Owl's Hour — Encrypted Secret Delivery Service
Effective date: [DATE] · Version française
These terms of use apply without restriction to all services provided by [LEGAL_ENTITY] through the Owl's Hour platform (hereinafter the "Platform").
The Platform enables users (hereinafter "Users") to encrypt sensitive information in their browser and schedule its conditional delivery to designated recipients (hereinafter the "Services").
These terms define the conditions under which the Services may be used and set out the rights and obligations of the parties. They are accessible and printable at any time via a direct link at the bottom of the Platform.
These terms prevail over any other general or specific conditions not expressly agreed to by [LEGAL_ENTITY].
The Platform and Services are operated by [LEGAL_ENTITY], registered at [RCS/REGISTRY] under number [SIREN], registered office at [ADDRESS], represented by [NAME] as [TITLE] (hereinafter "Owl's Hour").
Owl's Hour may be contacted at:
The Service is accessible to any individual with full legal capacity to be bound by these terms. Individuals without full legal capacity may only access the Service with the consent of their legal representative.
The Service is intended exclusively for personal use and is not intended for professional use, meaning any use directly or indirectly connected to a remunerated activity exercised on a non-occasional basis in any sector of industry or commerce.
Acceptance of these terms is confirmed by checking a box in the registration form. Acceptance must be full and unconditional. Any acceptance subject to reservation is null and void. A User who does not accept these terms must not access the Platform or use the Services.
Use of the Services requires the User to register by completing the registration form and verifying their email address. All mandatory fields must be completed. Incomplete registrations will not be validated.
Registration automatically creates an account giving access to a personal space from which the User may manage their use of the Services.
The User warrants that all information provided during registration is accurate, current, and truthful, and undertakes to update it in their personal space in the event of any change.
The User may access their personal space after authenticating with their passkey or password. The User undertakes to use the Services personally and not to allow any third party to use the Services on their behalf.
The User is solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of their credentials. Any access using their credentials is deemed to be made by the User. The User must immediately notify Owl's Hour at the address in Article 2 of any suspected unauthorised use of their account.
During account setup, the User generates a cryptographic key bundle that is encrypted in the browser and stored as an encrypted backup. The User is solely responsible for maintaining access to their backup password. Loss of the backup password may result in permanent and irrecoverable loss of access to stored secrets — no recovery path is available to Owl's Hour or to any third party.
By registering for the Service, the User agrees to receive the email communications that are necessary for the proper functioning of the Service, including but not limited to: registration and account verification, requests for access and veto-window alerts under the disclosure modes described in Article 6.2, expiry warnings, account security notices, and the notices described in Articles 7.2, 8, 12.3, and 16. These communications are an integral, non-optional part of the Service. They are distinct from any commercial or promotional communications, which — if ever introduced — would require the User's separate, specific consent.
Users may compose a message, attach documents, or both, and encrypt them entirely in their browser before any data is transmitted to Owl's Hour's servers. The operator never holds plaintext content or the decryption keys necessary to read it.
Users may choose between two disclosure modes:
Each User generates cryptographic keypairs (an Identity Key and an Archive Epoch Key) stored encrypted in their browser. Owl's Hour stores only ciphertext, public keys, and encrypted backup blobs on its servers. Owl's Hour cannot decrypt any stored secret.
Senders may set an expiry date on any secret. When the expiry date passes, the secret and all associated data are permanently and irreversibly deleted from the server. There is no recovery path.
Owl's Hour reserves the right to offer any additional service it deems useful, in such form and by such technical means as it considers most appropriate.
Service prices are indicated on the Platform. Unless otherwise stated, they are expressed in euros inclusive of all applicable French taxes. Owl's Hour reserves the right to offer promotional offers or price reductions at its sole discretion.
Prices may be revised at any time at Owl's Hour's sole discretion. Users will be informed of any changes by any appropriate written means (including by email) at least one month before the new prices take effect. New prices apply upon the next subscription renewal.
Services are invoiced per subscription period. Invoices are communicated to the User by any appropriate means.
Payment is processed by Stripe, an online payment infrastructure, which alone retains the User's banking details for this purpose. Owl's Hour does not retain any banking details.
The subscription price is due and charged on the date of subscription, and thereafter on the anniversary date of registration upon each renewal.
The User warrants that they hold the necessary authorisations to use the chosen payment method and undertakes to take all necessary measures to enable automatic charging of the subscription price.
