Sign in

Terms of use

Last updated October 9, 2026

Watchdog is a web-watching service operated by graficial.com. By using it, or by creating an account, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, please don't use Watchdog.

What Watchdog does

You give Watchdog the addresses of public web pages. It visits them from our servers on the schedule you pick, uses an automated, AI-based process to pull out the headlines and the people, organizations, places and events they mention, and shows you the results as cards, a graph and a written brief. Visitors without an account can try it on a single page.

Your account

  • You must be at least 16 years old to create an account.
  • One account per person. Use an email address you own, and keep your password to yourself.
  • You are responsible for everything done with your account, including the pages it watches.

What you may watch

Only public pages that anyone can open without signing in, and only for your own reading. You are responsible for the pages you add, and for having the right to have them checked. Don't use Watchdog for, or point it at:

  • anything illegal where you are or where we are, or content that helps someone break the law;
  • sexual content involving minors, of any kind; we report it to the authorities;
  • pornographic or sexually explicit sites;
  • terrorist or violent extremist content, or sites that promote violence or self-harm;
  • hate speech, harassment, or pages that target, track or expose a private person;
  • malware, phishing, scams, or pirated content;
  • pages behind a sign-in, a paywall, or any other access control, or ways around them;
  • sites that forbid automated access, or so many pages of one site that it could strain it;
  • our own network or internal addresses, or anything meant to probe, break or overload Watchdog.

Also don't create extra accounts to collect more treats, resell or republish what Watchdog makes, or scrape Watchdog itself.

What we can do

We decide what Watchdog visits. At any time, with or without notice, we may:

  • refuse, pause or remove any page or site, and block it for every account;
  • limit how many pages an account watches or how often they are checked;
  • suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, or that we reasonably believe puts Watchdog, the sites it visits, other users or us at risk;
  • remove treats gained by breaking these terms, or given by mistake;
  • report illegal content, and the account that added it, to the authorities.

We don't owe an explanation for these decisions, though we usually give one. If you think we got it wrong, email hello@graficial.com.

Dog Treats

Treats are how Watchdog shares out the work. Every account starts with 100. A check of a page costs 1 treat and a brief costs 2; a check that fails costs nothing. The current costs are on the Dog Treats page.

  • Treats are virtual credits. They are not money, have no cash value, and are never paid out or refunded.
  • They belong to your account and can't be sold, transferred or swapped.
  • We may change what things cost, or how many treats new accounts get. Changes show on the Dog Treats page.
  • We may correct a balance that is wrong because of a fault or a mistake.
  • Treats end with the account, whether you delete it or we close it.

Publishers' content

Headlines, articles and logos belong to their publishers. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them, and all trademarks belong to their owners. Watchdog shows only headlines and short snippets, and links each one to its source. To read a full article, follow the link to the publisher's site.

Publishers who would like Watchdog to stop visiting their site can email hello@graficial.com. We'll block it for every account.

Accuracy

Everything Watchdog shows is produced automatically, and automated processing makes mistakes. Words can be misread, headlines grouped wrongly, names in the graph confused, and a brief can leave things out or get them wrong. Checks can be late or missed, and a change on a page can go unnoticed. When it matters, check the publisher's own page.

No warranties

  • Watchdog is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind.
  • Nothing it shows is news, financial, legal or any other professional advice.
  • We are not responsible for the sites Watchdog visits or links to, their content or their availability.
  • We may change, limit or stop Watchdog, in part or in full, at any time.

Liability

As far as the law allows, graficial.com is not liable for any indirect or consequential loss, or for lost data, profits or opportunities, that comes from using Watchdog or from not being able to use it, including a missed or wrong check. Our total liability for anything to do with Watchdog is limited to what you paid us in the 12 months before the claim. Watchdog is free, so for most accounts that is nothing.

If someone makes a claim against us because of a page you added, or because you broke these terms, you agree to cover our reasonable costs of dealing with it.

Ending

You can delete your account at any time on the Account page. We can suspend or close it as described above. If we stop running Watchdog, we'll try to tell account holders by email first.

Credits

On systems without flag emoji, the graph's flags come from Twemoji, licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Changes

We may update these terms from time to time. Changes are posted on this page, with the date above. Using Watchdog after a change means you accept the new terms. Questions? Email hello@graficial.com.