Legal

Terms of Service

Last updated: October 2026

⚠ Safety Warning: Read Before Using

Never use CritterCross while driving. Operating a mobile device while driving is dangerous and illegal in most jurisdictions. No report is worth risking your life or the lives of others on the road.

If you observe a wildlife collision or roadkill, only stop to report it if it is safe and legal to do so. Pull fully off the roadway onto a shoulder or parking area before using your phone. Do not stop on highway shoulders, blind curves, or any location where stopping poses a risk to yourself or other drivers.

CritterCross is a data collection tool, not a navigation or emergency app. It is intended to be used from a stationary, safe location only.

By downloading, installing, or using the CritterCross application or website (collectively, the "Service"), you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. About CritterCross

CritterCross is a volunteer-driven citizen science project. Its purpose is to collect and analyze wildlife-vehicle collision data to support conservation research and road safety awareness. CritterCross is not affiliated with any government agency, law enforcement body, or emergency service.

2. Acceptable Use

You agree to use CritterCross only for its intended purpose: reporting wildlife-vehicle collisions to contribute to conservation data. You agree not to:

Submit false, misleading, or fabricated reports.
Use the Service in any way that violates applicable laws or regulations.
Attempt to access, disrupt, or tamper with the Service's backend systems or data.
Use the Service while operating a motor vehicle.

3. Data You Submit

By submitting a report, you grant CritterCross a perpetual, royalty-free license to use, store, display, and share that report data (including location, species, date, and any photos) for conservation research and public awareness purposes. Report data, including photos, is published as an open dataset under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license, with each observer identified only by an anonymous number. Your email address and account details are never included.

You represent that any photos or information you submit are your own and do not infringe the rights of any third party.

4. We Will Never Sell Your Data

CritterCross will never sell, rent, or transfer your personal information to any third party for commercial or advertising purposes. Data collected through the Service exists solely to support the conservation mission described above.

5. No Liability for Use of the Application

CritterCross is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied. To the fullest extent permitted by law, CritterCross and its operators disclaim all liability for:

Any injury, accident, property damage, or death arising from your use of the Service, including any decision to stop a vehicle to submit a report.
Any inaccuracies in species identification results provided via the iNaturalist API.
Interruptions, errors, or data loss related to the Service.
Any reliance placed on data, hotspot information, or other content provided through the Service.

You assume all risk associated with using CritterCross, particularly when doing so near roadways. By using the Service, you acknowledge that road environments are inherently hazardous and that safe behavior is your sole responsibility.

6. Third-Party Services

CritterCross uses third-party services including Supabase (data storage) and the iNaturalist API (species identification). Your use of the Service is also subject to the terms and policies of these providers. CritterCross is not responsible for the practices or performance of third-party services.

7. Intellectual Property

The CritterCross name, logo, and website content are the property of the CritterCross project. You may not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from them without written permission. The collision dataset is part of the public conservation record. It is available at crittercross.org/data.html under CC BY 4.0: anyone may share and adapt it for any purpose, provided they credit CritterCross.

8. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms as the Service evolves. Continued use of CritterCross after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. Material changes will be noted with an updated date at the top of this page.

9. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Contact us at contact@crittercross.org.