Any late payment of any amount due automatically entails, without prejudice to any other provisions and from the first presentation of a formal notice by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt: (i) immediate acceleration of all sums due; (ii) immediate suspension of the Services until all sums due are paid in full; (iii) interest at 1.5 times the applicable legal rate on all amounts outstanding.
Services may be subscribed to on an annual basis. The subscription begins on the date of subscription and renews automatically for successive periods of the same duration, unless cancelled by Owl's Hour or by the User at least one month before the end of the current subscription period.
The User may cancel through their personal space or by sending a written request to Owl's Hour at the address in Article 2. Any subscription period already commenced is payable in full.
In accordance with Article L215-1 of the French Consumer Code:
"For service contracts concluded for a fixed term with a tacit renewal clause, the professional service provider shall inform the consumer in writing, by dedicated personal letter or email, at the earliest three months and at the latest one month before the end of the period allowing rejection of the renewal, of the possibility of not renewing the contract concluded with a tacit renewal clause. This information, delivered in clear and comprehensible terms, shall mention, in a conspicuous box, the non-renewal deadline. Where this information has not been sent in accordance with the provisions of the first paragraph, the consumer may terminate the contract free of charge at any time from the date of renewal. Advances made after the last renewal date shall in that case be reimbursed within thirty days of the date of termination."
The User is expressly informed that they have a right of withdrawal of 14 (fourteen) days from the date of registration. To exercise this right the User must send the withdrawal form in the Annex to these terms, or any unambiguous declaration expressing their intention to withdraw, to Owl's Hour at the address in Article 2, before expiry of the above period.
In the event of exercise of the right of withdrawal, Owl's Hour will refund all payments received from the User without undue delay and in any event within 14 days of being informed of the User's decision to withdraw. The refund will be made using the same payment method as the initial transaction, unless otherwise expressly agreed. This refund will not incur any cost for the User.
Without prejudice to any other obligations set out in these terms, the User undertakes to comply with the following.
The User undertakes to use the Services in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations and not to infringe third-party rights or public order.
The User acknowledges having reviewed the characteristics and technical constraints of the Services on the Platform. The User is solely responsible for their use of the Services.
The User undertakes to make strictly personal use of the Services. The User may not assign, grant, or transfer all or part of their rights or obligations under these terms to any third party in any manner whatsoever.
The User undertakes to provide Owl's Hour with all information necessary for the proper execution of the Services and to cooperate actively with Owl's Hour.
The User is solely responsible for all content they encrypt and schedule for delivery through the Services (hereinafter "Content"). The User warrants to Owl's Hour that they hold all rights and authorisations necessary to transmit such Content.
The User undertakes to ensure that such Content is lawful, does not infringe public order, morality, or the rights of third parties, does not violate any legislative or regulatory provision, and is not likely to expose Owl's Hour to civil or criminal liability.
The User acknowledges that the Services provide a supplementary, not alternative, means of transmitting sensitive information, and that the Services do not replace other legal or notarial means available to them for the same purpose.
The User is solely responsible for complying with all applicable administrative, tax, and social formalities and for any related payments in connection with their use of the Services.
It is strictly prohibited to use the Services for any of the following purposes:
More generally, it is strictly prohibited to use the Services for any purpose other than that for which they were designed.
The Services use end-to-end encryption: the operator is technically unable to read, moderate, select, verify, or control the content of stored secrets in any manner. For this reason, the User bears sole and full responsibility for all content they encrypt and submit to the Services. Owl's Hour cannot be held liable for the content of encrypted secrets.
The User indemnifies and holds harmless Owl's Hour against any and all claims, actions, fines, penalties, costs, or liabilities that Owl's Hour may incur arising from the User's violation of these terms or applicable law. The User undertakes to compensate Owl's Hour for all resulting loss and to bear all costs and charges that Owl's Hour may consequently be required to bear.
In the event of suspected illegal use, Owl's Hour reserves the right to immediately suspend or terminate the User's account without prior notice and to cooperate with competent law enforcement and judicial authorities to the fullest extent that is technically possible given the end-to-end encryption architecture of the Services.
The Services use post-quantum cryptographic algorithms — including ML-KEM-768 and XChaCha20-Poly1305 — selected for their long-term security properties. Owl's Hour continuously monitors the security status of these and any other algorithms used to protect stored secrets. No algorithm can be guaranteed secure indefinitely against future advances in mathematics or computing.
