Trellis

Terms of Service

Last updated August 1, 2026

Trellis — Terms of Service

Effective date: August 1, 2026 Last updated: August 1, 2026

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Douglas Tech LLC, an Indiana limited liability company doing business as Trellis ("Trellis," "we," "us," or "our"), governing your use of the Trellis mobile application, websites, and related services (together, the "Service"). Please read them carefully. By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Who can use Trellis (Eligibility & Age)

  • You must be at least 14 years old to use Trellis. By creating an account, you represent and warrant that you are 14 or older.
  • Trellis is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If we learn that we have collected information from a child under 13, we will delete it and terminate the account.
  • If you are between 14 and 17 (or under the age of majority where you live), you may use Trellis only if your parent or legal guardian has reviewed and agreed to these Terms on your behalf and consents to your use of the Service. If you are a parent or guardian who permits a minor to use the Service, you agree to these Terms on the minor's behalf, and you are responsible for the minor's use of the Service, including under Sections 12 and 13. Your Organization may be asked to confirm that required parental consent has been obtained.
  • If you used the Service as a minor, your continued use after reaching the age of majority constitutes your acceptance and ratification of these Terms.
  • Trellis is provided to you through a campus ministry or organization (your "Organization"). Your Organization controls who may join its community, administers your access, and may impose its own rules on your participation. Your Organization also receives certain information about you, as described in our Privacy Policy. Trellis is not responsible for your Organization's acts, omissions, or policies.
  • You may not use the Service if we have previously banned you, or if doing so would violate any applicable law.

2. Your account

  • You are responsible for the information you provide at registration being accurate and for keeping it current.
  • You are responsible for safeguarding your login credentials and for all activity under your account. Notify us promptly at support@douglas-tech.com if you suspect unauthorized use.
  • One account per person. Do not share your account or let others use it.
  • By creating an account, you consent to receive service-related communications from us (such as security, account, and community notices) by email or push notification. We will obtain any separately required consent before sending marketing messages or SMS.

3. The Service and your license to use it

  • Trellis grants you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Service for its intended purpose — participating in your campus ministry community, including messaging, content, events, and related features.
  • Trellis and its licensors own all rights in the Service, including the software, design, trademarks, and content we provide. These Terms grant you no rights in our intellectual property except the limited license above.
  • Some features may be offered in beta or test form (including via Apple TestFlight). Beta features are provided as-is, may change or be discontinued at any time, and may be subject to additional terms (including Apple's TestFlight terms).
  • If you access Trellis through the Apple App Store or Google Play, the App Store Terms in Section 16 also apply.

4. Acceptable Use Policy

Trellis is a community built on trust. You agree not to use the Service to create, send, post, or share any content or to engage in any conduct that:

  • Is unlawful, or promotes or facilitates illegal activity;
  • Sexually exploits or endangers a minor in any way, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), grooming, sexualized conversation with a minor, solicitation of explicit images, or sextortion. We have zero tolerance for this and will report it to authorities as required by law (see Section 7);
  • Harasses, bullies, threatens, intimidates, or defames another person;
  • Is hateful or discriminatory, or incites violence;
  • Is obscene, pornographic, or sexually explicit;
  • Impersonates another person or organization, or misrepresents your affiliation;
  • Misrepresents your age or identity, including by entering a false date of birth;
  • Infringes anyone's intellectual property, privacy, or other rights;
  • Is spam, or distributes malware or other harmful code;
  • Attempts to circumvent moderation, reporting, blocking, or any security or access control;
  • Collects or harvests others' information without consent, or uses the Service to contact people who have blocked you.

We have zero tolerance for objectionable content and abusive users. Violations may result in content removal, suspension, or termination, and where required, reporting to law enforcement.

5. Your content and the license you give us

  • You retain ownership of the messages, images, and other content you create or share ("Your Content").
  • You grant Trellis a limited, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (including through our service providers) to host, store, transmit, reproduce, and display Your Content to operate, secure, and provide the Service to you and the people you communicate with (for example, delivering your messages, backing them up, and displaying them in your conversations), to enforce these Terms and keep the community safe (including reviewing reported content), to comply with law, and to retain records as described in our Privacy Policy (including records retained in anonymized form after account deletion). We do not use the content of your private messages for advertising or marketing.
  • You represent that you own or have the rights to Your Content and that it does not violate these Terms or anyone's rights.

6. Moderation, reporting, and blocking

  • You can report content or users that violate these Terms using the in-app report feature, or by contacting support@douglas-tech.com.
  • You can block other users to stop them from messaging you or appearing in your conversations.
  • We may, but are not obligated to, monitor, review, moderate, remove, or restrict content or accounts at our discretion. Our choosing to moderate some content does not create an obligation to moderate all content.
  • We aim to review reports of objectionable content and abusive users promptly, and to act where warranted — including by removing content and removing or ejecting offending users.
  • Limited access for safety: To investigate reports, comply with the law, and meet our child-safety reporting obligations, authorized Trellis personnel may access the content of a reported message and related context. Your Organization's leaders cannot read your private messages. By using the Service, you consent to Trellis accessing, reviewing, preserving, and disclosing your content and account information in these limited circumstances. See our Privacy Policy for details on how and when content is accessed.
  • Trellis is not an emergency service, and reports are not monitored in real time. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, contact local authorities (call or text 911) or, for a mental-health crisis, call or text 988 — do not wait for a report to be reviewed.

