These Terms of Service are effective as of August 21, 2026.

Our goal is to create legal policies that are as fair and clear as possible—a challenge rarely undertaken and even more rarely achieved. Balancing the genuine and substantial tensions between readability and legal precision is difficult. Contract text, much like software code, is designed to be functional, with both aiming for predictable outcomes. In contracts, that predictability usually comes from words and phrasing that lawyers and courts have settled over time. That is where “legalese” begins: language familiar and comforting to attorneys, off-putting or frustrating to everyone else.

As with every other part of ImportYeti, developing our policies is an ongoing process. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to reach out to our founder, Dave Applegate, directly at [email protected].

1.1 Scope. These Terms of Service are an agreement between ImportYeti (“we,” “our,” “us”) and you, or the legal entity you represent. They govern your use of our website at https://www.importyeti.com/, our mobile apps, and any other product or service we provide now or in the future, however you access them (together, the “Services”). Anyone who registers an account is a “User.”

1.2 Your Agreement. By using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to these Terms, and that you will comply with applicable law. If you do not agree, please do not use the Services.

1.3 Other Policies. The following policies are part of these Terms: our Privacy Statement, together with our California Supplemental Privacy Statement and California Notice at Collection; our Refund Policy; our Cancellation Policy; our Human Usage Policy; and our Alternative Dispute Resolution Policy, which explains how disputes go to mediation and, if necessary, arbitration.

1.4 Changes to These Terms. We may revise these Terms, any other information on this website, and the Services themselves, at any time and without notice to you. Revisions apply from the date we post them. If you keep using the Services after that, you accept them.

1.5 Arbitration Notice. IMPORTANT NOTICE - ARBITRATION AGREEMENT: BY AGREEING TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS, YOU AGREE THAT ALL DISPUTES BETWEEN US WILL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING ARBITRATION, THAT YOU WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY, AND THAT YOU MAY BRING CLAIMS ONLY IN YOUR INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. YOU MAY OPT OUT OF ARBITRATION WITHIN 30 DAYS. SEE SECTION 11.

1.6 Margin Keynotes. The keynotes in the right margin are summaries. They are not part of these Terms and are not legally binding. If a keynote and a section disagree, the section controls.

2.1 Eligibility. Users must be at least 18 to register an account and use the Services. Users must be human; accounts registered by bots or other automated methods are not permitted.

2.2 Account Information. To register, each User selects a password and provides an email address. Users must give true, accurate, and complete information, and keep it current.

2.3 Credentials. Users may not share their login credentials, use another User's account, let someone else use their account, impersonate another User, or try to capture or guess another User's password. Notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account.

2.4 Suspension and Termination. We may suspend, cancel, or discontinue your access, or any User's, in whole or in part, at any time, for any reason or no reason, with or without notice, and without penalty. This does not affect your rights in Purchased Data already delivered to you, or the covenant in Section 5.2, which survives.

3.1 Free Accounts. If you are using a free version of one of our Services, it is truly free: we do not ask for your credit card or sell your personal information.

3.2 Refunds. We process refunds according to our Refund Policy.

3.3 Cancellation. You are solely responsible for properly canceling your account, and billing continues until you do. Instructions are in our Cancellation Policy.

4.1 Purchased Data Excepted. Nothing in this Section limits what you may do with Purchased Data. Your rights in it are set out in Section 5.

4.2 Your Permission. We grant you limited, revocable, non-transferable permission to access and use the Services as a customer or potential customer, for your own business or personal purposes, so long as you comply with these Terms. You may not resell access to the Services or republish their contents. All other use is prohibited.

4.3 No Other Rights Granted. Except for the limited permission above, ImportYeti grants no express or implied rights or licenses under any patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other proprietary or intellectual property rights.

4.4 No Redistribution of the Services. You will not distribute, transfer, sublicense, rent, lend, transmit, sell, recirculate, repackage, assign, lease, resell, publish, or copy any portion of the Services. You will not translate, convert, decompile, reverse engineer, alter, enhance, disassemble, modify, or change any portion of the Services.

5.1 Purchased Data. “Purchased Data” means shipment records and related data we deliver in response to your queries under a paid subscription or through the ImportYeti API. Bulk delivery of the full database or a continuous feed is not Purchased Data. Purchased Data is compiled from vessel manifest records made publicly disclosable by federal law (19 U.S.C. § 1431(c); 19 CFR § 103.31). Whatever rights we hold in compiling and organizing those records, we promise never to assert them against you.

5.2 Covenant Not to Sue. ImportYeti covenants, perpetually and irrevocably, never to sue you or assert any claim against you over your use of Purchased Data, including modification, publication, distribution, and resale. The same covenant runs to anyone who receives Purchased Data from you, directly or indirectly. This covenant is not a license and does not depend on one. It survives termination of your subscription or account, cannot be revoked, and binds ImportYeti’s successors and assigns. You may keep and continue using Purchased Data after your subscription ends. For Purchased Data, this Section 5 controls over any conflicting provision of these Terms. No future amendment of these Terms will withdraw or narrow this covenant with respect to data purchased before the amendment.

