Legal

Terms of Service

Last updated: 4 June 2026

1. Acceptance

By accessing HashScanner or using our API, you agree to these Terms of Service (“Terms”). If you do not agree, do not use the service. These Terms apply to all users, including free and paid subscribers.

2. Service description

HashScanner is operated by Linsbury Ltd., a company registered in England and Wales, trading as HashScanner.

The service provides file hash lookups against the NIST National Software Reference Library (NSRL). A Found result means the submitted hash is catalogued in the NSRL Reference Data Set as a known application file — it is a recognised, traceable software component whose digital fingerprint has been authenticated by NIST. A Not Found result means the hash is absent from the NSRL.

The NSRL does not classify files as safe or malicious. A Found result does not indicate a file is benign; a Not Found result does not indicate a file is harmful. Results are informational only and are not a substitute for professional security analysis.

3. Accounts

  • You must provide a valid email address at registration.
  • You are responsible for the security of your account credentials and API key.
  • You must be 18 years of age or older to create an account.
  • One account per person or organisation, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

4. Acceptable use

You may not use HashScanner to:

  • Circumvent law enforcement investigations or conceal evidence of criminal activity.
  • Scrape or bulk-harvest results beyond your plan quota through automated means against the web interface — use the API instead.
  • Resell, redistribute, or republish HashScanner results as a competing database product.
  • Probe or test the security of our infrastructure without prior written consent.
  • Violate any applicable law or regulation.

We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms without prior notice.

5. API access and keys

  • API keys are bound to your account and subject to your plan’s quota and rate limits.
  • Do not expose your API key in public repositories, client-side code, or any publicly accessible location.
  • If you suspect your key has been compromised, regenerate it immediately from your account dashboard.

6. Quotas and rate limits

  • Each plan includes a monthly lookup quota and per-minute rate limit as described on the Pricing page.
  • Unused quota does not roll over to the following month.
  • Requests that exceed the rate limit receive an HTTP 429 response and are not counted against your monthly quota.
  • We reserve the right to adjust plan limits with reasonable advance notice.

7. Billing and payments

  • Paid plans are billed monthly in advance.
  • All fees are non-refundable except where required by law or agreed in writing.
  • If a payment fails, your account will be moved to the free tier until payment is resolved.
  • Price changes will be communicated with at least 30 days’ notice.

8. Intellectual property

  • HashScanner’s software, design, and branding are the property of Linsbury Ltd.
  • The NIST NSRL data is a public domain dataset produced by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. We make no proprietary claim over NSRL data.
  • You retain ownership of any hash lists you submit. By submitting them you grant us a limited licence to process them solely to deliver lookup results.

9. Disclaimer of warranties

The service is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranty of any kind. NSRL coverage is not exhaustive, and the presence or absence of a hash in NSRL does not constitute a security determination. We do not warrant uninterrupted or error-free access.

10. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Linsbury Ltd. shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, incidental, special, or loss-of-profit damages arising from your use of or inability to use the service. The service is provided on a commercially reasonable-efforts basis; we make no guarantees of availability, accuracy, or fitness for any particular purpose.

11. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access for breach of these Terms, non-payment, or at our discretion with reasonable notice. You may close your account at any time by contacting us via the contact form.

12. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify registered users by email of material changes before they take effect. Continued use of the service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

13. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Both parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.