Terms of Service
These terms govern your use of LOX, an encrypted personal vault provided by birch ave. By creating a vault or using the LOX web app, 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 progressive web app that stores your documents in encrypted vaults on your device. The free tier provides unlimited local vaults and unlimited documents. The optional Sync & Share add-on enables cross-device synchronisation and the ability to share a vault with another person; it is sold as a separate subscription.
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 passkey or passphrase, and the 12-word recovery phrase you receive at setup is the only way back into a vault if you lose your device. We cannot reset or recover the recovery phrase. If you lose both your device and your recovery phrase, 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.
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 personal passkey is never exposed to the recipient.
6. Sync & Share subscription
The Sync & Share add-on is billed by our payment processor, Stripe. The subscription renews automatically until cancelled and can be cancelled at any time from the app. After cancellation your local vault keeps working in its free-tier form; only the cloud sync and sharing features stop. Statutory refund and withdrawal rights under applicable consumer law remain unaffected.
7. No warranty
LOX is provided “as is”. We do not warrant that the PWA host, the Sync & Share backend, or any third-party services we rely on will be available without interruption or free of errors. We strongly recommend that you store your recovery phrase 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 a progressive web app with local-first storage, if we ever discontinue the service the application installed on your device and the documents inside your local vaults will continue to work offline. The 12-word recovery phrase follows an open standard, so it is not tied to LOX; you can use it to restore your vault elsewhere.
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: May 2026.