Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of these terms

By downloading, installing, or using LEAware, you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, do not use the app.

If you use LEAware as an employee, contractor, or volunteer of a public safety agency, you are also bound by the license agreement between us and that agency. Where these terms conflict with that signed agreement, the signed agreement controls as between us and the agency.

2. Definitions

• Agency — the law enforcement or public safety organization that licenses LEAware and authorizes your account.
• Authorized User — an individual the Agency has authorized to use the app: sworn officers, telecommunicators, and civilian staff.
• Agency Data — records, reports, media, and other content accessed or created through the app that belong to the Agency.
• Service — the LEAware mobile application and the server-side APIs it communicates with.

3. Eligibility and authorized use

LEAware is a restricted professional tool, not a consumer product. You may use it only if:

• you are an Authorized User of an Agency with a current license;
• you are at least 18 years old;
• you hold whatever background clearance, CJIS certification, and training your Agency and applicable law require; and
• your use is for the Agency's official business.

Your right to use the Service ends when your authorization ends, whether because you leave the Agency, change roles, or the Agency's license terminates.

4. Accounts and credentials

You are responsible for everything done under your account. You agree to:

• keep your credentials confidential and not share them with anyone, including other officers;
• use a device passcode and keep the operating system current;
• enable the app's biometric lock or shorten the session timeout where your Agency requires it;
• notify your Agency immediately if your device is lost or stolen or you suspect your credentials are compromised; and
• not create an account for anyone else or use another person's account.

5. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• query, view, or disseminate records for any purpose other than authorized official business — personal, curiosity, or third-party lookups are prohibited and are typically a criminal offense as well as a policy violation;
• disclose Agency Data, criminal history information, or intelligence to anyone not authorized to receive it;
• capture, screenshot, photograph, export, or forward Service content except as your Agency permits;
• use the Service in violation of the FBI CJIS Security Policy, 28 C.F.R. Part 23, the Driver's Privacy Protection Act, state criminal history statutes, or any other applicable law;
• attempt to bypass authentication, permission checks, training-mode restrictions, or audit logging;
• reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive source code from the app, except where that restriction is unenforceable by law;
• probe, scan, penetration-test, overload, or disrupt the Service or its infrastructure without our prior written authorization;
• introduce malware, or use automated means to scrape or bulk-extract data; or
• submit content you know to be false, or falsify a record, signature, or timestamp.

Misuse may be reported to your Agency and to appropriate authorities, and may result in immediate suspension.

6. Agency ownership of data

Agency Data belongs to the Agency. We claim no ownership of it. We access and process it only to provide the Service, as described in the Privacy Policy and in our agreement with the Agency. Requests from the public for Agency records must go to the Agency.

7. Accuracy of information — read this section

LEAware displays information supplied by your Agency's records systems and by third-party sources. It is a convenience view, not the system of record, and it is not a substitute for confirmation through dispatch, NCIC/state criminal information systems, or the originating agency.

• Records may be incomplete, out of date, superseded, expunged, sealed, or entered in error.
• Warrant, confinement, and person-alert information may not reflect the current status of a warrant or an individual's custody status. Do not make an arrest, detention, or use-of-force decision on the basis of information shown in LEAware alone. Confirm warrant validity through your normal verification channel before acting.
• Officer safety alerts and banners are advisories generated from available data. Their absence does not mean a person or location is safe.
• Barcode and driver's license scanning parse what the document encodes; a decoded result is not proof of identity or of document validity.
• VIN decoding uses the NHTSA vPIC service and reflects manufacturer specification, not the current condition, ownership, or status of a vehicle.
• Mapping and location features are approximate and depend on device hardware and network conditions.
• K9 deployment tracks are a GPS-derived approximation of a route, not a survey. Point accuracy varies with tree cover, buildings, and weather; poor fixes are excluded from the distance figure, and gaps can occur where the device had no signal. Distances and routes shown are calculated by the records system from the points it received. Treat a track as a record of what the device observed, not as a precise measurement of where a dog went.

You remain responsible for exercising independent professional judgment and following your Agency's policies and applicable law in every case.

