TERMS OF SERVICE

1. About Criticalern

Criticalern is an AI-enabled career intelligence and mentorship platform designed to help eligible users discover career pathways, connect with mentors, build professional readiness, access learning and skill-development resources, create career profiles and resumes, and explore third-party opportunities such as internships, jobs, fellowships, hackathons, and related programs.

Criticalern may also facilitate interactions among students, mentors, recruiters, institutions, skill providers, and other ecosystem participants. Unless expressly stated otherwise in writing, Criticalern does not itself employ mentors, guarantee opportunities, or guarantee any specific career outcome.

2. Eligibility

You must be 18 years of age or older to create an account, book services, submit personal data, or use the Services.

By using the Services, you represent and warrant that:

• you are at least 18 years old;
• you have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement;
• the information you provide is accurate and complete; and
• your use of the Services will comply with applicable law.

If we learn or reasonably believe that an account belongs to a person under 18, we may suspend or terminate the account and delete associated data, subject to applicable law.

3. User Accounts

To access certain features, you may be required to register for an account. You agree to:

• provide true, current, and complete information;
• keep your login credentials confidential;
• promptly update your information if it changes; and
• immediately notify us of any unauthorized access or suspected security incident involving your account.

You are responsible for all activity under your account unless caused by our proven failure to maintain reasonable security safeguards.

We may require identity verification, professional verification, or additional information for certain account types, including mentors, recruiters, institutional representatives, and service providers.

4. Nature of the Services

Criticalern may provide some or all of the following features:

• career profiling and career discovery tools;
• psychometric, aptitude, or readiness assessments;
• AI-assisted recommendations and profile insights;
• mentorship discovery, booking, scheduling, and paid sessions;
• skill-development recommendations and program listings;
• resume-building and profile optimization tools;
• curated content, knowledge resources, and industry insights;
• aggregated listings of internships, jobs, competitions, fellowships, research programs, and other opportunities;
• institution-facing or recruiter-facing dashboards and services; and
• payment-enabled marketplace or platform services.

Some Services are provided directly by Criticalern, while others may be provided by third parties, including mentors, institutions, recruiters, payment processors, scheduling providers, and learning partners.

5. No Employment, Admission, Certification, or Outcome Guarantee

Criticalern provides technology, discovery, matching, learning-support, and facilitation services. We do not guarantee:

• job placement;
• internship placement;
• admission to any academic or training program;
• mentor availability at all times;
• interview success;
• scholarship, fellowship, or grant selection;
• certification by any third party; or
• any specific income, career advancement, or professional outcome.

All decisions regarding applications, hiring, admissions, awards, or collaborations are made by the relevant third parties.

6. Mentorship Marketplace

Criticalern may enable users to discover and book mentors. Unless expressly stated otherwise, mentors are independent service providers and not employees, agents, or representatives of Criticalern.

By booking or attending a mentorship session, you acknowledge and agree that:

• mentor views are their own;
• mentorship is informational and guidance-oriented in nature;
• mentor advice should not be treated as legal, medical, financial, psychological, or other regulated professional advice unless expressly identified as such by a duly qualified professional;
• Criticalern does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or outcome of any mentor advice; and
• users remain responsible for their own academic, professional, commercial, and personal decisions.

Criticalern may implement mentor verification, ratings, reviews, qualification checks, and conduct rules, but such measures do not amount to a guarantee of quality or outcome.

7. Opportunity Listings and Third-Party Services

The Services may contain or display opportunities, listings, links, or integrations from third parties, including employers, institutions, skill providers, event organizers, and external platforms.

Criticalern may curate, aggregate, rank, recommend, or display such listings, but unless expressly stated:

• we do not own or control third-party opportunities;
• we do not guarantee authenticity, completeness, availability, deadlines, compensation, eligibility, or results;
• your participation in any third-party program or transaction is solely between you and the relevant third party; and
• third-party terms, eligibility criteria, privacy policies, and refund rules may apply.

Where content is sponsored, promoted, prioritized, or featured for commercial reasons, we may label or identify it accordingly.

8. AI-Assisted Features

Certain Services may use automation, analytics, artificial intelligence, or algorithmic tools to generate recommendations, summaries, matches, insights, profile suggestions, resume drafts, opportunity rankings, or other outputs.

AI-generated or automated outputs are provided for convenience and informational assistance only. They may be incomplete, inaccurate, biased, or unsuitable for your specific circumstances. You should independently evaluate and verify important decisions before relying on any AI-generated output.

Criticalern reserves the right to modify, suspend, or improve AI-assisted features at any time.

9. Payments, Fees, Bookings, and Marketplace Transactions

Some features of the Services may be paid. By purchasing, booking, or subscribing, you agree to pay all applicable fees, charges, taxes, and payment processing amounts disclosed at checkout.

10. User Content

You may submit, upload, publish, transmit, or store content through the Services, including profile information, resumes, assessments, messages, reviews, feedback, session notes, documents, portfolio items, or other materials ("User Content").

