Terms of Service

Last updated: 15 April 2026. Effective date: 15 April 2026.

These Terms of Service (the "Terms") govern the relationship between Individual Entrepreneur Valentin Morev, registered in the Russian Federation (the "Operator", "we", "us", or "our"), and you (the "User", "you", or "your") in connection with the mobile application, web application, and related services of "Shkiper AI", hosted at shkiper.app and admin.shkiper.app (together, the "Service").

These Terms constitute a public offer under Article 437 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. By registering an account, subscribing, or otherwise using the Service, you fully and unconditionally agree to these Terms as well as to our Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Refund Policy, Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), and End-User License Agreement (EULA), which are incorporated into the Terms by reference. If you do not agree with any provision, please do not use the Service.

In short: Shkiper AI is an educational AI tutor for yachting. It does NOT replace certified instruction, on-the-water practice, and is NOT a real-time navigation system. You retain all consumer rights available to you under applicable law, and nothing in these Terms diminishes them.

1. Trader Information (DSA, CRD, and Russian Consumer Law)

In accordance with Article 30 of EU Regulation 2022/2065 (the "Digital Services Act"), Article 6 of Directive 2011/83/EU (the "Consumer Rights Directive"), Articles 8–10 of Russian Federation Law No. 2300-1 "On the Protection of Consumer Rights", and analogous transparency requirements, the Operator discloses:

Identification and contact details:

• Name: Individual Entrepreneur Valentin Morev.
• Jurisdiction of registration: Russian Federation. OGRNIP and INN registration numbers are provided upon request to hello@shkiper.app in accordance with applicable law.
• Correspondence address: legal address provided upon request; primary communication channel is e-mail.
• E-mail: hello@shkiper.app (general matters), privacy@shkiper.app (data protection), abuse@shkiper.app (abuse and DMCA notices).

For users in the European Union, the Operator's EU representative within the meaning of Article 27 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) will be appointed before the Service is first actively marketed in the EU; until appointment, the contact channel is privacy@shkiper.app. Notification of personal-data processing to the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications (Roskomnadzor) has been submitted or is in the process of being submitted.

2. Description of the Service

"Shkiper AI" is an educational online service that gives users access to an AI tutor and study materials for preparing for sailing and powerboating certification exams (including ISSA, RYA, IYT, and others) and for independent study of seamanship theory. The Service includes:

• an AI assistant that answers user questions based on licensed study materials and open sources;
• a structured library of topics covering exam syllabi;
• mock exams modeled on real school tests;
• diagrams, illustrations, and auxiliary materials;
• progress tracking and a spaced-repetition system;
• offline access to parts of the content on paid plans.

The Service is distributed via the Apple App Store, Google Play, and the web version at shkiper.app. Platform-specific functionality may differ; the Apple Media Services Terms and Google Play Terms also apply where relevant.

The Service is hosted on Amazon Web Services (region eu-central-1, Frankfurt, Germany). AI functionality is provided through OpenAI Inc. (USA) APIs via our backend proxy; request content is minimized (user identifiers are stripped), and by default OpenAI does not use requests to train its models.

3. Educational Nature and Safety Disclaimers (must-read)

The Service is an educational and reference tool only. It is NOT a real-time navigation-support system, it does NOT replace professional advice, it is NOT equivalent to instruction from a certified teacher, and it is NOT intended to be used as a sole source of information for decision-making in actual navigation.

You understand and agree that operating a vessel, passage planning, decision-making in emergencies, applying COLREGs (Rule of the Road), assessing weather, working with up-to-date charts and almanacs, and evaluating vessel and crew condition require hands-on experience, official sources, and consultation with qualified specialists (certified instructors, skippers, official weather services).

The Operator strongly discourages, and for use in real navigation prohibits:

• relying on AI answers as the sole source for on-the-water decisions, including heading, collision avoidance, anchoring, or heavy-weather conduct;
• using the Service in place of up-to-date charts, pilots, weather forecasts, and official Notices to Mariners;
• using the Service in place of practical training, a certification exam, or a mandatory qualification required by applicable law;
• using the Service as the primary training tool for third parties in a commercial training context without a separate partner agreement with the Operator.