7. Child safety

We are required by U.S. federal law to report apparent child sexual exploitation — including CSAM, online enticement or grooming, and child sex trafficking — to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) when we become aware of it. We will cooperate with law enforcement as required. We do not monitor or scan your private messages, but when we become aware of such material (for example, through a report), we will act on it. When we make such a report, federal law requires us to preserve the reported content for at least one year. We may also disclose content or account information to law enforcement or other appropriate authorities where we believe in good faith that doing so is necessary to prevent an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person.

8. Interactions with others

  • Trellis is a platform for communication; we are not responsible for the conduct of users or the content they share, whether online or in person. You interact with others at your own risk.
  • We do not vet or verify users beyond the measures described in these Terms and our Privacy Policy. Exercise good judgment, especially when meeting anyone in person.

9. Copyright and the DMCA

We respect intellectual property rights and respond to notices of alleged infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, send a notice with the information required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) to our Designated Agent:

Scott Nei, President, Douglas Tech LLC, 11807 Allisonville Rd, Unit #1234, Fishers, IN 46038, support@douglas-tech.com (Trellis must register this agent with the U.S. Copyright Office DMCA Directory.)

We will respond to valid notices, may remove allegedly infringing content, and will terminate repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances. If your content is removed and you believe that was a mistake, you may submit a counter-notice with the information required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3) to the same Designated Agent.

10. Termination and suspension

  • You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time from within the app.
  • We may suspend or terminate your access, with or without notice, if you violate these Terms, if required by law, or to protect the Service or its users.
  • What happens to your data on deletion is described in the Privacy Policy. In summary, we disable sign-in and remove personal identifiers, but retain certain group records and message content in anonymized form, disconnected from your account and identity, for safety, recordkeeping, and legal reasons.
  • Sections 5–9, 11–15, and 18 survive termination.

11. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT CONTENT WILL BE ACCURATE.

12. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, TRELLIS AND ITS OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF DATA, USE, OR GOODWILL, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM, OR (B) USD 100. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS, SO SOME OF THESE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. NOTHING IN THESE TERMS EXCLUDES OR LIMITS LIABILITY FOR FRAUD, WILLFUL MISCONDUCT, GROSS NEGLIGENCE, OR ANY LIABILITY THAT CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW. IF YOU LIVE IN A JURISDICTION THAT DOES NOT ALLOW A LIMITATION IN THIS SECTION, THAT LIMITATION APPLIES TO YOU ONLY TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED.

13. Indemnification

You (and, if you are a minor, your parent or guardian) agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Trellis from third-party claims, damages, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from Your Content, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of the rights of others.

14. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Indiana, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules, and the federal laws of the United States. If the law of your state of residence gives you non-waivable consumer rights, nothing in this Section takes them away.

15. Dispute resolution

If you have a problem, contact us first at support@douglas-tech.com — most concerns can be resolved informally. Any dispute arising out of these Terms or the Service that we cannot resolve informally will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Hamilton County, Indiana, and you and Trellis consent to the jurisdiction of those courts. To the extent permitted by law, you and Trellis each waive the right to a trial by jury.

Draft note: launching with court venue, no arbitration — see 033-02 §2a for the reasoning (minor-enforceability + TX SB 2420). If arbitration + a class-action waiver is added later, introduce it with notice and re-acceptance under Section 17, with counsel input.

16. App Store terms (Apple and Google)

If you obtained the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play:

  • These Terms are between you and Trellis only, not Apple or Google. Apple and Google are not responsible for the Service or its content.
  • The license in Section 3 is non-transferable and (for the App Store) permits use of the app only on Apple-branded products that you own or control, as permitted by the App Store Usage Rules (except as allowed by Family Sharing).
  • Trellis, not Apple or Google, is solely responsible for the app and any maintenance and support; Apple and Google have no obligation to furnish any maintenance or support services.
  • If the app fails to conform to an applicable warranty, you may notify Apple and Apple will refund any purchase price you paid for the app; to the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation with respect to the app.
  • Trellis, not Apple or Google, is responsible for addressing any claims relating to the app (including product-liability, regulatory, and consumer-protection claims) and, if a third party claims the app infringes intellectual-property rights, for the investigation, defense, settlement, and discharge of that claim.
  • Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.
  • You represent that you are not located in a country subject to U.S. embargo or on a U.S. prohibited-parties list.
  • You will comply with all applicable third-party terms (e.g., your wireless carrier's) when using the app.

17. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. If we make material changes, we will provide reasonable notice (for example, in-app notice or email) and, where appropriate, ask you to re-accept. Your continued use after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

18. General

  • Severability — if any provision is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.
  • Entire agreement — these Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and Trellis regarding the Service.
  • No waiver — our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver.
  • Assignment — you may not assign these Terms; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale.
  • Force majeure — we are not liable for delays or failures beyond our reasonable control.

19. Contact

Questions, abuse reports, or legal notices: