Terms of Service

Acceptance

By creating a Portis account, clicking "I agree" during signup, or accessing the Service, you enter into a binding agreement with Portis (operated by Timothy Pryor, Belle River, Ontario, Canada). If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use the Service. You must be at least 18 years old and legally capable of entering into a binding contract under the laws of your jurisdiction. If you accept these Terms on behalf of a company or other entity, you represent that you have authority to bind that entity.

Description of Service

Portis is an informational reference platform that aggregates publicly available maritime data — including water levels, bridge clearances, Notices to Mariners, port facility records, and related operational reference material — from third-party sources such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the United States Coast Guard (USCG), the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS), and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). Portis also enables users to maintain a personal captain's log, private port notes, and a vessel registry.

Portis is provided as a decision-support reference tool. Portis is NOT a navigation aid, is NOT certified for navigation, does NOT fulfill chart carriage requirements under United States or Canadian regulation, and is NOT a substitute for official nautical charts, current Notices to Mariners, regulatory publications, or the professional judgment of a licensed master, pilot, or other qualified mariner. All navigational and operational decisions remain the sole responsibility of the vessel's master.

Accounts and Eligibility

You must provide accurate, current, and complete information when creating your account and keep it up to date. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. One account per individual; account-sharing is prohibited. Notify us immediately at [email protected] of any unauthorized access. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate any account that we reasonably believe is compromised, shared, or used in violation of these Terms.

Subscriptions, Billing, and Price Protection

Master's Edition is offered on a monthly subscription basis. The current displayed price is charged at the start of each billing period. Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled before the renewal date. You may cancel at any time from your account settings or by emailing [email protected]. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period and you retain access until that date. No refunds for partial months.

Price protection: subscribers who join during a launch-rate offer remain at that introductory rate for the duration stated at signup, after which standard pricing applies. Existing subscribers will be notified by email at least 30 days before any standard price increase.

Payment processing is handled by Stripe; Portis does not store credit card numbers.

Acceptable Use

You agree NOT to: (a) share your account credentials or allow access by unauthorized parties; (b) attempt to access another user's data, account, or vessel records; (c) reverse-engineer, decompile, scrape, or systematically download Portis content except as expressly permitted; (d) use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable maritime, privacy, or export-control regulation; (e) resell, sublicense, or commercially redistribute access; (f) upload content that infringes the rights of others, contains malicious code, or violates the privacy of third parties; (g) use the Service to compete with Portis or build a competing product. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate this section without refund.

Third-Party Data — Disclaimers

Portis aggregates data from third-party government and commercial sources. You acknowledge and agree to each of the following:

DATA ACCURACY — Portis makes no representation or warranty regarding the accuracy, completeness, currency, or fitness for purpose of any data displayed. Water levels, bridge clearances, weather and ice information, Notices to Mariners, facility details, and other operational data may be inaccurate, delayed, interrupted, or missing entirely.

VERIFICATION REQUIRED — Before relying on any Portis data in any operational decision, you must independently verify that data against official sources, including but not limited to current NOAA or CHS nautical charts, current Notices to Mariners issued by the USCG or CCG, Coast Pilot or Sailing Directions, and direct contact with the relevant port, dock, bridge operator, or authority.

NOT A NAVIGATION AID — Portis does not display official nautical charts, does not provide real-time vessel position, does not provide collision avoidance, and is not approved by the USCG, Transport Canada, the CCG, or any classification society for use as a primary or secondary navigation system.

MASTER'S RESPONSIBILITY — Nothing in Portis displaces, replaces, or diminishes the responsibility of the vessel's master to exercise good seamanship, comply with all applicable rules of the road, and make independent navigational and operational decisions.

Intellectual Property

Portis, including the platform, software, design, compiled port registry, aggregated facility records, written content, and trademarks, is owned by Timothy Pryor and protected by Canadian and international copyright and trademark law. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use Portis for the purposes described in these Terms.