AI answers may contain inaccuracies, outdated information, oversimplifications, and "hallucinations" (confidently stated fabrications). All safety-critical decisions must be made on the basis of up-to-date official sources and, where appropriate, confirmed by a qualified specialist. You fully assume the risk of applying knowledge obtained through the Service under real conditions.

4. AI Disclosures (Hallucinations, Decision-Support Only, Proper Use)

The Service uses large language models and other AI systems supplied by third parties, primarily OpenAI Inc. You acknowledge that you are aware of the fundamental limitations of such systems.

In particular:

• AI answers are probabilistic and may contain factual errors, outdated information, incorrect references, fabricated citations, and other "hallucinations";
• AI has no experience, consciousness, judgment, or intent of its own; it produces text that is statistically plausible relative to its training data;
• AI may misinterpret your questions, particularly when they are ambiguous, contain rare terminology, or concern narrow specialist topics;
• AI may not reflect the latest changes to regulations, international conventions, or local navigation rules;
• AI may give different answers to the same question at different times.

AI in the Service is intended as decision-support in a learning context, not for automated decision-making that affects safety, health, property, or other material outcomes. It does not constitute "professional advice" in the sense applicable to instructors, skippers, lawyers, doctors, insurance agents, financial advisers, or other licensed professions.

Proper use. You agree to: (a) verify important AI answers against primary sources (textbooks, charts, regulations); (b) not pass off AI answers as your own original work in exams, academic work, or certification where the examining body prohibits it; (c) not use the Service to generate unlawful, misleading, or offensive content; (d) not attempt to extract training data or system prompts, bypass safety mechanisms (jailbreak), or exploit model vulnerabilities to obtain content prohibited by our Acceptable Use Policy.

Data handling for AI requests. Your prompts are sent to our backend, where direct identifiers (user ID, e-mail) are removed, after which the de-identified text is forwarded to the OpenAI API. Under the OpenAI API terms, data is not used to train models by default (see openai.com/policies/api-data-usage-policies/). Please do not include third-party personal data, medical, financial, or other sensitive information in your prompts.

5. Account Registration and Eligibility (16+)

Most Service features require an account. By registering you represent that:

• you are at least 16 years old in every jurisdiction in which the Service is offered; persons under 16 may not use the Service — this is stricter than the GDPR's minimum digital-consent age in some EU member states;
• the registration data you provide (e-mail, name, date of birth) is true and current;
• you are not subject to sanctions administered by the UN, EU, UK, US, or any other applicable jurisdiction, and you are not located in a country subject to comprehensive sanctions that prevent us from providing the Service;
• you are responsible for keeping your credentials, including your password, secure; we recommend a unique strong password and, where available, two-factor authentication.

We use a neutral age-gate at sign-up: you enter a date of birth, and the system automatically blocks users under 13. For ages 13–15 we inform that the Service is not available; if we discover that a user under 16 circumvented the age gate, that account is deleted within 30 days. See also our Children's Policy.

You may delete your account at any time from the app settings or by writing to hello@shkiper.app. On deletion, your personal data is processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

6. Subscriptions, Pricing, Auto-Renewal, and Refunds

The Service is offered on a freemium basis: Free — basic free access; Course Pass — RUB 1,490 one-time for 12 months' access to the materials of a single exam; Monthly — RUB 599 per month with auto-renewal; Annual — RUB 2,990 per year with auto-renewal. All prices are in Russian rubles, inclusive of VAT where applicable. Equivalents in other currencies are set by the payment provider or app store at the time of purchase. You can cancel auto-renewal at any time in the Service settings or via the app store — your subscription will continue to the end of the paid period.

6.1. Consumers in the Russian Federation

Under Article 32 of Russian Federation Law "On the Protection of Consumer Rights" you may, at any time, withdraw from the contract, subject to reimbursement of the Operator's actually incurred costs related to performance. For recurring subscriptions (Monthly, Annual) we refund the unused portion of the fee pro rata, less actually incurred costs for services rendered (including AI-request processing costs). Nothing in these Terms diminishes your rights under the Law on Consumer Protection or other Russian legislation. In case of conflict with mandatory Russian statutory rules, the statutory rules prevail.

