Terms of Service

1. Agreement to Terms

Welcome to PeakChecker v4.8.1 Integrated Academic Edition, Africa's most advanced academic integrity platform. By accessing or using our AI-powered originality verification platform with 6 integrated academic systems serving 84 Zambian institutions, you agree to be bound by:

1. These Terms of Service
2. Our Privacy Policy (compliant with Data Protection Act 2021)
3. Academic Use Guidelines for Zambian institutions across 6 systems
4. Data Processing Agreement (for institutional users)
5. AWS Acceptable Use Policy (for cloud infrastructure)
6. Integrated Academic Systems Usage Policy

2. Definitions

3. Integrated Academic Systems

3.1 Six Integrated Academic Systems

PeakChecker v4.8.1 operates six integrated academic systems, each with specific terms and data processing considerations:

3.2 Field-Agnostic Calibration System

3.3 Unified Document Processing

All 6 academic systems are coordinated through our unified document processor (document_processor.py) which:

• Orchestrates processing across all systems while maintaining data separation
• Implements consistent security and privacy controls
• Manages AWS storage abstraction with automatic fallback
• Coordinates educational focus recommendations
• Ensures Zambian academic standards compliance

4. Data Protection Compliance (DPA 2021)

4.1 Core Principles (Section 12 DPA)

We process personal data in accordance with Section 12 of the Data Protection Act across 6 academic systems:

• Lawfulness, Fairness, Transparency: All processing has legal basis and is clearly communicated across all systems.
• Purpose Limitation: Data collected only for integrated academic integrity verification.
• Data Minimization: Only necessary data for 6 academic purposes collected.
• Accuracy: Regular verification and update of user data with field-agnostic calibration.
• Storage Limitation: Data retained only as necessary per Section 51 DPA across AWS/local storage.
• Security: Enterprise-grade AWS security per Section 47 DPA with complete storage abstraction.

4.2 Legal Bases for Processing (Section 13 DPA)

We process data across 6 systems based on:

• Consent: Your explicit consent per Section 15 DPA for each academic system.
• Contract Performance: To provide integrated academic integrity services.
• Legitimate Interests: Academic fraud prevention across 84 institutions and platform security.
• Legal Obligations: Compliance with Zambian education and data protection laws.
• Educational Necessity: For cross-institution detection and academic improvement.

4.3 AWS & Zambian Data Storage (Section 70 DPA)

5. Your Data Subject Rights (Sections 58-66 DPA)

Under the Data Protection Act 2021, you have the following rights across 6 academic systems:

6. Security Measures & AWS Infrastructure

6.1 AWS Security Implementation

We implement comprehensive AWS security measures including:

6.2 Complete Storage Abstraction

6.3 Breach Notification (Section 49 DPA)

7. Academic Platform v4.8.1 Specifications

7.1 Platform Technical Specifications

7.2 Acceptable Academic Use Across 6 Systems

You agree to use the platform exclusively for legitimate academic purposes within Zambian educational institutions across all integrated systems:

• Submit only original academic work or work with proper authorization for cross-institution comparison
• Use submission quotas responsibly across all detection systems
• Maintain academic integrity in all platform interactions including citation verification
• Respect institutional policies and Zambian academic standards
• Use genuine AI detection results with field-agnostic calibration for educational improvement
• Engage with educational focus recommendations for academic development

7.3 Prohibited Activities

• Submission of plagiarized or infringing content across any system
• Attempting to bypass AI detection systems or field-agnostic calibration
• Unauthorized access to cross-institution data or AWS infrastructure
• Commercial use of academic content, reports, or citation data
• Attempting to export data outside AWS Africa Region in violation of Section 70 DPA
• Manipulation of Zambian academic style analysis or educational focus systems

8. Intellectual Property Rights

8.1 User Academic Content

You retain ownership of all academic content you submit. By using our service, you grant us a limited license to:

• Process your content through our 6 integrated academic systems
• Generate cross-institution comparisons and academic reports
• Store your submissions in our AWS/local abstraction layer
• Provide academic analytics to your institution with educational focus
• Perform citation verification and Zambian style analysis
• Apply field-agnostic calibration for fair academic assessment

8.2 Platform Intellectual Property

All PeakChecker v4.8.1 technology remains our exclusive property:

• 6 integrated academic systems architecture
• Field-agnostic calibration algorithms (65-85% range)
• AWS storage abstraction layer and infrastructure
• 84-institution cross-detection database
• Unified document processor (document_processor.py)
• Zambian academic style analysis engine
• Citation verification system with Crossref API integration
• 280+ API endpoints and platform architecture

9. Service Limitations & Disclaimer

9.1 Integrated Academic Tool

9.2 Field-Agnostic Calibration Disclaimer

9.3 AWS Availability & Maintenance

We aim for 99.9% AWS availability but may perform necessary maintenance, especially for:

• AWS security updates and compliance patches
• Storage abstraction layer optimizations
• 6 academic systems integration updates
• Field-agnostic calibration improvements
• Cross-institution database synchronization

10. Account Termination

10.1 Termination by PeakChecker

We may suspend or terminate accounts for:

• Violations of these Terms or academic integrity policies across any system
• Attempts to compromise platform security or AWS infrastructure
• Unauthorized cross-institution data access or export attempts
• Manipulation of field-agnostic calibration or academic systems
• Non-compliance with Zambian data protection or AWS policies

10.2 Data Retention After Termination

Upon account termination, we will:

• Retain data as required by Section 51 DPA (minimum 1 year) across AWS/local storage
• Maintain academic records for cross-institution reference as required
• Comply with legal holds or preservation requests across all systems
• Securely delete data from AWS S3 and local storage after retention periods
• Maintain anonymized data for field-agnostic calibration improvements

11. Limitation of Liability

• Academic disciplinary actions or grade impacts based on integrated system results
• Institutional decisions based on cross-institution or citation verification reports
• Data loss due to AWS service disruptions or user error
• Service interruptions across any of the 6 academic systems
• Field-agnostic calibration variations across academic disciplines
• Educational focus recommendations and academic improvement outcomes

11.1 Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless PeakChecker from any claims arising from:

• Your violation of these Terms across any integrated system
• Your infringement of third-party rights in academic content
• Your misuse of the academic platform or AWS infrastructure
• Your violation of Zambian data protection or AWS compliance requirements
• Your manipulation of field-agnostic calibration or academic systems

12. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

12.1 Zambian Jurisdiction with AWS Compliance

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with:

• The laws of the Republic of Zambia
• Data Protection Act No. 3 of 2021
• AWS Acceptable Use Policy and compliance requirements
• Zambian educational regulations and academic standards
• International academic integrity standards recognized by Zambia

12.2 Dispute Resolution Process

1. Contact our support team for informal resolution of academic system issues
2. Escalate to Data Protection Officer for data-related issues across systems
3. Institutional mediation for cross-institution or academic disputes
4. AWS support mediation for infrastructure-related issues
5. Legal proceedings in Zambian courts if necessary

13. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms to reflect:

• Changes in Zambian data protection laws affecting 6 academic systems
• New platform features in v4.8.1+ updates and AWS integrations
• Institutional requirements from 84 partner institutions
• Field-agnostic calibration improvements and validations
• AWS compliance or security requirement updates
• Integrated academic systems enhancements and expansions

14. Contact Information