Terms

Plain-language version. The short answer: Signal is software you use to score your own return. You are the filer. We don't choose your positions, we don't sign your return, and we can't read what you upload.

1. Signal is self-preparation software

Signal is a computational tool you use to score, cite, and document positions on your own return. Signal is not a tax return preparer. You are the filer. You choose which positions to take. Signal does not prepare returns for compensation within the meaning of IRC §7701(a)(36).

2. Scores and citations, not opinions

Signal emits deterministic green / yellow / red / black bands tied to specific Internal Revenue Code sections, Treasury regulations, Revenue Procedures, and IRS publications. We do not tell you “this position will survive audit” and we do not tell you “you should take this position.” We tell you “this position scores green against IRC §X under the authority stack as of date Y” and “here are the conditions that would move this to green.” The decision is yours.

3. No e-file

Signal generates PDFs and an audit packet. Signal does not transmit your return to the IRS or any state. You file your return yourself — on paper, through an e-file provider you choose, or through a human preparer you engage separately.

4. Server-blind storage

Everything you upload is encrypted in your browser with a key derived from your account password before it is sent to our servers. We store ciphertext. We cannot read your return. Plaintext exists server-side only for the fraction of a second the scoring subprocess needs to run, is never written to durable storage, and is wiped synchronously when the subprocess exits.

This has a consequence: if you forget your password and your recovery code, we cannot recover your data. There is no support-side reset.

5. Specialist review is optional and independent

When the deterministic engine cannot close a position, Signal can route your audit packet to an independent CPA or EA — only if you ask us to. Those reviewers are not Signal employees. Signal does not split fees with them. If a specialist prepares or signs your return, that is a relationship between you and them, governed by their engagement letter, not by these terms.

6. No savings guarantee

Signal does not guarantee a refund, a deduction amount, or that any specific position will be sustained on examination. Signal's output is a score against the authority stack, not a prediction of audit outcome.

7. Privacy

We collect the minimum account metadata needed to run the service (email, display name, session state) and we store your uploaded returns as ciphertext we cannot decrypt. We do not sell or share your data. If you delete your account, we delete the ciphertext. The full privacy notice — with the CCPA category breakdown and your rights under California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and the other state privacy regimes — is at /privacy.

Because we cannot read your return, we cannot respond to a data-access or data-portability request by re-serving your plaintext from our side — you access your plaintext by logging in and decrypting it in your browser.

We retain only what we need, for as long as you keep your account. The retention policy is at docs/legal/retention_policy.md in the Signal repository, and the operational security program required by the FTC Safeguards Rule (16 CFR Part 314) is at docs/legal/safeguards_program.md.

8. Liability

Signal's scores are only as correct as the authority corpus and rule compilation behind them. We version the corpus and test each rule, but we do not accept liability for a position you choose to take on your return. You are the filer.

9. Changes

We will update these terms as the product evolves. Material changes will be surfaced before they take effect on your account.