6.2. Consumers in the European Union

Under Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights, you have a right to withdraw from the contract within 14 calendar days of conclusion, without giving any reason, and to a full refund. To exercise this right, send notice to hello@shkiper.app or use the model withdrawal form below. We reimburse you using the same means of payment used for the purchase, no later than 14 days after we receive your notice.

If you wish to obtain immediate access to digital content before the 14-day period ends, we will ask you to: (a) give express prior consent to start performance, (b) acknowledge that you thereby lose the right of withdrawal for the performed portion under Article 16(m) of the Directive, and (c) receive confirmation on a durable medium (e-mail). If such an explicit-consent mechanism (Art. 16(m) waiver) is not in place at the time of purchase, the full 14-day withdrawal right remains available. Statutory rights (including conformity of digital content under EU Directive 2019/770) apply regardless of anything stated in these Terms.

6.3. Consumers in the United Kingdom

Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 you have a 14-day cancellation period analogous to section 6.2. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, digital content must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and as described; you are entitled to repair, replacement, or refund. We do not and cannot exclude liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law, including liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence.

6.4. Consumers in the United States

For California residents: under the California Automatic Renewal Law (as amended effective 1 July 2025) we disclose auto-renewal terms up-front, send reminder notices 15–45 days before each annual renewal, and provide an online cancellation mechanism at least as easy to use as the sign-up mechanism. Similar conspicuous-disclosure requirements apply under the auto-renewal laws of New York and Connecticut.

6.5. Voluntary Refund Policy (on top of statutory rights)

In addition to your statutory rights, we voluntarily offer a full refund within 7 calendar days of purchase if you have asked fewer than 20 AI questions and taken fewer than one mock exam at the time of request. This policy applies on top of — not instead of — your statutory rights and does not limit them in any jurisdiction.

6.6. Purchases through Apple App Store and Google Play

Refunds for purchases made through Apple App Store or Google Play are handled under the policies of the respective stores (Apple Media Services, Google Play). Once the store confirms a refund, we revoke the corresponding entitlement. Please contact the store's support for refund requests routed through them.

For detailed refund terms, deadlines, the withdrawal form, and submission contacts, see the Refund Policy.

7. Acceptable Use

By using the Service, you agree not to, among other things:

• violate applicable law, third-party rights (including intellectual-property and privacy rights), or the limits of free expression;
• share credentials with third parties, resell access, or operate one account for multiple users;
• use automated means (bots, scrapers, crawlers) to extract content in bulk or bypass restrictions;
• reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Service, except to the extent mandatorily permitted by applicable law;
• use the Service to build a competing AI product or to train machine-learning models on the Service's outputs;
• attempt to bypass AI safety mechanisms (jailbreak) or obtain unlawful, sexualized, extremist, or otherwise prohibited content;
• disrupt the Service's availability (DDoS, injection attacks, exploitation of vulnerabilities outside a bug-bounty program).

For a complete list of prohibited conduct and our enforcement procedure, see the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). Violations are grounds for suspension or termination under section 11.

8. Intellectual Property and Licenses

All rights in the Service — including source code, design, interfaces, databases, course structure, and the "Shkiper AI" trademark — belong to the Operator or its licensors.

Study materials used in the Service are used under licenses from rightsholders or within the limits permitted by applicable law (including fair/educational use where applicable). Copying, downloading, republication, derivative works, and commercial use of the study materials beyond your personal educational purposes is prohibited.

License granted to you. During the subscription term, and subject to your compliance with these Terms, the Operator grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable, non-sublicensable license to use the Service and its content for your personal, non-commercial learning purposes within the functionality of your chosen plan.

AI outputs. To the extent permitted by applicable law, AI answers generated in response to your prompts are licensed to you on a non-exclusive basis for your personal learning purposes. You understand that similar AI outputs may be generated for other users, and that the law of many jurisdictions does not recognize copyright in purely machine-generated content. The Operator and its AI-model providers retain all rights in the models, their parameters, system prompts, and related materials, as well as (within the limits of their policies) rights to use prompts and outputs to ensure Service safety and quality.

Your content. You retain the copyright in materials you create (questions, notes, summaries) and grant the Operator a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, process, display, and transmit them to the necessary service providers (OpenAI, AWS) solely to the extent required to operate the Service for you, ensure safety, and comply with law.

