Terms of Use

1. What GoodWord is

GoodWord is a service run by GoodWord Technologies Private Limited. A candidate asks people they have worked with for a reference. Each referee answers in their own words. GoodWord gathers the answers into one report that the candidate can share with recruiters and employers.

Candidates can be working professionals or students in their final year of college. Colleges can work with GoodWord so that their placement cell can follow their students' progress.

These terms apply to everyone who uses the GoodWord app: candidates, referees, people who open a report and placement cell members. By using GoodWord you agree to them and to our Privacy Policy.

2. Who can use it

• You must be 18 or older.
• The information you give us must be true and your own.
• A candidate may hold one account. Keep your sign-in details to yourself. You are responsible for what happens in your account.

3. If you are a candidate

Your report is only worth something if the references in it are real. When you ask someone for a reference through GoodWord, you confirm that:

• They genuinely worked with you or directly saw your work.
• You have told them you are giving us their name and email address and they are happy to be asked.
• The reference will be written by them. You will not write it, dictate it, pay for it or submit it yourself from their email address.
• You understand that you cannot edit what they write.
• You understand that GoodWord records signals that help confirm a reference is genuine.

If our email does not reach a referee at a work address, GoodWord may let you share their link with them yourself, for example on WhatsApp. Send it only to that referee. A reference answered this way is marked as such on your report, and we email the referee to confirm they wrote it.

If a reference from a link you shared came from your own device, or the referee tells us they did not write it, we remove it and your report notes that a reference was removed after a check. You can ask us to review a removal. Repeated or deliberate misuse can lead to your report being revoked.

You can remove a reference you would prefer not to include. To keep reports honest, the number of removals on a report is limited and the app shows the limit.

A report unlocks once enough of your referees have responded. The app shows how many are needed and how often a report can be updated.

4. If you are a student

• If your college works with GoodWord and gives its students a college email, sign in with that address. It is how we know you study there.
• At least one of your references must come from someone who managed or mentored you during an internship.
• If your college works with GoodWord, its placement cell sees your progress, never what anyone wrote. You can stop this at any time from Data and Privacy.
• College email addresses often stop working after graduation. Before yours does, write to hello@goodword.tech and we will move your account to a personal email, so that you keep your report.

5. If you are a referee

• Write honestly, in your own words, about work you saw first hand.
• You are free to decline. Declining is not shown on the candidate's report.
• You can withdraw a reference after submitting it, using the link we give you.
• If the candidate sent you the link themselves, we email you afterwards to confirm it was you. If a reference was sent in your name and you did not write it, tell us from that email and we remove it.
• Recruiters see you by your role, such as Direct Manager, and not by name, unless you choose to be named.

The candidate will read your reference and will know it is from you. Your reference is anonymous to recruiters, not to the candidate. Please write with that in mind.

6. If you open someone's report

• Confirm your own work email address. Do not use someone else's.
• Use the report only to consider the candidate for a role or an opportunity.
• Do not copy reports into a database, scrape them or pass them to anyone who is not involved in that decision.
• Do not try to identify or contact a referee. If you want to speak to one, ask the candidate.
• The candidate will see your name and company. They will not see your email address.

7. If you work in a college placement cell

• Use the dashboard only to support your college's students with placements.
• Keep the list and any download within your placement cell, and delete downloads you no longer need.
• Do not pressure a student who has stopped sharing to start again. It is their choice.
• Your access ends when your college asks us to remove it, and we may remove it if these terms are not followed.

8. What a report is, and what it is not

• A report records what referees said about a candidate. These are their views and not GoodWord's.
• The summary at the top is drafted with the help of an AI model from the referees' answers. A report never contains a rating or a score.
• We check that each reference came from the email address the candidate gave us, or, when the candidate shared the link, we email that address to confirm. We also look for signs of misuse. We do not check identity documents, employment records or qualifications.
• A report is not a background check, a guarantee or a recommendation to hire. Any hiring decision belongs to the employer.

9. Validity and removal of reports

A report is valid for 12 months from the day it goes live. After that it shows as expired.

We may suspend or revoke a report, or close an account, if we find a fake or misleading reference, misuse of the service or a breach of these terms. A revoked report shows as revoked to anyone who checks it.

10. Prices and payment

• Founding members get their report free, as shown in the app.
• Where a price applies, you will see it before you pay. Payments are handled by our payment partner.
• Refunds, where they apply, follow the terms shown at checkout.
• Referral rewards follow the rules shown in the app when you earn them.

11. Acceptable use

You must not:

• Use GoodWord to break the law or to harm, harass or defame anyone.
• Impersonate another person or submit a reference in someone else's name.
• Try to get into accounts, reports or data that are not yours.
• Scrape, copy in bulk or interfere with the service.
• Use GoodWord to gather data about people for any purpose other than hiring.

12. Your content and ours

What you write stays yours. By submitting it you allow GoodWord to store it and show it as part of the candidate's report to the people that candidate shares it with, in the ways described in the Privacy Policy.

The GoodWord name, wordmark, design and software belong to us. Please do not copy or reuse them without our written permission.

13. What we are responsible for

We work to keep GoodWord accurate and available, but it is provided as it is. We do not promise that it will be free of errors or interruptions. We do not promise that a report will lead to an interview or a job.

We are not responsible for what a referee writes, for what a candidate tells us about a referee or for decisions that others make using a report.

To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss. Our total liability to you is limited to the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim arose.

Nothing in these terms limits any right you have under law that cannot be limited.

14. Law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of India. The courts at Mumbai, Maharashtra have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute.

15. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as GoodWord develops. The current version is always on this page with its date. If a change is significant, we will tell you by email before it takes effect.

16. Contact

Questions about GoodWord or these terms: hello@goodword.tech.

Data requests and complaints: Amulya Nidhi, Grievance Officer, grievance@goodword.tech.