DSV (DocSignVault) — Terms of Service
Last updated: [DATE]. Version: draft 1 (2026-10-08).
These Terms are a contract between [COMPANY LEGAL NAME], of [COMPANY ADDRESS] ("DSV", "we", "us"), and the business or person that opens an account (the "Sender", "you"). They also explain, in plain terms, what the people who receive documents from you (the "Signers") can expect. Questions: [CONTACT EMAIL].
1. What DSV is
DSV is software that lets a Sender create document templates, send them to Signers by secure link, collect typed answers, signatures, uploaded ID photos and a face-with-ID photo, and store the finished, sealed PDF with an audit trail. Signers do not pay and do not need an account.
2. Accepting these Terms
2.1 You accept these Terms by creating an account or using DSV. If you accept for a company, you confirm you have authority to bind it.
2.2 You must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract.
2.3 If you process personal data of Signers that is covered by data protection law, the Data Processing Agreement ("DPA") forms part of these Terms. See DATA_PROCESSING_AGREEMENT.md.
3. Plan, price, trial and cancellation
3.1 One plan. The price is US$25 per month per account. The plan includes unlimited documents, unlimited sends, unlimited templates and unlimited Signers. Team seats are limited to the number stated in the product (currently three). [Counsel: confirm whether sales tax or VAT is added.]
3.2 Free trial. New accounts receive a 7-day free trial. [Counsel: state whether a payment method is required at sign-up and the exact date the first charge occurs, as required by auto-renewal laws.]
3.3 Billing. Payments are processed by Stripe. Card details go directly to Stripe and never touch DSV systems. The subscription renews monthly until cancelled.
3.4 Cancel anytime. You can cancel in the account settings at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you have already paid for. [Counsel: refund position for partial months.]
3.5 Price changes. We will give at least [30] days' notice before changing the price. The new price applies from your next billing period.
4. Lapsed or cancelled accounts
4.1 If a payment fails or the subscription ends, the account becomes read-only. You cannot create, edit or send, but you can still log in, view your records and download them, including through "Export everything".
4.2 We do not delete your records because of non-payment. Records are deleted only under a retention setting you chose, when you ask us to delete them, or as stated in section 17.
4.3 You can reactivate the account by restoring payment.
5. Your account
5.1 Sender accounts require two-factor sign-in. Keep your password, authenticator device and backup codes safe. You are responsible for activity under your account, including by team members you invite.
5.2 Give us accurate information, including your legal name and reply-to email, which appear on signing pages, emails and final PDFs.
6. You are the owner and controller of Signer data
6.1 The documents, answers, signatures and photos that Signers provide belong to you as between you and DSV. You decide why and how they are collected and used. In data protection terms you are the controller (or "business"), and DSV is your processor (or "service provider"). See the DPA.
6.2 You are responsible for having a lawful reason to collect each item you ask a Signer for, including ID images. Only ask for what you need. You are responsible for giving Signers any privacy notice the law requires and for responding to their requests (DSV will help, see the DPA).
6.3 You are responsible for how you retain and delete records, including any legal minimum retention period that applies to you.
7. ID photos: DSV does not verify anything
7.1 DSV stores ID photos and face-with-ID photos and shows them to you. DSV performs no identity verification, no optical character recognition, no face matching and no liveness checks. The platform does not compare the photos to each other, to the information typed by the Signer, or to any database.
7.2 You must review the ID photos yourself. The review screen asks you to confirm "I have reviewed the ID photos" before you countersign. DSV makes no statement, promise or guarantee that any ID is genuine, unaltered, current, belongs to the person who uploaded it, or satisfies any legal requirement to verify identity.
7.3 If a photo is unclear, you can ask the Signer to upload it again.
8. Acceptable use
You must not use DSV to:
(a) send, store or collect content that is illegal where you or the Signer are located; (b) collect documents, ID or images involving anyone under 18 in an adult-content or other age-restricted context; (c) impersonate another person or business, or send documents in someone else's name without authority; (d) mislead Signers about who is asking them to sign, or what they are signing; (e) harvest ID images or personal data for any purpose other than the signing relationship you disclosed; (f) attack, probe, overload or bypass the security or rate limits of DSV, or access another account's data; (g) send unsolicited bulk messages or use DSV for spam or fraud; (h) upload malware or content that infringes others' rights.
8.1 18 U.S.C. § 2257. Some content creators and producers in the United States must keep age-verification and other records under 18 U.S.C. § 2257 and 28 C.F.R. Part 75. Compliance with § 2257, and with any similar law anywhere, is solely your responsibility. A DSV template or form is not legal advice, does not make you compliant, and DSV is not your custodian of records unless you separately agree in writing.
8.2 We may investigate reports (every signing page has a "Report abuse" link) and may suspend access to content or accounts that appear to breach this section, with notice where practicable.
9. Templates and content
9.1 DSV includes starter templates. They are customizable, attorney-reviewable templates. They are examples to adapt, not legal advice, and DSV does not represent that any template is valid, enforceable or appropriate in any jurisdiction or for your situation. Have a qualified lawyer review any template before you use it.