If an algorithm protecting stored secrets is found to be compromised or is no longer considered secure by the relevant scientific and standards communities, Owl's Hour reserves the right — and may be technically obligated — to proactively delete secrets protected by that algorithm in order to prevent adversarial decryption.
Owl's Hour will notify the sender by email before any proactive deletion carried out under this clause, with a reasonable advance notice period where operationally possible. In cases of acute, immediate cryptographic risk — such as a publicly disclosed break of an algorithm — deletion may occur with shorter or no advance notice in order to protect recipients from adversarial decryption before the threat materialises.
Proactive deletion under this clause constitutes a protective measure and does not constitute a breach of these terms or a service failure. By using the Services, the User expressly accepts this possibility. Owl's Hour bears no liability for the loss of a secret deleted pursuant to this clause.
Owl's Hour undertakes to provide the Services with diligence and in accordance with best professional practices. Owl's Hour is subject to an obligation of means (obligation de moyens), not an obligation of result. The User expressly acknowledges and accepts this.
Owl's Hour applies state-of-the-art post-quantum cryptography and best-effort operational security measures. However, no networked system can guarantee absolute confidentiality. Events that could cause unintended or premature disclosure of a secret include, without limitation: infrastructure failure, unforeseen cryptographic vulnerabilities, third-party service disruption, or force majeure. The User expressly acknowledges and accepts this inherent risk of using a networked service.
Owl's Hour cannot guarantee perfectly on-time delivery. Technical outages, network disruptions, or other circumstances beyond Owl's Hour's control may cause a secret to be disclosed later than scheduled. Owl's Hour shall not be liable for any loss or harm arising from delayed disclosure.
In all cases, Owl's Hour's liability is expressly limited to direct, proven damages actually suffered by the User. Owl's Hour shall under no circumstances be liable for indirect, consequential, incidental, or special damages, including but not limited to: loss of business, loss of profit, loss of data, or reputational harm, whether or not Owl's Hour was informed of the possibility of such damages.
Owl's Hour does not have access to the content of secrets and performs no moderation, selection, verification, or control of any kind over User Content. Owl's Hour acts solely as a hosting service provider with respect to User Content and accordingly its liability is governed by the provisions applicable to hosting providers.
Neither party shall be liable for any failure or delay in the performance of these terms due to a force majeure event as defined by Article 1218 of the French Civil Code, including without limitation: strikes, terrorist acts, riots, wars, governmental action, epidemics, natural disasters, or failures attributable to a third-party telecommunications provider.
All systems, software, structures, infrastructures, databases, and content of any nature (texts, images, logos, trademarks, etc.) operated by Owl's Hour within the Platform are protected by applicable intellectual property rights and database producer rights. Any disassembly, decompilation, decryption, extraction, reproduction, representation, distribution, or use of any of these elements, in whole or in part, without Owl's Hour's prior written authorisation is strictly prohibited and may give rise to legal proceedings.
Owl's Hour processes personal data in accordance with its Privacy Policy, to which Users are expressly invited to refer. The Privacy Policy is accessible at all times via a direct link at the bottom of the Platform.
Owl's Hour reserves the right to modify these terms at any time. Users will be informed of any changes by any appropriate written means (including by email) at least one month before the changes take effect. Where the User has an active subscription, the modified terms apply from the next subscription renewal following their entry into force.
A User who does not accept the modified terms must cancel their subscription in accordance with Article 8 before the changes take effect.
Any User who continues to use the Services after the modified terms have taken effect is deemed to have accepted the modifications.
These terms are governed by French law. In the event of any translation of these terms into another language, the French-language version shall prevail in the event of any contradiction or dispute as to the meaning of any term or provision.
The User has the right to have recourse free of charge to a consumer mediator with a view to the amicable resolution of any dispute relating to the execution of these terms, under the conditions set out in Articles L611-1 et seq. and R612-1 et seq. of the French Consumer Code.
The competent consumer mediator is:
(Please complete and return this form only if you wish to withdraw from the contract.)
To the attention of: Owl's Hour — [LEGAL_ENTITY]
[ADDRESS]
Email: contact@owlshour.com
I hereby notify you of my withdrawal from the contract for the provision of the following service:
Registration on the Owl's Hour Platform on: _________________________________
Name of User(s): _________________________________
Address of User(s): _________________________________
Signature (only if this form is sent on paper): _________________________________
Date: _________________________________