Automate America Site User Agreement

1. PLATFORM DEFINITION AND NATURE OF SERVICE

Automate America is a technology marketplace platform operated by Automate America, Inc. ("Automate America," "AA," "we," "us," or "our") that facilitates connections between businesses seeking professional services ("Customers") and independent professionals offering such services ("Suppliers" or "Professionals").

AUTOMATE AMERICA IS NOT A STAFFING AGENCY, EMPLOYMENT AGENCY, OR EMPLOYER OF ANY USER.

We provide technology tools that enable Customers and Professionals to find each other, communicate, and enter into direct business relationships. We do not employ, supervise, direct, or control the work performed by Professionals.

2. EMPLOYMENT DISCLAIMER

NO EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP: By using Automate America, you acknowledge and agree that:

• Automate America is NOT the employer of any Professional or Supplier on this platform
• Automate America does NOT provide workers, staffing services, or employment services
• All Professionals are independent contractors operating their own businesses
• Customers who engage Professionals are solely responsible for all employment-related determinations
• Automate America has NO control over how, when, or where work is performed
• Automate America does NOT set rates, hours, or working conditions

WHEN CUSTOMERS ENGAGE PROFESSIONALS THROUGH THIS PLATFORM, THE CUSTOMER BECOMES THE EMPLOYER OR CONTRACTING PARTY - NOT AUTOMATE AMERICA.

3. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR CLASSIFICATION ACKNOWLEDGMENT

For Professionals/Suppliers:

By registering as a Professional on Automate America, you represent and warrant that:

• You operate an independent business providing professional services
• You have the right to perform services for multiple clients
• You control the means and manner of your work performance
• You provide your own tools, equipment, and supplies
• You are responsible for your own taxes, including self-employment taxes
• You are NOT entitled to employee benefits from Automate America
• You maintain (or will obtain) appropriate business insurance
• You are customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business

For Customers:

By registering as a Customer on Automate America, you acknowledge and agree that:

• YOU are responsible for determining proper worker classification under applicable law
• YOU are responsible for all employment law compliance when engaging Professionals
• YOU bear all liability for worker misclassification claims
• Automate America has made NO representations about classification status
• You should consult with legal and tax professionals before engaging workers

4. MARKETPLACE INTERMEDIARY — NO EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP WITH AUTOMATE AMERICA

Automate America is a neutral online venue, matchmaker, and business facilitator that helps Professionals and Customers find one another and transact. Automate America is NOT an employer, staffing agency, joint employer, employee-leasing agency, or customer of any Professional, and no Professional ever performs work for Automate America. Your use of the platform creates no employment, agency, partnership, or joint-venture relationship between you and Automate America.

The service relationship for any engagement arranged through the platform exists SOLELY between the Professional and the Customer. All matters arising from that engagement — including worker classification, wage and hour, employee benefits, workers' compensation, workplace safety and injuries, tax treatment, unemployment insurance, and discrimination or termination questions — are between the Professional and the Customer, who are each responsible for their own compliance with applicable law.

Accordingly, as between you and Automate America, Automate America is not the employer, and is not the party responsible for employment obligations, as to any of the following — each of which is a matter between the Professional and the Customer:

• Worker Classification: whether a Professional is properly classified as an employee or independent contractor of the Customer
• Wage and Hour: minimum wage, overtime, meal or rest breaks, and other wage-related obligations
• Employment Benefits: health insurance, retirement, vacation pay, sick leave, or other employee benefits
• Workers' Compensation: workers' compensation coverage or workplace-injury benefits
• Workplace Injuries: injuries sustained while performing services
• Tax Obligations: tax withholding, reporting, or compliance
• Unemployment Insurance: unemployment compensation or related benefits
• Employment Discrimination: matters under Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, or similar employment-discrimination laws
• Termination: ending an engagement between a Professional and a Customer

Payment facilitation. Where Automate America collects payment from a Customer and remits it to a Professional, it does so solely as a payment facilitator on behalf of the Customer to streamline the transaction. Facilitating or processing payment does not make Automate America the employer of any Professional, nor the party responsible for the employment obligations described above.

Nothing in this Section waives, or requires you to waive, any right or protection that cannot be waived as a matter of law, and nothing in this Section limits the authority of any governmental agency or your right to file a charge with, communicate with, or participate in any proceeding before any such agency.

5. INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Automate America, its officers, directors, employees, agents, and affiliates from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from or related to:

• Your use of the Automate America platform
• Your breach of this Agreement or any other agreement with Automate America
• Any employment-related claims brought by or on behalf of you or any Professional you engage
• Your violation of any law, regulation, or third-party right
• Any dispute between you and another user of the platform
• Any claim that Automate America should be treated as an employer

This indemnification obligation shall survive the termination of this Agreement and your use of the platform.

6. DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND ARBITRATION

BINDING ARBITRATION: Any dispute, controversy, or claim arising out of or relating to this Agreement, or the breach, termination, or validity thereof, shall be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its Commercial Arbitration Rules.

• The arbitration shall take place in Greenville County, South Carolina
• The arbitrator's decision shall be final and binding
• Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction
• Each party shall bear its own costs, with arbitration fees split equally

BY ACCEPTING THIS AGREEMENT, YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND TO PARTICIPATE IN CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS.

7. COMMUNICATIONS AND SMS CONSENT (TCPA)

Automate America sends text (SMS) messages that fall into three categories. We distinguish them so you know which you can turn off and which are part of using the platform:

(a) Security messages — required

When you register and each time you sign in, we send a one-time verification code (OTP) by SMS to confirm it is really you. This protects your account and the platform. Because this code is a security control rather than a marketing message, SMS delivery of the verification code is required to register and to sign in. We do not offer an email-based alternative for the sign-in code.

(b) Contract & account messages — required while you have an active engagement

If you accept or post a contract, job, or RFQ, we send operational messages about that engagement — for example, a reminder that a timesheet is due or late, a notice that an invoice or payment is past due, and other contract status notices. These are transactional messages tied to a commitment you chose to make, not marketing. They are required for the duration of an active engagement and cannot be turned off while that engagement is open, because they keep the people relying on the contract informed and paid on time.

(c) Marketing & promotional messages — optional

Promotional texts (new features, tips, offers, and similar marketing) are entirely optional. You control them in your Notification Settings and may turn them off at any time there, or by replying STOP to a marketing message. Turning off marketing texts has no effect on your ability to sign in and does not stop the required security messages in (a) or the contract messages in (b) for any engagement you are part of.

Standard message and data rates from your carrier may apply to all SMS messages. You may contact us at legal@automateamerica.com with any question about message categories or your preferences.

8. GOVERNING LAW

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of South Carolina, United States of America, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. The state and federal courts located in Greenville County, South Carolina shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes not subject to arbitration.

9. PAID PROFESSIONAL REQUESTS ("REQUEST A PROFESSIONAL")

Automate America offers a paid feature that lets a Customer send a private hiring request directly to a specific Professional ("Request a Professional"). The following terms apply to every such request:

• Service fee. For a Standard request, Automate America charges a flat service fee of $10.00 USD per request (the "Request Fee"). The Request Fee amount is set by Automate America and may change; the amount in effect is always shown to you before you confirm a request. White Glove requests carry no Request Fee.
• What you are paying for. The Request Fee pays for delivering your private request to the selected Professional and notifying them across available channels (in-app, email, and SMS where applicable). The Request Fee is a fee for the delivery and routing service. It is not a payment to the Professional, a guarantee that the Professional will respond, accept, reply, or be hired, and it is not a deposit toward any future engagement.
• When you are charged. When you submit a Standard request, Automate America places a temporary authorization (hold) of the Request Fee on your payment method. The Request Fee is captured only when the requested Professional opens (views) your request. If the Professional does not open your request within seven (7) days, the authorization is released and you are not charged.
• Non-refundable. Once the Professional opens your request, the Request Fee is fully earned and is non-refundable, including where the Professional declines, does not reply, is unavailable, or where you and the Professional do not enter into any engagement. This reflects that the service you paid for — delivering and presenting your request to the Professional — has been performed.
• Professional consent. By maintaining an active Professional profile, each Professional agrees that their profile may be presented as available to receive Requests a Professional, and consents to receiving such requests and the associated notifications. Professionals are never charged a Request Fee and are under no obligation to accept, respond to, or act on any request.
• Contact exchange on accept (Standard requests only — P914 Doug, TCPA-aligned). When the Professional accepts a Standard Request a Professional, both parties' verified email and verified phone number are released to each other so they can communicate about the engagement. Where the Customer has previously shortlisted the Professional through the marketplace, the Customer is similarly released the Professional's verified contact at shortlist. By submitting or accepting a Standard request you authorize this contact-information release for that engagement only. White Glove requests do not trigger any direct contact exchange — all communication runs through Automate America's in-app channels and the assigned White Glove account manager. A pro who does not wish to share contact information should decline the request before accepting; once accepted, the release is final for that request. Outbound notifications about a Request a Professional (in-app, email, and SMS) follow the categories in Section 7 above — the request notification itself is a transactional message tied to the engagement, and SMS marketing follow-ups are optional per Section 7(c).
• Disputes and billing errors. If you believe a Request Fee was charged in error (for example, a duplicate charge, or a charge where the Professional never opened your request), contact billing@automateamerica.com within thirty (30) days of the charge. Automate America will review the request-view record and refund any fee charged in error. Disagreement with a Professional's decision to decline or not respond is not a billing error and is not grounds for a refund. All other disputes are governed by Sections 6 and 8 of this Agreement.

