Terms of Use

Marine Survey Writer is a product of Donkey Labs and is operated by Martin Cavey, a Jersey-licensed sole trader providing software and digital subscription services. These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your use of the Marine Survey Writer web and mobile applications and related services (the "Services"). By accessing or using the Services, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.

1. Eligibility and account

You must be at least 18 years of age to use the Services. When you create an account, you agree to provide accurate information and keep it up to date. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials and for all activity under your account, and must notify us promptly of any unauthorised use.

2. Fees and payment

Access to certain features requires payment — per exported report or by monthly or annual subscription, at the prices displayed at the time of purchase (exclusive of VAT where applicable). Where payments are taken, they are processed by PayPal and are subject to PayPal's terms; subscription plans renew automatically unless cancelled before the renewal date, and you can cancel a subscription at any time from your PayPal account. We will always display the applicable price before you commit to a charge.

Subscription plans may include a free trial (currently 7 days on the monthly plan and 14 days on the annual plan). You may cancel at any time during the trial and you will not be charged; unless cancelled before the trial ends, the plan begins and the subscription fee becomes payable at the end of the trial.

3. Your content and licence

You retain ownership of all content you create through the Services — recordings, transcripts, photos, findings, reports, templates, and boilerplate. By submitting content, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use, store, and process that content solely as necessary to provide, operate, and improve the Services (including assembling your draft reports and syncing across devices). Your content is never used to train AI models.

You are solely responsible for your content, including any personal data about your clients or third parties it contains. You represent that you have all rights and permissions needed to record and store it and that it does not infringe any third party's rights or violate any law.

4. How long we keep your data

Everything is kept for as long as your account is entitled — that is, while you have an active subscription (including a cancelled subscription that has not yet reached the end of its paid period), unused report credits, or a report-credit purchase within the last 12 months.

When your subscription ends — whether you cancel it or it is not renewed — your account and all associated data are permanently deleted 14 days after the end of the paid period (the period you have paid for always runs its course; cancelling early does not shorten it). Deletion removes the account and everything in it: surveys, reports, transcripts, recordings and photographs. We will email you when the paid period ends and again 7 days before deletion. Restarting a plan or buying a report credit before the deletion date keeps the account exactly as it is.

The same applies 14 days after the end of the 12-month window following your last report-credit purchase, and 90 days after signup for accounts that never take a plan or credit. On an account without an active plan, recordings and photographs may additionally be removed 30 days after you last work on a survey, ahead of the account itself.

At any time you may use Download archive to obtain a single file containing your report, every recording and every photograph. It is your responsibility to export your reports and download your archives before your account is deleted, and to retain them for as long as your professional, insurance or regulatory obligations require: we are a report-writing service, not your archive. We accept no liability for data removed under this section after the notices described above have been sent.

Archiving a survey removes it from your working list but deletes nothing and does not change these periods. Deleting a survey removes its report, recordings and photographs immediately and permanently.

We may change these retention periods, and will give reasonable notice of any reduction.

5. Reports are drafts — you are the author

The Services assemble draft survey reports from your dictated findings. Automated transcription and drafting can contain errors, omissions, or mis-hearings. You must review, correct, and approve every part of a report before issuing it to any client or third party. The report you export is your professional work product: you are its author and remain solely responsible for its contents, conclusions, gradings, and any advice given in it. We are not a marine surveyor, we do not review your reports, and we accept no responsibility for the professional accuracy, completeness, or consequences of any report you issue.

6. Acceptable use

You agree to use the Services only for lawful purposes. You must not:

• Use the Services in violation of any applicable law;
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to our systems or other users' data;
• Transmit malware or content that could harm the Services or other users;
• Resell, redistribute, or commercially exploit the Services except as permitted by these Terms;
• Reverse-engineer or attempt to derive source code from the Services (except to the extent permitted by applicable law);
• Use automated means to access the Services without our prior written consent.

We may suspend or terminate your access if we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms.

7. Intellectual property

We (and our licensors) own all rights in the Services, including the Marine Survey Writer name, logo, design, and software. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right to use our trademarks or other intellectual property except as necessary to use the Services. Your exported reports carry your own letterhead and belong to you.

8. Termination

You may stop using the Services at any time; our Privacy Policy describes how to delete your data and account. Account deletion is final. Deleting your account requires an explicit confirmation, and once you confirm, your account, surveys, reports, recordings and photographs are permanently destroyed and cannot be recovered — by you or by us. It is your responsibility to export any reports and download any archives you need before confirming, and we accept no liability for data lost through a deletion you have confirmed. We may suspend or terminate your access if you breach these Terms, for operational or legal reasons, or otherwise at our discretion; where we terminate for breach we are not obliged to refund any unused portion of a subscription. Sections that by their nature should survive (including Limitation of Liability, Indemnity, and Governing Law) survive termination.

9. Third-party services

The Services rely on and may link to third-party services (hosting, storage, payment providers, app stores). We do not control those services and are not responsible for their terms, privacy practices, or content. Where the apps are distributed through the Apple App Store or Google Play, your use is also subject to those platforms' terms.

10. No professional advice

The Services are a drafting and organisation tool. They do not provide marine surveying, engineering, valuation, insurance, or legal advice, and they are not a substitute for your own professional judgement, qualifications, or compliance with the standards of any professional body you belong to.

11. Specific disclaimers

To the extent permitted by law, we do not guarantee and are not responsible for:

• Transcription and drafting accuracy — automated transcription and report assembly may mis-hear, omit, or misplace content. Review everything before export.
• Recordings and uploads — audio, photos, or data may fail to record or upload due to device, browser, permission, or connectivity issues. Verify your findings are captured before leaving the vessel; keep your own records where it matters.
• Section classification and severity grading — automatic grouping and grading are suggestions derived from your words; confirming the correct section and grade for every finding is your responsibility.
• Service availability — the Services may be unavailable, slow, or interrupted; we do not guarantee uptime or continuous access.

You use the Services and rely on their output at your own risk.

12. Disclaimer of warranties

To the extent permitted by law, the Services are provided "as is" and "as available". We disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, except those that cannot be excluded by law.

13. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: we shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits, data, goodwill, or professional reputation, arising out of or in connection with your use of the Services — including any loss arising from errors in draft reports, failed recordings or uploads, or reports you issue to clients. Our total liability for any claims arising from or related to the Services or these Terms shall not exceed the amount you paid us in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim (or, if no payment was made, zero).

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by applicable law.

14. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless PM Donkey Labs and its operators from and against any claims, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to your use of the Services, your content, the reports you issue, or your breach of these Terms.

15. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of Jersey, and disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Jersey, to the extent permitted by law. If you live in another country, mandatory rights under local law are unaffected.

16. General

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Services. If any part is held invalid, the remaining parts remain in effect. Our failure to enforce any provision does not waive it. We may assign our rights and obligations under these Terms; you may not assign without our prior written consent.

17. Changes

We may update these Terms from time to time; the "Last updated" date above will be revised when we do, and continued use after changes constitutes acceptance. We may notify you of material changes via the app or by email.

18. Contact

Donkey Labs
Email: [email protected]