Persnickety Penguin

Terms of use

Effective October 20, 2026. The terms for using the Persnickety Penguin apps. Our Privacy Policy explains what happens to your data.

These Terms of Use govern your use of the Persnickety Penguin apps, Shop (Shopping List), Pack, Spots, Count it! and Stash, in the Android apps, in the browser and as installed web apps, and the website www.persnicketypenguin.com (together, the "Apps"). The Apps are made by Morgan Collective Group LLC, an Illinois limited liability company, doing business as Persnickety Penguin ("Persnickety Penguin", "we", "us"). By using the Apps you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Apps.

The short version. The full Terms control, but here is what matters most:

Effective Date: October 20, 2026 · www.persnicketypenguin.com · info@persnicketypenguin.com · Morgan Collective Group LLC · Chicago, Illinois

1. The Apps

We may add, change or remove features at any time. We will tell you in the App before we remove a feature you have paid for.

2. Eligibility and your accounts

2.1 Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use the Apps. If you are under 18, you may use the Apps only with the permission of a parent or guardian, who agrees to these Terms for you and is responsible for your use, including any purchase. You must use the Apps in line with the laws that apply to you.

2.2 Your Google account

Shop, Pack and Spots save and share your lists through your own Google account and Google Drive, and purchases in the Android apps go through your Google Play account. Those accounts are Google's, under Google's terms, and you are responsible for keeping them secure. We do not create accounts or hold passwords.

3. Free and Pro

3.1 What is free

Each App can be used without paying. Some limits apply to the free version, for example the number of lists in Shop or of templates and trips in Pack, as the App shows. Dark mode and color palettes are free.

3.2 Pro in Shop and Pack: one-time purchase

Shop Pro and Pack Pro are one-time purchases made in the Android app through Google Play. Each unlocks Pro in that App for the Google Play account that bought it, with no further charge. The price is shown in Google Play before you buy and includes any sales tax Google collects.

3.3 Pro in Spots: subscription

Spots Pro and Spots Pro Family are subscriptions, bought in the Android app through Google Play, monthly or yearly. Pro Family gives Pro to the owner and to up to 3 people on the owner's shared Spots list. When the App offers a free trial, the trial length is shown before you start.

Automatic renewal, stated plainly. The price and the billing period are shown in Google Play before you subscribe. If you start with a free trial, you are not charged during the trial, and the subscription converts to paid when the trial ends unless you cancel before then. After that it renews automatically at the end of each period, monthly or yearly, at the then-current price, and Google Play charges the payment method on your Google account until you cancel. You can cancel at any time in Google Play, under Payments and subscriptions, then Subscriptions. Cancelling stops the next renewal; Pro continues until the end of the period you have already paid for. Uninstalling the App does not cancel a subscription.

3.4 Refunds

Google Play handles refunds. Within 48 hours of a purchase you can request a refund directly from Google Play, for any reason. After 48 hours, refunds are at our discretion, except where the law requires one; write to info@persnicketypenguin.com with your order number. For a subscription, cancelling stops future charges but does not refund the current period. If a purchase is refunded, by Google or by us, Pro ends for that purchase. Where the law gives you a right to cancel a digital purchase, you agree, when you buy, that Pro is delivered immediately, and you acknowledge that this ends that right once Pro is unlocked, to the extent the law allows.

3.5 Price changes

We may change the price of Pro. A new price for a one-time purchase applies only to purchases made after the change. For subscriptions, Google Play tells you about a price increase before it applies to you, and gives you the chance to cancel, under its own rules.

3.6 Free Pro we give

We may give Pro free of charge, or as a test, to accounts we choose. Free Pro has no cash value, can end at any time, and does not entitle anyone else to it.

3.7 Google Play's terms

Purchases are also governed by the Google Play Terms of Service and Google's payment terms. Google is the seller of record for purchases in Google Play and handles payment, tax and billing. We are not responsible for errors or problems in Google's payment systems, but we will help where we can.

4. Your lists and your data

What you put in the Apps is yours. Your lists, notes, photos, places and counts are saved on your phone and, if you connect Google Drive, in files in your own Google Drive. We do not host your content and claim no rights in it. Because it is stored on your phone and in your Drive, its safety also depends on your phone, your Google account and Google Drive.

Keep your own copies of anything that matters. The Apps let you export your data (Pack exports CSV, Spots exports GeoJSON, Count it! exports a backup file), and your Drive files can be downloaded at any time. We are not responsible for data lost because a phone is lost, reset or replaced, browser storage is cleared, a Drive file is deleted or changed, or a shared list is edited by someone you shared it with.

5. Sharing lists

Shop, Pack and Spots let you share a list with other people by their email address, through Google Drive. You choose who you share with, and you are responsible for that choice and for what you put in a shared list.

Only share with people who agree to receive the list, and do not use sharing to send unwanted messages.

6. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

We may block a misuse of the Apps or our web helpers.

7. Services from others

The Apps rely on services from other companies, listed in our Privacy Policy. Each of those services has its own terms, and we are not responsible for them, for their availability, or for what they provide.

