Master Cloud Software Terms of Service

1.Introduction & Acceptance of Terms

These Master Cloud Software Terms of Service ("Agreement" or "Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement entered into between Encore SMS International Ltd. ("Encore SMS", "we", "us", or "Provider") and the academic institution, school district, diocese, educational trust, or corporate governing body ("Customer", "School", or "Subscriber") executing an Order Form, Service Level Agreement, or accessing the cloud platform.

By accessing, deploying, subscribing to, or permitting authorized faculty, parents, or students to access the Encore SMS platform and associated mobile applications (collectively, the "Service"), the Customer agrees to be bound without reservation by all provisions set forth herein. If you are accepting on behalf of a school, academy, or educational trust, you represent that you possess the full legal authority to bind that entity.

2.Definitions

• "Customer Data":All digital records, student identifiers, academic grades, attendance marks, staff files, tuition invoices, and family contact details uploaded to or processed by the Customer's instance.
• "Student Data": Personally identifiable information (PII) directly relating to an enrolled, applicant, or alumni minor student.
• "Authorized Users":School administrators, principals, bursars, faculty teachers, enrolled students, and authorized parents or guardians granted access under the Customer's subscription.
• "Service Level Agreement (SLA)": The operational availability and uptime standards committed to by Encore SMS as detailed in Section 5.

3.Multi-Tenant Architecture & Cloud Provisioning

Encore SMS provides a dedicated, multi-tenant software-as-a-service infrastructure hosted on high-availability edge networks. Every Customer instance is logically isolated using PostgreSQL Row Level Security (RLS) and cryptographically scoped tenant identifiers (tenant_id). Under no circumstance shall any Customer have visibility into, access to, or administrative control over another school's data repository.

4.Customer Data Ownership & Student Record Sovereignty

Sole Ownership: The Customer retains 100% exclusive ownership of all Customer Data, student records, intellectual property, examination scores, and photographic assets uploaded to the Service. Encore SMS asserts no ownership, intellectual property rights, or commercial licenses over Customer Data.

Data Processor Status: The Customer acts as the Data Controller, and Encore SMS acts strictly as the Data Processor under applicable privacy laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), European Union GDPR, and the Ghana Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843).

Strict Prohibition on Monetization: Encore SMS shall never sell, rent, commercialize, disclose for advertising purposes, or build behavioural marketing profiles on any minor or student.

5.Service Level Agreement (SLA) & Uptime Commitment

Encore SMS guarantees a Monthly Uptime Percentage of not less than 99.9% during each calendar billing month, excluding scheduled maintenance announced with at least 48 hours notice.

In the event that operational uptime falls below 99.9% in a given month, Customer shall be entitled upon written request to Service SLA Credits applied against subsequent billing cycles in accordance with the following table:

6.Subscriptions, Invoicing & Financial Settlement

Subscription fees are established based on total enrolled student body size, active curriculum engines, and designated module tiers (Foundation, Growth, Enterprise). Fees are invoiced termly or annually in advance.

Where the Customer utilizes integrated payment collection via Paystack (Mobile Money / Cards), transaction processing fees levied by financial networks are deducted transparently at settlement. Encore SMS maintains no custody of tuition funds; all settled monies disburse directly to Customer's verified institutional bank account.

7.Security & Disaster Recovery

Encore SMS implements bank-grade technical and organizational security controls, including TLS 1.3 transit encryption, AES-256 rest encryption, automated daily off-site encrypted backups, and continuous intrusion detection. Backups are retained in geographically redundant facilities to ensure instantaneous disaster recovery.

8.Acceptable Use Policy

The Customer agrees not to: (a) reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble any binary or algorithmic component of the Service; (b) probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the system without prior written consent; (c) transmit fraudulent, harassing, defamatory, or unlawful SMS/WhatsApp broadcasts; or (d) share administrative credentials among multiple unverified staff members.

9.Term, Termination & Guaranteed Data Return

Either party may terminate this Agreement upon thirty (30) days written notice prior to the expiration of the current academic subscription term, or immediately upon material breach remaining uncured after 14 days notice.

30-Day Guaranteed Export: Upon termination or non-renewal, Encore SMS shall provide the Customer with thirty (30) consecutive days of read-only access to download all Customer Data in standard, machine-readable formats (PostgreSQL SQL dump and CSV/Excel matrices) at no additional charge. Following this 30-day window, all customer databases are purged in compliance with national privacy statutes.

10.Limitation of Liability

Except in cases of gross negligence, intentional misconduct, or breach of data confidentiality obligations, neither party's total aggregate liability arising out of or related to this Agreement shall exceed the total subscription fees paid by Customer in the preceding twelve (12) months.

11.Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales for international contracts, or the Republic of Ghana for domestic West African contracts, without regard to conflicts of law principles. Any dispute arising out of this Agreement shall first be submitted to good-faith mediation prior to formal binding arbitration.

12.Official Legal Notices & Contact Information

All formal legal notices, SLA claims, or contractual inquiries should be transmitted in writing to: