Terms of Service

1. Introduction

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of Strategic CSS (the "Site," "we," "us," "our"), including the website, its portal, and all tools and features offered, such as the AI Essay Grader, Answer Checker, Age Calculator, Past Papers, Articles, Forum, mock system, syllabus tracker, and any other current or future feature (collectively, the "Services").

Strategic CSS is an independent educational resource created to help CSS (Central Superior Services) exam aspirants organize their preparation and get feedback on their practice work. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) or any government body.

2. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing, browsing, registering on, or using Strategic CSS in any way, you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with these Terms, please do not use the Services.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years of age to create an account or use the Services. By using Strategic CSS, you represent and warrant that you meet this age requirement. If we become aware that an account belongs to someone under 18, we reserve the right to suspend or delete that account.

4. About the Operator

Strategic CSS is currently operated by an individual and is not registered as a formal company, business entity, or organization. It is offered as an educational resource for CSS aspirants, similar to other independently run exam-prep websites. The Services are currently free to use; the operator may generate revenue in the future through advertising (e.g., Google AdSense) and/or optional paid ("freemium") features, as described elsewhere in these Terms.

This does not affect the validity or enforceability of these Terms. References in this document to "we," "us," or "the operator" refer to the individual(s) responsible for creating and maintaining Strategic CSS.

5. Description of Services

Strategic CSS currently offers, or plans to offer, the following features:

Home, Articles, CSS FAQs, Past Papers — informational and reference content for exam preparation
Forum — a community discussion space for aspirants
AI Essay Grader — automated essay feedback powered by a third-party AI model (Google Gemini API)
Answer Checker — automated answer feedback powered by the same AI model
Age Calculator — a simple utility tool
Portal features — including a mock test/mock paper submission system, syllabus tracker, and study streak tracking
Embedded video content — videos embedded from YouTube for educational reference
Admin-managed content and moderation

The Services are currently provided free of charge. We may introduce a freemium model in the future, where certain features remain free and others require a paid subscription or one-time payment. We will update these Terms accordingly if and when paid features are introduced.

6. Accounts & Authentication

To access certain features (such as the portal, mock system, or forum), you may need to create an account. Account login is handled through Firebase Authentication, and may include email/password login and/or Google Sign-In.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity under your account.
You must provide accurate information when creating an account.
We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, provide false information, or are used for any prohibited purpose.

7. User Content & Submissions

"User Content" includes any essay, answer, mock paper, document, PDF, image, forum post, or other material you submit or upload through the Services.

You retain ownership of your User Content.
By submitting User Content, you grant Strategic CSS a limited, non-exclusive license to store, process, transmit, and display that content solely for the purpose of operating the Services — including sending it to Cloudinary (for storage/hosting of files) and to the Google Gemini API (for AI-based evaluation).
Content you upload for storage or evaluation is held in our Cloudinary account. You may request deletion of stored files by contacting us; we will remove eligible content from Cloudinary within a reasonable period, subject to technical and legal limitations.
You agree not to submit User Content that is unlawful, plagiarized from another identifiable individual without permission, defamatory, or that infringes someone else's rights.
Do not submit sensitive personal information (ID numbers, financial data, medical information, etc.) within any User Content.

8. AI-Generated Feedback Disclaimer

The AI Essay Grader and Answer Checker use an automated third-party AI model (Google Gemini API) to generate feedback, scores, or suggestions. Please read the following carefully:

Educational purposes only. AI feedback is intended solely to support self-practice and learning.
Not official FPSC marking. AI-generated scores and feedback do not represent, replicate, or guarantee actual FPSC marking, evaluation standards, or exam outcomes in any way.
No guarantee of accuracy. AI feedback may be incomplete, inaccurate, biased, or inconsistent, and should not be treated as authoritative or final.
Currently free-tier Gemini API. Submissions are processed under Google's applicable terms for the Gemini API free tier, as described in our Privacy Policy. This may change if we migrate to a paid tier.
No liability for reliance. Strategic CSS is not responsible for any academic, professional, or personal decisions made by users solely based on AI-generated feedback.

9. Forum & Community Conduct

When using the Forum or any community feature, you agree to:

Be respectful toward other users; no harassment, hate speech, or abusive language
Not post spam, unrelated advertising, or promotional content without permission
Not impersonate any person or entity, including FPSC officials
Not share another user's personal information without consent

We reserve the right to moderate, edit, or remove any forum post or content, and to suspend accounts that repeatedly violate these guidelines.

10. Staff, Moderation & Review

Some work on Strategic CSS may be carried out by people appointed by the operator:

Evaluators mark mock exams. By uploading an answer sheet you accept that a person other than the operator may open, read and grade it, and will see the email address attached to your account.
Moderators oversee the community forum. A moderator may remove any thread or reply and may block an account from posting, at their discretion and without prior notice, where content breaches Section 9 or Section 11.

Each role is limited by technical controls to the area it covers, and only the site owner may appoint or remove one. Removing a post from the forum does not delete your account or any other data; blocking an account from the forum does not remove access to the rest of the Site.

If a moderator removes a thread, replies posted by other people are removed with it. If you delete your own thread and it already has replies, your title and text are withdrawn and the replies remain — other people's writing is not deleted because you changed your mind.

Grades, scores and written feedback recorded by an evaluator are that person's assessment and carry the same limitations as the AI feedback described in Section 8: they are practice marks, not an official FPSC result, and no score obtained here predicts or guarantees any outcome in the actual examination. If you believe a paper was marked in error, contact us and we will review it.

11. Prohibited Uses

You agree not to:

Use the Services for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law
Attempt to gain unauthorized access to accounts, systems, or data
Scrape, copy, or systematically extract content from the Site without permission
Upload viruses, malware, or any harmful code
Use automated bots or scripts to abuse the AI checking tools (e.g., mass-submitting requests)
Resell, sublicense, or redistribute access to the Services without our written permission

12. Intellectual Property

All original content on Strategic CSS — including the site design, articles, FAQs, and branding ("Strategic CSS" name and logo) — is owned by the operator, unless otherwise noted. Past papers and similar reference material may be sourced from public domain or third-party sources and remain the property of their respective owners. Embedded YouTube videos remain the property of their original creators/YouTube, and are used under YouTube's standard embedding terms.

You may not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from our original content without prior written permission, except for personal, non-commercial study use.

13. Third-Party Services

Strategic CSS relies on the following third-party services to operate:

Firebase / Firestore (Google) — hosting, authentication, and database storage
Google Gemini API — AI processing for the Essay Grader and Answer Checker
Cloudinary — storage and management of uploaded files and media
YouTube — embedded video content
Google Analytics — aggregate usage statistics
Microsoft Clarity — session recording and heatmaps, used to find usability problems. Text on the page is masked, as described in the Privacy Policy
Google AdSense (future) — advertising, once enabled

Your use of the Services is also subject to the applicable terms of these third-party providers. We do not control, and are not responsible for, the practices, uptime, or content of these third-party services.

14. Subscriptions & Future Payments

The Services are currently free. We may introduce a freemium model in the future, offering optional paid plans or features. When paid features are introduced, additional terms covering pricing, billing, refunds, and cancellations will be added and made available before you are asked to pay. Continued use of free features will not be affected by the introduction of paid tiers unless explicitly stated at that time.

15. Advertising

Strategic CSS may display advertisements through Google AdSense or similar advertising networks, now or in the future. Ads may be personalized based on your browsing activity, as described in our Privacy Policy. We are not responsible for the content of third-party advertisements displayed on the Site.

16. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

Strategic CSS does not guarantee that the Services will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or that any AI-generated feedback, past paper, article, or other content will be accurate, complete, or suitable for exam preparation or any other purpose. Strategic CSS is a learning and feedback tool — it is not an academy, coaching institute, or a substitute for professional exam preparation, teaching, or mentorship.

17. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, STRATEGIC CSS AND ITS OPERATOR(S) SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSSES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO:

Any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages;
Loss of exam opportunity, exam performance, career outcomes, or academic results connected in any way to use of the Services;
Errors, inaccuracies, bias, or omissions in AI-generated feedback, articles, FAQs, or past papers;
Any breach, outage, data loss, or misuse occurring on the systems of third-party providers (Firebase, Google Gemini API, Cloudinary, YouTube, Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity, AdSense, or others);
Any content posted by other users on the Forum or elsewhere on the Site;
Any unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions or data;
Any other matter relating to the Services, whether based on warranty, contract, tort, negligence, or any other legal theory, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Your use of Strategic CSS, including submission of any content for AI evaluation, file upload, or participation in the Forum, is entirely voluntary and at your own risk. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Strategic CSS accepts no liability whatsoever for any outcome connected to your use of the Services.

18. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Strategic CSS and its operator(s) from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including legal fees) arising out of your use of the Services, your User Content, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any rights of another person or entity.

19. Termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Services at any time, with or without notice, for conduct that violates these Terms or is otherwise harmful to other users, us, or third parties. You may stop using the Services or request account/data deletion at any time by contacting us (see Contact Information).

20. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, without regard to its conflict of law principles. Any disputes arising from these Terms or your use of the Services shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Pakistan.

21. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in our Services, technology, third-party providers, or legal requirements (for example, when freemium plans or AdSense are activated). The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Continued use of the Services after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms.

22. Contact Information

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us:

Email: support.strategiccss@gmail.com

Website: Strategic CSS

Note: This contact email is temporary and will be updated once a dedicated support email is set up.