7.1 Google

Using Google sign-in, Google Drive and Google Play is subject to Google's Terms of Service (policies.google.com/terms) and Google's Privacy Policy (policies.google.com/privacy).

7.2 Google Maps (Spots)

Spots uses Google Maps features for Google search, nearby places, place details, ratings and the Google map. By using those features you agree to be bound by the Google Maps and Google Earth Additional Terms of Service (maps.google.com/help/terms_maps) and the Google Privacy Policy (policies.google.com/privacy).

7.3 OpenStreetMap and other map services (Spots)

The standard map, address search and travel times in Spots use OpenStreetMap data, © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License, and services built on it (Nominatim, Photon and Geoapify). Their availability can change.

8. Maps, places and travel times

Addresses, map positions, place details, ratings, descriptions, opening information, distances and travel times in Spots come from the services in Section 7. They are estimates and can be wrong, out of date, or missing. Travel times do not account for live traffic. Do not rely on Spots for navigation or safety, check important details with the place itself, and follow the road and local laws, not the App.

9. Our intellectual property

The Apps, their design, code, icons, names and logos, including the name Persnickety Penguin and the penguin mark, belong to Morgan Collective Group LLC. We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Apps for your own purposes in line with these Terms. Nothing in these Terms gives you any right to use our name, marks or designs.

10. Ideas and feedback

We like hearing what would make the Apps better. Any idea, suggestion or feedback you send us about the Apps is given voluntarily and is not confidential, and you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free right to use it for any purpose without any obligation to you, including to credit or pay you. Your lists stay yours under Section 4, always.

11. Disclaimers

THE APPS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

In plain terms: we do not promise that the Apps will always be available, that syncing or sharing will always work, that they will be free of errors, viruses or other harmful code, that defects will be corrected, that they will keep your data safe from loss, or that they will meet your needs. No advice or information you get from us, spoken or written, creates a warranty that is not stated in these Terms. We do not offer an uptime guarantee. Some jurisdictions do not allow some of these exclusions, so some may not apply to you.

12. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, PERSNICKETY PENGUIN AND MORGAN COLLECTIVE GROUP LLC, AND THEIR MEMBERS, MANAGERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS AND AGENTS, SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OPPORTUNITY, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE APPS OR THESE TERMS, HOWEVER CAUSED AND UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, EVEN IF WE WERE TOLD SUCH DAMAGES WERE POSSIBLE.

TO THE SAME EXTENT, OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE APPS OR THESE TERMS, TAKEN TOGETHER, SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR THE APPS IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS ($100).

These limits do not apply to liability that cannot be limited by law, and they do not limit our obligations under Section 13. Some jurisdictions do not allow some of these limits, so some may not apply to you.

13. Privacy and data

13.1 Privacy Policy

Your use of the Apps is also governed by our Privacy Policy, at www.persnicketypenguin.com/privacy.html.

13.2 The Data Covenant

Persnickety Penguin will never sell, rent, trade, or license your personal data to any third party, and will never use your personal data to show you advertising. This commitment is a binding term of the agreement between you and us, not a statement of current practice or marketing intent. Passing data to the services that run the Apps on our behalf, listed in the Privacy Policy, only to provide the features you use, is not a sale and is the only sharing we do.

13.3 If we stop

If we stop offering an App, we will tell you in the App or on the website at least 30 days before, where we can. Your lists stay on your phone and in your Google Drive, and the App's export lets you keep a copy. Any personal data we hold is deleted within 90 days, except records the law requires us to keep, such as Google Play order records, which are kept only for their legally required period and used for no other purpose.

13.4 Change of control

If Persnickety Penguin or the Apps are acquired, merged, or sold, any personal data we hold may transfer only to a successor that agrees in writing to be bound by this Section 13 in full. We will give at least 30 days' notice in the Apps or on the website before any such transfer takes effect. Personal data will never be sold or transferred as a standalone asset.

14. Indemnification

If we get sued or face a claim because of something you did or failed to do, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Persnickety Penguin, Morgan Collective Group LLC, and their members, managers, officers, employees, contractors and agents from any claim, demand, loss, liability, damage, cost or expense, including reasonable attorneys' fees, brought by a third party and arising out of: your breach of these Terms; content you put in a shared list; or your violation of any law or of anyone's rights. We may take over the defense of any matter we would otherwise be indemnified for, at our expense, and you agree to cooperate; you may not settle a matter that involves us without our written consent. This Section does not require you to indemnify us for our own negligence or misconduct.

15. Ending

You can stop using the Apps at any time: uninstall them, disconnect Google Drive, and cancel any subscription in Google Play. We may block or end your use of the Apps, or of Pro, if you break these Terms, misuse a purchase or refund, or where the law requires; where practical we will tell you why. Sections 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18 and 22 survive.

16. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, without regard to its conflict of law rules, and the Federal Arbitration Act governs Section 17. Any dispute not subject to arbitration under Section 17 shall be brought only in the state or federal courts located in Cook County, Illinois, and you and we each consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts. The one exception: a qualifying small claims action may be brought in the county where you live. Nothing in this Section takes away rights you have as a consumer under the mandatory laws of the place where you live.

