Our terms.
In plain words.

We’re building technology to protect people’s attention, starting with muting the sound of TV ad breaks during live cricket. Today that is this website; the web app, for a match you stream in Chrome or Edge on a computer, in a beta for accounts we approve; apps for Android phones and Android TV, as private test builds for a few testers, and an iPhone app still being built; and the research Lab, by invitation only. None of it is a finished product or in an app store. Any part of it may change, pause or stop.

The apps are designed to mute the sound of ads they recognise. We don’t promise that they will. They may miss ads, mute part of the programme, or not work with your TV, broadcast, browser or device. The first time you use an app, it starts in Shadow, where it only shows what it would do. When an app mutes, the picture stays on. The sound comes back when you tap Restore, or with your TV’s remote. In the web app you can also choose to have it come back by itself when the programme returns, on a source the app can still hear while it’s muted.

Please don’t rely on them for anything important. They are not a medical or health product.

To join the beta, you ask on the web app’s page and tick its terms: you’re 18 or older, it’s a beta version that may get things wrong, the sound always comes back with Restore or the TV remote, and access can be removed. We decide who joins, and we may end anyone’s access, for example when a test ends. You can withdraw your request or leave the beta on the web app’s page. Joining the beta isn’t consent to research.

The Lab is by invitation, for approved adult members. Its rules are the consents it asks for, and nothing here widens them. Recording needs your consent each time, and your permission to record that audio. AI labelling sends audio to OpenAI only after you consent to it. Only what you choose to contribute, under the research contribution consent, becomes part of the research: it is used for Protecting Minds Lab advertisement-detection research, including dataset review and model training. The Privacy page says what a contribution holds. Labels made with AI help stay marked as model-assisted.

You can delete your contributed clips, but deletion cannot retract an already distributed research export or undo a trained model. You can leave the Lab at any time, and we may end a membership.

Please don’t:

• record, send or contribute audio you aren’t allowed to share, such as a private conversation or someone’s voice without their permission (TV and broadcast content may have separate rights);
• try to reach accounts, data or parts of the site that aren’t yours, or get around its limits or security;
• overload the site or the apps, or use them to harm anyone;
• use the Lab, its AI labelling or its storage for anything other than its research;
• share your sign-in or a Lab invitation code.

We may pause or end access that breaks these terms.

An account is needed for the beta, the Lab and email updates. The phone and TV apps work without one. Keep your sign-in to yourself. You can delete your account at any time in My account; the Privacy page says what that removes. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms.

We’ll change these terms as the project grows, and the date at the top says when they last changed. A new wording of the beta’s tick or of a Lab consent applies to you only once you’ve agreed to it.

Protecting Minds is offered as it is, free of charge, while it’s being built. We don’t guarantee that it works, that it’s available, or that it suits you. As far as the law allows, we aren’t responsible for losses from using it or from not being able to use it, such as a muted part of the programme or a missed ad. Nothing in these terms takes away rights that the law doesn’t allow us to limit.