Terms of Service

Last updated: 2026-05-23

1. Acceptance

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a binding agreement between you, the business or sole proprietor opening a Barq account (“Customer”, “you”), and Hashem Abu Alteen, an Israeli registered sole proprietor (Osek Patur) operating the Barq service (“Barq”, “we”). By creating a Barq account or connecting a messaging channel through Barq, you accept these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

2. The Service

Barq is an AI-powered messaging assistant for small businesses. We process inbound messages on the channels you connect (WhatsApp Business Platform, Facebook Messenger, Instagram), generate replies using a third-party AI provider on Barq's instructions, and deliver those replies through Meta's APIs from your own connected account. Barq is a Verified WhatsApp Business Platform Tech Provider.

3. Eligibility and your account

You must be at least eighteen (18) years old and authorised to bind the business you represent. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity under your account. You must promptly notify us of any suspected unauthorised access.

4. Acceptable use

• You will comply with Meta's WhatsApp Business Solution Terms, WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy, Messenger Platform terms, Instagram Platform Policy, and Meta Platform Terms. Violations may cause Meta to restrict your account independently of Barq.
• You will comply with applicable law, including the Israeli Communications Law §30A (anti-spam / חוק הספאם) and equivalent rules in other jurisdictions where you operate.
• You will not use Barq to send spam, deceptive content, harassment, content that violates anyone's rights, or content that breaches Google's prohibited-use policies on the AI processing path.
• You will not reverse-engineer, scrape, or attempt to extract Barq's software or models, or use the Service to build a competing service.
• You are responsible for the content of messages your business sends, including replies that Barq's AI generates from your configuration. You retain the in-dashboard pause and human-takeover controls and remain the sender of record on every channel.

5. AI-generated content

AI-generated responses may be inaccurate, incomplete, or inappropriate. You acknowledge that you supervise the AI through your dashboard and that you can pause or override any conversation at any time. The Service is provided “as is”. Barq makes no warranty as to the accuracy, suitability, or merchantability of AI output for your business or your customers' purposes.

6. Plans, billing, and trial

Barq is offered on a free tier and on paid plans with monthly and annual billing cycles. Plan limits are described in your dashboard and on /pricing. Where Israeli VAT applies to a future paid plan, prices are stated inclusive of VAT. Barq issues a Hebrew receipt (קבלה) for every payment, consistent with Osek Patur obligations. We may change pricing on thirty (30) days' notice; any change takes effect at the start of your next billing cycle. Meta's per-message and conversation-based fees are billed by Meta directly to your business; Barq does not bill them on Meta's behalf.

7. Roles and responsibilities (controller / processor)

For personal data about your end customers that is processed through the Service, you are the owner of the database and the controlling party (בעל המאגר / בעל השליטה) under Israeli privacy law, and Barq is the holder and processor (מחזיק / מעבד) acting on your instructions and solely for the purpose of providing the Service. You are responsible for:

• collecting and processing end-customer data on a lawful basis;
• giving your end customers the notice and (where required) obtaining the consent needed for processing those messages through Barq and for cross-border transfer to Barq's sub-processors;
• authorising Barq's sub-processors (including the AI provider) as listed at /sub-processors, and accepting the Reg-2(4) and Reg-3 transfer mechanisms described in the Privacy Policy §8;
• responding to your end customers' access, correction, and deletion requests, with Barq's cooperation through the data-subject-rights tooling we provide.

Barq disclosure text and on-message labels that you choose to ship satisfy your notice obligation in respect of the AI-processing fact of the Service; you remain responsible for the rest of the notice you give your end customers.

8. Sub-processors

The current sub-processor list — provider, purpose, region, transfer mechanism, last-updated date — is published at /sub-processors. Barq will give reasonable advance notice (by updating the page and notifying active customers by email) before adding a new sub-processor that processes Customer Personal Data. You may object to a new sub-processor by terminating the Service within thirty (30) days of the notice; in that case, Section 11 (Termination) applies.

9. Data deletion and data-subject rights

See our Data Deletion page for the process. Barq will cooperate with your end customers' data-subject rights requests routed through you, and provides a direct path for end customers who cannot reach you.

10. Confidentiality

Barq treats Customer Personal Data and the content of your conversations as confidential and uses it only to operate the Service or as required by law. Barq binds its personnel and its sub-processors to confidentiality obligations no less protective than these Terms.

11. Termination

You may close your account at any time through the dashboard or by writing to support@heybarq.com. Barq may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or Meta's policies, that present a security or platform-integrity risk, or that remain unpaid after written notice. Data retention after closure is described in the Privacy Policy §5.

12. Warranties and indemnity

You warrant that you have a lawful basis to process the end-customer data sent through the Service and that you have provided your end customers with the notice and obtained the consent that applicable law requires. You will indemnify Barq against third-party claims arising from your breach of this warranty or from the content you (or AI replies you have approved through your configuration) send through the Service. This indemnity does not extend to a claim that arises from Barq's breach of its own holder duties under Section 14 (Integrity).

13. Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Barq's total aggregate liability arising out of or related to these Terms or the Service, for any cause of action, is capped at the fees you paid Barq in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim. Barq is not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost revenue, lost goodwill, or substitute service costs.

14. Integrity

Nothing in these Terms relieves Barq of its own holder and processor obligations under the Israeli Protection of Privacy Law and the Privacy Protection (Data Security) Regulations, 5777-2017, or of its obligations directly owed to Meta under the WhatsApp Business Solution Terms and Meta Platform Terms.

15. Changes

Barq may update these Terms. Material changes will be notified by email to active customers at least thirty (30) days before they take effect. Continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

16. Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Israel, excluding its conflict-of-laws principles. The competent courts of Jerusalem have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms.

17. Language

The English version of these Terms is the governing version. Translations are provided for convenience; in the event of a discrepancy, the English version prevails.

18. Contact

Questions about these Terms: support@heybarq.com. Privacy-specific: privacy@heybarq.com. Operating entity: Hashem Abu Alteen (Osek Patur, Israel).