Porchlight terms of use

Testing program. Last updated 20 October 2026. Porchlight is made by Rockstar Automations Ltd. Questions: emily@gatherat.ai.

These are the rules for using Porchlight while it is being tested. They are short on purpose. If you sign up, you agree to them and to the privacy policy.

1. Porchlight is not 911

Porchlight is not an emergency service. It cannot send police, an ambulance, or anyone else to you. If you are in danger, call 911 (or your local emergency number) first.

Porchlight keeps you company by text and voice on a walk home, and if you go quiet it tries to reach you and then the person you named. That is all it does. It can be late, it can fail, and it can misread a situation. Never rely on it instead of calling for help.

2. This is a test

Porchlight is an early version. We run it to learn what works. It is free during the test. We can change how it works, pause it, or end the test at any time, with or without notice. Parts of it may stop working without warning. We do not promise that it will be available, accurate, or on time.

3. Who can use it

You must be 18 or older and live in the United States. You must use a phone number that is yours. One person per number.

4. How it works, in plain words

• You sign up with your name and mobile number. Porchlight texts you.
• You tell Porchlight who to reach if you go quiet (your contact). You can change this person any time by text.
• When you say you are heading home, Porchlight starts a walk. It may ask how long the walk is, offer to call you, and ask you to share your live location from Google Maps.
• During the walk Porchlight may text you, and may call you if you ask or if you stop answering.
• If you still do not answer after a few tries, Porchlight texts and may call your contact with your first name and, if you shared it, a link to your location.
• When you say you are home, the walk ends. Porchlight may then ask whether that place is home and which nights you are usually out, so it can check in next time.

5. You are talking to software

The texts and the voice on calls come from an automated assistant, not a person. It writes its own replies. It can misunderstand you, repeat itself, or say something wrong. Nobody from our team reads your messages as they happen. We do read conversations afterwards to improve Porchlight, as the privacy policy explains.

6. Texts and calls: what you agree to

• By signing up you agree to receive texts from Porchlight at the number you gave, including automated texts during walks.
• By asking for a call, or by going quiet on a walk, you agree to receive calls from Porchlight with an automated voice. We do not make sales calls.
• Message and data rates from your carrier may apply.
• Reply STOP at any time and Porchlight stops all texts and calls to you. Its last message tells you so. To come back, text START to the Porchlight number, then sign up again on the Porchlight website. Reply HELP for help.
• Calls are not recorded as audio. A written transcript of each call is made and kept for a limited time by our call provider, so the assistant can follow the conversation and so we can review what happened. By using calls you agree to that.

7. Your contact

You may name one person for Porchlight to reach. By naming them you confirm that they are 18 or older, that you have their permission, and that you have told them Porchlight may text or call them with your first name and a link to your location when you go quiet. Porchlight only contacts them when something looks off, never for marketing. Every message to them says who it is from and how to stop. If they reply STOP, Porchlight will not contact them again, and you should name someone else.

8. Your location

Porchlight never tracks your phone on its own. It only knows where you are if you share a live location link from Google Maps. While a walk is running, Porchlight reads that link about every 30 seconds to see whether you are moving and whether you are home. It does not open the link outside a walk. You can stop sharing in Google Maps at any time. See the privacy policy for what we keep and for how long.

9. Your part

• Give true information: your name, your number, your contact's name and number.
• Use Porchlight for your own walks. Do not sign up anyone else, and do not use it to track or bother another person.
• Do not try to break, overload, copy, or resell Porchlight, or to get around its limits.
• Do not send threats, abuse, or content that is illegal.

We can stop serving a number that breaks these rules.

10. Feedback

If you tell us what worked and what did not, we can use that freely to improve Porchlight, without owing you anything. We will not use your name publicly without asking.

11. What is ours

Porchlight, its name, its words, and its software belong to us. You get a personal, temporary right to use it during the test and nothing more. Your own messages stay yours; you give us permission to store and process them as the privacy policy describes.

12. No promises

Porchlight is provided as is, with no warranty of any kind. We do not promise that it will reach you, reach your contact, read your location correctly, or respond in time. Texts and calls travel over carriers and services we do not control and can be delayed or lost.

13. Limits on what we owe you

To the extent the law allows, Rockstar Automations Ltd. is not liable for indirect or consequential losses connected with Porchlight. Some states do not allow some of these limits, so some may not apply to you.

14. Your responsibility to us

If someone makes a claim against us because you broke these terms, gave us false information, or named a contact without their permission, you agree to cover our reasonable costs from that claim.

15. Disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of California. If we have a problem, write to emily@gatherat.ai first and we will try to sort it out within 30 days. If that fails, either of us may bring a claim in small claims court, or in the state or federal courts in San Francisco County, California.

16. Changes

If we change these terms, we post the new version with a new date and, if the change matters, text you before it takes effect. Using Porchlight after that means you accept the new version.

17. Contact

Rockstar Automations Ltd., emily@gatherat.ai.

Draft for review, 20 October 2026. Structure modeled on the Noonlight terms (eligibility, service features, disclaimer, disputes), the limits clause on the Pinch terms, and the Replika terms (emergencies, use by minors, mobile services, feedback). Not legal advice.