Terms of service

ParaTrace is run by Empirisch Tech GmbH, Rennweg 88, 1030 Vienna, Austria (we, us). These terms apply to the website paratrace.net, to ParaTrace accounts and to the ParaTrace API. By signing up, signing in, creating an API key or calling the API, you accept them. If you use ParaTrace for an organisation, you accept them on its behalf and confirm that you may do so.

How we handle personal data is described in the privacy policy.

ParaTrace estimates how likely it is that an English text was written by a language model. For each text it gives a probability and a verdict. How it works and where it falls short is described on the About and Benchmarks pages.

We develop ParaTrace further and may change, add or remove features, including the detector itself. If a change takes away something important to you, you can stop using ParaTrace and delete your account.

• You get an account at once by signing in with Google, or by signing up with your email address and a password. An account made that way works once you confirm the address from the link we email you.
• You can sign in with your email address and the password you chose, or with your Google account. For signing in with Google, Google's own terms apply to your Google account.
• An account is for one person. Keep your password to yourself, and tell us at once if you think someone else has used your account. You are responsible for what happens under your account.
• You can delete your account any time on the Your account page. That also deletes your history and your API key, at once and for good.

• Each check costs 1 credit per started 512 tokens of each text, and at least 1. The answer to every check shows how many tokens were counted, and the credits are charged when the check is accepted.
• New accounts currently get 100 credits, and new API keys 1,000, free of charge. Credits have no cash value, can't be transferred or paid out, and lapse when the account or key is deleted.
• We may change the number of credits for new accounts and keys, and decide on requests for more credits case by case.

• Your API key is personal. Keep it secret, and don't build it into software that others can read, such as a website. Anyone who has your key can spend its credits.
• Each request may carry up to 10 texts, or one file, of up to 200,000 characters each. To keep ParaTrace running for everyone, we may limit how often a key can be used, and deactivate keys that are misused.
• The API page describes the calls and answers. We try to keep them stable, and announce changes that would break your software on that page in advance.

• You keep all rights to the texts you submit. You allow us to process them only as far as needed to provide ParaTrace, which means scoring them and, on the website, keeping them in your history until you delete them.
• Only submit texts you are allowed to submit. If texts were written by others, such as students or applicants, make sure you may have them checked, and inform the authors where the law requires it.
• Avoid submitting personal data, and don't submit confidential information.

When using ParaTrace you must not

• break the law or the rights of others
• use a verdict as the sole basis for a decision that affects a person, such as a grade, a disciplinary measure or a hiring decision
• get around credits or limits, for example by opening several accounts to get several API keys
• query ParaTrace systematically to copy the detector, to train another detector or to build tools that evade detection
• attack, overload or test the security of ParaTrace without our written permission
• resell or pass on access to ParaTrace without our written permission

If you break these rules, we may deactivate your account or API key.

Verdicts are statistical estimates, not proof of authorship. They can be wrong in both directions, and the error rates we publish come from our own test data, so they may differ for your texts. Check important results in other ways, and talk to the author before drawing conclusions.

We aim to keep ParaTrace available and working, but we can't promise that it is always reachable or free of errors. Maintenance and faults may interrupt it.

We are fully liable for damage we cause intentionally or through gross negligence, and for injury to life, body or health. For slight negligence we are not liable, except for injury to life, body or health. We are not liable for decisions you or others make based on verdicts.

If you are a consumer, the rights the law gives you that can't be limited by contract remain unaffected.

ParaTrace, its detector, the website and its content belong to Empirisch Tech GmbH. You may use the results of your checks as you like, and quote our published benchmark figures with a reference to ParaTrace. Copying the website or the detector, or extracting it, is not allowed.

You can stop using ParaTrace any time and delete your account on the Your account page, together with your history and API key. We may end or deactivate an account or API key at once if these terms are seriously broken, and otherwise with reasonable notice, for example if we discontinue ParaTrace. Unused credits lapse when an account or key ends.

We may change these terms, for example when ParaTrace changes. We publish changes on this page with a new date and tell account holders by email in good time before they apply. If you don't agree, you can delete your account before then. If you keep using ParaTrace after that, the new terms apply.

Austrian law applies, without its conflict-of-law rules and without the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The courts of Vienna have jurisdiction. If you are a consumer, the protection the law of your home country gives you can't be taken away by this choice, and you may also go to the courts there.

Questions about these terms go to the contact form, to our address above, or to +43 1 2396082. Our company details are in the Impressum.