17. Dispute resolution with us: arbitration and class action waiver

Please read this Section carefully. It affects your rights. It applies to any dispute between you and Persnickety Penguin or Morgan Collective Group LLC arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Apps, except as stated in Section 17.3.

17.1 Talk to us first

If you have a problem with us, tell us, and we will try in good faith to work it out. Before starting an arbitration or any court case, the party with a claim must send the other an individualized written notice describing the claim and the outcome sought. Send yours to info@persnicketypenguin.com with the subject "Notice of dispute", your name and the email address of the Google account you use with the Apps, or by mail to the address in Section 20; we will reply to the email address you write from. The parties then have 30 days to try to resolve the matter informally, and neither may file during that time. If it is not resolved within 30 days, either party may proceed under this Section.

17.2 Binding individual arbitration

Any dispute not resolved informally will be settled by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect, as modified by this Section. The rules are at adr.org. There will be one arbitrator. The arbitrator's decision is final and binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court with jurisdiction. The arbitrator may award the same relief a court could award to you individually, and must follow these Terms as a court would. The seat of arbitration is Chicago, Illinois. Hearings will be held by videoconference unless the arbitrator decides an in-person hearing is needed, in which case it will take place in Cook County, Illinois, or in the county where you live if you prefer, unless you and we agree otherwise. Arbitration fees are governed by the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules; if those rules require us to pay fees beyond your filing fee, we will. The arbitrator, not a court, decides whether a dispute must be arbitrated, except that a court decides whether the class waiver in Section 17.5 is enforceable.

17.3 What this Section does not cover

Either party may bring an individual claim in small claims court if it qualifies there. Either party may seek an injunction or other urgent relief from a court to stop infringement or misuse of intellectual property, or unauthorized access to or misuse of the Apps. Nothing in this Section prevents you from raising a concern with a government agency.

17.4 Your right to opt out

You can reject this arbitration agreement without losing anything else in these Terms. To do so, email info@persnicketypenguin.com with the subject "Arbitration opt-out", your name, the email address of the Google account you use with the Apps, and a clear statement that you are opting out, within 30 days after you first use the Apps under these Terms. Later updates to these Terms do not restart this window, except that Section 17.7 lets you reject a change to this Section. If you opt out, disputes will be resolved in the courts named in Section 16.

17.5 Class action waiver

YOU AND PERSNICKETY PENGUIN AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims or preside over any form of class or representative proceeding. If a court finds this waiver unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim alone will proceed in court under Section 16, not in class arbitration, and the rest of this Section still applies to every other claim.

17.6 Coordinated filings

If 25 or more arbitration demands raising similar claims are filed against us by or with the help of the same or coordinated lawyers within 90 days, the AAA will administer them in batches of up to 25, each batch with one arbitrator and one set of fees, and the parties will cooperate to select arbitrators and to resolve the batches efficiently.

17.7 Changes and survival

If we change this Section after you accept it, you may reject the change by opting out under Section 17.4 within 30 days of the change taking effect, and the version you accepted will continue to apply. If any part of this Section other than Section 17.5 is found unenforceable, the rest remains in force. This Section survives after you stop using the Apps.

18. Time limit on claims

To the extent the law allows, any claim you have against Persnickety Penguin or Morgan Collective Group LLC arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Apps must be started, in arbitration or in court, within one year after the claim arose, or it is permanently barred.

19. Changes to these Terms

When we make a material change, we will say so in the Apps or on the website at least 14 days before it takes effect, and update the effective date at the top. Changes that reduce the protections in Section 13 need at least 30 days' notice and do not apply to data collected before the change takes effect. Earlier versions are available on request. If you do not agree to a change, stop using the Apps before it takes effect; using them after the effective date means you accept the new version.

20. Notices and contact

20.1 How to reach us

Persnickety Penguin · Morgan Collective Group LLC · 201 W Lake St STE 40769, Chicago, IL 60606-1803 · info@persnicketypenguin.com · www.persnicketypenguin.com

20.2 Formal notices

A legal notice to us, including a notice of dispute under Section 17.1, must be sent by email to info@persnicketypenguin.com with the subject "Legal notice", or by mail to Morgan Collective Group LLC, care of its registered agent on file with the Illinois Secretary of State. We will send legal notices to you at the email address you have written to us from, or post them in the Apps or on the website. Email notice counts as given 24 hours after it is sent; mailed notice three days after mailing.

20.3 Illinois and California residents

If you live in Illinois or California, you may ask us by email at info@persnicketypenguin.com for the name, address and contact details of the operator of the Apps and we will provide them. California residents may also contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs in writing at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, CA 95834, or by telephone at (800) 952-5210.

21. Apps from Google Play

If you got an App from Google Play, the Google Play Terms of Service also apply to your use of it. If they conflict with these Terms on how you get, install or pay for the App, Google Play's terms control on that point. Google is not responsible for the Apps or for support.

22. General terms