Terms of Use

What Concord is, and is not

Concord is an educational civic tool. It helps you understand your own political positions and compare them to candidates using evidence-backed information.

Concord does not provide legal, voting, financial, or other professional advice. Overlap scores are comparisons of stated positions, not endorsements, recommendations, or predictions, and they cannot capture a candidate’s character, competence, or full record. Concord is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any government agency, political party, candidate, or campaign.

Voting and registration

Concord does not register you to vote and does not submit any official form on your behalf. Readiness features route you to official government sources, which handle any registration or submission directly. Election rules, dates, and deadlines change and vary by state. Always confirm details with your official state or local election authority before relying on them.

Donations

Concord may show an optional way to support its development. Tapping it opens a payment page in your browser, processed by Stripe. A donation is voluntary, unlocks nothing, and changes nothing in the app. It is separate from Concord Plus, described below, and never counts toward it.

Donations go to Side Yard Studio LLC, a for-profit company, and are not tax-deductible charitable contributions. Availability may be limited to the United States. Payment handling happens on Stripe’s pages under Stripe’s terms; we do not receive or store your payment details. Donations are not refundable except as required by law or by Stripe’s policies.

Concord Plus

Concord Plus is an optional auto-renewing subscription that opens the comparison layer of the results screens: how everyone answered a question or bill, how people who lean left, mixed, and right split on it, and how states compare. Everything about your own views, answers, and Compass stays free with or without Plus. Comparisons appear only once enough people have answered a question, so Plus opens more over time as the sample grows; it does not create data that is not there.

Plus is sold through Apple’s in-app purchase system and billed to your Apple ID at the price shown in the app at the time of purchase. Payment is charged when you confirm the purchase. The subscription renews automatically for the same period and price unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the current period ends. You can manage or cancel it at any time in your device Settings under your Apple ID and Subscriptions; cancelling stops future renewals and Plus stays open until the end of the period you paid for.

One comparison may be shown free, once, so you can see what Plus opens before deciding. Refunds are handled by Apple under Apple’s policies. Plus is available on the platforms and in the countries where Apple offers it.

Acceptable use

You agree to use Concord only for lawful, personal, non-commercial purposes, and not to:

• interfere with, disrupt, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to the app or its systems;
• scrape, copy, or redistribute the app’s content except as allowed by law;
• use the app to mislead others or misrepresent its outputs as endorsements.

Preview and sample data

This version may display clearly labeled sample candidates, evidence, news briefs, and legislative records for demonstration. Sample content does not represent real people, positions, or events. Real candidate positions appear only where backed by reviewed evidence.

Intellectual property

The app, its design, and its original content are owned by Concord and protected by intellectual-property laws. Government and third-party data are used under their respective terms and licenses (see Acknowledgements). We grant you a limited, personal, non-transferable, revocable license to use the app.

Third-party video and content

Some news stories include videos published by their outlets on YouTube. These play through YouTube’s embedded player and remain YouTube’s and the publisher’s content, governed by YouTube’s Terms of Service, not ours. By playing a video in Concord you agree to be bound by the YouTube Terms of Service. Concord does not select, edit, endorse, or host these videos, and a video’s availability is controlled by its publisher and YouTube, not by us.

Links that leave the app, including “Read more” sources and official government pages, go to sites we do not control. Their content and policies are their own.

No warranty

Concord is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including accuracy, completeness, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. Civic and political information can be incomplete, contested, or out of date; you are responsible for verifying anything you rely on.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Side Yard Studio LLC will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss arising from your use of (or inability to use) the app, including any voting or civic decision you make.

Changes and termination

We may update, suspend, or discontinue the app or these terms at any time. Material changes to these terms will be noted in the app. You may stop using Concord at any time; you can remove your data through the in-app delete control or by uninstalling.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of California, United States, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be resolved in the courts located there, unless applicable law requires otherwise.

Contact

Questions about these terms? Contact Side Yard Studio LLC at contact@sideyardstudio.co.