EEW Terms of Service

Canterbury Seismic Instruments Limited
EEW App: Limited Release Terms of Use
Version 1.0 | Effective 27th October 2026

Important: please read before using the App

The EEW App is a limited release service that is still being tested. It will not always work.
Warnings may be late, missed entirely, wrong, or issued when no damaging shaking occurs. Near the earthquake source there may be no warning at all.
The App is not an official warning service and does not replace advice from civil defence, NEMA or GeoNet.
If you feel strong shaking, Drop, Cover and Hold, whether or not you have received a warning. Near the coast, if an earthquake is long or strong, get gone.
You decide what to do in response to a warning. CSI accepts no liability for the reliability of warnings or for any action taken, or not taken, as a result of a warning.

By downloading, installing or using the App you agree to these Terms.

1. About these terms

1.1 These Terms apply to the Earthquake Early Warning mobile application and related alert service (the “App”) supplied by Canterbury Seismic Instruments Limited (“CSI”, “we”, “us”) to clients in New Zealand during the limited release period.

1.2 “Client” means the organisation that has arranged access to the App with CSI. “User” or “you” means the Client and any person who downloads, installs or uses the App, including the Client’s employees and contractors. “Warning” means any alert, notification, sound, estimate of shaking intensity or arrival time, or other information given through the App.

1.3 These Terms apply alongside any written agreement between CSI and the Client (including a Sentinel service agreement) and CSI’s Terms and Conditions of Trade. If there is any inconsistency regarding the App or Warnings, these Terms prevail.

1.4 By downloading, installing or using the App, you accept these Terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the App.

2. Limited release

2.1 The App is a limited release (pre-commercial) service. It is made available so that CSI can test, evaluate and improve its performance with selected clients. Its features, coverage and performance may change at any time.

2.2 CSI may suspend, modify, restrict or withdraw the App or any part of it at any time, with or without notice, including for maintenance, testing or upgrades.

2.3 CSI may invite you to provide feedback. You agree CSI may use any feedback freely and without obligation to you.

3. How Warnings work and their limitations

3.1 The App aims to detect the early stages of an earthquake using seismic sensors and data processing, estimate the expected shaking, and send a Warning before strong shaking reaches your location. Earthquake early warning is an emerging technology with inherent limitations. You acknowledge that:

(a) warning times are typically a few seconds at most, and close to the earthquake source there may be no warning before shaking arrives;
(b) Warnings may be delayed, not issued, issued for an earthquake that does not produce damaging shaking at your location, or issued when no earthquake has occurred;
(c) estimates of magnitude, location, shaking intensity and arrival time are automated and may be materially inaccurate;
(d) delivery of Warnings depends on matters outside CSI’s control, including sensor and network coverage, power supply, internet and mobile networks, third party platforms (such as Apple and Google notification services), and your device, its settings (including silent, do not disturb, battery saving and notification permissions), software and location services; and
(e) the App may not perform as expected during or after a large earthquake, when networks and infrastructure may be damaged or congested.

3.2 The App is not an official warning system. It does not replace, and must not be relied on instead of, warnings, advisories or instructions from the National Emergency Management Agency, civil defence emergency management groups, GeoNet or any other public authority, including tsunami warnings.

4. Your responsibilities

4.1 You are solely responsible for deciding whether and how to respond to any Warning, or to the absence of a Warning. You should always follow official earthquake safety advice, including to Drop, Cover and Hold when you feel shaking.

4.2 You must not rely on the App as your sole or primary means of protecting the safety of any person or property. The App must not be used to automatically trigger, or as the sole input to, any safety-critical action (for example stopping machinery, lifts or processes, opening doors or gates, or isolating utilities) unless the Client has independently assessed the risks, designed the system to fail safe, and accepted full responsibility for the outcome, including the consequences of false, missed or late Warnings.

4.3 The Client is responsible for informing its Users of the limitations of the App, including those in clause 3, and for any emergency procedures it adopts that refer to the App.

4.4 You must keep the App updated, check that notifications are enabled, and not copy, modify, reverse engineer, resell or redistribute the App, or rebroadcast Warnings to the public, without CSI’s prior written consent.

5. No warranty

5.1 To the maximum extent permitted by law, the App and all Warnings are provided “as is” and “as available”. CSI gives no warranty or representation, express or implied, that the App will be available, uninterrupted or error free, or that any Warning will be issued, timely, accurate, complete or reliable.

6. No liability for Warnings or actions taken

6.1 To the maximum extent permitted by law, CSI (including its directors, employees, contractors and agents) is not liable, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), under statute or otherwise, for any loss, damage, cost, injury or death of any kind arising directly or indirectly from:

(a) the reliability, accuracy, timeliness or availability of any Warning, including any false, missed, late, inaccurate or undelivered Warning;
(b) any action taken, or not taken, by any person as a consequence of a Warning or the absence of a Warning, including evacuation, shutdown of equipment or processes, interruption to business, or any injury sustained while responding;
(c) any automated system, procedure or decision that uses or refers to the App or a Warning; or
(d) any suspension, change or withdrawal of the App.

6.2 Without limiting clause 6.1, CSI is not liable in any circumstances for any loss of income, profit, production, revenue, data or goodwill, or for any indirect, consequential or special loss.

6.3 If, despite the above, CSI is found liable to the Client or any User in connection with the App, CSI’s total aggregate liability for all claims is limited to the fees (if any) paid by the Client to CSI for the App in the twelve (12) months before the claim first arose, or NZ$100 if no fees have been paid.

6.4 The Client indemnifies CSI against any claim by a User or any third party arising from the Client’s use of the App, any action taken or not taken by the Client or its Users in response to a Warning, or any breach of these Terms by the Client or its Users.

7. Consumer and fair trading law

7.1 Where the App is supplied to and acquired by the Client in trade, the parties agree that the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 does not apply (section 43) and that sections 9, 12A, 13 and 14(1) of the Fair Trading Act 1986 do not apply (section 5C), and the parties agree that it is fair and reasonable to be bound by this clause, having regard to the limited release, pre-commercial nature of the App.

7.2 Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted or modified. Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the minimum extent permitted by law.

8. Privacy and data

8.1 To deliver Warnings, the App may collect and use device information, notification identifiers and approximate location. CSI will handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and its privacy policy. CSI may use App and performance data, in anonymised or aggregated form, to test and improve its services.

9. Termination

9.1 You may stop using the App at any time by uninstalling it. CSI may end any User’s access at any time. Clauses 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10 continue to apply after access ends.