Terms of Use

1. About these terms

These Terms of Use govern access to and use of Shields, including the Shields by cleoSoft mobile application, the Shields Admin by cleoSoft desktop application, backend services, APIs, reports, notifications, dashboards, subscriptions, support channels and related services.

By registering a company, logging in, accepting these terms or continuing to use Shields, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use and the applicable Privacy Notice.

2. Who may use Shields

You may use Shields only if you are legally allowed to do so and, where applicable, you are authorised by your employer, security company, client company, organisation or other legal entity to use the service.

If you use Shields on behalf of a company, employer, client, organisation, government department or other legal entity, you confirm that you are authorised to do so.

You must not access company, site, location, employee, inspection, patrol, access control, equipment, duty, report or other operational data unless you are authorised to do so.

3. The Shields service

Shields is a security operations platform intended to support functions including inspections, patrols, duty attendance, quick reports, equipment control, access control, site deployments, operational reporting and related administrative activities.

Features available to a user may depend on company configuration, permissions, subscription status, device capabilities and service availability.

4. User responsibilities

Users must:

• use Shields only for authorised work or operational purposes;
• keep login details secure;
• not share passwords, verification codes, authentication codes or access tokens;
• not access information they are not authorised to view;
• not upload unlawful, irrelevant, excessive or abusive content;
• not capture images or personal information unless required for a lawful operational purpose;
• not attempt to bypass permissions, authentication, subscription controls or security measures; and
• keep devices used to access Shields reasonably secure and updated.

If a user shares login details or allows another person to use their account, actions performed through that account may be attributed to that user.

5. Operational records and data integrity

Shields is designed to preserve operational records such as inspection information, duty attendance, patrol activity, reports, evidence, equipment records, access control events and related audit information.

Users must not knowingly falsify, alter, misrepresent or manipulate operational records, GPS information, attendance information, access control events or inspection results.

Certain records or fields may become restricted or immutable after they have been recorded in order to protect audit integrity.

6. Offline use and synchronisation

Shields may allow operational data to be captured while a device is offline. Pending data may be stored locally and synchronised when connectivity becomes available.

Users should not uninstall the application, clear application data or deliberately remove pending operational information before important unsynchronised records have uploaded, unless instructed by an authorised administrator or support person.

7. Device security

Users are responsible for using reasonably secure devices.

A rooted, jailbroken, compromised, unsupported, outdated or otherwise insecure device may increase the risk of unauthorised access, data loss or data corruption.

CLEOSOFT / Shields cannot guarantee the security of data on a device that has been compromised or is outside normal manufacturer and operating-system security controls.

8. Subscriptions, trials and grace periods

Shields may offer trial periods, paid subscriptions and grace periods.

During an active trial, active subscription or valid grace period, authorised users may have access according to their company settings, assigned permissions and the applicable product plan.

During a trial period, advertisements may be displayed in the Shields by cleoSoft mobile application or related services.

After trial, subscription and grace access have expired, access may become read-only, restricted or suspended, or subscription renewal may be required.

9. Billing and payment

Subscription fees are charged according to the applicable Shields plan and billing period shown at checkout or otherwise agreed with CLEOSOFT (Pty) Ltd.

Payments may be processed through an external payment provider such as Paystack. Payment card or banking details handled directly by the payment provider are subject to that provider's security and processing arrangements.

A subscription may be activated or renewed after successful payment verification.

If a renewal payment fails, Shields may provide a limited grace period before access becomes restricted or expires.

10. Cancellation and refunds

Monthly subscriptions may be cancelled at any time to stop future renewal.

Cancellation does not normally end access immediately. The company may continue using the paid subscription until the end of the subscription period that has already been paid for, subject to these terms and any applicable account restrictions.

Fees already paid are generally non-refundable.

A refund may be considered where a duplicate or erroneous charge has occurred, or where a refund is required under applicable law.

Questions about cancellation, billing or a potentially incorrect charge may be sent to shields@cleosoft.co.za.

11. Service availability and limitations

Shields depends on mobile devices, GPS, internet connectivity, backend services, hosting providers, operating systems, device permissions and user input.

We do not guarantee that notifications, GPS readings, synchronisation, reports or reminders will always be accurate, complete, immediate or uninterrupted.

GPS accuracy may be affected by device settings, signal strength, buildings, weather, network conditions, battery restrictions and other factors outside our control.

Users and companies should not rely on Shields as the only safety, emergency or legal-compliance system where independent verification is required.

12. Prohibited use

You may not:

• access non-public areas of the service without permission;
• attempt to bypass authentication or permissions;
• probe, scan or test system vulnerabilities without written permission;
• use automated scraping or unauthorised extraction tools;
• upload malware or harmful content;
• interfere with the operation of the service;
• use Shields for unlawful surveillance, harassment, discrimination or unauthorised monitoring; or
• misrepresent operational records, duty attendance, reports, GPS information, access control events or inspection results.

We may suspend, restrict or terminate access where misuse, security abuse or unauthorised activity is reasonably suspected.

13. Privacy and personal information

The processing of personal information through Shields is described in the Shields Privacy Notice.

Companies using Shields remain responsible for ensuring that their own use of employee, client and operational information complies with applicable law and their responsibilities under POPIA.

14. Reports and information sharing

Shields may generate operational and management reports containing employee, site, inspection, attendance, patrol, equipment, access control, GPS, image and other operational information.

Companies and users are responsible for ensuring that reports are shared only with authorised people and for lawful purposes.

15. Children

Shields is intended for use by adults in a workplace or business context and is not intended for children.

Companies must not create user accounts for children unless they have a lawful basis and all permissions or consents required by applicable law.

16. Communications

CLEOSOFT / Shields may send administrative, security, support, billing, subscription, password-reset, email-verification, privacy or service-related communications.

Some communications are necessary to provide or secure the service and cannot be opted out of while the relevant account or service remains in use.

17. Changes to the service or these terms

We may update Shields and these Terms of Use from time to time.

If these terms or the related Privacy Notice change materially, users may be required to accept the updated version before continuing to use Shields.

The current version applies from the date shown at the top of this page unless otherwise stated.

18. Contact