Terms of Service

1. The service

EcoSentry is a desktop study tool that aggregates public environmental constraint data for Scottish planning sites and generates constraint screening reports. It is designed for professional use by planning officers, ecological consultants, and related professionals.

2. Scope and limitations

EcoSentry is a desktop study tool. It identifies known constraints from existing public records. It explicitly does not:

• Substitute for a Phase 1 Habitat Survey or any site visit
• Guarantee the absence of protected species or habitats not recorded in the datasets used
• Constitute professional ecological or environmental advice
• Replace the judgement of a qualified ecologist or planning professional

Every report generated by EcoSentry includes a Scope and Limitations section stating these constraints explicitly. Users are responsible for understanding the limitations of desktop study data before relying on any report in a professional context.

3. Data sources

EcoSentry uses publicly available datasets licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 from NatureScot, SEPA, Historic Environment Scotland, Scottish Government, and the British Geological Survey. Data accuracy and currency is dependent on the source organisations. EcoSentry applies vintage warnings where datasets have not been updated recently.

4. Subscriptions and payments

Subscriptions are billed monthly. Reports are purchased as add-ons at the time of generation. Payments are processed by Stripe. Subscriptions can be cancelled at any time via the billing portal. No refunds are issued for partial months or unused report credits.

5. Acceptable use

EcoSentry is licensed for professional planning and ecological use. You may not resell, redistribute, or systematically extract data from the service. Automated querying of the API without prior written agreement is not permitted.

6. Liability

EcoSentry is provided as a data aggregation utility. To the extent permitted by law, EcoSentry accepts no liability for decisions made on the basis of reports generated by the service. Professional users are expected to apply their own judgement and seek specialist advice where constraints are identified.

7. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Scotland. Any disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Scottish courts.

8. Contact

For any questions regarding these terms, contact us at ecosentry@icloud.com.