Terms of Service

1. The service

SmartHire (operated by HRD, “we”) provides a hosted software service that automates candidate screening, interview scheduling, and ATS synchronization over WhatsApp. The service is delivered as a multi-tenant SaaS application accessible through app.smarthire.chat and through APIs.

“You” or “Customer” means the organization that has signed up for a SmartHire account. Users you invite (recruiters, hiring managers, interviewers) act on your behalf and their actions bind you.

2. Account and eligibility

• You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into contracts.
• You must operate a verified WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) for the phone number you connect to SmartHire — or connect through a WABA that SmartHire provisions on your behalf.
• Account credentials are yours to safeguard. You are responsible for all activity under your account.
• You must give us accurate registration information and keep it current.

3. Acceptable use

You will not, and will not permit any user of your account to:

• Use SmartHire to send messages that violate WhatsApp's Business Messaging Policy or Commerce Policy.
• Configure screening prompts that unlawfully discriminate based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status, national origin, or any other protected characteristic.
• Scrape, harvest, or bulk-extract candidate data other than data you have collected through the service.
• Send unsolicited commercial messages, spam, or bulk messages to individuals who did not initiate the conversation or apply to your job.
• Impersonate another person or organization, or misrepresent the identity of the recruiting company.
• Attempt to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the service, or breach or circumvent any authentication or security measures, other than through our published vulnerability disclosure channel (security@smarthire.chat).
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive the source code of the service, except where local law expressly permits.
• Resell, sublicense, or provide the service as a service bureau to a third party without our written agreement.

4. Customer obligations

You are the data controller for all candidate personal data processed through your SmartHire account. You will:

• Obtain and document the candidate consents required by applicable data-protection legislation in your jurisdiction (including, where relevant, consent to voice-note recording and to automated screening).
• Publish a candidate-facing privacy notice consistent with your legal obligations.
• Comply with all local employment and anti-discrimination laws applicable to how you recruit.
• Respond to candidate rights requests (access, erasure, etc.) as the controller. SmartHire assists you as processor — see the DPA.
• Not upload personal data of individuals under 16 years of age, or special-category data (health, biometrics, political views, etc.) unless you have a documented lawful basis and have notified us in advance.

5. Fees and billing

Pricing is available on request — contact hi@smarthire.chat. Trial accounts are provided free of charge for the trial period stated in your onboarding email.

Once you move to a paid plan:

• Fees are invoiced monthly or annually, in advance, in the currency stated in your order form.
• Undisputed invoices are payable within 30 days.
• Overdue amounts accrue interest at the lower of 1.5% per month or the maximum permitted by law.
• Meta / WhatsApp per-conversation fees (imposed by Meta on the underlying WABA) are pass-through and billed as incurred, itemized on your invoice.
• Fees are exclusive of any applicable taxes, which are your responsibility.

6. Warranties and disclaimers

We warrant that the service will materially conform to its documentation and that we will use commercially reasonable efforts to keep it available. Availability metrics, if agreed, are set out in a separate SLA.

Except for the express warranty above, and to the maximum extent permitted by law, the service is provided without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied — including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

7. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, neither party is liable to the other for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost revenues, or loss of goodwill, however arising.

Each party's total aggregate liability under or in connection with these Terms, whether in contract, tort, or otherwise, is capped at the total fees paid by you to SmartHire under these Terms in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to liability.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability for (a) fraud or willful misconduct, (b) unpaid fees, or (c) any other liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

8. Termination and suspension

• Either party may terminate the service for convenience with 30 days' written notice.
• Either party may terminate for material breach on 15 days' notice if the breach is not cured.
• We may suspend your account immediately if we reasonably believe your use poses a security risk, violates law, or is likely to trigger enforcement action against SmartHire or Meta / WhatsApp. We will lift a suspension as soon as the cause is resolved.
• On termination, we will make an export of your data available for 30 days, then delete it in line with the Privacy Policy.
• Sections that by their nature survive termination (fees due, confidentiality, liability, indemnity, governing law) do so.

9. Force majeure

Neither party is liable for a failure or delay in performance caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control — including natural disasters, war, civil unrest, government action, labour disputes, internet or telecommunications outages, or failures of Meta / WhatsApp or AWS. The affected party must promptly notify the other and use reasonable efforts to resume performance.

10. Governing law and venue

Unless the parties agree otherwise in writing (for example, in an enterprise order form), these Terms are governed by the laws of the customer's principal place of business, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Disputes will be brought exclusively in the competent courts of that jurisdiction.

This is a default that gives customers a predictable, familiar forum. For enterprise deals, a mutually agreed governing law and venue can be negotiated as part of the order form.

11. Confidentiality

Each party will protect the other's confidential information with the same degree of care it uses for its own (and no less than reasonable care), and will use it only to perform under these Terms. Confidential information does not include information that is public, independently developed, or lawfully obtained without confidentiality obligations.

12. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes are announced to account admins by email at least 30 days before they take effect. Continued use of the service after that date constitutes acceptance. If you object to a change, you may terminate under Section 8.

13. Miscellaneous

• Entire agreement. These Terms, together with any order form, the DPA, and referenced policies, form the entire agreement between us.
• Assignment. Neither party may assign these Terms without the other's written consent, except in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of substantially all assets.
• No waiver. A failure to enforce a right is not a waiver of it.
• Severability. If a provision is held unenforceable, the remainder stays in effect.
• Notices. Written notices go to legal@smarthire.chat and to the account admin's email on file.

14. Contact

Legal and contract questions: legal@smarthire.chat
General inquiries: hi@smarthire.chat

• 2026-07-20 Initial published version.