Terms of use

Effective

Draft. These terms haven't been reviewed by a lawyer yet and aren't in effect.

These terms are an agreement between you and ("we", "us"), who runs Common Ground. By creating an account you agree to them. Please also read our privacy policy.

1. What Common Ground is, and isn't

Common Ground offers structured exercises to help couples calm down, talk and repair after arguments. It is not therapy, counselling, medical or legal advice, or a crisis service, and using it doesn't create a therapist–client relationship. The guidance draws on common couples approaches but hasn't yet been reviewed by a qualified relationship professional. Use your own judgement, and get professional help if you need it.

2. Not for abusive relationships

Common Ground isn't designed for relationships with violence, threats, coercion or control, and couples exercises can be unsafe in those situations. If you're afraid of your partner, please use the Safety page in the app or contact a domestic abuse helpline. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.

3. Your account

• You must be 18 or over, and able to agree to these terms.
• Each person uses their own account. Don't share your password or sign in as someone else.
• Give an email address you control, and keep your password safe. Tell us if you think someone else has got into your account.

4. Shared spaces

• A shared space has at most two people. Whoever starts it can invite one partner with an invite link. Only send it to the person you mean to invite.
• What you share is visible to your partner. Your private entries aren't. The privacy policy explains exactly who sees what.
• Either of you can leave the space, or remove the other, at any time. When someone leaves or is removed, they lose access straight away.

5. Using it fairly

Don't use Common Ground to:

• harass, threaten, monitor or control another person;
• get into someone else's account or space, or test, break or get round its security;
• post anything illegal, or anything that infringes someone else's rights;
• overload the service, or collect data from it with automated tools.

We may suspend or close accounts that break these rules, especially to protect someone's safety.

6. Your content

What you write is yours. You give us permission to store it, and to show it to you and to your partner as you choose, only so that we can run the app. That permission ends when you delete the content or your account, apart from short-lived backups.

7. Prices and payments

Common Ground is free during early access. We plan to offer two paid plans through the App Store, Plus and Plus + AI, each covering both partners in a shared space with one subscription. The tools for calming down and staying safe, and the Relationship Health Check, will stay free. Before you're ever charged, we'll show you the price and what's included, and Apple's terms will cover the purchase, including cancellation and refunds. We'll tell you in the app before any feature you use moves to a paid plan.

If you leave a shared space, the subscription stays with whoever bought it. Your partner keeps access only while that subscription covers a space they're in.

8. AI help (when available)

AI help isn't switched on yet. When it is, it will be optional and limited to a number of requests each month, depending on your plan. Its responses are suggestions to help you reflect and put things into words. They can be wrong, they aren't professional advice, and they can't tell who is at fault or whether a relationship is abusive. Don't rely on them in an emergency or when you feel unsafe; use the Safety page instead. Only send text you're comfortable sending, and don't send other people's private information.

9. Changes and availability

We're improving the app all the time, so features may change. We'll try to keep it running smoothly but can't promise it will always be available or error-free. If we ever decide to close Common Ground, we'll give you at least 30 days' notice and a way to get a copy of your data.

10. Our responsibility to you

We provide Common Ground with reasonable care and skill. Apart from that, and as far as the law allows, it's provided "as is", and we aren't responsible for decisions you make about your relationship, or for losses we couldn't reasonably have foreseen. Nothing in these terms limits liability that can't be limited by law, such as for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud. If you're a consumer, you keep all your statutory rights.

11. Law

These terms are governed by the law of . If you're a consumer, you can also rely on the mandatory protections of the country you live in, and bring claims in your local courts.

12. Ending the agreement

You can stop using Common Ground and delete your account at any time from Privacy → Your account. We may end these terms if you seriously break them, and we'll tell you why unless that would put someone at risk.

13. Changes to these terms

We'll update the date at the top when these terms change, and tell you in the app about important changes before they take effect. If you don't agree with the changes, you can delete your account.

14. Contact

Questions about these terms: , or the support form.