Terms of Service
These terms govern your use of LOX, an encrypted personal vault provided by birch ave. By installing the app or creating a vault, you agree to these terms.
1. Provider
LOX is operated by birch ave. Full contact and provider details are available in the Impressum. For matters relating to this service, you can reach us at andel@birch-ave.com.
2. The service
LOX is a native application for Android and Windows that stores your documents in encrypted vaults on your device. It provides unlimited local vaults and unlimited documents, and includes optional cloud backup, cross-device synchronisation, and vault sharing — all of which run on a cloud storage account you connect yourself. The app is distributed exclusively through Google Play and the Microsoft Store; how you acquire it, and any refund or licence conditions attached to that acquisition, are governed by the terms of the store you obtain it from.
3. No account, no recovery by us
LOX does not require an account. The encryption key for your vault is derived on your device from your passphrase, which is the only way into that vault. An optional quick-unlock PIN is a convenience on one device only; it is stored on that device, never synchronised, and does not replace the passphrase. We cannot reset or recover your passphrase. If you forget it, your vault and its contents cannot be recovered — not by you, and not by us. This is by design and is a security property of the service, not a defect. Keep your passphrase somewhere safe, such as a password manager, and keep backups of any vault you cannot afford to lose.
4. Acceptable use
You are responsible for the content you store in your vaults. You agree not to use LOX to store, share, or transmit content that is unlawful under applicable law — in particular content that infringes third-party rights or that is criminal in nature. You agree not to misuse the sharing feature to harass others or to distribute infringing material.
5. Sharing a vault
When you share a vault with another person, you grant the recipient access to the documents in that vault under the access level you select (view or edit). You are responsible for whom you share with and for revoking access when it is no longer appropriate. Because shared vaults are exchanged as encrypted copies with their own passphrase, your own passphrase is never exposed to the recipient.
6. Cloud backup on your own storage
Cloud backup and synchronisation are opt-in per vault and run on a storage account you connect yourself (Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive). We provide no storage and operate no backend: the transfer happens directly between the app and your provider, under the contract you hold with them. Their availability, quotas, and terms are therefore outside our control. Vaults you do not opt in never leave your device.
7. No warranty
LOX is provided “as is”. We do not warrant that the app, or the third-party app stores and cloud storage services it relies on, will be available without interruption or free of errors. We strongly recommend that you store your passphrase in a safe place and keep independent backups of any documents you cannot afford to lose.
8. Continuity if we discontinue the service
Because LOX is an installed application with local-first storage and no backend of ours to switch off, discontinuing it would not disable the copy on your device: the app and the documents inside your local vaults keep working offline for as long as your operating system runs them. You can also export your documents out of the app at any time, so your data is never held hostage by it.
9. Limitation of liability
To the extent permitted by German law, our liability for damages arising from the use of LOX is limited to cases of intent and gross negligence. Liability for damages arising from injury to life, body, or health, and mandatory liability under the German Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz), remain unaffected.
10. Changes to these terms
We may need to update these terms as the service evolves or as legal requirements change. We will post any updated version on this page with a new “last updated” date. Material changes will be communicated on the landing page.
11. Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding its conflict-of-laws provisions. Mandatory consumer protection rights of the country in which you have your habitual residence remain unaffected.
12. Contact
For questions about these terms, write to andel@birch-ave.com.
13. Validity
Last updated: August 2026.