Terms of Service

Last updated: 3 October 2026

IMPORTANT: Hipponics Firewatch is a community information tool. It is NOT a replacement for official emergency services. Always follow instructions from your local fire authority (NSW RFS, CFA, QFES, CFS, DFES, TFS, ESA, NTES) and official emergency warnings. In an emergency, call 000.

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using Hipponics Firewatch ("the Service"), operated by Hipponics (ABN 57 973 387 746) ("we", "us", "our"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree to these terms, do not use the Service.

2. Description of Service

Hipponics Firewatch is a free community safety tool that provides real-time bushfire monitoring across Australia. The Service aggregates publicly available fire incident data from state and territory emergency services, satellite hotspot data, weather observations, and other sources to present a consolidated view of fire activity.

Features include:

Interactive 2D and 3D fire incident maps
Watch zone alerts via push notifications
Satellite hotspot visualisation (NASA FIRMS)
Live firefighting aircraft tracking
Wind and weather visualisation
Community photo sharing

3. Data Accuracy Disclaimer

The fire incident data, satellite hotspots, weather observations, aircraft positions, and other information displayed by the Service is sourced from third-party providers and government agencies. This data:

May be delayed, incomplete, or inaccurate
May not reflect current conditions on the ground
Should not be relied upon as the sole source of emergency information
Is provided on an "as is" basis without warranty of any kind

We make reasonable efforts to provide timely and accurate information but cannot guarantee the completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of any data displayed by the Service.

4. Emergency Disclaimer

The Service is not an emergency warning system. It does not replace official emergency warnings issued by fire authorities, the Bureau of Meteorology, or state emergency services. In a bushfire emergency:

Call 000 immediately if life or property is threatened
Follow your bushfire survival plan
Monitor official channels: VicEmergency, Fires Near Me NSW, MyFireWatch, etc.
Follow instructions from emergency services personnel

Nothing in the Service, including a Team plan's SOS, contacts emergency services on your behalf.

5. User Accounts

Some features require creating an account. You are responsible for:

Maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials
All activity that occurs under your account
Providing accurate account information

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms.

6. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

Use the Service to spread false emergency information
Upload content that is illegal, harmful, threatening, or offensive
Attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Service or its systems
Interfere with or disrupt the Service or its infrastructure
Scrape, harvest, or collect data from the Service by automated means without permission
Impersonate any person or entity

7. User-Submitted Content

By uploading photos or other content to the Service, you:

Retain ownership of your content
Grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display and distribute the content within the Service
Confirm that you have the right to share the content
Accept that content may be visible to other users of the Service

There is no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive users. Comments containing slurs, abuse or threats are refused when posted. Anyone can report a comment or photo, and block a commenter so they no longer see their comments. We review every report within 24 hours, remove content that breaks these terms, and suspend or close the accounts of people who post it.

8. Intellectual Property

The Service, including its design, code, and original content, is the property of Hipponics. Map data is provided by third-party services under their respective licences. Fire incident data is sourced from government agencies and is subject to their terms of use.

9. Supporter Subscription (Optional)

The Service is free to use. We also offer an optional "Supporter" tier with additional features (high-resolution layers, fire spread analysis, satellite imagery), billed via Stripe.

Pricing is shown on the in-app upgrade screen at the time of subscription, in Australian dollars (AUD), inclusive of any applicable GST.
Auto-renewal: subscriptions renew automatically until you cancel.
Cancellation: you can cancel any time from your account in the app, or via the Stripe customer portal. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period — you keep supporter features until then.
Refunds: we don't offer refunds for partial billing periods. This does not exclude any rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law (see Section 10 below).
Account deletion through the in-app "Delete my account" button cancels your Supporter subscription immediately. A Team plan you own is handled differently (see Section 9A).

9A. Team Plan (Optional)

A Team plan lets a group of people (for example a fire crew or brigade) see each other's locations, trails and shared pins on the Firewatch map, check in, and send an SOS to the rest of the team. It is bought by one person, the team owner, and billed via Stripe on our website.

Seats and pricing: each plan covers a number of people (seats), shown with its price in Australian dollars (AUD), inclusive of any applicable GST, at the time of purchase. Everyone in a team with an active plan also gets the Supporter features while they are in it.
Renewal, changes and cancellation: plans renew automatically until the owner cancels. The owner can move to another team size or between yearly and monthly billing; Stripe charges or credits the difference for the rest of the period. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period, and the team keeps working until then. The refunds wording in Section 9 applies.
The owner decides who is in the team, can remove members and can hand the team to another member. If the owner deletes their account, a paid team passes to its longest-standing member and its subscription is cancelled at the end of the paid period.
Location sharing is each member's choice. Nobody can turn it on for someone else. It stops by itself after the time the member picks, and each member must have the right to share their location in the circumstances they use it (for example, under their brigade's or employer's policies). How location data is handled is set out in our Privacy Policy.
Not a safety-of-life system. Team location sharing, check-in, SOS and the "no update" and "not moving" alerts depend on phones, batteries, GPS, mobile signal, notification settings and our servers, any of which can fail or be delayed. An SOS alerts the members of your team only. Firewatch does not contact emergency services, and does not monitor teams. Do not rely on the Team plan as your only means of communication or of raising the alarm: carry and use radios and your agency's systems, and call Triple Zero (000) in an emergency.

10. Australian Consumer Law

Our goods and services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot lawfully be excluded.

11. Limitation of Liability

Subject to Section 10 (Australian Consumer Law), to the maximum extent permitted by Australian law, Hipponics shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from:

Your use of or inability to use the Service
Any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions in the data displayed
Any decisions made based on information provided by the Service
Any interruption, suspension, or termination of the Service
Any damage to property or personal injury resulting from reliance on the Service
Any failure, delay or inaccuracy of team location sharing, check-in, SOS or team alerts, including an alert that is not delivered

12. Service Availability

We strive to maintain the Service's availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. The Service may be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance, updates, or circumstances beyond our control. We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the Service at any time without notice.

13. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms of Service from time to time. We will post the updated terms on this page and update the "Last updated" date. Your continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

14. Governing Law

These Terms of Service are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Australia. Any disputes arising from these terms or the Service shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Australia.

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us at:

Email: [email protected]
Website: hipponics.com
Operator: Hipponics (ABN 57 973 387 746)