Law Enforcement Terms of Service

VOLUNTARY ACCESS — PostWatch LE access is entirely voluntary. No law enforcement agency or officer is required to use this system. If this system does not meet your investigative standards, your sole remedy is to stop using it.

1. PURPOSE & SCOPE. This system provides community-reported encounter data solely as an investigative lead-generation tool. Data is user-submitted, unverified, and may be inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading. This system is not a replacement for standard investigative procedures. PostWatch is a service provided by and wholly owned by HOAPOST, LLC, and is not a separate legal entity.

2. NO WARRANTY / ACCURACY DISCLAIMER. ALL DATA, INCLUDING GPS COORDINATES, TIMESTAMPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ENCOUNTER DESCRIPTIONS, FACIAL SIMILARITY SCORES, LICENSE PLATE READS, AND VEHICLE DESCRIPTIONS, IS PRESENTED “AS IS,” “AS AVAILABLE,” AND “WITH ALL FAULTS” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, RELIABILITY, MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR ANY INVESTIGATIVE OR EVIDENTIARY PURPOSE.

3. ACCEPTABLE USE. Access is authorized solely for official law enforcement duties within your jurisdiction. You agree not to: (a) share access credentials with any person; (b) redistribute, screenshot, or export data except as required for official case documentation with proper chain-of-custody procedures; (c) use data for personal, political, or non-official purposes; (d) attempt to identify uploaders or community members through this system; (e) use data to harass, intimidate, or surveil any individual outside of lawful investigative authority; (f) use data for any purpose that constitutes racial profiling or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or any protected class under federal or state law; (g) use facial recognition results or similarity scores as the sole basis for any investigative action, stop, detention, arrest, or warrant application.

4. LEGAL PROCESS & WARRANT REQUIREMENTS. Information obtained through this system does not constitute probable cause, reasonable suspicion, or any other legal standard required for arrest, detention, search, seizure, or warrant application. Before taking any law enforcement action based in whole or in part on information obtained through this system, you must: (a) independently corroborate the information through official law enforcement channels and databases; (b) obtain all legally required authorizations, including but not limited to search warrants, arrest warrants, court orders, or subpoenas as required by the Fourth Amendment, applicable state constitutions, and all governing statutes and regulations; (c) establish probable cause or reasonable suspicion through independent evidence apart from this system; (d) document the independent basis for any action in your official records, clearly distinguishing PostWatch data from independently verified evidence; (e) not cite, reference, or rely upon PostWatch data in any warrant application, affidavit, or sworn statement as a primary or sole basis for the requested authorization. Failure to comply with these legal process requirements constitutes a material breach of these terms and subjects you to personal liability under §13 and §14.

5. PUBLIC SPACE DOCTRINE. All photographs in this system were captured by community members in public places where no reasonable expectation of privacy exists under the Fourth Amendment and applicable state law (see Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967)). HOAPOST, LLC does not independently verify the circumstances of capture. If any content was captured unlawfully, that is the sole responsibility of the uploading user.

6. DATA PROVENANCE WARNING. Photographs and metadata are submitted by community members using personal devices. GPS coordinates are extracted from device EXIF metadata and may reflect the device’s location at capture time, not necessarily the location of any depicted event. Timestamps may be inaccurate due to device clock settings, timezone assumptions, or metadata manipulation. Facial similarity scores are probabilistic estimates generated by automated systems and may produce false positives or false negatives. License plate reads are generated by automated optical character recognition and may contain errors.

7. ANTI-DISCRIMINATION & FAIR HOUSING. You shall not use data obtained through this system in any manner that violates the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq.), the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or any applicable federal, state, or local anti-discrimination law. Use of this system to target, profile, or take adverse action against any individual based on a protected characteristic is strictly prohibited and grounds for immediate access revocation.

