Withstead.me · Version 1 · September 17, 2026
Acceptable use
Withstead exists for one specific situation: one person, preparing in advance for a call they find difficult, with an AI companion they can invite in and dismiss. This page says what that means in practice. It is part of our terms of service.
The calls this is built for
- You are one of the people on the call, and you placed it.
- One counterparty — a landlord, a service provider, an office, a vendor, an insurer.
- You have disclosed that an AI assistant is on the line, and everyone on the call has agreed.
- United States numbers, English only.
What you must not do
- Do not use it covertly. Fred must be disclosed to everyone on the call, by you, before he listens or speaks.
- Do not use it where agreement cannot be obtained — including any call where a party has said no.
- No marketing, sales, fundraising, collections, or list-based calling. Not one owner calling many people, ever.
- No health information. No medical or mental-health details, no clinical discussions, no insurance-claim or benefits detail.
- No financial-account work. No account numbers, no money movement, no payment authorization, no debt or credit matters.
- No emergencies. Call 911. Withstead is not an emergency service and is not monitored.
- No pretending Fred is a person. Do not present Fred as human, and do not use Fred to impersonate anyone.
- No unlawful purpose, no harassment, no deception, no recording of anyone without the agreement the law requires where you are.
- No one else's information you do not have the right to provide.
- No automated or bulk use of the website or its signup form, and no attempts to bypass its abuse checks or rate limits.
What the product enforces, and what depends on you
We think it matters to say which of these is enforced by the software and which is a rule we are relying on you to follow. As of September 17, 2026:
- Enforced by the product: you place the call, and Withstead does not dial on its own, retry for you, or call from a list. Fred joins the audio only after a consent step is completed, and Fred is configured and gated never to state a price, agree to terms, or confirm a date. No call audio is recorded or stored by us. When you remove Fred, he leaves the call.
- Depends on you: getting and giving the disclosure and the agreement on every call; the subject matter of the call; the truth of the facts you approve for Fred to read back; whether your own state's law requires something more than our standard disclosure; and everything Fred says at your invitation, which you remain responsible for.
Some limits above depend on how the product is configured for your account and on the mode you choose, and features can change. Where a line above stops being enforced by the product, we will say so on this page and date the change. Nothing on this page is a clinical, legal, or safety certification of your call.
If you break these rules
We may suspend or end your access. If your use creates a legal or safety problem for someone else, we may also have to report it or cooperate with lawful requests. See the terms of service for suspension and termination.
Tell us about a problem
If someone believes Withstead was used on a call improperly, write to [email protected] with the date, the number involved if you have it, and what happened. We will look and reply.
This page is part of the Withstead notice set: Terms of service · Acceptable use · Security · Privacy · For the person on the other end of the call