CaseworkTerms of Service
1. The service
Casework is a marketplace. Investigators are independent professionals; they are not employees or agents of Casework. Casework does not perform investigations and does not guarantee any outcome. Investigators are solely responsible for holding and maintaining all licenses required in the places they work.
2. Eligibility and accounts
You must be at least 18. You are responsible for your account and for the accuracy of what you provide. Investigators must hold a valid private-investigator (or equivalent) license in the stated jurisdiction and must submit it for verification; only verified investigators may bid on cases or message clients.
3. Permitted purposes
Clients may post cases only for lawful purposes in these categories: service of process; insurance and fraud investigation; corporate due diligence; background checks where the subject has consented (where required); missing-person matters for family or legal purposes; and legal discovery or witness location for a court matter. You must attest to lawful purpose when posting.
4. Prohibited uses
You may not use Casework to: stalk, harass, threaten, or intimidate anyone; track or monitor a current or former partner, spouse, or family member; locate or surveil a person who does not want to be found or without a lawful basis; install tracking devices, hidden cameras, or spyware; obtain information through hacking, pretexting, impersonation, or other unlawful means; obtain motor-vehicle, financial, telephone, or similar records without a permissible purpose under applicable law (including the Driver's Privacy Protection Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act); screen people for employment, tenancy or housing, or credit eligibility except through an FCRA-compliant consumer report (see Section 5); or violate any law, including privacy, anti-stalking, consumer-reporting, and data-protection laws in the US and Mexico. Investigators must decline and report such requests.
5. Regulated data, consumer reports, and permissible purpose
Casework is not a consumer reporting agency, and reports obtained through Casework are not "consumer reports." You may not use Casework, and investigators may not accept work, for employment screening, tenant or housing screening, or credit, insurance, or other eligibility decisions governed by the U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), unless that work is performed as an FCRA-compliant consumer report by a party that meets the FCRA's requirements. Investigators are solely responsible for complying with all laws that govern obtaining personal information, including the Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) for motor-vehicle records and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) for financial records, and must have — and, on request, certify — a permissible purpose before obtaining such records. Investigators must not obtain financial, telephone, or other records through pretexting or impersonation. Any request or deliverable that would require unlawful data collection is prohibited and must be declined and reported.
6. Enforcement
We screen requests and messages, remove content, and suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, and we may report suspected crimes to authorities. Anyone can report or block a user in the app.
7. Payments, escrow, and fees
When a client hires an investigator, the client pays the agreed price through Stripe. Funds are held and released to the investigator when the client marks the work complete, or as resolved by Casework in a dispute. Casework charges the investigator a platform fee of 12% to 18% of the engagement depending on plan, deducted from the investigator's payout. Investigators must complete Stripe's identity verification to receive payouts. Client payments for investigator services are payments for real-world professional services and are processed by Stripe, not through in-app purchase.
Investigator plan subscriptions. Investigators may subscribe to optional paid plans (Pro and Featured) in the app. These plans are auto-renewable subscriptions purchased through Apple in-app purchase and billed to your Apple Account. They renew automatically each period unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; you can manage or cancel in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions. Prices are shown in the app before purchase. Apple's terms govern billing and refunds for plan subscriptions. Plan subscriptions are separate from the escrow payments described above.
8. Disputes and refunds
A client may dispute a funded engagement before releasing payment. Casework reviews disputes and may refund the client or release funds to the investigator.
9. Content and data
You keep ownership of what you submit and grant Casework a license to host and display it to operate the service. See the Privacy Policy.
10. Disclaimers and liability
The service is provided "as is." To the maximum extent permitted by law, Casework is not liable for the acts or omissions of investigators or clients or for indirect or consequential damages, and its total liability is limited to the fees it received from you in the prior twelve months. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law.
11. Termination
You may delete your account at any time in the app. We may suspend or terminate accounts for violations.