Terms of Service

1. Introduction

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of patxin.com ("patxin", "the Service", "we", "us"), a real-time API platform that connects AI agents with qualified human experts ("patxers") for cognitive micro-tasks.

By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

The Service is operated by Alejandro Gracia García. Contact: [email protected]

2. Definitions

• Company: an organization or individual that registers to use the patxin API to request human-in-the-loop tasks for their AI agents
• Patxer: a human expert who registers to perform cognitive micro-tasks on the platform
• Request: a task submitted by a Company via the API, to be completed by a matched Patxer
• Credits: prepaid balance used by Companies to pay for Requests
• Platform Fee: the percentage retained by patxin from Patxer payouts (currently 15%)

3. Account Registration

3.1 Companies

To register, you must provide a valid company name, email address, and password. You must accept these Terms and the Data Processing Agreement (DPA). You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials and API keys.

3.2 Patxers

To register, you must provide your name, email, timezone, languages, and skills. You must accept these Terms, the Confidentiality Agreement, and confirm you are at least 18 years old. You are responsible for the accuracy of your profile information.

3.3 Account security

You are responsible for all activity under your account. Notify us immediately at [email protected] if you suspect unauthorized access.

4. Service Description

patxin provides an API through which Companies can request qualified human judgment for cognitive micro-tasks (typically 2–30 minutes). The platform matches requests with available Patxers based on skills, availability, ratings, and other criteria.

patxin is an intermediary platform. We do not employ Patxers. Patxers are independent contractors who choose which tasks to accept.

5. Credits and Payments (Companies)

• Companies must purchase Credits via Stripe Checkout before making Requests
• Credits are denominated in EUR and are non-refundable except as described in Section 8
• When a Request is created, the estimated maximum cost is held in escrow from the Company's credit balance
• If a Request is cancelled before completion, the held credits are refunded to the Company's balance
• All prices are exclusive of applicable taxes (VAT/IVA), which may be added automatically
• Invoices are generated automatically for every credit purchase

6. Earnings and Payouts (Patxers)

• Patxers earn the full task price upon completion. Earnings accrue in a pending balance
• When pending balance reaches the payout threshold (currently €50), a payout is triggered automatically
• A Platform Fee of 15% is deducted from the gross payout amount
• Payouts are processed via Stripe Connect. Patxers must complete Stripe onboarding to receive payouts
• Patxers are solely responsible for their own tax reporting and compliance in their jurisdiction
• patxin does not provide tax advice. Consult a qualified tax professional regarding your obligations

7. Information Policies

Companies can configure information policies that control what data is shared with Patxers:

• Open: full context shared as-is
• Standard: PII (emails, phones, financial data) automatically redacted
• Confidential: strict redaction with NDA requirement
• Strictly Confidential: maximum restrictions, session recording, minimal data exposure

Patxers agree not to retain, copy, share, or use task data beyond what is necessary to complete the assigned task. Violation of confidentiality obligations may result in immediate account termination.

8. Disputes and Refunds

• Companies may dispute a completed task within 24 hours if the result is unsatisfactory
• Disputes for tasks under €5 with a low rating are auto-resolved with a 50% credit refund
• Disputes for tasks of €5 or more go through a 4-tier arbitration process: AI triage, peer jury, specialist review, and board decision
• Both parties have the right to appeal at each tier of review
• Board decisions (Tier 3) are final and binding
• Refunds for cancelled Requests are credited to the Company's patxin balance, not back to the original payment method

9. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use the Service to:

• Submit tasks that are illegal, harmful, harassing, or discriminatory
• Attempt to circumvent platform fees or matching systems
• Submit tasks designed to extract personal information from Patxers
• Use automated systems to accept tasks (Patxer accounts must be operated by humans)
• Create multiple accounts to circumvent limits or bans
• Reverse-engineer, scrape, or attack the Service infrastructure
• Use the platform for money laundering or any financial crime

9.1 Prohibition of AI-Assisted Task Completion (Patxers)

The core value of patxin is genuine human judgment. Patxers are strictly prohibited from using AI tools (including but not limited to large language models, AI assistants, automated text generators, or AI-powered paraphrasing tools) to complete tasks, whether in whole or in part.

Specifically, Patxers must not:

• Copy task context into an AI tool and submit its output as their own work
• Use AI-generated text as a base and lightly edit it before submission
• Use AI tools to translate, summarize, or rephrase responses on their behalf
• Use browser extensions, plugins, or any software that auto-generates responses

Patxers may use standard reference tools (search engines, dictionaries, calculators, official documentation) as appropriate for the task. The distinction is clear: tools that help you find information are allowed; tools that generate the response for you are not.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms.

10. Integrity Checks

patxin reserves the right to conduct integrity checks at any time to verify that Patxers are performing tasks genuinely and without prohibited AI assistance. These checks may include:

• Random quality checks: tasks created by patxin with known expected answers, designed to evaluate the authenticity and quality of a Patxer's work
• Targeted checks: directed assessments when patterns in a Patxer's responses suggest potential use of AI tools or other violations
• Behavioral analysis: automated monitoring of response timing, patterns, and consistency

Integrity checks are indistinguishable from regular tasks and are not separately compensated. Patxers agree to complete all assigned tasks to the best of their genuine human ability.

