Use Shineward honestly and safely.

By accessing or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and acknowledge the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service. If you use Shineward for an organization, you represent that you are authorized to bind that organization.

You must be at least 13 years old to create an account. The Service is not directed to children under 13. If you are under the age of legal majority where you live, you may use Shineward only with the involvement and permission of a parent or legal guardian. A parent or guardian who permits a minor to use the Service agrees to supervise that use and is responsible for the minor's compliance with these Terms.

Some sharing and advisor features require guardian authorization for users under 18. Those safeguards do not replace any consent, permission, or agreement required by a school, applicable law, or your family.

Provide accurate registration information, keep it current, and protect your credentials. Do not share an account or let another person impersonate you. Tell us promptly through the contact form if you believe an account or private link has been compromised. You are responsible for activity performed through your account unless prohibited by law.

You retain ownership of the text, documents, images, links, and other material you submit (“Your Content”). You give Shineward a limited, nonexclusive, worldwide license to host, copy, process, format, and display Your Content only as reasonably needed to operate, secure, improve, and provide the Service you request. This license ends when Your Content is deleted from active systems, subject to reasonable backup cycles and legal retention needs described in the Privacy Policy.

You represent that Your Content is accurate to the best of your knowledge, does not violate another person's rights, and is content you are allowed to submit and share. You are responsible for reviewing what you publish or send to others.

Shineward may use calculations, public sources, and artificial intelligence to organize, summarize, rewrite, compare, or suggest presentation of information you provide. Output can be incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, or unsuitable. It is assistance, not an official transcript, graduation audit, course approval, professional opinion, or verified record. You must review it before using, submitting, publishing, or acting on it.

Path Planner does not register a student for courses or replace the current catalog, graduation requirements, prerequisite rules, or professional judgment of the student's school. Students, families, counselors, and advisors must confirm recommendations with authorized school personnel and official sources.

Shineward does not provide admissions, academic, legal, medical, mental-health, or financial advice and does not guarantee admission, scholarships, employment, grades, graduation, course availability, or any other outcome.

Portfolios and student work pages are private by default, but anyone who receives an active share link may be able to view the linked content. Share links only with intended recipients and revoke them when they are no longer needed. A minor's work page requires a separate guardian approval and excludes direct contact details, grades, transcripts, target schools, and the college portfolio. Shineward does not arrange employment, payment, transportation, permits, taxes, insurance, scheduling, or in-person safety; those decisions remain with the student and family. If you approve a counselor or advisor connection, that person may access the information disclosed in the approval flow until the connection is revoked. You are responsible for checking recipient identity and the scope of access before approving or sharing.

Do not use the Service to break the law; harm, threaten, exploit, or harass anyone; submit fabricated credentials or impersonate another person; infringe privacy, intellectual-property, or other rights; upload malware or attempt unauthorized access; bypass safety, rate-limit, or access controls; scrape or systematically extract data; disrupt the Service; or use another person's private information without permission. Do not submit highly sensitive information that is unnecessary for the feature you are using, including passwords, Social Security numbers, or financial account credentials.

We may investigate suspected misuse and remove content or restrict access when reasonably necessary to protect users, the Service, or others.

Unless a separate written agreement says otherwise, Shineward is a student-directed tool and is not acting for a school or district. Creating an account, using a school email address, or appearing in a student's workspace does not make an advisor a Shineward employee, agent, partner, or representative and does not make Shineward a school official or agent of the advisor's organization.

Advisors and counselors must provide accurate identity and affiliation information; request access only for students they are authorized to support; use student information only for that support purpose; apply their own professional judgment; keep information confidential; avoid copying, downloading, or redisclosing information except when authorized and legally permitted; protect their devices and credentials; and promptly end access when the support relationship or legitimate need ends. They may not use Shineward to build a student directory, recruit unknown students, conduct surveillance, or make an automated high-impact decision.

Schools and organizations remain responsible for approving technology use, determining whether FERPA or another student-privacy law applies, providing required notices and consents, limiting personnel access, maintaining official records, and entering any required agreement before directing personnel or students to use the Service. Verification indicators help users make informed decisions but are not an endorsement, professional license, employment check, background check, or guarantee of qualifications.

Shineward is not a party to the relationship between a student, family, advisor, counselor, school, or outside organization and is not responsible for a person's independent advice, promises, supervision, conduct, or services. The Service is not an emergency or student-safety reporting system.

The Service may rely on or link to third-party services. Their terms and privacy practices govern your use of those services. Shineward is not responsible for third-party content, availability, or conduct and does not endorse a third party merely by linking to it.

We may add, change, suspend, or discontinue features, including beta features, and may set reasonable usage limits. We aim to keep the Service available and protect stored content, but uninterrupted access is not guaranteed. Keep copies of important records and final application materials.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Service is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, noninfringement, accuracy, or uninterrupted availability. Nothing in these Terms excludes warranties or rights that cannot legally be excluded.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Shineward and its operators will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost opportunities, admissions, grades, scholarships, course placement, data, profits, or goodwill arising from or related to the Service, user content, third-party sources, advisor conduct, or reliance on planning or AI-assisted output. Shineward's total liability for claims relating to the Service will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid Shineward during the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim or 100 U.S. dollars.

These limits apply regardless of the legal theory and even if a remedy fails of its essential purpose, but they do not limit liability that cannot legally be limited, including rights or remedies that applicable consumer law makes nonwaivable.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, if you use the Service on behalf of a school, organization, business, or professional practice, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Shineward and its operators from third-party claims, damages, losses, and reasonable costs arising from your unlawful use of the Service, unauthorized access to or disclosure of student information, Your Content, infringement of another person's rights, or material violation of these Terms. This obligation does not apply to the extent a claim results from Shineward's own conduct for which liability cannot lawfully be excluded.

You may stop using Shineward at any time and may request account deletion through account settings or the contact form. We may suspend, limit, or terminate access; remove content; revoke links or connections; or preserve relevant records when reasonably necessary for a material or repeated violation of these Terms, unlawful activity, unauthorized student access, a security or safety risk, a valid legal obligation, or conduct that could harm users or the Service. Where practical, we will provide notice and an opportunity to export content, unless safety, law, security, or the rights of another person require faster action.

We may update these Terms as the Service or law changes. We will post the updated date and provide additional notice when required. If a material change applies to existing users, it will take effect prospectively after reasonable notice. Continued use after the effective date means you accept the updated Terms.

These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and Shineward about the Service unless a separate written agreement applies. If one provision is unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum lawful extent and the remaining provisions stay in effect. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms without our consent; Shineward may transfer these Terms as part of a merger, financing, reorganization, or sale of the Service.

To the extent permitted by law, these Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida and applicable United States federal law, without overriding nonwaivable consumer protections that apply where you live. Before filing a formal claim, you and Shineward agree to provide notice through the contact process and make a good-faith effort for 30 days to resolve the issue informally, unless immediate relief is reasonably necessary or a limitations period would expire. These Terms do not require arbitration, waive an eligible small-claims action, or waive a right that cannot legally be waived.

Questions, legal notices, or concerns about these Terms may be submitted through the Shineward contact form. Choose “Legal notice” when appropriate.