10. PUBLIC VISIBILITY OF YOUR PROFILE

Automate America is a professional marketplace, so a limited, basic part of your profile is public by design — that is how customers find and evaluate you. Only the most basic public data is ever shown publicly. Your private information is never public, and is shared with another user only when you take an action that shares it. The platform enforces these rules on our servers for every request, including requests from search engines and bots.

Public (visible without login) — the basic public set, and nothing more

• Your first name only — never your surname or full name.
• Your profile photo.
• Your occupation / trade.
• Your city-level location (city, state, country — never your street address or precise coordinates).
• Your skills and professional competencies.
• Your ratings and reviews.
• Work history summaries (what kind of work you have done — not private engagement documents).
• For companies and business groups: the company name, logo, and the public company information the company chooses to publish.

Never public

The following is never shown to the public, to search engines, or to AI systems: your full name / surname; your email address; your phone number; your street address and precise coordinates; your resume; your uploaded documents and secure files (background checks, drug tests, tax forms, government ID, certificates of insurance); SSA / MSA contract documents; banking and payment data; and private notes. Banking details, government identifiers, and secure documents are accessible only to you and to authorized Automate America administrators on audit-logged internal tools — never to any other user.

Private data is shared only when you act

Your private information is released to another user in exactly two situations: (a) you apply to work — the poster of that work sees what is needed to evaluate and hire you for it; or (b) you accept a request to share — for example, accepting a connection request or a request for your details. Until you do one of those things, other users see only the basic public set above.

Your show / hide switch

You may hide your profile from the public feed at any time in your profile settings (the "Feed visibility" switch on your profile: Visible / Hidden). When hidden, your profile does not appear in the public feed, listings, or search.

We will never sell any data. Automate America does not sell — and will never sell — your information to anyone, whether it is public or private. There is no sale of your data in any form. We earn money by operating the marketplace and by the services we provide, never by selling data. The visibility rules above govern who may see what; they never authorize a sale of your information.

You control much of what you publish through your profile editor and Notification / Privacy Settings. The visibility rules above are enforced server-side and apply regardless of how a page is requested.

11. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING

Effective June 4, 2026.

(a) Use of public content to improve our AI features. The license you grant Automate America by accepting this Agreement includes the right to use the content you make public on the platform to develop, train, and improve Automate America's artificial-intelligence and machine-learning features. This use is limited strictly to the basic public set enumerated in Section 10 — first name only, occupation, city-level location, skills, ratings and reviews, profile photo, and work-history summaries. It never includes your private information (for example: your full name/surname, email, phone, street address, precise coordinates, resume, uploaded documents or secure files, SSA/MSA documents, banking or payment data, or private notes — the "Never public" list in Section 10). You continue to own your content.