5.3 No Conditions. No audit right, reporting obligation, or field-of-use restriction applies to Purchased Data, and this covenant is not conditioned on any of them.

5.4 Remedies. If a court holds this Section 5 unenforceable, our only recourse as to your use of Purchased Data is money damages, not an injunction.

5.5 Data Use Policy. Our Data Use Policy explains this Section 5 in plain language. It does not form part of these Terms, and Section 5 controls. We will not interpret these Terms to give you less than our Data Use Policy describes.

6.1 Prohibited Uses. You will not use the Services:

• To violate any federal, state, local, or other laws or regulations.
• To violate or infringe third-party rights, including privacy and intellectual property rights.
• To post or transmit advertising or commercial solicitations, mass mailings, or spam.
• To post or transmit promotional materials relating to a website or online service that competes with the Services.
• For malicious or disruptive activities.
• To send or store anything containing software viruses, worms, time bombs, Trojan horses, or other harmful or disruptive computer code, files, scripts, agents, or programs.
• To interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the website or Services.
• To attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Services or its related systems or networks.
• To take any action that results in an unreasonable load on our infrastructure.
• To use any third-party software to interfere with or attempt to interfere with the Services.
• To forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers to disguise the origin of any transmitted content, conduct fraudulent business operations or practices, or promote or conceal unlawful conduct.

6.2 Access and Copying. Use the Services for your own business inquiries, at whatever volume your work requires. Heavy manual use is permitted, including large downloads; our Human Usage Policy gives examples. You will not use any robot, spider, script, site search/retrieval application, or other automated device or process to retrieve, index, "data mine," or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Services. You will not use the Services for the purpose of copying our database or building a substitute for it. You will not harvest or collect information about website visitors or any customer of ImportYeti without their express prior written consent. Nothing in this Section limits your rights in Purchased Data under Section 5.

6.3 Circumvention. You will not circumvent or attempt to circumvent any feature of the Services, including any rate limit or access limit, to obtain information or data by other means.

6.4 Competitive Use. You will not use the Services to create, contribute to, or assist a competitive product or service.

7.1 Ownership. The Services and their entire contents, features, and functionality (including but not limited to all information, software, text, displays, images, video, and audio, and the design, selection, and arrangement thereof) are owned by ImportYeti, its licensors, or other providers of such materials, and are protected by U.S. and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws. You acknowledge that the Services reflect substantial investment by ImportYeti in compiling, organizing, enriching, and structuring information derived from public records. Nothing in this section limits the covenant in Section 5.2, and nothing in Section 5 transfers ownership of anything described in this section.

7.2 Trademarks. The ImportYeti name, logomark, and all related names, logos, product and service names, designs, and slogans are trademarks and trade dress owned by us. ImportYeti images and icons may be used by third-party sites in connection with providing appropriate links to the ImportYeti website.

7.3 Submissions. We do not want to receive confidential information from you. Any ideas, feedback, or suggestions you send us are not confidential, and we may use them freely for any purpose, without payment or attribution. Other information you send us is handled under our Privacy Statement.

7.4 Third-Party Content. We are not liable for any third-party content or materials, including content from Users. This includes errors or omissions in content, and any loss or damage from using it. We may remove any content that violates these Terms or that we deem objectionable in our sole discretion. You agree to assess and assume all risks of using any content, including reliance on its accuracy, completeness, or usefulness.

8.1 Services Provided As Is. WE PROVIDE THE SERVICES “AS IS”, AS AVAILABLE, WITH ALL FAULTS, WITHOUT REPRESENTATION, WARRANTY, OR GUARANTEE OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD-PARTY RIGHTS, OR REGARDING RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, QUALITY, SUITABILITY, AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY, OR COMPLETENESS. WE HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

8.2 Availability and Accuracy. We do not guarantee the continuous availability of the Services or any specific feature(s) of the Services. We may change the Services, impose usage or service limits, suspend service, or block certain kinds of usage at our sole discretion. The security, accuracy, and timeliness of data are not guaranteed; loss, errors, delays, or omissions may occur. Please confirm the accuracy and completeness of information before using it to make decisions.

9.1 Excluded Damages. IN NO EVENT WILL IMPORTYETI AND ITS SHAREHOLDERS, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, SUPPLIERS, AND LICENSORS (“IMPORTYETI PARTIES”) BE LIABLE (JOINTLY OR SEVERALLY) TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON AS A RESULT OF YOUR ACCESS OR USE OF THE SERVICES FOR INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS, LOST SAVINGS, LOST REVENUES, OR LOST GOODWILL.

9.2 Scope of Exclusion. THE EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS IN THIS SECTION 9 APPLY TO DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SERVICES, ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO THEM, OR ANY DATA AND CONTENT ON THE SERVICES OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES. THEY APPLY WHETHER THE ALLEGED LIABILITY IS BASED ON NEGLIGENCE, TORT, CONTRACT, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, EVEN IF ANY OF THE IMPORTYETI PARTIES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF OR COULD HAVE FORESEEN ANY OF THE EXCLUDED DAMAGES, AND IRRESPECTIVE OF ANY FAILURE OF AN ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF A LIMITED REMEDY.

