VG

ValidGuru

Verify Services. Avoid Scams.

Terms of Service

Last Updated: 12/11/2025

1. Introduction

Welcome to ValidGuru. ValidGuru aggregates and displays guru' ("services", "courses", "coaches", "creators", "freelancers", "businesses") data that have passed verification metrics that analyze limited financial activity from their payment providers (e.g., Stripe) to assess the authenticity and legitimacy of their services.

By using ValidGuru, you agree to these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, do not use the platform.

2. Data Collection and Usage

2.1 API Keys

To perform verification, we require a restricted, read-only API key from your payment provider (currently Stripe). These keys:

  • Are encrypted and stored securely
  • Are restricted to read-only scopes
  • Cannot modify your account or process payments
  • Can be revoked by you at any time
  • Are never shared or sold to third parties

We do not request or accept keys that allow writing, charging customers, issuing refunds, or modifying your account.

2.2 What Data We Collect

ValidGuru collects ONLY non-PII financial and activity data required to calculate legitimacy metrics. Examples:

Subscription Data

  • Subscription age
  • Status
  • Billing intervals
  • Payment success/failure counts
  • Customer IDs (not names or emails)

Invoice & Charge Data

  • Amounts
  • Status (paid, failed, voided)
  • Timestamps
  • Count of unique customers
  • Paid/failed ratios

Product & Pricing Data

  • Active products and prices
  • Price amounts
  • Price activation dates
  • Whether a price is associated with real invoices/subscriptions

Customer Activity (non-PII)

  • Customer IDs (no names or emails)
  • Timestamps when customers were created
  • Number of customers with invoices or charges

Payout Data

  • Amounts
  • Dates
  • Frequency
  • Net earnings totals

Balance Transaction Data

  • Net amounts
  • Timestamps
  • Reporting categories

We only process fields required for verification scoring.

2.3 What Data We DO NOT Collect

ValidGuru never collects, stores, or displays:

  • ❌ Customer names
  • ❌ Customer email addresses
  • ❌ Customer physical addresses
  • ❌ Billing addresses
  • ❌ Payment card numbers
  • ❌ Bank account details
  • ❌ Individual customer-level transaction descriptions
  • ❌ Phone numbers
  • ❌ Any other Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

We also never access:

  • Payment methods
  • Customer contact details
  • Any confidential business documents

Your customers remain completely anonymous within our system.

3. How We Use Your Data

ValidGuru uses your aggregated financial activity strictly for:

  • Generating a legitimacy score based on automated Stripe data analysis
  • Assigning a verification status ("New," "Pending," "Verified," or "Rejected")
  • Displaying verification badges on profiles
  • Showing high-level non-PII metrics (counts, amounts, timestamps)
  • Displaying service names, descriptions, and categories

We do not sell data or share it with third parties.

You may revoke API access and edit or delete your ValidGuru profile at any time. You may only edit your service details, not the underlying financial data used for verification.

4. API Key Security

Your API key is:

  • Encrypted using industry-standard cryptography
  • Stored in a secure database (Supabase)
  • Only decrypted on-demand to fetch updated Stripe data
  • Immediately locked down if you revoke or rotate it in Stripe

We require using restricted API keys with read-only permissions. For Stripe, we only accept restricted keys (rk_live_*) that have limited permissions:

  • Read-only access to subscriptions
  • Read-only access to invoices
  • Read-only access to products
  • Read-only access to prices
  • Read-only access to balance_transactions
  • Read-only access to payouts
  • Read-only access to charges
  • Read-only access to customers

5. Data Accuracy and Verification

5.1 Platform's Data Handling

All revenue data used by ValidGuru is retrieved directly from Stripe's API. We:

  • Do not alter or fabricate metrics
  • Do not modify values returned by Stripe
  • Do not guarantee the accuracy of third-party data sources

Your verification status is based purely on the financial activity visible through the restricted API key you provide.

Any other public information (such as service name, description, category) is provided by service owners and is not verified by ValidGuru.

5.2 Service Owner's Data Responsibilities

By adding your service ("business") to ValidGuru, you agree that:

  • Your service is legitimate
  • Your service is legal
  • Your service is not a scam or fraudulent activity
  • Any other public information (such as description) you provide does not contain false or misleading information, inflammatory language, or obscenities

You are solely responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide about your service.

ValidGuru reserves the right to reject or remove ANY services that violate these terms.

6. Your Rights

You may at any time:

  • Remove your API key
  • Revoke ValidGuru access from your Stripe dashboard
  • Request deletion of your ValidGuru account and associated data
  • Request re-evaluation of your verification
  • Update your service details

Once deleted, your data cannot be restored.

7. Third-Party Services

ValidGuru integrates with external payment providers such as Stripe.

Your use of these services is subject to their own Terms and Privacy Policies. ValidGuru is not responsible for:

  • Their availability
  • Their API changes
  • Their data accuracy
  • Their security incidents

8. Disclaimer: Verification Limitations

ValidGuru's verification system analyzes financial patterns only.

ValidGuru does not guarantee:

  • That a Creator ("Service") is trustworthy
  • That the Creator's service is safe or high-quality
  • That financial activity is legitimate beyond the patterns detected
  • That a Verified status ensures zero risk
  • That all fraudulent signals can be detected

Verification is a best-effort automated indicator, not a guarantee.

Users should always conduct additional due diligence before engaging with any Creator.

9. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, ValidGuru and its operators are not liable for:

  • Losses resulting from reliance on verification statuses
  • False positives or false negatives in fraud detection
  • Errors in data returned by Stripe or other third-party providers
  • Disputes between users and creators
  • Financial losses, damages, or service interruptions
  • API outages or third-party downtime

Your use of the Platform is at your own risk.

10. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless ValidGuru from claims, damages, or disputes arising from:

  • Your use of the Platform
  • Your conduct toward customers
  • Any information, representations, or statements you make on the platform
  • Any misrepresentation of your business
  • Your violation of these Terms
  • Your violation of any law or regulation

11. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms at any time. The "Last Updated" date will reflect changes.

Continued use of the Platform constitutes acceptance of any updated Terms.

12. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms or data handling, please contact us at through the site or via email.