(b) Public pages and third-party crawlers. Pages on Automate America that are publicly accessible may be indexed by search engines and AI crawlers, as is standard for public websites. Because the visibility rules in Section 10 are enforced on our servers for every request, a crawler can only ever see the same basic public set a logged-out visitor sees — never your private information. Automate America manages crawler access through its robots.txt file; authorized access includes crawlers explicitly permitted via automateamerica.com/robots.txt. We do not control what independent third parties do with content that is publicly accessible. If you use the hide-from-feed switch in Section 10, your profile is also removed from the public feed, listings, and search surfaces those crawlers index.

(c) Your opt-out. You may opt out of Automate America using your identifiable content for generative AI training at any time from your Privacy Settings ( /dashboard/settings/privacy). The opt-out is prospective only — it applies to use after we receive and process your request and does not require deletion or retraining of AI features already built. Opting out of AI/ML training use does not affect the license that permits Automate America to display, transmit, and distribute your content on the platform; your profile remains visible to other users per Section 10.

(d) No unauthorized scraping. Scraping or harvesting Automate America content for AI training or any other purpose without our written permission, or in violation of our robots.txt directives, is a material breach of this Agreement.

(e) Consent. Your acceptance of this Agreement is your consent for the use described in (a); no separate opt-in is required, and the opt-out in (c) is your mechanism to decline.

12. PRIVACY

This Section 12 is the binding privacy notice for Automate America users. Where this Section references a longer policy or specific procedure, the longer document supplements but does not override this Section.

12.1 What we collect

We collect the information you provide to register and use the platform — your name, contact details, profile information (occupation, skills, work history, rates, availability, location), verification documents you upload (resume, certifications, government ID, tax forms, insurance, background-check consent), payment and bank details, messages you send through the platform, and notification preferences. We also automatically collect device and usage information (IP address, browser, pages visited, search queries) and approximate location from your IP address. Precise location is collected only with your consent. We use cookies and similar technologies as described in our Cookie Policy.

12.2 How we use it

We use your information to operate the marketplace — to display your profile to other users per Section 10, to facilitate connections and engagements, to process payments on White Glove contracts, to send security and transactional messages, to improve our AI features as described in Section 11 (public fields only, with the opt-out at /dashboard/settings/privacy), to comply with law, and to protect Automate America and its users.

12.3 Who sees it

Server-enforced visibility rules in Section 10 govern who can see which fields. Always-public fields are visible to everyone including search engines and authorized AI crawlers; conditional fields are released only as a relationship forms (connection accepted, shortlisted, active engagement, hire/interview on White Glove); banking, tax IDs, government-ID documents, exact address, and precise geolocation are never shown to other users. We will never sell any of your data — there is no sale of your information in any form. We share information with service providers acting on our behalf (payment processor, hosting, email/SMS delivery, identity verification, background check vendors when you consent), with customers and professionals you choose to engage with, and where required by law or to enforce this Agreement.

12.4 Your choices

You can view, correct, export, and delete the information on your profile from your account settings. You can change notification preferences (including opting out of marketing SMS and email per Section 7) at any time. You can opt out of AI/ML training use of your public content per Section 11(c). California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, and other state residents have additional rights described in the California Privacy Notice and applicable state notices linked from the legal menu — including the right to know, the right to delete, the right to correct, the right to portability, and the right to opt out of "sale" or "sharing" (as those terms are defined under applicable state law). Submit requests by email to privacy@automateamerica.com.

12.5 How long we keep it

We retain your information for as long as you maintain an account and as needed to provide the platform, comply with legal obligations (including tax, accounting, and payment-record retention), resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Specific retention periods are in our Data Retention Policy.

12.6 How we protect it

We use industry-standard encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access controls, and audit logging on administrative tools. No method of internet transmission or storage is 100% secure; we will notify affected users and applicable regulators of a security breach as required by law.

12.7 Children

Automate America is not directed to and is not intended for individuals under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18; if you believe a minor has registered, contact us and we will delete the account and associated data.

12.8 International data transfers

Automate America is operated from the United States. If you access the platform from outside the United States, your information is transferred to and processed in the United States under appropriate safeguards.

12.9 Contact

Privacy questions or requests: privacy@automateamerica.com. Mailing address: Automate America, Inc., PO BOX 1638, Greer, SC 29652. By phone: 586-770-8083.

13. MESSAGING

This Section governs your use of messaging on the platform (direct messages, contract- and job-related communications, group messages, and system notifications). Your acceptance of this Agreement covers messaging — no separate messaging agreement is required.

