Terms of Use

Last updated 13 October 2026

These terms apply when you use the Kern desktop app and the optional Kern Cloud service (accounts, sync and collaboration). Both are provided by Christian Relf ("we", "us"). By using Kern or creating a Kern Cloud account, you agree to these terms and our Privacy Policy.

1. The app

Kern is free to download and use. It stores your data on your own computer, so you're responsible for that computer and its backups. Kern makes automatic backups and lets you export everything, but you should still keep your own copies of anything important.

2. Kern Cloud accounts

• Kern Cloud is optional and currently free.
• You must give a real email address you control and keep your password secure. You're responsible for activity on your account.
• You must be at least 13, or the age of digital consent where you live.
• Each account is for one person. Don't share accounts or create them automatically.
• We may set reasonable limits, such as how many workspaces you can create, how many members a workspace can have, or how much image storage it can use.

3. Your content

What you create in Kern belongs to you. When you sync it through Kern Cloud, you give us permission to store, copy, transmit and display it only as needed to run the service. That means keeping it on our server, syncing it to your devices and showing it to the members of the spaces you put it in. We don't claim ownership of your content or use it for anything else.

You're responsible for the content you add and for having the right to share it. In a workspace, other members can see, edit and delete content according to their role.

4. Workspaces

A workspace's owner and admins control who can join and what role they have. Owners can transfer, change or delete the workspace, which affects every member. Content you add to someone else's workspace stays there if you leave or delete your account. If you invite people, make sure they'd want to hear from you. Invitations go out from our email system on your behalf.

5. Acceptable use

Don't use Kern Cloud to:

• break the law or infringe anyone else's rights;
• store or share malware, or content that's abusive, harassing or sexually exploits anyone;
• send spam, including through invitations;
• access accounts, spaces or data you aren't authorised to;
• probe, overload or disrupt the service, get around its rate limits or quotas, or reverse-engineer it to attack it.

6. Suspension and closing your account

You can delete your account at any time in Settings → Account & Cloud. We may suspend or close accounts that break these terms or put the service or other users at risk. Where reasonable, we'll tell you first. Your local data in the app is never affected either way.

7. Changes to the service

Kern is an independent project and may change over time. We may add, change or remove features. If we ever plan to shut down Kern Cloud, we'll give signed-in users at least 30 days' notice where we can, so you can keep working offline with your local copy.

8. No warranty

Kern and Kern Cloud are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, to the fullest extent the law allows. We work hard to keep things reliable, but we can't promise the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that data will never be lost.

9. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we aren't liable for any indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of data, profits or business, arising from your use of Kern or Kern Cloud. Since the service is free, our total liability for any claim is limited to £50. Nothing in these terms limits liability that can't be limited by law, or any rights you have as a consumer.

10. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. If we do, we'll change the date at the top, and for significant changes we'll tell signed-in users before they take effect. If you keep using Kern Cloud after that, you accept the new terms.

11. Law

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. If you live elsewhere in the UK or in the EU, you can also rely on the mandatory consumer protections and courts of where you live.

12. Contact

Questions about these terms? Email kern@chrisrelf.xyz. For bugs and feature requests, please use GitHub issues.