You retain ownership of your User Content, but you grant Criticalern a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, revocable (subject to legal and operational necessity) license to host, use, reproduce, display, process, adapt, and distribute that User Content solely for the purposes of:

• operating and providing the Services;
• facilitating bookings, recommendations, applications, or interactions requested by you;
• improving platform performance and user experience;
• maintaining safety, integrity, and compliance; and
• complying with legal obligations.

You represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary to submit the User Content and that it does not infringe any third-party right or violate any law.

11. Reviews, Ratings, and Testimonials

Users may be permitted to post reviews, ratings, comments, endorsements, or testimonials. Such content must be honest, non-misleading, respectful, and based on genuine experience.

We may moderate, remove, reject, or disable reviews or ratings that are false, abusive, manipulated, unlawful, promotional without authorization, or otherwise inconsistent with these Terms.

12. Prohibited Conduct

You agree not to:

• use the Services for any unlawful, fraudulent, or deceptive purpose;
• impersonate any person or misrepresent your identity, qualifications, affiliation, or authority;
• upload or transmit false, defamatory, obscene, hateful, abusive, infringing, or privacy-violating content;
• post misleading opportunity listings or misleading credentials;
• harass, threaten, exploit, stalk, or discriminate against any user, mentor, or staff member;
• scrape, mine, copy, mirror, frame, or systematically extract platform data without authorization;
• interfere with platform security, performance, or integrity;
• upload malware, malicious code, or harmful content;
• circumvent payment, booking, moderation, or access-control systems;
• use the Services to send spam or unauthorized commercial solicitations;
• violate intellectual property or confidentiality rights; or
• engage in any activity that could expose Criticalern, its users, or its partners to legal, regulatory, reputational, or security risk.

13. Intellectual Property

All rights, title, and interest in and to the Services, including platform software, branding, logos, designs, databases, text, graphics, user interfaces, compilations, and original content created by or for Criticalern, remain the property of Criticalern or its licensors.

Except as expressly permitted in writing, you may not reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works from, publicly display, reverse engineer, sell, or exploit any part of the Services.

"Criticalern" and related marks, names, and logos are proprietary identifiers of the Company.

14. Privacy and Data Handling

Your use of the Services is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect your personal data.

Where required by law or by our product flow, we may ask for separate notices, consents, or permissions for specific processing activities, including recordings, marketing, sensitive data handling, integrations, or data sharing.

15. Communications

By creating an account or using the Services, you consent to receive service-related communications electronically, including account notices, booking confirmations, policy updates, security alerts, invoices, and support messages.

Marketing communications will be sent in accordance with applicable law and your communication preferences. You may opt out of promotional messages using the unsubscribe mechanism or by contacting us, though you may still receive essential service communications.

16. Platform Availability and Modifications

We may add, modify, suspend, or discontinue any feature, content, functionality, listing, mentor profile, pricing model, or part of the Services at any time.

We do not guarantee uninterrupted availability, error-free operation, continuous access, or compatibility with every device, browser, or third-party integration.

17. Suspension and Termination

We may suspend, restrict, or terminate your access to the Services, with or without notice, if:

• you breach these Terms;
• we suspect fraud, abuse, or unlawful conduct;
• your use creates security, legal, or reputational risk;
• we are required to do so by law, court order, or competent authority; or
• your account remains inactive for an extended period, subject to applicable law and our retention obligations.

You may stop using the Services at any time. You may also request account deletion, subject to applicable legal, contractual, fraud-prevention, accounting, and security retention requirements.

18. Disclaimers

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Services are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis.

Criticalern disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, availability, accuracy, or suitability.

Without limiting the foregoing, Criticalern does not warrant that:

• the Services will meet your expectations or specific needs;
• any mentor, recruiter, institution, provider, or opportunity will be suitable, reliable, or available;
• any AI-generated or automated output will be accurate or error-free;
• any opportunity listing will remain open, valid, or unchanged; or
• the Services will be uninterrupted, secure, or free from harmful components.

19. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Criticalern, its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, consultants, and licensors shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, opportunity, goodwill, data, career prospects, reputation, or business interruption arising out of or related to the Services.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Criticalern's aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with the Services or these Terms shall not exceed the total amount actually paid by you to Criticalern in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or INR 5,000, whichever is higher.

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded under applicable law.

20. Indemnity

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Criticalern, its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, and agents from and against any claim, demand, action, proceeding, loss, liability, damage, cost, or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to:

• your use of the Services;
• your User Content;
• your violation of these Terms;
• your violation of any law or third-party right; or
• any dispute between you and another user, mentor, recruiter, institution, or provider.

21. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India.

Subject to applicable law, the courts at New Delhi, Delhi shall have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services.

Nothing in these Terms limits any non-waivable rights available to consumers under applicable law.

22. Grievance Redressal

For complaints, concerns, takedown notices, or grievances relating to the Services, users may contact:

We will endeavor to acknowledge and address grievances within the timelines required by applicable law.

23. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The revised version will be posted on the platform with a revised "Last Updated" date. Where required by law or where changes are material, we may provide additional notice.

Your continued use of the Services after the revised Terms become effective constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms.

24. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact: