CERT Command

About CERT Command

Terms of Use

For team members, team leaders and county staff. Version 2, last updated October 21, 2026.

Read this first: the key points

The apps show each of these points on its own. You must confirm every one with "I understand and I agree" before you can use CERT Command.

  1. CERT Command is only an organizing tool. It helps team leaders keep track of their team. It does not replace your training, your leaders' judgment or your team's plan.
  2. It is not an emergency service. It does not call 911 or send help. In an emergency, call 911.
  3. It is not a safety, security, alarm or tracking system. Nobody at CERT Command watches your team: no one monitors the map, messages, reports or "need help" alerts.
  4. It can fail at any time, especially during a disaster. Messages, positions and alerts can arrive late, be wrong, or never arrive. Always keep another way: a radio, a phone, a paper roster.
  5. While a member is checked in and an incident is open, their phone shares its location with the team's leaders, even in the background. It stops at check-out, and whenever no incident is open.
  6. You use CERT Command at your own risk. You give up claims against CERT Command and its owner, including for negligence, as the Terms of Use explain. See sections 9 to 12.

1. Who we are

CERT Command is provided by Frank Gadot, doing business as CERT Command, Manatee County, Florida.

In these terms:

  • "We" and "us" mean CERT Command.
  • "The CERT Command parties" means CERT Command, Frank Gadot, any company that takes over CERT Command, and the people and companies who help build or run it.
  • "You" means anyone who uses CERT Command: the phone app, the team leader's dashboard, the county web console, or the servers behind them.

CERT Command is an independent tool. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by FEMA or any government agency.

2. Agreeing to these terms

  • Before you can use the phone app, the team leader's dashboard or the county console, it asks you to confirm each key point above with "I understand and I agree", then to tick "I have read and agree to the Terms of Use and the Privacy policy, and I am 18 or older." Nothing else opens until you do.
  • The service records your acceptance: which version, when, and on which phone or computer (in your team's record, or the console's).
  • By installing, joining a team in, signing in to, or using CERT Command, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, don't use it.
  • When these terms change in an important way, the apps ask you again at their next start.
  • You must be 18 or older.
  • If you use CERT Command for an organization (a county, a CERT program, a team), you confirm that you are allowed to do so.

3. What CERT Command is, and what it is not

  • CERT Command is: a tool that helps team leaders organize their team and keep a record of an activation.
  • CERT Command is not:
    • a replacement for 911, emergency services, or any official alert or warning system;
    • a safety, security, personal-alarm, rescue or "man down" system;
    • a guarantee that anyone will know where you are, or that help will come;
    • a source of official instructions. Follow your training, your team leader and the authorities.
  • Positions, addresses and maps can be wrong, out of date or missing. Never use them alone to decide where someone is or to navigate.
  • We don't train, supervise, direct or employ volunteers. We are not part of your organization, and we are not responsible for its decisions, or for what any leader, member or county employee does or fails to do.

4. If you are a team leader

You are responsible for running your team and for your members' safety, as your organization and your training require. In particular:

  • Keep a backup that does not depend on CERT Command: a paper or printed roster, radio channels, phone numbers, meeting points.
  • Don't rely on the app alone to account for your members. If a member stops reporting, act as your training says; don't wait for the app.
  • Download the reports and records you need (for example the ICS 214), and keep your own copies.
  • Decide who may join and check in, and remove people and devices that should no longer have access.

5. If you are a team member

  • Your safety is your responsibility, and your team's. Follow your CERT training and your team's rules.
  • Don't count on the app to get help. Use your radio or phone, and call 911 in an emergency.
  • Don't use the app while driving, or whenever it would distract you or put you or anyone else at risk.

6. Location

  • While you are checked in and an incident is open, the phone app shares your location with your team leaders, including when the app is in the background or the phone is locked. Location sharing stops when you check out, and whenever no incident is open: you can check in with no incident open, and then your position is not shared until your leader opens one.
  • Before you check in, your position is sent only with what you send: a check-in request, or a report.
  • By checking in, you agree to this sharing while an incident is open. Your county's emergency operations center can see your reports and their locations where your team works with it.
  • Positions can be wrong or late, and they use battery and data.

7. What you send

  • Reports, photos, messages and statuses stay yours and your organization's.
  • You give us permission to store, copy and show them, only as needed to run CERT Command for your team and your county.
  • Send only what is true and needed. Respect people's privacy, including medical information and photos of people and private property.
  • Do not:
    • send false reports, false check-ins or false requests for help;
    • try to reach another team's information;
    • get around how access works;
    • attack or overload the service;
    • copy or reverse-engineer the apps;
    • use CERT Command to break the law.

8. Records, data and privacy

  • The privacy policy (certcommand.org/privacy) explains what is collected, who sees it, how long it is kept and how to have it deleted. It is part of these terms.
  • Data can be lost: a phone may delete what it could not send, a server or a computer can fail. Keep your own copies of anything you need.
  • New software: CERT Command is still being built and tested. Features change, and errors happen.

9. No warranties

CERT COMMAND IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. THIS INCLUDES ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

THE CERT COMMAND PARTIES DO NOT WARRANT THAT:

  • CERT COMMAND WILL WORK WHEN YOU NEED IT;
  • ANY MESSAGE, REPORT, POSITION, STATUS, ALERT OR NOTIFICATION WILL BE DELIVERED, ON TIME OR AT ALL;
  • ANY INFORMATION IN IT IS CORRECT;
  • YOUR DATA WILL BE KEPT.

10. You accept the risks

CERT ACTIVITIES, DISASTER RESPONSE AND TRAINING ARE DANGEROUS AND CAN CAUSE INJURY, ILLNESS, DEATH AND PROPERTY DAMAGE.

YOU ACCEPT ALL RISKS OF:

  • TAKING PART IN THOSE ACTIVITIES;
  • USING CERT COMMAND, OR BEING UNABLE TO USE IT;
  • RELYING ON ANYTHING SHOWN OR SENT IN IT;
  • ANY FAILURE, DELAY, ERROR OR LOSS OF DATA IN IT.

11. Release of claims

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, YOU RELEASE THE CERT COMMAND PARTIES FROM ALL CLAIMS AND LIABILITY, AND AGREE NOT TO SUE THEM, FOR ANY INJURY, ILLNESS, DEATH, PROPERTY DAMAGE, LOSS OF DATA OR OTHER LOSS RELATED TO CERT COMMAND.

THIS INCLUDES:

  • CLAIMS BASED ON THE NEGLIGENCE OF THE CERT COMMAND PARTIES;
  • CLAIMS ABOUT A MESSAGE, POSITION, ALERT OR REPORT THAT WAS LATE, WRONG OR NEVER DELIVERED;
  • CLAIMS ABOUT AN OUTAGE OR AN ERROR IN THE SOFTWARE;
  • CLAIMS ABOUT WHAT ANY TEAM LEADER, MEMBER, COUNTY OR OTHER PERSON DID OR FAILED TO DO.

12. Limits on liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS:

  • THE CERT COMMAND PARTIES ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST DATA, PROFITS OR OPPORTUNITIES, EVEN IF TOLD THEY WERE POSSIBLE;
  • IF ANY LIABILITY REMAINS DESPITE SECTIONS 9 TO 11, THE CERT COMMAND PARTIES' TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS TOGETHER IS LIMITED TO US $50.

Some laws do not allow certain releases or limits. Where they apply, these sections apply as far as those laws allow, and no further.

13. Your responsibility

You agree to defend and indemnify the CERT Command parties against any claim, loss or cost, including reasonable lawyers' fees, that comes from:

  • your use of CERT Command;
  • what you send through it;
  • your breaking these terms or the law;
  • your activities as a volunteer, a team leader or an organization.

For a government body, this applies only as far as the law allows.

14. Government organizations

  • Nothing in these terms waives a government body's sovereign immunity, or its protections under section 768.28 of the Florida Statutes or similar laws.
  • Where we act on behalf of a Florida public agency, we follow Florida's public-records law (chapter 119).
  • A written agreement between a government organization and us controls where it differs from these terms.

15. Other companies' services

CERT Command relies on other companies' services, under their own terms:

  • app stores;
  • Apple and Google notifications;
  • map and address services;
  • email delivery;
  • hosting.

The CERT Command parties are not responsible for those services, their outages, or their actions.

16. Events outside our control

The CERT Command parties are not responsible for any failure or delay caused by events outside their reasonable control. That includes the disasters CERT Command is used in: storms, floods, fires and other emergencies, and the power, network, carrier and hosting failures that come with them.

17. Ending use

  • You can stop at any time: check out, and delete the app.
  • Your team leader can remove you at any time.
  • We may suspend or end anyone's access, or stop offering CERT Command, at any time and for any reason, including to protect others or the service.
  • Sections 3 and 9 to 20 continue to apply after use ends.

18. Disputes

  • Florida law governs these terms.
  • Any dispute goes to the state or federal courts for Manatee County, Florida.
  • YOU AND WE EACH GIVE UP THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL, and any claim must be brought individually, not as part of a class or group action.
  • In a dispute about these terms, the party that wins may recover its reasonable lawyers' fees.

19. App stores

If you got an app from the Apple App Store:

  • these terms are between you and us, not Apple;
  • Apple has no obligation to maintain or support the app, and is not responsible for any claim about it;
  • Apple and its subsidiaries may enforce these terms as third-party beneficiaries.

The same applies to Google Play and the Microsoft Store.

20. General

  • These terms and the privacy policy are the whole agreement between you and us about CERT Command, unless your organization has a written agreement with us.
  • If any part of these terms cannot be enforced, the rest still applies, and that part is applied as far as the law allows.
  • Not enforcing a term is not a waiver of it.
  • We may transfer these terms, for example to our company once it is formed. You may not transfer them.

21. Changes

  • We may update these terms. The date at the top changes, and for important changes the apps tell you.
  • If you keep using CERT Command after a change, you accept it.

22. Contact

CERT Command, Manatee County, Florida. Email privacy@certcommand.org.