Terms & Conditions

Last updated: 29 October 2026

1. About LoneBuddy and these terms

LoneBuddy™ is operated from Scotland, United Kingdom. By downloading, accessing or using the app or website, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use LoneBuddy. LoneBuddy provides personal-safety features including timed check-ins, Buddy alerts, SOS tools, low-battery safety alerts and optional Premium features.

LoneBuddy is intended primarily for individual personal use, including by individuals who may happen to be working alone. Unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing, it is not supplied as an employer workforce-monitoring system, regulated lone-worker compliance service, professional rescue service or substitute for an employer's risk assessment, procedures or legal duties.

2. Countries and availability

LoneBuddy may be offered through Google Play in the United Kingdom and other selected countries where LoneBuddy is made available. Availability, features, subscription offers, prices and third-party services may vary by country, device or platform. Availability in a country does not mean that LoneBuddy has assessed the app as suitable for every activity, workplace or legal requirement in that country.

3. Your device and responsibilities

You are responsible for using a compatible device and for maintaining the permissions, battery, cellular/SMS service, location services, operating-system settings and other conditions required by the features you choose to use. You must use LoneBuddy lawfully and should test important features on your own device before relying on them in a real situation.

4. Buddies and contact details

You are responsible for selecting appropriate Buddy contacts, entering or selecting accurate details and making sure your Buddy understands what a LoneBuddy alert means and what you expect them to do. A Buddy is not an emergency service and, unless separately agreed between you and that person, has no contractual duty to respond. You should have any permission required by law to use another person's contact details.

5. SMS, signal and location limitations

LoneBuddy's alerts depend on your device and third-party systems. SMS or location information may be delayed, unavailable, inaccurate or fail because of lack of signal, network outages, carrier filtering, roaming restrictions, device or battery failure, permissions, Android restrictions, GPS conditions, incorrect contact details, recipient-device issues or other factors outside LoneBuddy's reasonable control. An indication that the app attempted or sent an SMS does not guarantee that the recipient received, read or acted on it.

Mobile-network, SMS, data and roaming charges may apply, including during international use. Those charges are set by third parties and are your responsibility unless applicable law requires otherwise.

6. Emergency use

Do not use LoneBuddy as your only way to obtain emergency help. If there is immediate danger or a medical, fire, police or other emergency, contact the appropriate emergency service directly when possible. LoneBuddy's SOS feature alerts the Buddy or contacts configured for the app; it does not itself place an emergency-services call or dispatch professional responders.

7. Free plan

The Free plan currently includes one Buddy, SOS with location where available, the General Use profile, check-ins up to 2 hours, missed-check-in alerts and safety logs. Features may change as the service develops, subject to applicable consumer law.

8. Premium subscriptions

Premium currently includes the Free features plus up to 10 Buddies, additional safety profiles, custom check-ins up to 48 hours, approximately 15-minute location updates during active alerts where available, low-battery safety alerts, Fake Call and other Premium tools.

Premium is an optional paid subscription managed through Google Play. The final price, billing period, currency, taxes and renewal terms shown on the Google Play purchase screen apply to your purchase. You may continue using the Free plan without subscribing. Manage or cancel subscriptions through Google Play. Mandatory cancellation and refund rights under applicable law remain unaffected.

9. Pricing and billing

Website prices may be indicative. The Google Play purchase screen is authoritative for the price, currency, taxes, billing period and renewal terms offered to you. Premium subscriptions are processed by Google Play; LoneBuddy does not receive your full payment-card details. Local pricing and taxes may differ between countries and markets.

10. Active safety sessions and entitlement changes

LoneBuddy is designed so that a paywall or Premium entitlement change does not intentionally interrupt an alert or safety session that is already active. If Premium ends during an active safety event, that event is intended to continue until it ends; Premium restrictions apply afterwards. This design intention does not remove the technical limitations described elsewhere in these terms.

11. Acceptable use

You must not use LoneBuddy unlawfully, to harass, threaten, stalk or deceive another person, to send knowingly false or malicious emergency-style alerts, to infringe privacy or other rights, to interfere with the app or website, or to attempt to circumvent security, billing or access controls.

12. Updates and availability

We may update, add, remove, suspend or modify features for security, reliability, legal, platform or product-development reasons. Software can contain defects and we do not promise that LoneBuddy will always be uninterrupted, error-free, compatible with every device or available in every location. Where applicable consumer law requires a particular standard or remedy, those rights continue to apply.

13. Third-party services

LoneBuddy relies on or interacts with services and systems we do not control, including Android, Google Play, mobile networks, SMS carriers, device manufacturers and location services. Their availability, performance, terms and privacy practices are separate from LoneBuddy and may vary by country.

14. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains how information is handled, including local-first core safety data, device permissions, Google Play and Google Analytics for Firebase (subject to the app’s actual privacy controls and applicable law). Our Cookie Policy explains optional website analytics.