9. Third-Party Services

The Service integrates with third-party services: Amazon Web Services (hosting), Amazon Cognito (authentication), OpenAI Inc. (AI models), Google LLC (OAuth "Sign in with Google", Google Play), Apple Inc. (Sign in with Apple, App Store), LLC "Yandex" (OAuth "Sign in with Yandex"), and YooKassa (payments). Your use of those services is additionally governed by their own terms and policies.

The Operator does not control and is not responsible for the content, availability, or actions of third-party services. A list of personal-data processors and links to their policies is set out in the Privacy Policy.

AI-model providers (primarily OpenAI) may update their models and policies. We endeavor to keep information current but cannot guarantee that AI behavior will remain identical over time.

10. Warranties and Disclaimers

The Service is provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE". To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Operator disclaims all express and implied warranties, including (without limitation) warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, uninterrupted or error-free operation, and any warranty of exam success.

For EU consumers, the statutory digital-content conformity warranties under Directive (EU) 2019/770 apply in full; for UK consumers, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies; for Russian consumers, the Law "On the Protection of Consumer Rights" applies. This section does NOT diminish those statutory rights and must be construed to preserve them to the maximum extent.

The Operator does not warrant that the Service is available from every country; access from particular jurisdictions may be restricted due to sanctions regimes, local regulation, or technical reasons.

11. Suspension and Termination

The Operator may suspend or terminate your access to the Service in the following cases:

• material or repeated breach of these Terms, the AUP, or the EULA;
• knowingly false registration data; circumvention of the age gate;
• use of the Service for unlawful purposes or to infringe third-party rights;
• an order from a court or other competent authority; applicability of sanctions.

On termination by the Operator for a material breach, the unused portion of the subscription is not refunded unless otherwise required by applicable law. On termination for reasons unrelated to your breach (for example, Service discontinuation), we refund the unused portion. You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time.

12. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Operator's aggregate liability to you for all claims arising from or related to the Service is limited to the greater of: (a) the amount actually paid by you to the Operator for the Service in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to liability, or (b) RUB 5,000 (or equivalent in the currency of payment). The Operator is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential damages, lost profits, data loss, or reputational harm.

These limitations do NOT apply to: (i) liability for willful misconduct or gross negligence, (ii) liability for death or personal injury caused by the Operator's negligence, (iii) liability that cannot be limited or excluded under consumer law applicable to you (including rights under Russian Federation Law on Consumer Protection, EU Directives 2011/83 and 2019/770, and the UK Consumer Rights Act 2015), (iv) liability for breach of data-protection obligations to the extent set by applicable law.

You acknowledge that the Service is a tool, not a source of professional advice, and that any decisions based on using the Service — especially decisions related to real navigation and safety on the water — are made under your own responsibility. The Operator is not liable for the consequences of such decisions.

13. Indemnity

You agree, on reasonable request by the Operator, to indemnify the Operator, its affiliates, directors, employees, and contractors against liability, costs (including reasonable legal fees), and losses arising out of or in connection with:

• your breach of these Terms, the AUP, the EULA, or applicable law;
• content you upload or transmit through the Service;
• use of the Service outside its intended purpose, including in real navigation;
• third-party claims arising from any of the above.

This section does not apply to the extent losses or claims are caused by the Operator's willful misconduct or gross negligence and does not limit your consumer rights under applicable law.

14. Force Majeure

Neither party is liable for non-performance caused by force-majeure events, including acts of God, war, civil disturbance, epidemics, acts of state authorities, sanctions, internet-infrastructure failures, failure of critical vendors (AWS, OpenAI, app stores), or other circumstances beyond the party's reasonable control.

If the force-majeure event continues for more than 60 calendar days, either party may terminate the contract, with a refund of the unused portion of the subscription.

15. Export Controls and Sanctions Compliance

The Operator is registered in the Russian Federation. By using the Service you represent and warrant that:

• you are not located in, or a resident of, a country subject to comprehensive trade sanctions by the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the European Union, the United Kingdom, or the United Nations;
• you are not on any sanctions list (SDN, EU consolidated list, UK sanctions list, UN sanctions list);
• you will not use the Service in violation of applicable export or sanctions regimes;
• you are not an end-user in a category prohibited by the Service's underlying vendors (including the OpenAI API Usage Policies).

