Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using Vochella ("the Service"), operated by Vochella Technologies Inc. ("we," "us," or "our"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not use the Service. If you are using the Service on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms.

2. Description of Service

Vochella is a HIPAA-compliant practice management platform for Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs). The Service includes goal tracking, SOAP notes, AI-assisted documentation, home practice programs, progress reports, booking, billing, and related features. We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service with reasonable notice where practicable.

3. User Accounts

You must create an account to use the Service. You are responsible for:

• Maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials
• All activity that occurs under your account
• Providing accurate and complete registration information

You must notify us immediately of any unauthorized access to your account.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree to use the Service only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You must not:

• Violate any applicable law, regulation, or professional standards
• Infringe on the rights of others
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service, other accounts, or our systems
• Use the Service to transmit malware, spam, or harmful content
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Service (except as permitted by law)
• Use the Service in a manner that could damage, disable, or overburden our infrastructure

5. PHI, HIPAA & Multi-Jurisdiction Privacy Compliance

When you use the Service to store or process Protected Health Information (PHI) or personal data, you are responsible for:

• Obtaining all necessary consents from clients or their guardians before collecting or processing health, biometric, or sensitive personal data
• Complying with HIPAA (US), PIPEDA / provincial health acts (Canada), and any additional state or provincial privacy laws that apply to your practice location
• Using the Service in a manner consistent with your professional obligations as a licensed clinician

We maintain a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with covered entities. Our handling of PHI is governed by our Privacy Policy and applicable BAAs. You must not use the Service in a way that would cause us to violate our BAA or privacy commitments.

Jurisdiction-specific obligations: Vochella operates a jurisdiction engine that applies additional consent requirements based on your clinic's registered location. Examples include: explicit written consent for biometric voiceprints (Illinois BIPA), opt-in for health data processing (Washington MHMDA, Maryland MODPA), French-language consent copies (Quebec Law 25), and health information custodian duties (Alberta HIA). You are responsible for ensuring your practice location is accurately set in your account so the correct rules apply.

6. Recording Consent

The Service includes video and audio recording features for session documentation and home practice. Recording laws vary by jurisdiction:

• All-party consent states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington require the consent of all parties before a recording is made. The Service automatically presents an all-party recording consent prompt to users in these states before any recording begins.
• All other jurisdictions: One-party consent applies under federal law (federal Wiretap Act) and applicable state law; the recording party's consent is sufficient.
• You are responsible for ensuring that any recording you initiate complies with local law in the jurisdiction where your client is located at the time of the session, which may differ from your clinic's registered location.

Vochella stores recorded files using signed URLs with 1-hour expiry and encrypts all recordings at rest. Recordings are never used for AI model training without your separate, explicit written consent.

7. Children's Privacy & Parental Consent

The Service is not directed to children and is provided to licensed clinicians who may treat pediatric clients. The following rules apply:

• COPPA (under 13, US): When a client is under 13, verifiable parental consent (VPC) is required before the client can use any interactive feature of the Service, including home practice and recording. Vochella sends a VPC email to the parent or guardian and does not activate client-facing features until consent is confirmed.
• Capable minor (Ontario, Canada): Under Ontario's PHIPA, a minor aged 16 or older who is capable of understanding the nature and consequences of a decision may consent independently to health information management. Where supported, Vochella allows SLPs to designate a client as a capable minor, enabling direct consent collection from the minor.
• FERPA (US school-based practice): SLPs working within US educational institutions acknowledge that education records are protected under FERPA. Vochella does not disclose education records without appropriate authorization. SLPs are responsible for obtaining any required parental or eligible-student consent before using Vochella in a school setting.
• You must not create a client profile for a minor without the required parental or guardian consent as described above.

8. Your Privacy Rights & Data Portability

Depending on your jurisdiction, you and your clients may have the following rights with respect to personal data held by Vochella:

• Access & portability: You may request a machine-readable export of your account data (profile, consent records, and associated clinical data) at any time from the Privacy Settings screen in the app or by emailing privacy@vochella.com.
• Deletion: You may request deletion of your account and associated personal data via the app or by contacting us. We will process the request within 30 days. Certain data may be retained longer where required by applicable law (e.g., HIPAA requires a minimum 6-year retention period for covered records; Alberta HIA requires 10 years for health information).
• Consent withdrawal: You may withdraw previously granted consents (including recording consent) at any time via Privacy Settings. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing prior to withdrawal.
• California (CCPA/CPRA): California residents have the right to know, delete, and opt out of the sale of personal information. Vochella does not sell personal information. California residents may submit requests to privacy@vochella.com.
• Quebec (Law 25): Quebec residents are entitled to receive information about personal information we hold, request rectification, and object to certain uses. Privacy information is available in both English and French. Requests may be submitted to privacy@vochella.com.

To submit a privacy rights request, email privacy@vochella.com with your account email and the nature of your request. We will respond within the timeframe required by your applicable law (typically 30–45 days).