13.1 Permitted use

Messaging is provided for professional communication between platform users: discussing contracts, jobs, and RFQs; negotiating terms and clarifying requirements; scheduling interviews and coordinating work; professional networking and mentorship.

13.2 Prohibited conduct

You agree not to use messaging to: harass, threaten, intimidate, or stalk anyone, or continue contact after being asked to stop; send spam, unsolicited commercial messages, or bulk communications; share discriminatory, defamatory, hateful, sexually explicit, or illegal content; distribute malware or malicious links; impersonate any person or Automate America staff; share another person's personal information without consent; defraud or mislead other users; or circumvent the platform (conducting transactions off-platform to avoid fees, harvesting contact information, or recruiting users away from the platform).

13.3 Monitoring, retention, and disclosure

Automate America may monitor messages (including with automated systems) for compliance with this Agreement, platform security, and legal obligations. Messages are retained per Section 12 and our data-retention schedule; deleted messages may persist in backups for a limited period. We may disclose message content where required by law or legal process, or to protect the safety of users or the public. Staff access is limited to authorized personnel with a legitimate business need and is logged and audited. Messages are private communications — they are never part of the public profile data described in Section 10.

13.4 Responsibility and enforcement

You are solely responsible for the content of messages you send and for complying with applicable law and any confidentiality obligations. Automate America is not responsible for the content, accuracy, or outcomes of user-to-user communications, and messaging is provided "as is" without guaranteed delivery. Violations may result in warnings, temporary or permanent loss of messaging privileges, account suspension or termination, and — for threats, illegal activity, severe harassment, or fraud — immediate action without prior warning, including referral to law enforcement. Report violations via the in-app Report feature or support@automateamerica.com; appeal enforcement decisions at appeals@automateamerica.com.

14. ACCEPTABLE USE

You agree to use Automate America lawfully and in good faith. Across every part of the platform — profiles, listings, work postings, applications, connections, reviews, messaging, and payments — you will not:

• Post false, misleading, fraudulent, or impersonating information, or misrepresent your identity, credentials, licensing, or authority to act for a business.
• Use the platform for anything unlawful, or to harass, threaten, defame, discriminate against, or harm another person.
• Infringe anyone’s intellectual-property, privacy, or contractual rights, or upload content you do not have the right to share.
• Circumvent, scrape, overload, reverse-engineer, or interfere with the platform’s security, access controls, rate limits, or normal operation.
• Collect or use other users’ personal information except as the platform expressly permits, or send unsolicited spam or malware.
• Attempt to evade Automate America’s fees on White Glove engagements introduced through the platform, or use the platform to facilitate any illegal transaction.

Our detailed Acceptable Use Policy and the other policies listed in Section 15 are incorporated into this Agreement by reference and provide additional specifics. Violations may result in content removal, warnings, suspension, or termination of your account and platform access, and referral to law enforcement where appropriate.

15. ENTIRE AGREEMENT — ONE AGREEMENT

This Site User Agreement is the single, complete agreement between you and Automate America governing your use of the platform. It serves as both our Terms of Service and, in Section 12, our binding Privacy Notice. It consolidates and supersedes any prior standalone “Terms of Service” or “Privacy Policy” — accepting this Agreement means you have accepted our terms and our privacy practices in one place.

The following supplementary policies are incorporated into this Agreement by reference: the Acceptable Use Policy, Cookie Policy, Data Retention Policy, and the applicable state privacy notices (including the California Privacy Notice). Where a supplementary policy provides more detail, it supplements but does not override this Agreement; if there is a direct conflict, this Agreement controls.

You are not asked to sign or accept any other general legal agreement after you register. The only separate, work-specific agreements are the Supplier Service Agreement (SSA), which a Professional accepts when accepting an offer, and the Master Service Agreement (MSA), which a Customer accepts when hiring on a White Glove hourly contract.

If any provision of this Agreement is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions stay in full effect. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it. We may update this Agreement; material changes will be communicated as required by law, and your continued use after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised Agreement.

Required Acknowledgments

Contact Information

For questions about this Agreement, contact us at: legal@automateamerica.com

Automate America, Inc.
PO BOX 1638
Greer, SC 29652
Phone: 586-770-8083