsible for activity on your device and your account.

5. Free scans and Insect Scanner Pro

Every account gets a limited number of free scans. The number left is always shown in the app.

Insect Scanner Pro is a paid subscription, weekly or annual, that gives you unlimited scans for normal personal use. To protect the service from abuse, we may apply reasonable fair-use limits, for example on very large numbers of scans in a short time.

The Library, the encyclopedia and your collection stay free.

6. Payment and automatic renewal

Subscriptions are bought and paid for through Google Play. Google Play processes the payment; we never see your card details.

The price is shown in the app in your local currency before you pay, and may include taxes that apply where you live.

Your subscription renews automatically at the end of each period until you cancel it in Google Play. To avoid the next charge, cancel at least 24 hours before the renewal date.

We may change prices in the future. A new price applies only after you have been told about it as Google Play requires, and never to a period you have already paid for.

7. Cancelling your subscription

You can cancel at any time in Google Play: open the Play Store, tap your profile picture, then Payments and subscriptions, then Subscriptions, and choose Insect Scanner.

Cancelling stops future charges. Pro stays active until the end of the period you have already paid for, then your account returns to free scans. Your collection, points and finds are kept.

Uninstalling the app does not cancel your subscription.

8. Refunds

A payment covers the subscription period you chose. As a general rule, a period that has already started is not refunded only because you stopped using the app.

We review duplicate charges, clear payment errors and cases where Pro did not work and we couldn't fix it. The full details are in our Refund Policy. Any rights you have under consumer protection law are not affected.

9. Discount codes and partner offers

From time to time we may offer discount codes, or a discount through a link from one of our partners. Each offer has its own conditions, such as which plans it applies to and when it ends.

Only one offer applies to a purchase; offers are not combined. An offer may be limited to new subscribers and to one use per account. Offers obtained by misusing the app or by creating extra accounts may be cancelled.

10. AI identification can be wrong

Insect Scanner uses an artificial intelligence model to identify bugs from photos. It is often right, but not always. Many species look alike, and a blurry photo, an unusual angle or a damaged insect can lead to a wrong answer.

Treat every result as a helpful suggestion, not a certainty. When safety matters, check with an expert, a doctor or a local poison centre.

11. Your safety comes first

Insect Scanner is not a medical service and does not give medical advice.

• Never touch, catch or get close to a bug you don't know. Use your camera's zoom.
• Keep children and pets away from bugs that may be dangerous.
• After a bite or sting with strong pain, swelling, difficulty breathing, dizziness or any worrying sign, call your local emergency number or poison centre right away. Don't wait for the app.
• Don't use the app to decide whether you need medical care.

12. The Library and encyclopedia

The Library gives general information to help you learn about insects and spiders. We work to keep it accurate, but it may not cover every species, region or situation, and it is not a substitute for professional advice.

13. The community, points and ranks

When you share a find, its photo, name, note and city can be seen by other users in Explore and on your profile. If you make your profile private, your photos are hidden from others, while your name and points still appear in the ranks.

You earn points for each new species you add; the same species twice earns no points. Rarer species earn more.

Some players in Explore and Ranks are sample explorers that show how the community works. They are always marked DEMO, they are not real people, and you can hide them in Settings.

To keep the ranks fair, we may correct or remove points earned by cheating, for example with photos copied from the internet.

14. Your photos and posts

The photos and notes you share remain yours. By sharing them, you allow us to store, display and adapt them (for example, resize them) so the community features can work. This permission ends when you delete the content or your account, except for copies other users may already have seen.

You are responsible for what you share. Please only share photos you took or are allowed to share, and don't share photos of other people without their consent, personal information, or anything illegal, hateful, violent or sexual.

15. Reporting and moderation

If you see something inappropriate, contact us from Settings, then Contact us. We may hide or remove content that breaks these terms, and we may limit or suspend accounts that repeatedly do so.

16. Acceptable use

You agree not to use Insect Scanner to:

• Hack, overload or disrupt our systems.
• Access other people's accounts or data.
• Collect user data without permission.
• Create accounts automatically or in bulk.
• Get around the free-scan limit, offers or fair-use limits.
• Copy, resell or build a competing service from our content or results.
• Reverse engineer the app beyond what the law allows.
• Do anything illegal.

17. Location

Adding a location to a find is optional. If you allow it, the app uses your device's location to show your city and to place the find on the map. You can refuse or turn off location permission at any time in your phone's settings; the app keeps working without it.

18. Updates and availability

We keep improving Insect Scanner, so features may change, be added or be removed. We try to keep the app available at all times, but it may sometimes be unavailable for maintenance or because of problems with our providers or your connection.

If we remove a paid feature, we will make sure you are treated fairly for any period you have already paid for.

19. Third-party services

Insect Scanner relies on other companies to work, such as Google Play for payments, an AI provider for identification, our hosting provider and OpenStreetMap for maps. Their own terms may also apply when you use those parts of the service. The Privacy Policy lists them.

20. Your privacy

How we collect and use your data is explained in our Privacy Policy, which is part of these terms.

21. Deleting your account

You can delete your account at any time from Settings, then Delete my account. This permanently deletes your profile, your shared finds and photos, and your follows.

Deleting your account does not cancel a Google Play subscription. Cancel it in Google Play first.

22. Our intellectual property

The app, its design, its name and logo, the Library and the encyclopedia belong to Meroe AI or its licensors. You may use them for your own personal, non-commercial use. Photos credited to their authors in the app belong to those authors and are used under their licences.

23. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential damages arising from using the app or being unable to use it, or for decisions made based on an AI result, Library information or content posted by other users.

Nothing in these terms removes any right or liability that the law does not allow to be excluded.

24. Suspending or closing accounts

We may limit, suspend or close an account that seriously or repeatedly breaks these terms, misuses free scans or offers, or puts other users or the service at risk. Where possible, we will tell you why. If you think we made a mistake, contact us and we will review it.

25. Your legal rights and governing law

These terms do not limit the rights you have under the consumer protection laws of the country where you live.

These terms are governed by the laws of the place where Meroe AI is registered, unless mandatory consumer law gives you the right to rely on the law and courts of your own country.

26. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms when the app changes or the law requires it. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change is important, we will tell you in the app before it takes effect. If you keep using the app after that, you accept the new terms.

27. Contact us

Questions about these terms? Write to us from Settings, then Contact us, or by email at support@meroeai.com.

Contact: support@meroeai.com