9.2 You are responsible for the content of every document you send, including its terms, the governing law you choose and any translation you upload.
9.3 Automatic translations shown to Signers (a later feature) are for convenience only. The language you choose as the controlling version controls.
10. Electronic signatures
10.1 DSV provides a simple (standard) electronic signature supported by: a recorded consent to do business electronically (text version stored with each signature); a one-time code sent to the Signer's email or phone; an audit trail with UTC time, IP address, device/browser and contact used for each event; a Certificate of Completion page; a SHA-256 hash of the completed document; a digital certificate seal on the PDF; and an RFC 3161 trusted timestamp.
10.2 This is not a qualified electronic signature under the EU eIDAS Regulation, and not an advanced electronic signature. It does not identify a Signer to any legal standard on its own.
10.3 Some documents cannot be signed electronically or need a stronger form of signature or formalities (for example wills, some real-estate deeds, court documents and some family-law documents). You must check whether your document type and jurisdiction allow a simple electronic signature. See ESIGNATURE_LEGAL_NOTE.md for general information. It is not legal advice.
10.4 Completed documents cannot be edited. Changes are made as a new linked document ("amendment").
11. Your data, export and retention
11.1 Export everything. At any time, including on a lapsed account, you can download a zip of all your PDFs, photos and the records index.
11.2 Retention controls. You choose to keep records indefinitely (the default) or delete after a set number of years. You can set a minimum retention lock on a template, which prevents deletion of those records before the lock date. We warn you before any automatic deletion.
11.3 Signers can download their completed copy from their link for 30 days.
11.4 After termination, see section 17.
12. Our service and its limits
12.1 We aim for reliable service but do not promise uninterrupted or error-free operation. We take daily encrypted backups with a 35-day restore window. Security measures are described in the Privacy Policy and DPA. [Counsel: decide whether to publish a service-level commitment.]
12.2 We may change or improve features. If we remove a feature that you rely on in a way that materially harms you, we will tell you in advance.
13. Privacy
Our handling of personal data is described in PRIVACY_POLICY.md. Sub-processors are listed in SUBPROCESSORS.md.
14. Disclaimers
14.1 DSV is provided "as is" and "as available" to the extent the law allows. We do not give legal advice. We do not warrant that any document, template, signature or record will be accepted by a court, regulator, counterparty or authority.
14.2 We do not warrant the authenticity of any ID or the identity of any Signer (section 7).
15. Limitation of liability
15.1 To the extent permitted by law, DSV is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data or goodwill.
15.2 To the extent permitted by law, DSV's total liability for all claims relating to the service is limited to the fees you paid to DSV in the [12] months before the event that gave rise to the claim. [Counsel: confirm cap; consider carve-outs for data breach, confidentiality and indemnities.]
15.3 Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law (for example fraud, or death or personal injury caused by negligence, where applicable).
16. Indemnity
16.1 You will defend and indemnify DSV against third-party claims, and related losses and reasonable legal fees, arising from: your content and documents; your breach of section 6 or section 8; your failure to review IDs or to comply with record-keeping, age-verification or privacy laws; or a dispute between you and a Signer.
16.2 We will notify you of a claim promptly, let you control the defence (we may take part at our own cost), and not settle without your consent where the settlement admits fault for you or costs you money.
17. Termination
17.1 You may close your account at any time. Export your records first.
17.2 We may suspend or terminate your account for a material breach of these Terms, including section 8, or to comply with law, with notice where practicable. For non-payment, section 4 applies instead: read-only access, no deletion.
17.3 If we terminate for your breach or you close the account, we will keep your records downloadable for [90] days, then delete them unless a retention lock, legal hold or law requires otherwise. [Counsel: confirm this period and reconcile with 4.2 and any retention-lock records.] We will email you before deletion.
17.4 Sections that by nature should survive (liability, indemnity, governing law and others) survive termination.
18. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms. We will email the account owner at least [30] days before a material change takes effect and post the new version with its date. If you do not agree, you can cancel before the change takes effect. Continued use afterwards means you accept the new Terms.
19. Governing law and disputes
19.1 These Terms are governed by the laws of [GOVERNING LAW STATE/COUNTRY], without regard to conflict-of-law rules.
19.2 Dispute resolution. [Counsel to choose and draft: informal negotiation period; courts of a named venue, or arbitration under named rules, seat, language and fee allocation; class-action waiver if used and permitted; consumer carve-outs.] This clause does not govern documents between a Sender and a Signer; those have their own terms set by the Sender.
19.3 Mandatory consumer rights in your country of residence are not affected, if you are a consumer.
20. General
20.1 These Terms, the DPA and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between us on the service. 20.2 If a part is unenforceable, the rest stays in force. 20.3 You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them in a merger or sale of the business with notice to you. 20.4 Notices to you go to your account email; notices to us go to [CONTACT EMAIL] and [COMPANY ADDRESS]. 20.5 Neither party is liable for delay caused by events outside its reasonable control.
21. Contact
[COMPANY LEGAL NAME], [COMPANY ADDRESS]. General: [CONTACT EMAIL]. Privacy: [DPO/PRIVACY CONTACT].