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Terms of use

Last updated August 28, 2026 · In effect from August 28, 2026

These terms cover Backburner, Backpack, Backdrop and back.dev — together, "the Services". Using them means agreeing to this. We've written it in plain English deliberately. It is still a contract.

Back is a trading name of Tom Grady, a sole proprietor in Washington State, in the United States. Tom is who you are agreeing this with. Write to legal@back.dev.

1. What the Services are

One Back account signs you into all of them.

2. They're free, and they're early

The Services are free. There are limits already — 5 GB of storage per account — and we may add more to keep the Services free. We will give you notice before any new limit affects content you already have.

They are also early software. Things will change, break, and occasionally be withdrawn. Keep your own copies of anything you cannot afford to lose.

3. Your account

You need a Back account. Keep your password to yourself — you are responsible for what happens under your account. Tell us at security@back.dev if you think someone else is in it.

You must be 13 or older to use the Services. If you live somewhere that sets a higher minimum age for online services, that age applies to you. If you are under 18, please check with a parent or guardian first.

Because we are based in the United States, one more: you may not use the Services if you are in a country under US trade embargo, or if you are on a US restricted-party list.

4. Your content stays yours

Your tasks, goals, files, documents, spreadsheets, projects, footage and comments are yours. We claim no ownership.

You give us only the permission we need to actually run the Services for you: to store your content, process it, back it up, and show it to the people you choose to share it with. That permission ends when you delete the content or your account.

We will not use your content to train AI models — not ours, not anyone else's — and we will not sell it or hand it to advertisers. If we ever want to do something with your content beyond running the Services, we will ask you first and you will be free to say no.

5. What you can't do

Don't use the Services to break the law, to store or share things you don't have the rights to, to harass anyone, or to distribute malware. Don't try to break, overload, or gain unauthorized access to the Services or to other people's accounts. Don't use share links to distribute infringing or harmful material.

We may suspend or remove an account that does these things. Where it is reasonable to, we will tell you why first and give you a chance to respond.

Security research is welcome. Testing in good faith against your own account, reported to security@back.dev, is not a breach of these terms and we will not pursue you for it. See security.txt.

6. Sharing

Share links and invites give access to whoever holds them — that is what they are for. Treat a share link like a key. You can turn any of them off at any time.

7. Copyright, and how to report it

Backpack and Backdrop can publish what you put in them at a web address, so we need a route for the times that goes wrong. If you believe something on our Services infringes your copyright, write to legal@back.dev, for the attention of Tom Grady.

Tell us six things, because US law asks a takedown notice to contain them and having them lets us act straight away: what the work is; where the copy is, precisely enough for us to find it; how to reach you; that you believe in good faith the use isn't authorized; that what you are telling us is accurate; and that you are the rights-holder or acting for them. Sign it.

We will take down what a valid notice identifies, and tell whoever posted it. If they think we got it wrong they can send us a counter-notice saying so, with their own contact details and consent to a US court; we will pass it on, and unless the person who complained goes to court we will put the content back.

We close the accounts of people who infringe repeatedly. Not as a threat — it is a condition of the legal protection that lets us host anyone's files at all.

8. What we promise, and what we don't

We will take reasonable care. But the Services are provided as they are: we cannot promise they will be available, uninterrupted, error-free, or that your data will never be lost. That is the trade for free, early software — which is why clause 2 asks you to keep your own copies.

Some of this has to be said in the law's own words to count, so:

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", AND WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

Some things we do not limit, and could not. We do not exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for our own gross negligence or willful misconduct, for anything under the Washington Consumer Protection Act (chapter 19.86 RCW), or for anything else the law that applies to you does not let us limit. If you are a consumer, you keep all of your statutory rights and nothing here takes them away.

Subject to that: because the Services are free, our total liability to you for everything arising out of them is limited to US$100, and we are not liable for lost profits, lost business, lost data, or indirect or consequential loss.

9. If your content causes us a problem

If someone brings a claim against us because of something you shared through the Services, or because you broke clause 5, you agree to cover our reasonable costs of dealing with it. This covers only claims that come from what you did. We will tell you promptly and let you take part in handling it.

10. Ending it

You can stop at any time. Ask us at privacy@back.dev and we will delete your account rather than deactivate it. There is no button for this in the products yet; when there is, it will be in Settings and we will say so here. Our privacy notice sets out exactly what deletion reaches today.

We can suspend or close an account that breaks clause 5, or stop offering a Service altogether. If we close a Service down, we will give you reasonable notice and a way to get your data out first.

11. Changes

We will post changes here and update the date. For anything that actually matters, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect. If you don't like a change, you can delete your account.

12. Law, and where disputes go

Back is run from Washington State in the United States. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. If we end up in court it will be the state courts of King County, Washington, or the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, and we each agree those courts can hear the case.

If you are a consumer outside the United States, that does not take anything away from you. You keep every protection your own country's law gives you and does not let us contract out of, and you can bring a claim in your own country's courts. Where your local law and this clause disagree, your local law wins.

Before either of us files anything, please email legal@back.dev and give us 30 days to sort it out. We will do the same for you. Most things are a misunderstanding.

13. Talk to us