Terms of Use

Last updated October 8, 2026

These Terms of Use ("Terms") are an agreement between you and Highfivery Studio about your use of Lago Pulse at lagopulse.com, including the app you can add to your Home Screen. They take effect on October 8, 2026. Please read them together with our Privacy Policy, which explains what we collect and why.

1. Who we are

Lago Pulse ("Lago Pulse", "we", "us", "our") is a free civic information app for Lago Vista, Jonestown and Point Venture, Texas. It is built, hosted and managed by Highfivery Studio.

Lago Pulse is independent. It is not operated by, endorsed by or affiliated with the City of Lago Vista, the City of Jonestown, the Village of Point Venture, Travis County, Lago Vista ISD, LCRA, Pedernales Electric Cooperative or any other agency or organization whose public information it shows. No sponsor or donor can influence what we cover.

You can reach us any time at info@lagopulse.com.

2. Agreeing to these Terms

By using Lago Pulse you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use Lago Pulse.

  • You must be at least 13 years old to create an account, send a report, turn on alerts or send feedback. Lago Pulse is not directed to children under 13.
  • If you are under 18, please use Lago Pulse with the permission of a parent or guardian.
  • If you use Lago Pulse on behalf of a business or organization, you agree to these Terms for it as well.

3. Not an emergency service

Lago Pulse is not an emergency service. In an emergency, call 911.

Do not use reports, feedback, corrections or any other part of Lago Pulse to ask for emergency help, to report a crime in progress, or to contact police, fire, EMS, the city or any utility. Nobody watches Lago Pulse around the clock, and nothing you send through it reaches an emergency dispatcher or government agency.

Alerts can be delayed, filtered by your quiet hours, blocked by your device or never delivered. Always follow official instructions from the National Weather Service, Travis County, your city and other authorities, and keep an official alerting method (such as Wireless Emergency Alerts on your phone) turned on.

4. Information from other sources

Lago Pulse gathers public information from official and community sources and names the source on every block. These include, for example, LCRA Hydromet and the U.S. Geological Survey (lake levels and river gauges), the National Weather Service (forecasts and alerts), FEMA IPAWS (emergency alerts for Travis County), Pedernales Electric Cooperative (outages), the City of Austin and Travis County open-data feeds (fire and traffic incidents), Travis County (burn bans and maps), the City of Lago Vista and other local governments (meetings, agendas and news), the FBI Crime Data Explorer, the Texas Education Agency, the EPA and local news outlets. We also read recent posts from the public Facebook Pages of local institutions and from public-interest local community groups we belong to, to measure which topics people are talking about; the app shows only topic counts, never those posts (see the Privacy Policy). The current list of sources, with how fresh each one is, is on the Transparency page.

  • Information in Lago Pulse is for general information only. It can be late, incomplete or wrong, and a source can stop updating without notice.
  • Lake levels, boat ramp status, outages, weather, burn bans, road conditions, crime trends, school ratings and safety information are shown "as is" and may lag the official source. Check the original source before you make a decision that matters, such as boating, travel, burning or anything involving your safety, health or property.
  • Lago Pulse is not a source of legal, financial, medical, engineering or professional advice.
  • Each source's own terms apply to its data. Mentioning a source does not mean it endorses Lago Pulse.

5. AI-written summaries

Some summaries of local issues are written by an AI model from the public documents they cite, and are labelled as AI-written. They can contain mistakes or leave things out. The "Analyst" lens is labelled as AI opinion and is not a statement of fact. Rely on the cited documents, not the summary. The model and prompt version in use are listed on the Transparency page.

6. Accounts

You never need an account to browse Lago Pulse. An account lets you follow topics, save alert settings and keep your preferences across devices.

  • You sign in with a six-digit code we email to you. You may also set an optional password; a code always works too.
  • Give us an email address you control, and keep access to it secure. You are responsible for activity on your account. Tell us at info@lagopulse.com if you think someone else has used it.
  • One person per account. Do not create accounts in someone else's name or to get around a suspension.
  • You can delete your account at any time in Account settings. See the Privacy Policy for what happens to your information when you do.

7. Alerts

You can turn on push notifications ("alerts") on a device with or without an account, choose topics and set quiet hours. Emergency alerts come through during quiet hours. You can turn alerts off at any time in Lago Pulse or in your browser or device settings. Alerts are a convenience, not a guarantee; see section 3.

8. Reports and other things you send

You can send reports, feedback, corrections and source suggestions (together, "Submissions"). When you do, you agree that:

  • You send only what you saw or know yourself, about public places and public issues, and it is true to the best of your knowledge.
  • You do not name or identify private individuals, share anyone's contact details, accuse a named or identifiable person of a crime or wrongdoing, or include anything harassing, hateful, threatening, sexually explicit, defamatory, misleading or unlawful.
  • You do not include anyone else's personal information, and photos you attach do not show people's faces, license plates or house numbers where you can avoid it.
  • You have the right to share what you send, including any photo or screenshot.
  • You do not use Submissions for advertising, political campaigning, spam or to promote a business you are connected to without saying so.

9. Anonymous publishing and moderation

Lago Pulse publishes reports anonymously and does not build profiles of people.

  • We automatically remove names, email addresses and phone numbers from report text before anyone else sees it.
  • Every report goes to a moderation queue and is published only after it is reviewed. Moderators may edit a report to protect privacy or remove details, publish its location only at block level (or wider for sensitive reports), link it to a related issue, or decline to publish it. We do not have to publish any Submission, and we do not have to explain a decision.
  • Photos you attach are seen only by moderators and are not published.
  • Published reports show the redacted text, category, the role you picked (such as "Parent"), a block-level location and the date. They never show your name, email or account.
  • Moderation decisions are logged, and monthly moderation statistics are published on the Transparency page.

