Terms of Service

Last updated: April 2026

The German version of these Terms of Service is legally binding. This translation is provided for convenience only.

These Terms of Service govern your access to and use of Gardeo, a privacy-first AI platform operated by Florian Wessels: flossels.ch, Lorzenparkstrasse 23, 6330 Cham, Switzerland (UID: CHE-275.560.471). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms in their entirety.

1. Scope and Acceptance

These Terms apply to all users of the Gardeo platform, including free trial users, individual subscribers, and organizations with Business or Enterprise plans. These Terms incorporate by reference our Privacy Policy, Fair Use Policy, and API Terms of Service. By registering, accessing, or otherwise using the Service, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to these Terms and all referenced policies.

If you are entering into these Terms on behalf of a legal entity, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that entity to these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not access or use the Service.

2. Service Description

Gardeo is a privacy-first AI platform that provides access to multiple large language models, including Claude, GPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Mistral, Grok, and DeepSeek. A core feature of the Service is automatic PII (Personally Identifiable Information) pseudonymization, which processes and masks personal data before it is transmitted to third-party AI providers.

All user data is processed exclusively within the European Union. The Service is offered under various subscription plans, including Free Trial, Starter, Professional, Business, and Enterprise tiers, each with specific features and usage limits as described on our pricing page.

On the Enterprise plan, you may use your own AI model API keys (Bring Your Own Key / BYOK) or connect self-hosted models via vLLM. When using BYOK or self-hosted models, data is transmitted directly to your chosen provider or infrastructure. Gardeo's PII pseudonymization is still applied, but data processing outside Gardeo's infrastructure is governed by your own agreements with those providers. Batch processing is available on Business and Enterprise plans for asynchronous bulk operations.

3. Account and Access

To use the Service, you must create an account by providing accurate and complete registration information. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activities that occur under your account.

You must be at least 18 years of age or the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction to enter into these Terms and create an account. The minimum age for data processing under the GDPR is 16 years; however, a contractual relationship with Gardeo requires full legal capacity. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or any other security breach.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, that have been inactive for an extended period, or where we reasonably suspect fraudulent or unauthorized activity.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree to use the Service in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and these Terms. You shall not use the Service for any unlawful, harmful, or abusive purpose. In particular, the following activities are strictly prohibited:

• Generating, distributing, or storing content that is illegal, defamatory, threatening, harassing, or that promotes violence, hatred, or discrimination against any individual or group.
• Attempting to circumvent, disable, or interfere with the PII pseudonymization engine or any other security features of the Service.
• Using the Service to develop competing AI products, to reverse-engineer underlying models, or to systematically extract or scrape outputs for model training purposes.
• Uploading or transmitting malware, viruses, or any code designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to the Service or its infrastructure.
• Sharing account credentials with unauthorized third parties, reselling access to the Service, or exceeding the usage limits of your subscription plan.
• Impersonating any person or entity, or falsely representing your affiliation with any person or entity when using the Service.
• Using the Service to generate content that infringes upon the intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or other rights of third parties.
• Attempting to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service or to breach any authentication or security measures without prior written authorization.

We reserve the right to investigate violations of these restrictions and to take appropriate action, including suspension or termination of your account, removal of content, and reporting to law enforcement authorities where warranted.

The Service allows you to share conversations via public links. Shared conversations are accessible to anyone with the link without authentication. You are solely responsible for ensuring that shared conversations do not contain sensitive, confidential, or personal data. Gardeo is not liable for any consequences arising from publicly shared content.

5. Data Protection

Gardeo is designed with privacy at its core. All user inputs are processed through our PII pseudonymization engine before being forwarded to third-party AI providers, ensuring that personal data is masked and protected. The PII pseudonymization engine detects over 50 data types in four languages but cannot guarantee complete detection of all personal data in every input. You can review the pseudonymization before sending via the Transparency View. You remain responsible for ensuring that your use of the Service complies with applicable data protection laws. Data processing takes place exclusively within the EU in compliance with the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (nDSG) and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Our handling of personal data is described in detail in our Privacy Policy. For Business and Enterprise customers, we offer a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) that governs the processing of personal data on your behalf. You acknowledge that, despite our pseudonymization measures, you remain responsible for ensuring that your use of the Service complies with applicable data protection laws.

6. Intellectual Property

The Service, including its software, design, trademarks, documentation, and all related intellectual property, is and remains the exclusive property of Florian Wessels: flossels.ch. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right, title, or interest in the Service beyond the limited right to use it in accordance with these Terms.

You retain ownership of the content you submit to the Service (input) and the outputs generated through your use of the Service, subject to the terms and restrictions of the respective upstream AI providers. You grant us a limited, non-exclusive license to process your content solely for the purpose of providing and improving the Service.

7. Payment and Billing

Subscription fees are charged in accordance with the plan you select. Prices are listed in Swiss Francs (CHF) or Euros (EUR) and are billed on a monthly or annual basis as indicated at the time of purchase. All payments are processed securely through Stripe.

Monthly subscriptions are billed monthly in advance and renew automatically. Annual subscriptions are also billed monthly at a discounted rate and include a minimum commitment of twelve (12) months. After the commitment period, they renew automatically for another year unless cancelled before expiry. You may upgrade, downgrade, or cancel your subscription at any time through the account settings on the platform. Downgrades and cancellations take effect at the end of the current billing period.

Unless otherwise required by applicable law, fees already paid are non-refundable. We reserve the right to adjust pricing with at least 30 days' prior notice. Continued use of the Service after a price change constitutes acceptance of the new pricing.

8. Availability and Maintenance

We strive to provide the Service with high availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free access. The Service may be temporarily unavailable due to scheduled maintenance, updates, or circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including outages at third-party AI providers or infrastructure partners.

We will make reasonable efforts to notify users of planned maintenance in advance. We shall not be liable for any loss, damage, or inconvenience arising from Service interruptions, whether planned or unplanned.

9. Limitation of Liability

The Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the maximum extent permitted by Swiss law (Art. 97 et seq. OR), we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

AI-generated outputs may be inaccurate, incomplete, or unsuitable for your specific purpose. You acknowledge that you are solely responsible for evaluating and using any outputs generated through the Service. Gardeo does not guarantee the accuracy, reliability, or appropriateness of any AI-generated content.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, our total aggregate liability for any claims arising out of or related to these Terms or the Service shall not exceed the total fees you have paid to us in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim. In no event shall we be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of profits, data, or business opportunities.

10. Termination

You may terminate your account at any time by cancelling your subscription and deleting your account through the account settings on the platform. Upon termination, your right to access the Service ceases immediately, and all your data is permanently and irreversibly deleted, unless legal retention obligations apply.

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service immediately and without prior notice if you materially breach these Terms, if required by law, or if we reasonably determine that your continued use poses a risk to the Service, other users, or third parties.

Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination shall remain in effect, including but not limited to intellectual property rights, limitation of liability, indemnification obligations, and governing law.

11. Changes to These Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. Material changes will be communicated to you at least 30 days in advance via email or through a prominent notice within the Service. The updated Terms will indicate the date of the most recent revision.

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must discontinue use of the Service and terminate your account before the changes take effect.

12. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the substantive laws of Switzerland, excluding its conflict of law provisions and excluding the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

Any disputes arising out of or in connection with these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts of the Canton of Zug, Switzerland, unless mandatory statutory provisions require a different forum.

13. Your Obligations

You are solely responsible for evaluating the suitability and accuracy of any AI-generated output before using it in a productive, professional, or public context. AI-generated content may contain errors, inaccuracies, or inappropriate suggestions. You must verify all outputs before relying on them for decisions, publications, or communications.

You are responsible for maintaining adequate backups of all data you process through Gardeo. While we take reasonable measures to protect your data, we are not liable for data loss resulting from account deletion, technical failures, or circumstances beyond our control.

You must ensure that your use of the Service, including the data you submit and the outputs you generate, complies with all applicable laws and regulations in your jurisdiction. In particular, you must ensure that you have the necessary legal basis for processing any personal data of third parties through the Service.

If you configure webhooks or workflow automations that transmit data to external endpoints, you are responsible for the security and data protection compliance of those endpoints. Gardeo signs webhook payloads with HMAC-SHA256 for integrity verification, but cannot guarantee the security of third-party receiving systems.

14. Electronic Communication

Communication between you and Gardeo takes place primarily via electronic means, in particular via email. You acknowledge that unencrypted emails offer only limited security and confidentiality.

You must ensure that the email address associated with your account is accurate and that you can receive messages sent by Gardeo. In particular, you must configure any spam filters to allow delivery of emails from Gardeo. Notifications sent to the email address on file are deemed received.

15. Evidence

Data stored in electronic form by Gardeo: including usage logs, timestamps, transaction records, and communication logs: shall be admissible as evidence for the purposes of proving data transmissions, contractual agreements, and payments between you and Gardeo.

16. Force Majeure

Neither party shall be liable for any failure or delay in performing its obligations under these Terms to the extent that such failure or delay is caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to natural disasters, pandemics, war, terrorism, government actions, power outages, internet or telecommunications failures, or failures of third-party AI model providers.

If a force majeure event continues for more than 30 consecutive days, either party may terminate the affected services upon written notice. In such case, fees will be prorated and any prepaid amounts for the unused period will be refunded.

17. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Florian Wessels: flossels.ch and its employees, contractors, and agents from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your violation of these Terms, (b) your use of the Service in a manner that infringes the rights of third parties, (c) content you submit to or generate through the Service, or (d) your failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations.

This indemnification obligation survives termination of these Terms and your use of the Service.

18. Third-Party AI Provider Terms

The Service integrates AI models from third-party providers (including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Perplexity, Mistral, xAI, and DeepSeek). Your use of these models through Gardeo is also subject to the respective providers' acceptable use policies. You must not use the Service to generate content that would violate any AI provider's terms of use.

Gardeo does not control the behavior, outputs, or availability of third-party AI models. Changes to third-party models, including modifications to their capabilities, content policies, or discontinuation, may affect the Service without prior notice from Gardeo.

19. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable, or if modification is not possible, severed from these Terms. The remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

20. Contact

For questions regarding these Terms:

Florian Wessels: flossels.ch
Email: hello@gardeo.ai
Lorzenparkstrasse 23, 6330 Cham, Switzerland