These terms are written in plain language on purpose. By creating a CardLocked account or using the app, you agree to them.
CardLocked is an adult service. You must be 18 years of age or older to create an account or use the app. By registering, you confirm that you are.
CardLocked is a recreational card-based lock game. You create digital "locks" whose release depends on card draws, timers, and optionally another person acting as your keyholder. It is entertainment software — nothing more.
There is nothing to buy in CardLocked: no purchases, no subscriptions, no fees and no ads. Emergency release, appeals and getting your account back are never paid for, and that will not change. If anything inside the app ever asks you for money, it is not us — tell us.
Never rely solely on CardLocked to control access to a physical lock or device.
Always keep an independent means of release (a spare key, bolt cutters, or another backup you control). Software can fail, phones die, and servers go down. You are solely responsible for your own physical safety.
CardLocked is not a medical or safety device. Stop using any physical device immediately if it causes pain, numbness, or injury.
You should never be stuck in something you cannot get out of. Every lock tells you, before you confirm, which kind of release it has and what using it costs. Nothing in this section happens to you without being said to your face first.
If you set an emergency password on a lock, you can use it to release that lock whenever you want, as many times as you need. It never counts against you and there is no penalty for it, ever. That password is the way out you deliberately gave yourself when you built the lock, so using it is the arrangement working — not abuse of it.
If you did not set one, you still get an emergency release. It carries no penalty once per rolling year — 365 days after the last one you used, the no-penalty one comes back. Before you confirm, we tell you which one this is.
A second emergency release inside that same year is still granted. We never hold a release hostage. The release happens first, every single time. Then, as the stated consequence: every active lock on your account is released and the combinations are emailed to you — you are never left physically locked by our software — and your account, along with the app install you used, is restricted for 90 days.
Restricted is not locked out. You can still sign in. From there you can delete your account and you can send a support request. What you cannot do for those 90 days is create or run locks.
The appeal is free, and so is everything else here. We will never charge you for an emergency release, for an appeal, or for getting your account back. There is no fee attached to any part of this and there never will be. Send a support request and a person reads it; if we got it wrong, the restriction can be lifted early. That is a conversation, not a transaction.
Strict mode is different, and you choose it knowingly. A strict lock has no in-app emergency release at all — it opens on its cards, its timer, or your keyholder. Only choose it with a physical backup you control (see section 3). If you are ever in genuine distress, contact us: support requests are read by a person, and a person can release you.
A keyholder runs your deck. They never see your combination: you set it, and it comes back to you when the deck says so, not to them. A keyholder can add cards, remove cards, freeze the deck and end the lock. They cannot take away your emergency release, change the way your lock is held, or lock you out of your own account. A group is one keyholder running one deck for several people who joined with a code; the same rules apply to each of them. Choose your keyholder carefully — the arrangement is between the two of you, and we provide the tools, not the trust. A keyholder who uses the position to harass, coerce or threaten anyone is an abusive user under section 6.
Other people see some of what you write here: your username, the names you give your locks, a pillory reason line, a review you leave for a keyholder, and anything on your profile. We have no tolerance for objectionable content or for abusive users. Objectionable means: harassment, threats or abuse of anyone; sexual or explicit wording; slurs or hate; contact details or links (an email address, a phone number, a handle, a website); anything that names or targets a real person; and anything illegal. That rule covers every field another user can see, not only the pillory reason line, which is also checked before it is stored.
The 90-day restriction described in section 4 is a separate thing and works differently. It is not a finding that you violated anything — using a safety feature is not misconduct. It is the stated, disclosed consequence of a second unprotected emergency release inside one year, and you are told it is coming before you confirm it.
CardLocked is in active development and has not had its public release. The service is provided "as is" and "as available", with no warranty of any kind. Features may change or break, and data may be reset during testing. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any damages arising from your use of the service — including anything involving physical locks or devices you choose to use with it.
You can delete your account and all your data whenever no lock of yours is still running, from Settings → Delete Account in the app (see our account deletion page); a running lock has to end first, and the emergency release's usual rules apply. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms.
How we handle your data is covered by our Privacy Policy.
If these terms change in a meaningful way, we'll update this page, move the version line at the top, and email the address on your account before the change applies to you. Using CardLocked after that date means you accept the new version. If you don't, you can delete your account (section 8) — a lock of yours that is still running has to end first, and the emergency release's usual rules apply.
CardLocked is run by an individual developer in Massachusetts, USA, reachable at the address below; when that changes, this section will name the company. These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. If any part of these terms turns out to be unenforceable, the rest still applies.