Acceptable Use Policy

1. Prohibited uses

You may not use the Developer Platform, or permit any third party to use it, for any of the following:

• Resale of raw data. Reselling, redistributing, or making available the raw responses of the Developer Platform — whether free or for a fee — as a competing weather-data product, a general-purpose weather API, or a data-feed service. This prohibition applies even if the data is repackaged, relabelled, or combined with de-minimis transformations. Presenting the data inside a differentiated end-user product that uses the data for its stated purpose is permitted under the Developer Terms.
• Sublicensing access. Sharing API keys, OAuth tokens, or MCP credentials with third parties; operating a proxy, gateway, or “bring-your-own-key” service that lets third parties use your credentials; or otherwise sublicensing access to the Developer Platform.
• Model training. Using responses from the Developer Platform, in whole or in part, to train, fine-tune, or improve any machine-learning model without a separate written agreement with Smarter Weather LLC. Routine caching of responses for the operation of your application is permitted and is not considered model training.
• Life-safety-critical deployment without verification. Deploying the Developer Platform as the sole or primary source of information for life-safety-critical decisions (including but not limited to aviation dispatch, marine navigation, emergency dispatch, automated evacuation decisions, or medical or industrial control systems) without independent verification against authoritative sources and a documented fallback. See our Disclaimer for context.
• Infringing or unlawful use. Any use that infringes a third party's intellectual-property, privacy, or publicity rights; that violates export-control, sanctions, anti-money-laundering, or other applicable law; or that facilitates illegal activity.
• Harmful, abusive, or deceptive content. Generating or distributing content that is harassing, defamatory, discriminatory, fraudulent, or designed to deceive (including impersonating Smarter Weather or issuing weather alerts that purport to be official government warnings).
• Security or integrity attacks. Attempting to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Developer Platform (other than as permitted under a disclosed security-research programme); attempting to decompile or reverse-engineer the service; introducing malware; or interfering with the proper operation of the Developer Platform or other users' accounts.
• Benchmark publication without consent. Publishing performance or accuracy benchmarks of the Developer Platform without our prior written consent.

2. Rate limits, quotas, and bypass prohibition

Your tier defines per-minute rate limits and per-period quotas. These exist to protect the service for all users and to make usage-based billing predictable. You may not:

• rotate IP addresses, user agents, or other identifiers to evade rate limits;
• distribute a single application's traffic across multiple accounts or API keys in order to exceed a tier's limits;
• use automation specifically designed to poll the Developer Platform faster than the documented rate limits (including retry loops that ignore 429 responses and Retry-After headers);
• artificially inflate request counts on another user's keys or otherwise cause billable usage on an account you do not control.

If you need higher limits, contact us and we will work with you on a plan that fits. Raising a paid tier or arranging an enterprise agreement is always preferable to engineering around a rate limit.

3. One account per customer

Each individual or organisation may maintain a single active developer account, with multiple API keys within that account. You may not create duplicate accounts to obtain multiple free-tier allowances, to evade a suspension or termination, or to circumvent tier limits. Enterprise customers that genuinely operate multiple independent business units should contact us to arrange appropriate account structure.

4. Credentials and security responsibilities

• Treat API keys and OAuth tokens as secrets. Do not embed live keys in public client code, mobile app binaries distributed to the public, or public source control; use an appropriate server-side or edge proxy instead.
• Rotate keys when personnel with access leave, and revoke any key you believe has been exposed.
• Notify us promptly at alex@smarterweather.com if you discover a compromise or any credible security issue affecting the Developer Platform.

5. Attribution and end-user disclosures

When you surface weather data from the Developer Platform in an end-user product, you must preserve upstream attribution (NOAA, NWS, OpenStreetMap, and others as listed in our Acknowledgements) and must make clear to your end users that weather data is advisory and is not a substitute for official life-safety warnings.

6. Reporting and enforcement

We investigate reports of AUP violations and may take any of the following actions, proportionate to the violation and applicable law:

• Warn the account owner and request remediation within a specified period.
• Throttle or downgrade access (for example, temporarily reducing rate limits while an incident is investigated).
• Revoke one or more API keys or OAuth tokens.
• Suspend or terminate the account under the Suspension and Termination section of the Developer Terms.
• Notify or cooperate with law enforcement, where the violation involves illegal activity or threats to life or safety.

Except where an immediate response is needed to protect the service, our users, or third parties, we will give notice and a reasonable opportunity to cure before suspending or terminating a paid account for an AUP violation. To report a suspected violation, email alex@smarterweather.com or use the contact form.

7. Updates to this policy

We may update this AUP from time to time as the Developer Platform evolves and as new abuse patterns emerge. Material changes will be announced through the same channels used for the Developer Terms. Your continued use of the Developer Platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated AUP.

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