These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of The Harold ("Harold," "Service," "we," "us"). By subscribing or using the Service, you agree to these Terms.
The Harold is a subscription audio news briefing service. Each morning we generate a short (~5 minute) audio briefing of the day's news and deliver a link to it through the channels you choose: by email, by SMS, or both. Neither channel is mandatory for receiving the Service — SMS in particular is fully optional. You can sign up and use The Harold entirely by email, without ever providing a phone number, and you can change your delivery preferences from your account at any time. The Premium plan personalizes the briefing using your location, name, and topic preferences.
We offer two tiers, each available monthly or annually:
7-day free trial. All new subscriptions include a 7-day free trial. You will not be charged during the trial. Billing begins on day 8 unless you cancel before then. Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period.
Trial eligibility. A free trial is available once per phone number every 60 days. If you cancel and re-subscribe within 60 days of leaving, you will be billed immediately on re-subscription rather than receiving a new free trial. This prevents abuse of the trial system.
Payments are processed by Stripe. We do not store your card details.
You may cancel at any time by:
Texting STOP pauses SMS delivery only — it does not cancel your subscription. To cancel billing, use one of the methods above.
Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period — you keep access for what you've already paid for. We do not offer prorated refunds for partial periods. If you believe you've been billed in error, contact us within 30 days and we will work to resolve it.
SMS is optional. Consent to receive SMS is not a condition of purchase or of using the Service. You can sign up and use The Harold entirely by email — without providing a phone number — and add SMS later if you change your mind. SMS consent is collected through a separate, unchecked-by-default checkbox at signup that is independent of your acceptance of these Terms or the Privacy Policy.
If — and only if — you provide your phone number at signup and tick the separate SMS consent checkbox, you consent to receive automated text messages from The Harold. Typical frequency is approximately 1 message per day, which may include:
Standard message and data rates apply. Reply STOP at any time to pause SMS (your subscription stays active and email delivery continues); reply START to resume; reply HELP for support. You can also disable SMS from your account page at any time. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. SMS delivery is via Twilio.
Harold's briefings are generated by AI working from human-reported journalism. While we strive for accuracy and balance:
The Harold will never run advertisements, sponsored segments, sponsored placements, native advertising, affiliate links, or paid product mentions — in briefings, on the website, or in our SMS. We do not accept money to mention products, companies, or stories. We do not use your subscriber data to target advertising on other services. Your subscription is our only revenue source.
You may not:
All briefing audio, scripts, prompts, and website content are owned by The Harold. Your subscription grants you a personal, non-commercial, non-transferable license to listen to and casually share individual briefings for personal use. We retain all other rights.
For copyright concerns, including DMCA notices about source material we summarized, contact us via the form on our homepage with the URL of the briefing and the basis for your claim.
The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not guarantee uninterrupted service, delivery at any specific time, or that briefings will be free of errors. Briefings are not professional advice — do not make financial, legal, medical, or safety decisions based on them.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, The Harold's total cumulative liability arising out of or relating to the Service shall not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim, or (b) one hundred U.S. dollars ($100). We are not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, USA, without regard to its conflicts of law principles. Any dispute not subject to small-claims court shall be brought in the state or federal courts located in Delaware, and you consent to that jurisdiction.
We may update these Terms. Material changes will be posted at this URL with a note at the top of the page for 30 days, and where appropriate we will notify you via SMS or email. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance.
Questions? Use the contact form.
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