15. Liability and limits

LoneBuddy is a supplementary safety tool and not a guarantee of safety, rescue, response, successful message delivery or location accuracy. You remain responsible for your decisions, the accuracy of Buddy details, your device and settings, and for using appropriate emergency or workplace procedures.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, LoneBuddy is not responsible for losses caused solely by matters outside our reasonable control or by your misuse or failure to follow clear instructions, including network/SMS failure or delay, lack of signal, roaming restrictions, carrier filtering, GPS limitations, device or battery failure, operating-system restrictions, permission changes, inaccurate Buddy details, or a recipient's failure to receive, read or act on an alert.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, we are not liable for indirect or consequential business or economic losses that were not reasonably foreseeable, including loss of profit, business, opportunity, anticipated savings or data.

Nothing in these terms excludes or restricts liability where it would be unlawful to do so. In particular, for UK consumers we do not exclude or restrict liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or rights and remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded. Equivalent mandatory protections in other countries, where applicable, are preserved.

Subject to those protections, and only where applicable law permits such a limit, our total aggregate liability for losses that can lawfully be capped is limited to the greater of £100 (or the local-currency equivalent) or the amount you paid for LoneBuddy Premium in the 12 months immediately before the event giving rise to the claim. This cap does not apply where the law does not permit the relevant liability to be limited.

16. Consumer rights

Nothing in these terms removes or reduces mandatory consumer rights. UK consumers retain applicable rights under UK consumer law. Consumers in other countries retain any mandatory local rights and remedies that apply to them. If a provision of these terms is unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue to the extent permitted by law.

17. Intellectual property

LoneBuddy™, its branding, app design, website content and associated materials are owned by or licensed to the LoneBuddy operator and are protected by applicable intellectual-property law. These terms give you a personal, limited, non-exclusive right to use the app in accordance with these terms; they do not transfer ownership of LoneBuddy intellectual property to you.

18. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by Scots law to the extent a choice of law is permitted. If you are a consumer, that choice does not deprive you of mandatory protections available under the law of the country in which you habitually live where those protections apply, and it does not remove any court or dispute-resolution right that cannot lawfully be excluded.

19. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms to reflect changes to LoneBuddy, subscription arrangements, supported countries, third-party services or legal requirements. The date above identifies the current version. Where required, material changes will be communicated before they take effect.

20. Contact

For support or questions about these terms, contact [email protected].

21. Family and Business activation codes

Family and Business plans provide Premium access using locally generated and validated activation codes. The recipient configures their own Buddies and safety settings; the purchaser does not receive a LoneBuddy dashboard of recipients’ live GPS positions or safety logs. Because the currently released app has no central licensing backend, do not assume that a code or entitlement can be remotely revoked or that a change on one device will automatically update another device.

22. Gift cards

A valid, unused gift-card code may activate a fixed 365-day Premium period starting on redemption, without an automatically renewing gift subscription. A code is intended for one redemption. If a recipient changes or loses a device, a transfer of remaining time may be requested from [email protected], subject to verification; a transfer does not restart the 365-day period. Gift-card purchase, refund and statutory rights remain subject to the terms presented at sale and applicable law.

23. Premium safety tools and recordings

Premium tools may include emergency audio recording, optional periodic location updates during active SOS, fall detection, duress PIN, protected cancellation, low-battery alerts, fake call, widgets and Quick Settings access. These features depend on the relevant app version, permissions, battery, operating system and licence status. A simulated fake call is not a real telephone call.

Audio recording may begin automatically on SOS and continue until stopped, subject to device restrictions. Recordings are intended to remain locally stored and are not automatically sent to Buddies. You are responsible for using recording features lawfully. No feature guarantees detection, alert delivery, assistance or rescue.

24. Activation keys and access checks

Family, Business and gift-card activation keys are generated and validated locally in the currently released Android app. A LoneBuddy licensing server is not required to redeem or check these keys. Premium access may also be purchased using Google Play Billing, which is a separate third-party service and may require an internet connection. Entitlements and expiry remain subject to the conditions shown in the app; no activation mechanism guarantees safety-alert delivery.

25. Workplace use and reliance

LoneBuddy provides supplementary check-in and Buddy-alert tools that individuals may use while working alone. It is not a staffed monitoring centre, emergency-response service or a substitute for an employer’s legal duties, risk assessment, lone-working procedures or emergency arrangements. Failure or delay of an SOS or missed-check-in alert may have serious consequences. Users and employers should not rely on LoneBuddy as their sole safety control.

26. International use and claims

The app may be made available in multiple countries, including the United States and Canada where enabled. Availability does not mean that the same consumer protections, features, carrier delivery or emergency arrangements apply everywhere. Nothing in these terms excludes mandatory local consumer rights or any liability that cannot lawfully be limited.