Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using The Bus Buddy at thebusbuddy.com ("the Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

These Terms apply to all users including individual drivers, school staff, and Enterprise subscribers.

2. Who Can Use the Service

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. The Bus Buddy is intended for use by:

• School bus drivers managing student seating assignments
• Transportation coordinators and school administrators
• School districts and transportation departments (Enterprise plan)

By creating an account, you confirm that you are authorized by your employer or school district to use tools that may involve student first names and grade information in connection with your bus route duties.

3. Your Account

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. You agree to:

• Provide accurate information when creating your account
• Notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account
• Not share your login credentials with unauthorized individuals
• Not create accounts for others without their knowledge

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree to use The Bus Buddy only for its intended purpose — managing school bus seating charts. You agree not to:

• Enter student data beyond what is necessary for seat assignment (full names, Social Security numbers, medical records, etc.)
• Share or expose student information entered into the app with unauthorized parties
• Attempt to access other users' data
• Reverse engineer, scrape, or copy any part of the application
• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose
• Circumvent or interfere with the subscription or payment system
• Upload malicious code or attempt to compromise the security of the Service

5. Student Data Responsibility

You — not The Bus Buddy — are responsible for ensuring that your use of student information complies with applicable laws, including FERPA, your school district's data policies, and any applicable state privacy laws.

We recommend:

• Using only student first names and grade levels — avoid entering full names or sensitive details
• Checking with your school district's IT or privacy officer before using any cloud-based tool with student data
• Signing out of the app when using shared devices

Enterprise customers who require a formal Data Processing Agreement (DPA) should contact us at privacy@thebusbuddy.com before deploying the Service district-wide.

6. Subscriptions and Payments

Free plan: Available to all users at no cost, with ads and feature limitations as described in the app.

Pro and Enterprise plans: Paid subscriptions billed monthly or annually through Stripe. By subscribing you authorize recurring charges to your payment method.

• Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled before the renewal date
• You may cancel at any time; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period
• We do not offer refunds for partial billing periods
• Prices may change with 30 days' notice to active subscribers
• Payment processing is handled by Stripe; we do not store your payment card details

7. Intellectual Property

All content, design, code, and branding of The Bus Buddy — including the name, logo, and interface — are the intellectual property of Michelle Minor and The Bus Buddy. You may not copy, reproduce, or redistribute any part of the Service without written permission.

The seating chart data you create belongs to you. We claim no ownership over the student or route information you enter.

8. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

The Bus Buddy is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. We do not guarantee that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or perfectly secure.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, The Bus Buddy and Michelle Minor shall not be liable for:

• Any loss of data resulting from app errors, network issues, or account deletion
• Any FERPA violation or regulatory action resulting from your use of the Service
• Any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Service
• Interruptions to the Service due to maintenance, outages, or third-party failures

Our total liability to you for any claim shall not exceed the amount you paid us in the 12 months prior to the claim.

9. Service Availability and Changes

We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the Service at any time with reasonable notice. We will make reasonable efforts to notify active subscribers of significant changes via email.

We may update features, pricing, or subscription tiers. Existing subscribers will be notified of pricing changes at least 30 days in advance.

10. Termination

You may delete your account at any time by contacting us at privacy@thebusbuddy.com. Upon deletion, your data will be removed from our systems within 30 days.

We may terminate or suspend your account immediately if you violate these Terms, engage in fraudulent activity, or misuse student data.

11. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States. Any disputes arising from these Terms or your use of the Service shall be resolved through binding arbitration or in the courts of competent jurisdiction, as applicable.

12. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms.

13. Contact