9.3 If Held Unenforceable. IF ANY APPLICABLE AUTHORITY HOLDS ANY PORTION OF THIS SECTION 9 TO BE UNENFORCEABLE, THEN THE IMPORTYETI PARTIES' LIABILITY WILL BE LIMITED TO THE FULLEST POSSIBLE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

9.4 Liability Cap. NOTWITHSTANDING THE FOREGOING, IN NO EVENT WILL THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF THE IMPORTYETI PARTIES, FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND CAUSES OF ACTION WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, OR OTHERWISE, EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AGGREGATE DOLLAR AMOUNT PAID BY THE USER CLAIMANT TO IMPORTYETI IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100).

10.1 Indemnification. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless ImportYeti, its affiliated companies, and their respective directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives, contractors, licensees, successors, and assigns from and against all claims, losses, expenses, damages, and costs (including, but not limited to, direct, incidental, consequential, exemplary, and indirect damages), and reasonable attorneys' fees, resulting from or arising out of:

1. your breach of these Terms;
2. your violation of any third-party rights;
3. your violation of law or willful misconduct; and
4. use of the Services by you or by any person using your account.

10.2 Defense of Claims. We will notify you of any claim covered by Section 10.1. Our failure to give prompt notice relieves you of your obligations only to the extent you are actually prejudiced by the delay. We may control the defense and settlement of any such claim with counsel of our choosing, at your expense. You will cooperate with us in the defense at your expense. You may not settle any claim, or consent to any judgment, in a way that imposes any obligation on, admits any fault by, or restricts the conduct of any indemnified party, without our prior written consent.

11.1 Governing Law. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of laws provisions.

11.2 Mediation and Arbitration. Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms, or their breach, termination, enforcement, interpretation, or validity, including whether this agreement to arbitrate applies, will be submitted to JAMS, or its successor (a neutral arbitrator), for mediation. If mediation does not resolve it, the matter goes to JAMS for final and binding arbitration under our Alternative Dispute Resolution Policy.

11.3 Arbitration Procedure. Arbitration will take place in Los Angeles, California, before one arbitrator. The arbitration will be administered pursuant to the JAMS Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures, or if you reside outside of the United States, the JAMS International Arbitration Rules. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court with jurisdiction. This clause does not prevent parties from seeking provisional remedies in aid of arbitration from a court of appropriate jurisdiction.

11.4 Your Right to Opt Out. You may opt out of Sections 11.2, 11.3, and 11.5 within 30 days after you first accept these Terms. Email [email protected] with the subject line “Arbitration Opt-Out” and include your name and the email address on your account. If you opt out, neither you nor ImportYeti has to mediate or arbitrate, and the class action waiver does not apply to you. Opting out changes nothing else in these Terms, and we will not treat you differently for doing it. If you do not opt out within 30 days, Sections 11.2, 11.3, and 11.5 apply to you.

11.5 Class Action Waiver. YOU AND IMPORTYETI EACH AGREE TO BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. The arbitrator may not consolidate the claims of more than one person and may not preside over any class or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may award relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief, and only to the extent needed to provide relief on that party's own claim. This Section does not apply to a claim for public injunctive relief, which may be brought in court; if such a claim is brought, it will be severed and stayed until the arbitration of the remaining claims concludes. If this Section is held unenforceable as to a particular claim or request for relief, that claim or request will be severed and heard in a court of competent jurisdiction, and the remaining claims will proceed in arbitration.

11.6 Jury Trial Waiver. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, YOU AND IMPORTYETI EACH WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY ACTION, PROCEEDING, OR COUNTERCLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES.

11.7 Time to Bring a Claim. ANY CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES MUST BE COMMENCED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES; OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.

12.1 Entire Agreement; Amendment. These Terms are the entire agreement between the parties and supersede all other agreements, verbal or otherwise, on this subject. Except for revisions we make under Section 1.4, and subject to Section 5.2, no statement, email, or course of dealing modifies these Terms, and no other amendment is binding unless made in writing and signed by an authorized representative of ImportYeti.

12.2 No Waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision of these Terms, or to respond to a breach, does not waive our right to enforce it later or to act on similar breaches.

12.3 Severability. If a provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, it will be severed and read, so far as the law allows, to reflect the parties' intention. The remaining provisions stay in effect.

12.4 Assignment. We may assign these Terms, in whole or in part, at any time and without notice to you, including in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. You may not assign or transfer these Terms, or any right or obligation under them, without our prior written consent, and any attempted assignment without that consent is void. Nothing in this Section limits your rights in Purchased Data under Section 5. These Terms bind and benefit the parties' permitted successors and assigns.

12.5 Notices. We may give you notice by email to the address associated with your account, by posting on the Services, or through the Services. Notice is effective when sent or posted. You are responsible for keeping your email address current. Send notices to us at [email protected].

12.6 Survival. Sections 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 survive any termination or expiration of these Terms, together with any other provision that by its nature should survive.

13.1 Contact. If you have a question about any of these Terms, please contact our Support team.