Terms of Service

Effective date: April 25, 2026 · Last updated: May 8, 2026

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of the Text the Past text-message service (the "Service"), operated by Authos LLC, a Georgia limited liability company ("Authos," "we," "us," or "our"). By texting our number, you ("you" or "User") agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy.

1. The Service

Text the Past is an SMS- and MMS-based informational service. When a User texts a photo of an artifact at a participating museum, our automated system identifies the artifact, retrieves the museum's curated historical text, and replies with an AI-generated response. That response is grounded primarily in the museum's curated text and the photo you send, and the AI may add broader general historical, cultural, or technical context (drawn from its provider's training data) when a question goes beyond the museum's notes, constrained to stay consistent with the artifact's era, region, and type.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years of age, or have the consent of a parent or legal guardian, to use the Service. By using the Service you represent and warrant that you meet this requirement.

3. Consent and Opt-Out

Sending a text message to our number constitutes your express consent to receive a reply from us related to your specific inquiry. We do not send unsolicited messages.

• Reply STOP to any of our messages to immediately opt out of all further communication.
• Reply HELP to receive support information.
• Reply START or UNSTOP to opt back in after opting out.

Standard message and data rates may apply per your mobile carrier's plan. Message frequency varies based on the number of inquiries you send.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose, harassment, spam, or to send threatening, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise objectionable content.
• Send images depicting illegal activity, sexually explicit material, violence, or any content protected by intellectual property rights you do not hold.
• Attempt to reverse engineer, scrape, abuse rate limits, or otherwise interfere with the Service or its underlying infrastructure.
• Impersonate any person, entity, or our staff.
• Use the Service to extract data for any commercial AI training or competitive product without our prior written consent.

We reserve the right to block, throttle, or permanently suspend any phone number that violates these Acceptable Use rules without prior notice.

5. AI Output Disclaimer

The Service's responses are generated by a large language model. The model is grounded primarily in the museum's curated historical text and the photo you send, and is instructed to add broader general historical, cultural, or technical context only when a question goes beyond the museum's notes — and to keep that context consistent with the artifact's era, region, and type. While we engineer the system to maximize factual accuracy, AI-generated text can occasionally contain errors, omissions, or misinterpretations. Responses are provided for informational and educational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for primary scholarly sources, professional historical research, or museum staff consultation. For academic citation or commercial use, verify any factual claim with the participating museum directly.

6. Sponsorship Attribution

Each AI-generated reply may include a brief attribution line identifying the local sponsor whose contribution funds the Service at that museum (for example, "Powered by Grovetown Realty"). Inclusion of this attribution does not constitute Authos's endorsement of the sponsor or the sponsor's products or services.

Sponsors do not have access to your phone number, the verbatim text of your messages, your photos, or any personally identifiable information. Sponsors do receive monthly reports containing aggregate usage metrics for the participating museum and short, fully anonymized paraphrased examples of common visitor questions, generated by an automated anonymization pipeline that strips all personal identifiers. See our Privacy Policy for details on what is and is not shared.

7. Intellectual Property

The Service, including all software, design, branding, and the curation system, is owned by Authos LLC and protected by United States and international intellectual property laws. The historical text and artifact imagery used to generate responses remain the intellectual property of the participating museum that supplied them. You may not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works of any AI-generated reply for commercial purposes without the participating museum's permission.

8. No Warranty

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR ACCURACY. AUTHOS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, SECURE, OR THAT ANY RESPONSE WILL BE ACCURATE OR COMPLETE.

9. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, AUTHOS LLC, ITS OFFICERS, MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF AUTHOS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. AUTHOS'S TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).

10. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Authos LLC and its officers, members, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or in any way connected with your use of the Service, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any rights of another party.

11. Modifications to the Service or Terms

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue the Service at any time without notice. We may revise these Terms by updating this page. Material changes will be reflected in the "Last updated" date above; continued use of the Service after revisions constitutes acceptance.

12. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Georgia, United States, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Fulton County, Georgia, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

13. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

14. Contact Us