9. Canadian Users & CASL

Users located in Canada are subject to the following additional terms:

• PIPEDA & provincial health acts: We comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Ontario's PHIPA, Alberta's HIA, Quebec's Law 25 and Law 5, and British Columbia's PIPA. Our Privacy Policy details how we fulfill obligations under each.
• CASL (commercial electronic messages): We will only send you commercial electronic messages (promotional emails, newsletters) with your express or implied consent, as required by Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation. Transactional messages (appointment reminders, consent receipts, billing notifications) are exempt from CASL opt-in requirements as they are essential account communications. You may withdraw consent to commercial messages at any time by following the unsubscribe link in any commercial email or by emailing privacy@vochella.com.
• Quebec (French language): Users in Quebec may access consent copy, privacy notices, and key communications in French. You may toggle your preferred language in Privacy Settings.

10. Account Security

You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account. We implement the following security measures:

• Authentication tokens are stored in device secure storage (not browser local storage) and are never logged or included in error reports.
• Idle session management: Your session will prompt for re-authentication after a period of inactivity to protect PHI on unattended devices.
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA): MFA is available to all accounts. We strongly recommend enabling MFA to protect access to PHI.
• You must not share your login credentials with any other person. Each licensed clinician using the Service must have their own account.

11. AI-Generated Content

The Service includes AI-powered features such as SOAP note drafting, session summaries, progress report generation, and session preparation briefs. You acknowledge and agree that:

• AI-generated content is provided as a drafting aid only and does not constitute clinical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations.
• You are solely responsible for reviewing, editing, and approving all AI-generated documentation before using it in clinical, legal, or administrative contexts.
• AI outputs may contain errors, omissions, or inaccuracies. You must exercise independent professional judgment when relying on any AI-generated content.
• Vochella is not liable for clinical decisions made based on AI-generated content. The treating clinician retains full professional responsibility for all documentation and clinical determinations.

12. Payment Terms

Subscription billing: Paid plans are billed in advance on a recurring subscription basis (monthly or annually, depending on your selection). Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of each billing period at the then-current rate unless you cancel before the renewal date. You authorize us to charge your payment method on file for recurring fees.

How to cancel: You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings in the app or by emailing support@vochella.com. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period; you will retain access to paid features until that date. We do not provide prorated refunds for partial billing periods upon cancellation, except as described below.

30-day money-back guarantee: If you are a new subscriber and are not satisfied with the Service, you may request a full refund within 30 days of your first paid subscription charge by contacting support@vochella.com. This guarantee applies once per account and only to the initial subscription period.

Price changes: We may change subscription prices with at least 30 days' written notice (via email or in-app notification). Price changes take effect at the start of your next billing period following the notice. If you do not agree with a price change, you may cancel your subscription before the change takes effect.

Failed payments: If payment fails, we will notify you and attempt to charge your payment method again. If payment remains unsuccessful after reasonable attempts, we may suspend or terminate your access to paid features with at least 7 days' notice. All payments are processed securely through Stripe.

13. Intellectual Property

The Service, including its design, features, code, and content (excluding user-generated content), is owned by Vochella Technologies Inc. and protected by intellectual property laws.

You retain full ownership of the data you submit, including clinical records, client information, and all content you create using the Service. By submitting content, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive license to use, store, and process it solely as necessary to provide and maintain the Service. We may use aggregated, de-identified data that cannot reasonably be linked to any individual to analyze usage patterns and improve the Service, but we will never use identifiable PHI for product development, training, or any purpose beyond providing the Service to you without your separate, explicit consent.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

• The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied.
• We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of data, profits, or business opportunities.
• Our total liability for any claims arising from or related to the Service shall not exceed the amount you paid us in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or limitation of liability; in such cases, our liability is limited to the fullest extent permitted by law.

15. Termination

You may terminate your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access for breach of these Terms, non-payment, or for any other reason with notice where practicable. Upon termination, your right to use the Service ceases. We will retain your data in accordance with our data retention policy and applicable law. You may request export of your data before termination.

16. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Vochella Technologies Inc., its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any applicable law, regulation, or professional standard; (d) clinical decisions you make using or relying on the Service, including decisions based on AI-generated content; or (e) any dispute between you and your clients, patients, or their guardians. This indemnification obligation survives termination of your account and these Terms.

17. Force Majeure

We are not liable for any failure or delay in performing our obligations under these Terms where such failure or delay results from circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to natural disasters, pandemics, acts of government, internet or telecommunications failures, cyberattacks, power outages, or failures of third-party service providers. During any such event, our obligations are suspended for the duration of the disruption, and we will use commercially reasonable efforts to resume performance as soon as practicable.

18. Assignment

You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms, in whole or in part, to any successor or affiliate in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets, provided that the assignee agrees to be bound by these Terms. Any attempted assignment in violation of this section is void.

19. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any disputes shall be resolved in the courts of Ontario.

20. Changes to Terms

We may modify these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated Terms on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. Your continued use of the Service after such changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree, you must stop using the Service.

21. Contact

For questions about these Terms of Service: