Terms and conditions

These terms govern your use of PublishSentry websites and services (including publishsentry.com and schools.publishsentry.com). By using the service, creating an account, or running a check, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use PublishSentry.

The service

PublishSentry helps schools monitor publicly available website content and published documents. We run automated checks and report factual findings about what appears to be published, linked, dated, or missing on the sites you ask us to check.

Findings are factual observations only. PublishSentry does not provide legal advice, audit certification, or a guarantee that a school website meets any statutory, regulatory, or GOV.UK requirement. You remain responsible for your own compliance decisions and for verifying results.

Accounts

You must provide accurate account details and keep login credentials secure. You are responsible for activity under your account. Contact hello@publishsentry.com if you believe your account has been compromised.

Acceptable use and scanning

You may only ask PublishSentry to check websites you are authorised to monitor (for example, your own school site). Our checks are designed to inspect publicly available information only. We do not attempt to defeat access controls or crawl private areas.

You must not:

• use the service to harass, scrape at abusive volume, or disrupt websites
• attempt to reverse engineer, overload, or break the service
• resell access or results except as we agree in writing
• use findings as a substitute for professional legal or compliance advice

Schools can ask us not to crawl a site. See our bot information page for how our crawler identifies itself.

Free checks and paid plans

You may run limited free checks without an account, or create a free account for dashboard access and manual checks. Premium plans add recurring automatic checks and extra features, billed through Stripe (card or invoice). Prices and inclusions are described on the pricing page and may change with notice. Paid subscriptions renew until cancelled; you can manage or cancel from the billing portal where available.

Intellectual property

PublishSentry owns the service, software, branding, and the reports we generate. You retain rights in your own content and school materials. We do not claim ownership of the public web pages we fetch. You may use reports internally for your school's monitoring purposes; you may not copy the product or present our branding as your own.

Disclaimer and liability

The service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. Website content changes constantly; scans can miss pages, misread documents, or be blocked by site configuration. We do not warrant uninterrupted or error-free operation, or that findings are complete or conclusive for compliance purposes.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, PublishSentry is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential loss, or for loss of profits, data, goodwill, or compliance outcomes arising from use of the service. Our total liability for any claim relating to the service is limited to the fees you paid us for the service in the 12 months before the claim (or £50 if you have paid nothing). Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any liability that cannot be limited under English law.

Privacy

How we handle personal data is explained in our privacy policy. How we use cookies and related storage is explained in our cookie notice. For wider security practices, see security. Privacy questions: hello@publishsentry.com.

Changes

We may update these terms from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top will change when we do. Continued use after an update means you accept the revised terms. If a change is material, we will take reasonable steps to highlight it (for example by email or a site notice).

Contact

Questions about these terms: hello@publishsentry.com.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction, except that if you are a consumer you may also bring proceedings in your local courts where mandatory law allows.