Terms of Service

Effective: October 3, 2025

Welcome!

We've drafted these Terms of Service (the "Terms") so you'll know the rules that govern your relationship with us as a user of Castle. These Terms apply to your use of our website, app, and any related services provided by Monterey's Coast, Inc. ("Castle"). They form a legally binding contract between you and Castle, so please read them carefully.

By using any of our Services, you agree to the Terms. If you don't agree, you must not use the Services.

ARBITRATION NOTICE: THESE TERMS CONTAIN A BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER. EXCEPT FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF DISPUTES DESCRIBED IN THE ARBITRATION SECTION, YOU AND CASTLE AGREE THAT ALL DISPUTES BETWEEN US WILL BE RESOLVED THROUGH BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION. YOU MAY OPT OUT OF ARBITRATION AS DESCRIBED BELOW.

You can review the most current version of the Terms of Service at any time at: https://castle.xyz/terms. We may revise these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will provide you with reasonable notice (unless changes are required sooner, for example, as a result of a change in legal requirements or where we are launching new Services or features). If you continue to use the Services once the changes come into effect, we will take that as your acceptance.

For information about how we collect, use, share, and store your data, please review our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

Castle expects all users to follow these Terms. Violations may result in the termination of your account. While Castle prohibits certain types of conduct and content, we do not control or actively monitor all content on the Service. You understand and agree that you may be exposed to materials you find offensive or inappropriate, and that you use the Service at your own risk.

In Summary: These Terms are your agreement with Castle. If you use Castle, you're agreeing to them. If you don't agree, don't use the Service. Sometimes we'll update these Terms, and if the changes are material we'll let you know when we do.

A. Account Terms

  • You must be 16 years or older to use this Service. If you are under 16, or under the minimum age required by local law, you must have explicit consent from your parent or legal guardian, including for data processing required to operate the Service. Children under 13 may only use the Service with verifiable parental consent in compliance with COPPA.
  • You must be a human. Accounts registered by "bots" or other automated methods are not permitted.
  • You must choose a username and provide a valid email address or phone number and any other information requested in order to complete the signup process.
  • Your login may only be used by one person - a single login shared by multiple people is not permitted.
  • You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and password. Castle cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage from your failure to comply with this security obligation.
  • You are responsible for all Content posted and activity that occurs under your account (even when Content is posted by others who access your account).
  • You may not use the Service for any illegal or unauthorized purpose. You must not, in the use of the Service, violate any laws in your jurisdiction (including but not limited to copyright or trademark laws).

In Summary: You must be old enough (or have parental consent) to use Castle. No bots, no sharing accounts with other people, and you're responsible for what happens on your account.

B. Termination and Suspension

While we hope you remain a lifelong Castle user, you can terminate these Terms at any time if you do not agree with any changes we make to them, or for any other reason, by deleting your Castle account. After we complete a deletion upon your request, all of your Content will be permanently deleted from the Service. This information cannot be recovered once your account is deleted, though some limited copies may be retained for a short period in backups or as required by law.

We may restrict, terminate, or temporarily suspend your access to the Services if you fail to comply with these Terms, our Community Guidelines, or the law, for reasons outside of our control, or for any other reason. That means we may terminate these Terms, stop providing you with all or any part of the Services, or impose new or additional limits on your ability to use the Services. For example, we may deactivate your account due to prolonged inactivity, and we may reclaim your username at any time for any reason. While we'll try to give you reasonable notice beforehand, we cannot guarantee that notice will always be possible in all circumstances.

Where we restrict, terminate, or suspend your access to the Services for violation of our Terms or applicable law, we will notify you and provide an opportunity for you to appeal that decision as explained in Section I (Content Moderation and Reporting).

Before we restrict, terminate, or suspend your access to the Services, we will take into account relevant facts and circumstances apparent from the information available to us, depending on the underlying reason for taking that action. For example, if you violate our Terms or Community Guidelines we may consider the severity, frequency, and impact of the violations as well as the intention behind the violation. This will inform our decision whether to restrict, terminate, or suspend your access to the Services and, in the event of suspension, how long we suspend your access.

Regardless of who terminates these Terms, both you and Castle continue to be bound by Sections D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, and M (to the extent any provisions would, by their nature, survive termination).

In Summary: You can delete your account at any time. We can suspend, restrict, or terminate accounts for violations, inactivity, or other reasons. We'll try to give notice and you may appeal in some cases.

C. Modifications to the Service and Prices

Castle reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Service (or any part thereof) with or without notice.

Castle shall not be liable to you or to any third-party for any modification, price change, suspension, or discontinuance of the Service.

In Summary: Castle may change or discontinue parts of the Service at any time.

D. Copyright and Content Ownership

We claim no intellectual property rights over the material you provide to the Service. Your profile and materials uploaded remain yours. However, by setting your decks to be viewed publicly, you agree to allow others to view your Content.

By uploading or otherwise making Content available on the Service, you grant Castle a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the Content in connection with the Service and Castle's (and its successors' and affiliates') business.

Castle and its designee have the right (but not the obligation) in their sole discretion to refuse or remove any Content that is available via the Service.

You shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Castle against any claim, demand, suit, or proceeding made or brought against Castle by a third party alleging that Your Content or Your use of the Service in violation of this Agreement infringes or misappropriates intellectual property rights or violates applicable law.

If you provide feedback, suggestions, or ideas about Castle or the Service, you agree that Castle may use them without restriction or obligation to you, and without any compensation.