8. Wellness features — not medical care

The wellness assessments, check-ins, chats, and resources in LEAware provide general self-awareness tools and peer or staff support. They are:

• not medical, psychiatric, or psychological care, and not a diagnosis;
• not a substitute for evaluation or treatment by a licensed professional; and
• not an emergency service.

If you or someone else is in crisis, stop and get help now: call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline), call 911, or contact your Agency's employee assistance program or peer support coordinator. Do not rely on an in-app chat to summon urgent help — messages may not be read immediately.

Anonymity options are described in the Privacy Policy. Note that mandatory reporting obligations, fitness-for-duty processes, and Agency policy may still apply to what you disclose.

9. Availability, updates, and support

We aim to keep the Service available but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. Maintenance, network conditions, device limitations, Agency system outages, and third-party service failures can interrupt it. Features may be added, changed, or removed. We may require you to install updates; older app versions may stop working, particularly when a security fix or a server API change requires it.

Support is provided through your Agency's designated contacts and at pssupport@southernsoftware.com, on the terms in our Agency agreement.

10. Third-party services

The Service uses Google Firebase for authentication and push notification delivery, the NHTSA vPIC service for VIN decoding, and your device's map application for addresses. Those services carry their own terms, and we are not responsible for their availability, accuracy, or acts.

11. Intellectual property

The app, its software, interface, design, and documentation are owned by Southern Software, Inc. and its licensors and are protected by copyright and other laws. Subject to these terms and the Agency agreement, you receive a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the app on a device you control, for the Agency's official business, for as long as you are an Authorized User. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. "LEAware" and associated logos are our marks and may not be used without permission.

12. Confidentiality

Non-public information you learn through the Service — including Agency Data, system behavior, and security features — is confidential. You must protect it in accordance with Agency policy, your CJIS obligations, and applicable law, both during and after your authorization to use the Service.

13. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate access, in whole or in part, without prior notice, where we reasonably believe there is a security risk, a violation of these terms, a legal requirement, or non-payment under the Agency agreement. Agencies may deprovision users at any time. Sections 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 survive termination.

14. Disclaimer of warranties

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express, implied, or statutory, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, accuracy, and quiet enjoyment. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or that data displayed will be accurate, current, or complete. This section does not limit any express written warranty given to an Agency in a signed agreement.

15. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, and except as otherwise provided in a signed Agency agreement:

• we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost data, business interruption, or loss of goodwill, however caused and on any theory of liability, even if advised of the possibility; and
• our total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the Service is limited to the amounts paid to us for the Service by the relevant Agency in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so parts of this section may not apply to you. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including for fraud, willful misconduct, or death or personal injury caused by negligence.

16. Indemnity

If you use the Service other than as an employee or agent of a licensed Agency acting within the scope of that role, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Southern Software, Inc. and its officers, employees, and agents from claims, damages, and reasonable legal fees arising from your breach of these terms, your misuse of the Service, or your violation of law. Indemnification obligations of a government Agency, if any, are governed solely by the signed Agency agreement and applicable law, and nothing in this section is intended to require a public entity to indemnify beyond what its law allows.

17. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. The exclusive venue for disputes is the state and federal courts located in Moore County, North Carolina, and each party consents to that jurisdiction. Where a party is a government entity whose governing law or venue cannot be altered by contract, that law and venue apply instead, and the signed Agency agreement controls.

18. App store terms

If you obtained the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play, you must also comply with that store's terms. Apple and Google are not parties to these terms, have no obligation to provide support for the app, and are not responsible for it. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms with respect to your license to use the iOS app, and may enforce them against you.

19. Changes to these terms

We may modify these terms. Material changes will be reflected in the "Last updated" date and communicated through ordinary release and support channels. Continued use after the effective date of a change constitutes acceptance.

20. General

These terms, together with the applicable Agency agreement and the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement regarding your use of the app. If a provision is held unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these terms; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

21. Contact

Southern Software, Inc. 150 Perry Dr, Southern Pines, NC 28387 Legal: support@southernsoftware.com Product support: pssupport@southernsoftware.com

Related: Privacy Policy