8. CONFIDENTIALITY & PROHIBITION ON UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE. All information accessed through this system is strictly confidential and proprietary to HOAPOST, LLC. You shall not disclose, share, forward, transmit, screenshot, photograph, copy, or otherwise disseminate any data obtained through this system to any person, agency, entity, or third party not expressly authorized under these terms, except: (a) as strictly necessary within your official case file pursuant to lawful authority and with proper chain-of-custody documentation; (b) in response to a valid court order, subpoena, or other compulsory legal process. Unauthorized disclosure to any person—including other officers not authorized to access this system, other agencies, prosecutors (except as part of a properly documented official case file), media, family members, or any other third party—constitutes a material breach of these terms and gives rise to HOAPOST, LLC’s right to seek damages against you in your personal capacity under §14 and §15. Each instance of unauthorized disclosure constitutes a separate breach.

9. AUDIT ACKNOWLEDGMENT. You acknowledge that all searches, access times, coordinates queried, results viewed, and IP addresses are logged and audited. These audit records may be disclosed in response to lawful requests, internal investigations, or legal proceedings. HOAPOST, LLC reserves the right to publish aggregate, anonymized statistics about LE search activity.

10. BIOMETRIC DATA NOTICE. This system processes biometric identifiers (facial geometry measurements) as defined under applicable state biometric privacy laws, including the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (740 ILCS 14). Community members have provided informed consent for this processing. Your access to biometric-derived data (similarity scores, facial match results) is conditioned on your compliance with all applicable biometric privacy laws in your jurisdiction.

11. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. All content displayed through this system is user-generated and submitted under license to HOAPOST, LLC. You may not reproduce, distribute, or publicly display any photographs or data obtained through this system except as required for official law enforcement case documentation. HOAPOST, LLC complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512).

12. INDEMNIFICATION. You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless HOAPOST, LLC, its officers, directors, members, managers, employees, agents, successors, assigns, and affiliated HOAs from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and expert witness fees) arising from: (a) your use or misuse of data obtained through this system; (b) your violation of these terms; (c) any investigative action taken based in whole or in part on data from this system; (d) any claim that your use of the data violated the rights of any third party; (e) any legal proceeding, administrative complaint, or investigation in which HOAPOST, LLC is named, joined, or subpoenaed as a party or witness arising from your use of system data; (f) any unauthorized disclosure of system data by you or at your direction to any third party. This indemnification obligation survives termination of your access and these terms.

13. PERSONAL CAPACITY LIABILITY & QUALIFIED IMMUNITY WAIVER. By accepting these terms and accessing this system, you expressly acknowledge and agree that: (a) you are entering into this agreement in your individual and personal capacity, in addition to any official capacity, and your obligations under these terms attach to you personally; (b) to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you waive any defense of qualified immunity, sovereign immunity, governmental immunity, official immunity, or any similar doctrine (including but not limited to defenses under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800 (1982), and their progeny) as to any claim brought by HOAPOST, LLC against you arising from your breach of these terms, misuse of data, unauthorized disclosure, or any violation of the obligations set forth herein; (c) you consent to personal liability for any damages arising from your breach of these terms, separate and apart from any liability that may attach to your employing agency, department, or governmental entity; (d) this waiver of immunity is a material condition of your access to this system, without which access would not have been granted; (e) your employing agency’s indemnification policies, legal defense obligations, or insurance coverage do not limit, reduce, or extinguish your personal obligations under these terms; (f) you have had the opportunity to consult with personal legal counsel before accepting these terms and your acceptance constitutes a knowing and voluntary waiver.

14. HOAPOST RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES. HOAPOST, LLC expressly reserves the right to institute legal proceedings against you, in your personal and individual capacity, for any breach of these terms, including but not limited to: (a) unauthorized disclosure of system data to any third party (§8); (b) failure to follow legal process and warrant requirements (§4); (c) use of data for racial profiling, discrimination, or any prohibited purpose (§3, §7); (d) any investigative action taken in reliance on system data without independent corroboration as required by §4; (e) any action or omission that causes HOAPOST, LLC to be named, joined, or subpoenaed as a party in any litigation, administrative proceeding, complaint, investigation, or regulatory action arising from your use of or reliance upon system data. Recoverable damages include actual damages, consequential damages, costs of defense (including attorneys’ fees and expert witness fees), reputational harm, regulatory penalties, lost revenue, and any other losses suffered by HOAPOST, LLC. This right is in addition to, and not in lieu of, your indemnification obligations under §12.