You may not duplicate, copy, or reuse any portion of the Castle mobile applications without express written permission from Castle.

In Summary: You own your content but give Castle a license to use it to run the Service. You're responsible if your content breaks the law. If you give us feedback, we can use it without owing you anything.

E. DMCA Takedown Policy

Castle respects the intellectual property rights of others and complies with the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"). If you believe that your copyrighted work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please notify Castle's designated DMCA Agent with the following information:

  • A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf;
  • Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed;
  • Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled;
  • Information reasonably sufficient to permit Castle to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and email address;
  • A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
  • A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

Designated Agent for Castle:
DMCA Agent, Monterey's Coast, Inc.
Email: copyright@castle.xyz

In Summary: If you think your copyright is infringed, you can send us a DMCA notice and we'll review it.

F. Arbitration and Class Action Waiver

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.

You and Castle agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved solely through binding individual arbitration, except that either party may bring an individual action in small claims court or seek injunctive or other equitable relief for the alleged unlawful use of intellectual property.

Arbitration shall be administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. The arbitration shall take place in California unless the parties agree otherwise. The arbitrator's decision will be final and binding, and judgment may be entered in any court with jurisdiction.

Class and Representative Action Waiver
YOU AND CASTLE AGREE THAT ALL CLAIMS AND DISPUTES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS MUST BE BROUGHT ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT ON A CLASS, COLLECTIVE, REPRESENTATIVE, OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL BASIS. CLAIMS OF MORE THAN ONE USER CANNOT BE ARBITRATED OR LITIGATED JOINTLY OR CONSOLIDATED WITH THOSE OF ANY OTHER USER. IF THIS WAIVER IS FOUND UNENFORCEABLE, THEN THE AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE SHALL BE NULL AND VOID WITH RESPECT TO THAT PROCEEDING, AND THE CLAIM MUST BE BROUGHT IN COURT.

Opt-Out: You may opt out of arbitration by sending a written notice to support@castle.xyz within 30 days of accepting these Terms, stating clearly your intent to opt out of arbitration. Include your full name and username (if applicable) in the notice.

In Summary: Disputes will usually go to individual arbitration, not court. You can't bring or join class actions. You can opt out of arbitration within 30 days.

G. Software Restrictions

You may not:

  • Copy, modify, or create derivative works based on the Service;
  • Distribute, transfer, sublicense, lease, lend, or rent the Service to any third party;
  • Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Service;
  • Make the functionality of the Service available to multiple users through any means.

In Summary: Don't misuse Castle's software, copy it, or try to hack it.

H. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Castle and its affiliates, officers, employees, agents, suppliers, and licensors shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits or revenues, whether incurred directly or indirectly, or any loss of data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses, resulting from:

  • Your access to or use of or inability to access or use the Service;
  • Any conduct or content of any third party on the Service;
  • Unauthorized access, use, or alteration of your content or transmissions.

In no event shall Castle's total liability exceed $100.

Disclaimer of Warranties
The Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. Castle does not guarantee that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or that any defects will be corrected.

In Summary: Castle isn't liable for most types of damages, and the Service comes "as is" with no guarantees.

I. Content Moderation and Reporting

Castle's Community Guidelines, available at https://castle.xyz/community_guidelines, form part of these Terms. You must follow the Community Guidelines when using the Service.

Castle may review, remove, or restrict content that violates these Terms or applicable laws, but is not obligated to do so. Users may report content or behavior that they believe violates these Terms to support@castle.xyz.

If your content is removed or your access is restricted due to a violation of our Terms or applicable law, we will provide you with a reasoned explanation and an opportunity to appeal that decision where required by applicable law, including the Digital Services Act or Online Safety Act.

In Summary: Follow the Community Guidelines. We may remove content or suspend accounts, and you can report violations. In some cases, you'll get an explanation and the right to appeal.

J. Third-Party Services

The Service may contain links to or integrations with third-party websites, content, or services. Castle does not control and is not responsible for any third-party websites, content, or services. Your dealings with third parties are solely between you and the third party, and you agree that Castle is not liable for any loss or damage arising from such dealings.

In Summary: If you use third-party links or services through Castle, that's between you and them, not us.

K. Governing Law and Entire Agreement

These Terms of Service and your use of the Service are governed under California law. Nothing in these Terms affects your rights as a consumer under applicable mandatory law in your country of residence.

The failure of Castle to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms of Service shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Castle and supersede any prior agreements between you and Castle regarding the Service.

In Summary: California law applies, but your mandatory consumer rights elsewhere still apply. This is the full agreement between you and Castle.

L. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Castle, its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, licensors, and agents from and against any and all complaints, claims, damages, losses, costs, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) due to, arising out of, or relating in any way to: (a) your access to or use of the Service, or any products or services provided by a third party in connection with the Service; (b) your Content, including claims that it infringes or misappropriates intellectual property rights or violates applicable law; (c) your breach of these Terms or any applicable law or regulation; or (d) your negligence or willful misconduct.

In Summary: If your use of Castle causes us legal trouble, you agree to cover our costs.

M. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect. If any portion of the arbitration or class action waiver provisions is found unenforceable, the unenforceable portion shall be severed, and the remaining provisions enforced to the maximum extent permitted by law.

In Summary: If one part of these Terms is found to be invalid, the rest still applies.

Questions about the Terms of Service should be sent to support@castle.xyz.