The Operator reserves the right to suspend or terminate access where providing the Service to you would create a material risk of violating applicable sanctions or export controls.

16. Changes to the Terms

The Operator may update these Terms. For material changes (affecting your rights, obligations, price, or key features) we will give notice at least 30 days before the change takes effect, by e-mail to the address on file and/or by notice in the Service. Non-material changes (clarifications, typo fixes, legal hygiene) take effect on publication.

If you do not agree with a change, you may stop using the Service and request a refund of the unused portion of the subscription under section 6. Continued use after the change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the new version.

17. Governing Law and Disputes

The Operator seeks to resolve any disputes amicably. Before starting any proceeding, please contact us at hello@shkiper.app with a description of the situation; we will review within 30 days.

The governing law and forum depend on your habitual residence: (a) Russian residents — Russian law, courts of the consumer's place of residence per the Law on Consumer Protection; (b) EU residents — the law of the consumer's country of habitual residence to the extent required by the Rome I Regulation and mandatory CRD rules, with jurisdiction available in the consumer's home courts; (c) UK residents — English law, courts of England and Wales (without limiting consumer rights to sue in the courts of habitual residence); (d) US residents — the laws of the State of California (without regard to conflict-of-laws rules), exclusive jurisdiction of federal and state courts located in San Francisco, California; (e) users in other jurisdictions — Russian law, courts of the Operator's place of registration.

These Terms do NOT contain a mandatory arbitration clause and do NOT contain a class-action waiver. You retain all procedural consumer rights under applicable law, including the right to contact authorities (Rospotrebnadzor in Russia; consumer-protection authorities in the EU; the EU Online Dispute Resolution platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr; Citizens Advice in the UK; the California Department of Consumer Affairs in the US).

18. Miscellaneous

Other provisions:

• Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, Refund Policy, AUP, EULA, and other referenced documents, constitute the entire agreement between you and the Operator regarding the Service and supersede all prior agreements on this subject.
• Severability. If any provision of the Terms is held invalid or unenforceable by a competent court, the remaining provisions remain in force; the invalid provision is to be construed as closely as possible to the parties' original intent, within the limits permitted by applicable law.
• Assignment. You may not assign your rights or obligations under these Terms without the Operator's consent. The Operator may assign rights and obligations in connection with a reorganization, merger, or sale of the business or a part of it, provided consumer rights are preserved.
• No waiver. The Operator's failure to enforce any right under the Terms does not waive it. Section headings are for convenience only.

Electronic communications and documents are a valid form of communication; you consent to receiving notices from the Operator at the e-mail address on file.

19. Language of the Terms

These Terms are published in Russian and English. In the event of discrepancy: (a) for users in Russia and other Russian-speaking jurisdictions, the Russian version prevails; (b) for users in the EU, UK, US, and other English-speaking jurisdictions, the English version prevails.

On request, we will provide a certified translation of the Terms into another language where required by mandatory rules of your jurisdiction.

20. Model Withdrawal Form (EU/UK)

You may use the following form to exercise your 14-day right of withdrawal (you may also use any other unequivocal notice).

To: Individual Entrepreneur Valentin Morev, hello@shkiper.app.

I hereby give notice that I withdraw from my contract for the supply of the following services: [service name / plan]. Contract concluded on: [date]. Consumer name: [name]. E-mail: [email]. Signature (if sent on paper). Date.

The withdrawal notice must be sent before the expiry of 14 calendar days from the date the contract was concluded.

21. Contact and Complaints

Operator: Individual Entrepreneur Valentin Morev, Russian Federation. Website: shkiper.app. Correspondence address: provided on request.

For any questions regarding these Terms, subscriptions, AI, refunds, or complaints, contact hello@shkiper.app. We respond within 14 calendar days, and for data-protection matters within the timelines set by the GDPR and Russian Federal Law No. 152-FZ.

22. Related Documents

These Terms should be read together with the following documents, which form part of your contract with us:

Privacy Policy · Cookie Policy · Refund Policy · Acceptable Use Policy · End-User License Agreement · DMCA Policy · Impressum