You retain ownership of content you create within Portis — your captain's log entries, port notes, photographs you upload, and vessel registry data (collectively, "Your Content"). By uploading Your Content, you grant Portis a worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, display, and back up Your Content solely for the purpose of operating the Service. This licence terminates when you delete Your Content or close your account, except for backups retained per Section 12.

Public-domain data sourced from government agencies (NOAA, ECCC, USGS, CCG, USCG, CHS, DFO, etc.) remains in the public domain. Portis claims no ownership of underlying public-domain facts; we claim copyright only in our compilation, presentation, and original written content.

Disclaimer of Warranties

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, PORTIS IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR UNINTERRUPTED OPERATION. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE ERROR-FREE, SECURE, OR CONTINUOUSLY AVAILABLE.

Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, PORTIS AND ITS OPERATOR SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, USE, GOODWILL, VESSEL OR CARGO DAMAGE, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR PERSONAL INJURY, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE, EVEN IF PORTIS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

PORTIS'S TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE FEES YOU PAID TO PORTIS IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE THOUSAND CANADIAN DOLLARS ($1,000 CAD).

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages; in such jurisdictions, our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Portis and its operator from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any law or the rights of any third party; (d) any operational, navigational, or other decision you make in connection with your vessel or maritime activities; or (e) any claim that Your Content infringes the rights of a third party. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defence and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, and you agree to cooperate with our defence of such claims.

Force Majeure

Portis shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including without limitation: (a) outages, errors, or changes in third-party data feeds (NOAA, ECCC, USCG, CCG, USGS, CHS, DFO, and others); (b) failures of hosting infrastructure (Supabase, Cloudflare, Stripe); (c) acts of God, natural disasters, severe weather, or ice events; (d) war, terrorism, civil unrest, or government action; (e) telecommunications failures or internet disruptions; (f) cyberattacks or denial-of-service events.

Data Retention and Termination

You may terminate your account at any time from account settings or by emailing [email protected]. On termination: your account is deactivated; you may export your captain's log and port notes for 30 days following termination; after 30 days, Your Content is permanently deleted from active systems. Backups may persist in encrypted form for up to 90 days for disaster-recovery purposes, after which they are also deleted. Billing records and audit logs are retained for 7 years to comply with Canadian tax and regulatory obligations.

We may suspend or terminate your access immediately, with or without notice, if we reasonably determine you have breached these Terms, or if required by law.

Company-Tier Customers and the Master Services Agreement

Customers subscribing to PortIS Company, Dock, or Port Authority editions operate under a separate Master Services Agreement (MSA) negotiated with Portis. Where the MSA conflicts with these Terms, the MSA governs for that customer's use of the Service. A reference MSA is available at msa-stub.html; the binding version is the executed agreement between Portis and the customer. The MSA includes a PIPEDA-compliant Data Processing Agreement governing personal information about Customer's employees and end-users.

Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify active users by email at least 14 days before material changes take effect, identifying what is changing and when. Continued use of the Service after the effective date of the updated Terms constitutes your acceptance of those changes. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must cancel your subscription before the effective date.

We will not retroactively expand how we use data already collected from you without obtaining your fresh consent.

Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. The parties agree to attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute through informal negotiation or mediation before initiating litigation. Any dispute that cannot be resolved informally shall be resolved exclusively in the courts of the Province of Ontario, and both parties consent to the personal jurisdiction of such courts.

Copyright Complaints

If you believe content on Portis infringes your copyright, contact [email protected] with: (a) a description of the copyrighted work; (b) the location of the allegedly infringing material on Portis; (c) your contact information; (d) a statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized; and (e) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the owner's behalf. We will investigate and respond promptly.

General Provisions

Severability: if any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect. Waiver: failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of that provision. Entire Agreement: these Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any applicable MSA, constitute the entire agreement between you and Portis. Assignment: you may not assign these Terms without our written consent; we may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of substantially all of our assets. No Agency: nothing in these Terms creates any partnership, joint venture, agency, or employment relationship.

Contact

Portis (operated by Timothy Pryor)
Belle River, Ontario, Canada
[email protected]