10. Your rights in what you send

You keep any rights you have in your Submissions. To run Lago Pulse, you give Highfivery Studio a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual and irrevocable license to host, store, review, redact, edit for privacy and length, publish, display and count your Submissions in Lago Pulse, in share images for published content, and in aggregate statistics (for example, "12 reports from 9 neighbors this week"). This license continues after you delete your account, for Submissions that were already published or counted. We will remove a published report that identifies you if you ask (see section 15).

Feedback and suggestions about Lago Pulse itself can be used to improve it without any obligation to you.

11. Acceptable use

When you use Lago Pulse, do not:

  • Break the law or help anyone else break it.
  • Try to identify, locate, track or profile anyone from published reports or other content, or combine Lago Pulse content with other data to do so.
  • Harass, threaten, impersonate or intimidate anyone, including moderators.
  • Interfere with, overload or disrupt Lago Pulse, get around rate limits or blocks, or probe or test it for vulnerabilities without our written permission (if you find a security problem, please tell us at info@lagopulse.com).
  • Try to reach data, accounts, moderation tools or systems that are not shown to you.
  • Scrape or copy Lago Pulse in bulk, or in a way that harms its operation, or use it to train or build a competing data set. Reasonable personal use and linking are fine.
  • Send spam, malware or automated Submissions.

12. Supporting Lago Pulse

Lago Pulse is free and has no ads. You can choose to support it with a one-time or monthly gift.

  • Gifts are voluntary and help cover hosting and data costs. They do not buy influence over coverage or moderation.
  • Lago Pulse and Highfivery Studio are not a charity, and gifts are not tax-deductible.
  • Payments are processed by Stripe on Stripe's secure checkout page, under Stripe's own terms. We never see or store your card number.
  • Monthly gifts renew each month until you cancel. You can change or cancel a monthly gift any time with "Manage or cancel a monthly gift" on the Support page, through Stripe, or by emailing info@lagopulse.com. Canceling stops future charges.
  • Gifts are generally non-refundable. If you were charged by mistake or something went wrong, email info@lagopulse.com within 30 days and we will make it right, including a refund where appropriate.
  • Supporter perks are limited to those described on the Support page and may change. Being listed on the supporters wall is optional and off unless you turn it on.

13. Our content and the app

Lago Pulse's design, code, text, graphics, 3D city, logos and the name "Lago Pulse" belong to Highfivery Studio or its licensors. We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable permission to use Lago Pulse for its intended purpose under these Terms. You may share links and screenshots of Lago Pulse for non-commercial purposes. Public data from third-party sources stays subject to its owners' terms.

14. Other websites and services

Lago Pulse links to other websites, documents, feeds, social media pages and public groups, including the Lago Pulse Community group on Facebook. We do not control those services and are not responsible for them. Their own terms and privacy policies apply when you use them.

Copyright. We respect intellectual property. If you believe content in Lago Pulse infringes your copyright, send a notice to our designated agent at info@lagopulse.com (subject: "DMCA notice") that includes:

  • your name, address, phone number and email address;
  • a description of the copyrighted work you believe was infringed;
  • the link or location of the material in Lago Pulse;
  • a statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law;
  • a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act for the owner; and
  • your physical or electronic signature.

We respond to valid notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512). We may remove or disable the material and, where we can, notify the person who submitted it, who may send a counter-notice. We may end access for people who repeatedly infringe.

Privacy and other takedown requests. If a published report, summary or other content identifies you or contains personal information about you, email info@lagopulse.com with the link or the report reference (it looks like LP-XXXXX). We review these requests promptly and remove content that identifies a private person.

16. Ending access

You can stop using Lago Pulse at any time and delete your account in Account settings. We may remove content, limit features or suspend or end access for a device or account that breaks these Terms or puts Lago Pulse or others at risk. We may also change, pause or stop Lago Pulse or any part of it at any time. Sections 10, 13 and 15 to 21 survive after your use ends.

17. Disclaimers

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Lago Pulse is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of accuracy, timeliness, availability, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not promise that Lago Pulse will be uninterrupted, secure or free of errors, that alerts will arrive, or that any information is complete or current. You use Lago Pulse and rely on its information at your own risk.

18. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Highfivery Studio and its owners, staff, moderators and service providers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, profits or goodwill, or for any loss or injury arising from your reliance on information in Lago Pulse, a missed or late alert, or content submitted by others, even if we were told such damages were possible. Our total liability for all claims relating to Lago Pulse is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose or US $50. Some laws do not allow these limits, so they apply to you only as far as the law allows.

19. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend and hold harmless Highfivery Studio and its owners, staff and moderators from claims, losses and reasonable costs (including attorneys' fees) that arise from your Submissions or your breaking these Terms or the law.

20. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas and applicable U.S. federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Before filing a claim, please email info@lagopulse.com and give us 30 days to try to resolve it informally. Any dispute that is not resolved will be brought only in the state or federal courts located in Travis County, Texas, and you and we consent to their jurisdiction and venue. You may also bring an individual claim in small claims court in Travis County if it qualifies.

21. Changes and general terms

We may update these Terms as Lago Pulse changes. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date above, and for significant changes we will show a notice in the app before they take effect. If you keep using Lago Pulse after a change takes effect, you accept the updated Terms.

These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between you and us about Lago Pulse. If any part of these Terms cannot be enforced, the rest stays in effect. If we do not enforce a part of these Terms right away, we can still enforce it later. You may not transfer these Terms; we may transfer them to anyone who takes over running Lago Pulse.

22. Contact

Highfivery Studio, operator of Lago Pulse. Email info@lagopulse.com.