These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the "IsTheCrossingDown?" mobile applications for iOS and Android and the associated website at isthecrossingdown.uk (together, the "Service"). The Service is operated by Christian French ("we", "us", "our").
By downloading, installing, or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
1. The Service
The Service provides status information, timetables, and notifications relating to railway level crossings in England, Scotland, and Wales, sourced from third-party rail data providers. Features include monitoring of specific crossings, push notifications, home-screen widgets, and an optional in-app reward currency ("Tickets") earned via rewarded video ads — see Section 2.
Important safety notice
The Service is provided for general information only and is not a safety device. This application must not be used to determine if it is safe to cross railway tracks. Crossing status, timetable, and timing information may be delayed, incomplete, or inaccurate, and must never be used as a substitute for warning lights, barriers, alarms, signage, or any other physical safety measures at a level crossing. Always obey signals, barriers, and staff instructions at the crossing itself, and never rely on the Service to decide whether it is safe to cross. You use the Service entirely at your own risk.
2. Tickets (In-App Rewards)
The Service includes an optional virtual reward currency, "Tickets", which you may earn by watching optional rewarded video advertisements or by completing other reward actions we make available within the app. Tickets can be spent to unlock certain in-app functionality, such as registering additional level crossings for notifications.
- Tickets have no monetary value and cannot be purchased with real money, exchanged for cash, or redeemed for any other currency.
- Tickets are non-transferable: they are tied to the random, anonymised identifier (GUID) assigned to your app installation (see Section 3), and may not be sold, traded, gifted, or transferred to another person, installation, or device.
- Tickets may only be spent on functionality we make available within the Service from time to time.
- We may change how Tickets are earned, the number of Tickets required for any feature, or discontinue Tickets entirely, at any time and without notice.
- If you delete the app installation (uninstall), delete your data, or leave an installation inactive for 60 days (see Section 3), your Tickets are permanently lost. A reinstalled or reset app is treated as a new installation with a new GUID and does not carry over any previous Tickets balance.
- We may reset, adjust, or revoke Tickets at our discretion where we suspect fraud, abuse, or technical error.
3. No account required
The Service does not require you to register an account or provide a name, email address, or password. On install, the app generates a random, anonymised identifier (GUID) for that installation, used to associate your monitored crossings, notification preferences, push tokens, and Tickets balance with the app instance, as described in our Privacy Policy.
What is a registration?
Registering means creating a record on our servers, tied to your installation's GUID, that stores the level crossings you choose to monitor, your notification preferences, your push token, and your Tickets balance, so that we can send you crossing alerts. No personal details are required to register.
Inactivity and data deletion
If an app installation is not opened for 60 consecutive days, we automatically and permanently delete all server-side data associated with that installation, including registered crossings, notification preferences, push token, and Tickets balance (see Section 2). The next time the app is opened after this, the installation is treated as unregistered, and you will need to register again before you can monitor crossings or receive notifications.
- You must be able to form a binding contract to use the Service. If you are under 16, you may only use the Service with the involvement of a parent or guardian.
- You are responsible for activity that occurs through your device and app instance.
- Uninstalling the app discards that installation's GUID; reinstalling generates a new, unrelated one. You may also request deletion of associated server-side data at any time — see Delete Your Data — or by contacting us.
- We may suspend or block access to the Service from a given installation identifier where we believe it is being used in breach of these Terms.
4. Acceptable use
When using the Service, you agree not to:
- use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in a way that violates any applicable local, national, or international law;
- attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Service, other users' devices or data, or the systems and networks connected to the Service;
- interfere with or disrupt the Service, including by introducing malware, or by scraping, reverse-engineering, or excessively automating requests to our API;
- circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the Service, including consent, ad-serving, or Tickets-earning mechanisms;
- impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;
- use the Service to harass, abuse, or harm another person.
We reserve the right to investigate suspected violations and to suspend or terminate access to the Service, with or without notice, for conduct we believe violates these Terms or is harmful to other users, us, or third parties.
5. Intellectual property
The Service, including its software, design, graphics, logos, and the "IsTheCrossingDown?" name and branding, is owned by us or our licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Except as expressly permitted by these Terms, you may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the Service, or reverse-engineer or attempt to extract the source code of our apps, unless applicable law permits this despite the restriction.
Third-party rail data displayed in the Service remains the property of the relevant data provider(s) and is used under licence or permitted terms. We do not claim ownership of that underlying rail data.
If you believe content available through the Service infringes your intellectual property rights, contact us at isthecrossingdown@gmail.com with details of the material and your rights.
6. Third-party services
The Service uses third-party providers to operate, including but not limited to:
- Firebase (Google) for push notifications, crash reporting, and remote configuration;
- Google AdMob and Google User Messaging Platform for advertising, including rewarded ads used to earn Tickets, and for collecting consent to personalised advertising where required;
- Rail data and journey information providers powering crossing status and timetable features.
Your use of features backed by these providers is also subject to their own terms and privacy practices. We are not responsible for the content, accuracy, or availability of third-party services, and their inclusion does not imply endorsement.
7. Permissions and device data
The apps may request permissions such as push notifications and location access to provide features like nearby-crossing search and crossing alerts. Location data is processed on-device only and is not transmitted to, stored on, or processed by our servers. You can decline or later change any permission in your device settings; some features may not function correctly without them. See our Privacy Policy for details on what data we collect and why.
8. Disclaimer of warranties
The Service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and accuracy. We do not warrant that:
- the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free;
- crossing status, timetable, or notification data will be accurate, complete, or delivered without delay;
- any defects will be corrected.
Nothing in this section limits or excludes any liability which cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.
9. Limitation of liability
The Service is provided to you free of charge. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of data, profits, or revenue, arising out of or relating to your use of, or inability to use, the Service, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
Because the Service is free, our total liability to you for any claim arising out of or relating to the Service is limited to £0.
This section does not affect your statutory rights as a consumer, and nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability where it would be unlawful to do so, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.
10. Termination
We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without cause or notice, including where we believe you have breached these Terms. You may stop using the Service and uninstall the app at any time. Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including Intellectual Property, Disclaimers, Limitation of Liability, and Governing Law) will continue to apply.
We may also modify, suspend, or discontinue the Service (or any part of it), temporarily or permanently, at any time without liability to you.
11. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will take reasonable steps to notify you, such as an in-app notice or an updated "Effective date" above. Continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.
12. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. The courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service, except that if you are a consumer resident in Scotland or Northern Ireland, mandatory local consumer protection laws may also entitle you to bring proceedings in your local courts.
If you have a complaint or dispute, please contact us first at isthecrossingdown@gmail.com so we can try to resolve it informally before any formal proceedings.
13. Privacy
Our collection and use of personal information in connection with the Service is described in our Privacy Policy. By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information as set out there.
14. General
- Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full effect.
- No waiver. Our failure to enforce any right or provision is not a waiver of that right or provision.
- Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service.
- Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
15. Contact
Questions about these Terms can be sent to isthecrossingdown@gmail.com or via isthecrossingdown.uk.