Terms of Service

About the Service

CHIEF ("the Platform") is a comprehensive maritime career platform designed for seafarers worldwide.

Current features

• Building and managing professional maritime CVs and profiles
• AI-powered certificate scanning via device camera (OCR)
• Tracking certificate and document expiry dates
• Exporting CVs as professional PDF documents
• Maintaining shareable public career profiles
• AI-powered career assistant (DPA) for maritime questions

Planned features (subject to availability)

• Social networking and community for maritime professionals
• Maritime job board and vacancy listings
• Online learning and certification courses (LMS)
• Tutor marketplace for maritime education
• Premium profile features and verified badges
• Maritime services marketplace

The Platform is continuously evolving. New features and services may be added, modified, or discontinued at our discretion.

User Accounts

To use the Platform, you must create an account using one of the following methods:

• Email address and password
• Apple Sign In (iOS)
• Google Sign In (Android)

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials and for all activity under your account.

Data You Provide

By using the Platform, you may provide the following personal and professional data:

• Full name, date of birth, citizenship, contact details
• Maritime rank and position
• Certificates and qualifications (STCW, GMDSS, medical, flag state endorsements)
• Sea service history (vessels, companies, ranks, dates)
• Passport and travel document details
• Seaman book information
• Visa information
• Emergency contacts and next of kin
• Profile photos and avatars

You confirm that all information you provide is accurate and truthful, and that you have the legal right to share it with the Platform.

Camera & AI Usage

The Platform uses your device camera exclusively for AI-powered OCR scanning of maritime certificates.

• Your device camera captures an image of the certificate
• The image is sent securely to the Anthropic Claude AI API for text extraction
• Extracted data is returned to the app
• Images are not permanently stored on our servers after processing

You are responsible for reviewing and verifying the accuracy of all AI-extracted data before saving it to your profile.

User Content

You retain full ownership of all content you create on the Platform, including CVs, profiles, cover letters, and any content generated with AI assistance. By using the Platform, you grant CHIEF a limited, non-exclusive license to store, process, and display your content solely as necessary to provide the service.

If you enable a public profile, your selected professional information will be accessible via a public URL (chief.direct/u/username). You may disable public visibility at any time.

Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Create fake profiles or provide false or fraudulent information
• Upload forged, altered, or fraudulent certificates or documents
• Use automated tools, bots, or scrapers to extract data from the Platform
• Harass, abuse, or threaten other users
• Attempt to access other users' accounts or data without authorization
• Interfere with or disrupt the Platform's operation or infrastructure
• Use the Platform for any unlawful purpose
• Impersonate another person, company, or entity

Termination

You may delete your account at any time. Upon deletion, your personal data will be permanently removed from our servers.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms of Service, engage in fraudulent activity, or otherwise abuse the Platform. We will provide notice where reasonably possible before taking action.

Disclaimer

The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied.

• CHIEF is not responsible for the accuracy of AI-scanned certificate data — users must verify all extracted information
• CHIEF is not responsible for employment or hiring decisions made based on profile information shared through the Platform
• CHIEF does not guarantee uninterrupted service availability
• CHIEF is not a crewing agency and does not make employment recommendations

Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Users will be notified of material changes via the app or email. Continued use of the Platform after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

Contact

For questions about these Terms of Service, contact us at support@chief.direct. For business and partnerships, see our contact page.