15. THIRD-PARTY DISCLOSURE LIABILITY & RIGHT OF ACTION. If you disclose, share, or otherwise make available any data obtained through this system to any third party not authorized under §8, you agree that: (a) such disclosure constitutes a material and incurable breach of these terms; (b) HOAPOST, LLC shall have a direct right of action against you personally for all resulting damages; (c) you shall be personally liable for any and all claims, lawsuits, investigations, or adverse actions that arise from or are related to such unauthorized disclosure, including claims brought by depicted individuals, community members, HOAs, or any other party; (d) liquidated damages of $10,000 per incident of unauthorized disclosure shall apply, in addition to actual damages, as a reasonable estimate of the harm caused by each breach—the parties agree this amount is reasonable and not a penalty given the difficulty of calculating actual harm from unauthorized disclosure of sensitive community-reported data; (e) you waive any defense that such disclosure was made in good faith, in the course of duty, or under color of law, as authorization for disclosure is governed exclusively by §8 of these terms.

16. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. IN NO EVENT SHALL HOAPOST, LLC, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, MEMBERS, MANAGERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, SUCCESSORS, ASSIGNS, OR AFFILIATED HOAS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THIS SYSTEM, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DAMAGES FOR INVESTIGATIVE ERRORS, WRONGFUL ACTIONS, PRIVACY VIOLATIONS, FALSE IDENTIFICATIONS, WRONGFUL ARRESTS, CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, REPUTATIONAL DAMAGE, OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH DAMAGES WERE FORESEEABLE OR WHETHER HOAPOST, LLC WAS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF.

17. VOLUNTARY USE & SOLE REMEDY. PostWatch LE access is an entirely voluntary service. No law enforcement agency or officer is required to use this system. If this system causes concern, does not meet your investigative standards, or produces results you deem unreliable, your sole and exclusive remedy is to stop using it. HOAPOST, LLC is not liable for any consequence of your voluntary decision to access and rely upon this data.

18. CONTACT VERIFICATION. By submitting an application, you consent to verification of your identity and employment status through the contact information provided, including verification with your commanding officer. Providing false or misleading information is grounds for permanent access denial and may be reported to your agency.

19. SECTION 230 NOTICE. HOAPOST, LLC is a passive intermediary platform provider within the meaning of 47 U.S.C. § 230. All content is user-generated and is the sole legal responsibility of the user who uploaded it. HOAPOST, LLC is not the information content provider of any user-submitted content.

20. TERMINATION. HOAPOST, LLC reserves the right to revoke access at any time, for any reason, without notice. Upon revocation, you must immediately cease all use of data obtained through this system except as already incorporated into official case records pursuant to lawful authority.

21. COVENANT NOT TO SUE HOAPOST. By using this system, you covenant and agree that you shall not institute, maintain, join, or participate in any legal proceeding, claim, complaint, administrative action, or regulatory filing against HOAPOST, LLC, its officers, directors, members, managers, employees, agents, successors, assigns, or affiliated HOAs arising from or related to: (a) your use of this system or any data obtained through it; (b) the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any data in this system; (c) any action you took based on data from this system; (d) any consequence suffered by any third party as a result of your use of system data. If you breach this covenant, you agree to pay HOAPOST, LLC’s full costs of defense, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, expert witness fees, and all litigation expenses, as liquidated damages. This covenant is in addition to, and does not limit, your indemnification obligations under §12.

22. DISPUTE RESOLUTION & ARBITRATION. Any dispute arising under these terms shall be resolved through binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules. YOU WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION, COLLECTIVE ACTION, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. You may opt out of this arbitration clause by sending written notice to HOAPOST, LLC within 30 days of accepting these terms.

23. GOVERNING LAW. These terms shall be governed by the laws of the State of Georgia without regard to conflict of laws principles. To the extent any dispute is not subject to arbitration, venue shall lie exclusively in the state and federal courts located in Fulton County, Georgia.

24. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of these terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

25. ENTIRE AGREEMENT. These terms, together with any applicable privacy policy and content disclaimers, constitute the entire agreement between you and HOAPOST, LLC regarding law enforcement access to PostWatch.

© 2026 HOAPOST, LLC. PostWatch is a service provided by and wholly owned by HOAPOST, LLC. PostWatch is not a separate legal entity.