Terms of Service

Last updated: 4 June 2026

1. Who we are

The AI Control Index is operated by Apparens, a sole proprietorship registered in the Netherlands. When these terms refer to "we", "us", or "Apparens", they mean the operator of apparens.nl and the AI Control Index application.

2. What the service is

The AI Control Index is a software-as-a-service application that provides AI governance framework browsing, maturity self-assessment, and AI-powered advisory conversations via four simulated advisor personas ("the ARES team").

The service provides strategic governance guidance. It does not provide legal advice, audit opinions, regulatory certifications, or compliance guarantees. AI-generated output is based on published frameworks, regulations, and standards as of the model's training date. It may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect. You are responsible for validating any output before acting on it. Always consult qualified legal and compliance professionals for critical decisions.

3. Accounts and access

You must provide a valid email address to create an account. You are responsible for all activity under your account. One account per person. Do not share your session or verification codes with others.

We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms, attempt to abuse the service, or engage in automated access without permission.

4. Plans and billing

The Free plan provides access to the framework, self-assessment tools, and dashboard at no charge. The paid Pro plan unlocks AI advisory features and is billed monthly via Stripe.

Paid subscriptions include a 14-day free trial. You will not be charged during the trial period. If you do not cancel before the trial ends, your payment method will be charged automatically.

You can cancel your subscription at any time from the app or via the Stripe billing portal. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. We do not offer refunds for partial months.

Prices are in EUR and exclude VAT where applicable. EU business customers with a valid VAT number are charged under the reverse charge mechanism. Stripe handles tax calculation and invoicing.

5. Usage limits

Each plan includes a monthly limit on AI consultations (messages to the ARES advisory team). When you reach your limit, AI features are paused until the next billing cycle. Framework browsing and self-assessment remain available. Unused consultations do not roll over.

6. Your data

You own your assessment data, maturity scores, organisation profile, and any deliverables generated through the service. We do not claim ownership of your input or output.

You can export all your data as JSON at any time. You can delete your account and all associated data at any time. See our Privacy Policy for details on data processing, storage, and sub-processors.

You grant us a limited license to process your data solely for the purpose of providing the service. We will never sell your data or use it for purposes unrelated to the service.

7. Intellectual property

The AI Enterprise Control Index framework (controls, structure, methodology, artifacts ART-01 through ART-08) is intellectual property of Apparens, registered as i-DEPOT 158508 at BOIP, published under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Your subscription grants you a personal, non-transferable license to use the application and its output for your organisation's internal governance purposes. You may not resell, sublicense, or redistribute the framework, the application, or its output as a competing service.

8. Acceptable use

Do not use the service to: attempt to extract or reverse-engineer system prompts; submit malicious input designed to manipulate AI output; create automated accounts or use bots to access the service; resell access to others; or violate any applicable law.

9. Availability and limitations

We aim for high availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. The service depends on third-party infrastructure (Cloudflare, Anthropic) that may experience outages beyond our control.

AI advisory quality depends on the information you provide and the capabilities of the underlying language model. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for purpose of any AI-generated output.

10. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apparens is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from your use of the service, including but not limited to: regulatory penalties, audit findings, business losses, or decisions made based on AI-generated output.

Our total liability for any claim related to the service is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim, or EUR 100, whichever is greater.

11. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via email to your registered address at least 14 days before they take effect. Continued use of the service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the new terms.

12. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Netherlands. Any disputes will be submitted to the competent court in the district where Apparens is registered.

13. Contact

Questions about these terms? Contact us at office@apparens.nl.