10.1 Consequences of Violations

If an integrity check or investigation reveals prohibited AI usage or other violations:

• First violation: temporary suspension (7 days). The Patxer may appeal by contacting [email protected] within 5 business days
• Second violation: permanent ban from the platform, without possibility of appeal. Previous violation records are retained indefinitely

patxin's determination regarding integrity violations is made at its sole discretion and is final, subject to applicable law. Pending balance at the time of suspension may be withheld pending investigation.

11. Surveys and Profiling

patxin may offer surveys to Patxers for the purpose of improving task matching, skill segmentation, and platform quality. Surveys may be:

• Platform surveys: created by patxin for general segmentation (demographics, expertise areas, language proficiency, accessibility needs, equipment). These may be required for access to certain task categories
• Client surveys: created by Companies to assess Patxer suitability for specific task types. These are always optional and may be compensated
• Agent-triggered surveys: initiated by AI agents to gather specific profiling data before task assignment. These follow the same rules as Client surveys

Survey responses are used to improve matching accuracy and may influence which tasks a Patxer is offered. Patxers are never penalized for declining optional surveys.

Compensated surveys clearly state the reward amount before participation. Survey data is processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

12. Intellectual Property

12.1 Task Results — Assignment to Company

Upon completion of a task and confirmation of payment, the Patxer irrevocably assigns to the Company all right, title, and interest in and to the task results, including all intellectual property rights (copyright, patent rights, trade secrets, and any other proprietary rights) worldwide. This assignment includes:

• All written content, analysis, judgments, classifications, and creative output produced in response to the task
• Any derivative works, translations, adaptations, or modifications thereof
• All rights to reproduce, distribute, display, perform, and create derivative works

The Patxer waives any moral rights in the task results to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Where moral rights cannot be waived, the Patxer agrees not to assert them against the Company or its successors.

12.2 Patxer Warranties

By submitting task results, the Patxer represents and warrants that:

• The work is original and produced solely by the Patxer's own human judgment and effort
• The work does not infringe any third-party intellectual property rights, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, or trade secrets
• The Patxer has full authority to assign the rights described in Section 12.1
• No prior agreement, obligation, or encumbrance prevents this assignment

12.3 Platform Intellectual Property

All intellectual property in the patxin platform, API, documentation, algorithms, matching systems, and branding belongs exclusively to patxin. Neither Companies nor Patxers acquire any rights in the platform itself through their use of the Service.

12.4 Company Content

Companies retain all rights to the context, data, and materials they submit through the API. By submitting content, Companies grant patxin a limited license to process and transmit that content solely for the purpose of fulfilling Requests, subject to the applicable information policy.

13. Non-Circumvention

13.1 Prohibition

Both Companies and Patxers agree not to circumvent the patxin platform to engage directly with each other for services that are substantially similar to those offered through the Service. Specifically, parties shall not:

• Use information obtained through the platform (including identities, contact details, or skill profiles) to establish a direct working relationship outside patxin for micro-task services
• Solicit or recruit Patxers encountered through the platform for off-platform task completion
• As a Patxer, solicit Companies for direct engagement outside the platform for micro-task services

13.2 Duration

This non-circumvention obligation applies during the term of your account and for 12 months after your last interaction with a specific counterparty through the platform.

13.3 Exceptions

This clause does not prevent:

• Companies from hiring Patxers for full-time or part-time employment (this is not the same as micro-task engagement)
• Pre-existing relationships: if Companies and Patxers had a prior business relationship before using patxin, this clause does not apply to that relationship
• In-Corp arrangements: Companies using patxin's In-Corp (B2B) mode with their own employees are exempt from non-circumvention for those specific employees

13.4 Remedies

Violation of this clause may result in account termination and a liability for a circumvention fee equal to 20% of the estimated value of transactions conducted outside the platform, with a minimum of €500. This fee is in addition to any other remedies available under applicable law.

14. Service Availability

We aim to provide a reliable service but do not guarantee 100% uptime. The Service is provided "as-is" and "as-available". We may perform maintenance, updates, or modifications at any time.

We are not liable for delays in matching caused by Patxer availability, network issues, or force majeure events.

15. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

• patxin's total liability to you shall not exceed the amount you paid to patxin in the 12 months preceding the claim
• patxin is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages
• patxin is not liable for the quality, accuracy, or timeliness of task results — Companies should verify results where appropriate
• patxin is not liable for actions or omissions of Patxers, who are independent contractors

16. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold patxin harmless from any claims, damages, or expenses arising from: (a) your use of the Service, (b) your violation of these Terms, (c) your violation of any third-party rights, or (d) content you submit through the Service.

17. Termination

• You may close your account at any time by contacting us
• We may suspend or terminate your account for violation of these Terms, with or without prior notice
• Upon termination, Companies may request a payout of remaining credit balance (minus any pending disputes). Outstanding credits below €5 are forfeited
• Upon termination, Patxers will receive payout of any pending balance above the minimum threshold
• Sections 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, and 18 survive termination

18. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of Spain. Any disputes arising from these Terms shall be submitted to the courts of Zaragoza, Spain, unless mandatory consumer protection laws provide otherwise.

19. Changes to These Terms

We may modify these Terms at any time. Material changes will be notified via email at least 30 days in advance. Continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the modified Terms.

20. Miscellaneous

• If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect
• Our failure to enforce any right does not constitute a waiver
• These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and DPA, constitute the entire agreement between you and patxin

21. Contact

For questions about these Terms:

Email: [email protected]