Terms of service

Version 1.0 · effective 17 October 2026

1. Who we are

The service is provided by FlashAware (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2026/380675/07, a private company incorporated in South Africa with its registered office at 6 Rooikransie, Herolds Bay, George, Western Cape, 6529 ("FlashAware", "we"). Contact: hello@flashaware.com. These terms form the agreement between FlashAware and the organisation that opens an account ("you", "the customer"). The person accepting these terms confirms they are authorised to bind that organisation.

2. The service

FlashAware is a web-based service that evaluates publicly available satellite lightning data (EUMETSAT Meteosat Third Generation Lightning Imager Level-2 products) against the sites, radii and thresholds you configure, and sends state changes (STOP, PREPARE, HOLD, ALL CLEAR, NO DATA FEED) to the recipients you list by email, SMS and WhatsApp, with a dashboard, map, replay and audit log. Features vary by plan as described on the pricing page at the time of purchase.

3. What the service is and is not

1. Latency. Satellite flash products are published in time windows. Alerts typically arrive 2–16 minutes after a flash is detected and may be later. The service is not suitable as the sole or primary trigger for activities that require sub-minute warning, such as blasting.
2. Detection is not guaranteed. Satellite instruments can miss flashes, position them imprecisely, or be unavailable. An ALL CLEAR means the configured conditions were met on the data available, not that no lightning is present.
3. Advisory only. You decide what action to take. Your procedures, your safety officer and the 30/30 rule (shelter when the flash-to-thunder count is 30 seconds or less; wait 30 minutes after the last thunder) take precedence over any FlashAware state.
4. Dependencies. Alert delivery depends on third parties (mobile networks, WhatsApp/Meta, email providers) and on recipients' devices being on and reachable. We report delivery receipts where the channel provides them but cannot guarantee receipt.
5. NO DATA FEED. When the feed is stale or unavailable, sites show NO DATA FEED and no ALL CLEAR is issued. Treat outdoor activity as unsafe until the feed recovers.

4. Accounts and acceptable use

You are responsible for the accuracy of your sites, thresholds and recipients, for keeping credentials confidential, and for ensuring that every recipient you add has agreed to receive operational alerts from your organisation. You may not resell the service, scrape it, probe its security, or use it for any unlawful purpose. We may suspend accounts that threaten the service or other customers.

5. Trials and the free tier

Trials are free for the stated period and may be limited in sites, recipients and channels. The free tier provides reports and digests only and sends no live alerts. We may change or withdraw free offerings on notice.

6. Fees, billing and renewal

1. Prices are shown on the pricing page in South African rand and include VAT where applicable.
2. Monthly plans are billed in advance and may be cancelled at any time from the dashboard; the service continues to the end of the paid month and no further charges are made.
3. Season passes and annual plans run for the stated term. We will remind you by email between 40 and 80 business days before the term ends, stating the renewal price. Unless you cancel, the plan renews on a month-to-month basis at the then-current monthly price. You may cancel a fixed-term plan early on 20 business days' written notice; a reasonable cancellation fee may apply as permitted by section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act.
4. Payments are processed by Paystack. Card details are held by Paystack, not by FlashAware. Invoices are issued for every payment.
5. SMS messages beyond the plan allowance are billed at cost as stated on the pricing page and itemised on your invoice.
6. If a payment fails we will notify you and retry; after 14 days of non-payment live alerts may be suspended until payment is made.

7. Cooling-off

Where the Consumer Protection Act or the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act gives you a cooling-off right (for example a purchase concluded entirely online or as a result of direct marketing), you may cancel within the statutory period and receive a refund of fees paid, less a reasonable charge for service already used if the Act allows it. Email us to cancel.

8. Service levels

We aim for the dashboard and alert engine to be available 99.5% of each calendar month, excluding scheduled maintenance announced in advance and outages of the upstream satellite data provider or third-party messaging networks. If we fall short in a month, your sole remedy is a service credit of one day of fees for each full hour of unavailability, up to one month's fees, claimed within 30 days.

9. Warranties and disclaimers

We provide the service with reasonable skill and care. To the extent the law allows, we make no other warranty: the service is provided "as is", and we do not warrant that lightning will be detected, that alerts will arrive within any particular time, or that the service will be uninterrupted or error-free. Nothing in these terms excludes rights that the Consumer Protection Act gives you and that cannot be excluded.

10. Limitation of liability

1. To the extent permitted by law, FlashAware's total liability to you arising out of or in connection with the service in any 12-month period is limited to the fees you paid for the service in that period.
2. To the extent permitted by law, FlashAware is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, revenue, production or business interruption, or for loss arising from your reliance on an alert, the absence of an alert, or a delayed alert.
3. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for gross negligence, wilful misconduct, or any liability that may not be excluded or limited under the Consumer Protection Act (including section 61) or other applicable law.

11. Your indemnity

You indemnify FlashAware against claims by your recipients, staff, members, contractors or visitors arising from your sites, your procedures, or your use of the service, except to the extent caused by our gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

12. Data protection

We process personal information as described in our privacy notice. Where we process recipients' information on your instruction we act as your operator under POPIA; you warrant that you have a lawful basis to give us that information.

13. Intellectual property and data

FlashAware and its software remain our property. Lightning data is © EUMETSAT and is used under its data policy. You own your configuration and may export your audit log at any time. We may use aggregated, de-identified usage and lightning statistics to improve and promote the service.

14. Suspension and termination

Either party may end the agreement as set out in section 6. We may suspend or end the service immediately for material breach, non-payment after notice, or where required by law. Organisation data is retained for 30 days after closure and then deleted, except where law requires longer retention.

15. Changes

We may update these terms. We will give at least 30 days' notice by email of changes that reduce your rights; continued use after the effective date is acceptance. The version date appears at the top of this page.

16. Law and disputes

South African law applies. We will try to resolve disputes informally first; failing that, the courts of South Africa have jurisdiction. Consumers also have the right to approach the National Consumer Commission or an accredited ombud.

17. Contact

FlashAware (Pty) Ltd (2026/380675/07) · 6 Rooikransie, Herolds Bay, George, 6529 · hello@flashaware.com