Terms of Service & Legal Notice

Last updated: March 2026. This document outlines the terms and conditions governing the use of OpenGard. Please read it carefully before downloading, installing, or operating the software.

1. Acceptance of Terms

By downloading, installing, or using OpenGard, you agree to be bound by these terms. If you do not agree, do not use the software.

2. License Grant

OpenGard is proprietary software. Upon purchasing a license, you receive a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the software for the duration and scope specified in your license.

License files are generated for a specific domain and are not transferable. Tampering with license files will render them invalid and may result in license revocation.

3. Use Without License

OpenGard may be used without a license for a period of up to 3 months from the date the audit database is first created. When no valid license is set, the audit database is limited to 10 MB. Continued use without a valid license is not authorized.

To continue unrestricted evaluation, request a free evaluation license.

4. Restrictions

You may not:

• Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the software.
• Redistribute, sublicense, or share the software or license files with third parties.
• Remove or alter any proprietary notices or labels.
• Use the software in any manner that violates applicable laws.
• Attempt to replicate the software using AI or automated tools, including by using the proprietary software or official documentation as input.

5. Audit Coverage & Data Completeness

OpenGard is designed to capture audit data as comprehensively as possible in accordance with the policies configured by the customer. The system strives to achieve complete coverage of all database activity that falls within the scope of active policies.

However, certain circumstances may result in partial or temporary gaps in audit data, including but not limited to:

• Incorrect or incomplete policy configuration.
• Misconfiguration of the underlying database's native audit logging facilities.
• Server downtime, resource exhaustion, or infrastructure failures within the customer's on-premises environment.
• Network interruptions between collectors and monitored databases.
• Unexpected software errors or edge cases not yet addressed.

OpenGard will make reasonable efforts to detect and report such gaps where possible, but does not guarantee 100% audit completeness at all times. It is the customer's responsibility to monitor the health of collectors, review system alerts, and maintain proper infrastructure to support continuous audit operations.

6. Data Custody & Security Responsibility

OpenGard is an on-premises solution. All audit data, configuration, and credentials are stored locally on the customer's own infrastructure. OpenGard does not transmit, replicate, or expose data to any external service unless the customer has explicitly enabled the Query API and configured external access.

As the sole custodian of the data, the customer is responsible for:

• Properly configuring firewalls, network segmentation, and access controls around the OpenGard server.
• Securing all credentials used by collectors and database connections.
• Restricting physical and remote access to the host machine(s).
• Applying operating system and infrastructure security patches in a timely manner.
• Managing backups, disaster recovery, and data retention in accordance with organizational and regulatory requirements.

OpenGard and its authors shall not be held liable for data breaches, unauthorized access, or data loss resulting from inadequate security measures, credential leaks, misconfigured access controls, or any other factors within the customer's operational domain.

For more details on how OpenGard handles data internally, see the Privacy Policy.

7. Performance & Resource Usage

OpenGard collectors interact with monitored databases by querying native audit logs at configurable intervals. While the system is designed to be lightweight, the actual resource impact depends on factors such as the volume of database activity, the number of active policies, and the configured polling frequency.

To minimize any potential impact on production database performance, it is strongly recommended that:

• The OpenGard server and collectors be deployed on dedicated machines, separate from production database hosts.
• Pulling intervals be tuned appropriately for the workload and environment.
• System resource usage (CPU, memory, disk I/O) be monitored, especially during initial deployment and policy tuning.

OpenGard shall not be held liable for any degradation in database or application performance resulting from resource contention caused by co-locating the software with production workloads or from misconfigured collection intervals.

8. Support

Licensed customers receive email support as specified in their license tier. Evaluation users may access community resources and documentation but are not entitled to direct support.

9. Warranty Disclaimer

The software is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that the software will be error-free or uninterrupted.

10. Limitation of Liability

In no event shall the authors or contributors of OpenGard be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages arising out of or in connection with the use or inability to use the software, including but not limited to:

• Loss of data or audit records.
• Failure to detect or alert on a policy violation.
• Regulatory non-compliance resulting from incomplete audit coverage.
• Security incidents arising from the customer's infrastructure or configuration.
• Business interruption or financial loss of any kind.

11. Customer Obligations

By deploying and using OpenGard, the customer acknowledges and agrees that:

• They are solely responsible for the proper configuration, maintenance, and security of the OpenGard deployment.
• They will regularly review and test their policies and collector configurations to ensure alignment with their audit requirements.
• They will not rely on OpenGard as the sole mechanism for regulatory compliance without independent verification.
• They will keep the software reasonably up to date to benefit from bug fixes and improvements.

12. Changes to These Terms

These terms may be updated from time to time to reflect changes in the software, its capabilities, or applicable legal considerations. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. Continued use of the software after such changes constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

13. Contact

For questions regarding these terms of service or the legal notice, please contact your OpenGard support representative.