Terms of Service

1.The service

Kogoto lets you: create a profile; discover nearby Kogoto users over Bluetooth Low Energy while Nearby is turned on; send and receive connection requests, which the recipient may accept or decline; message users you have connected with; post short-lived photo "Stories" visible to your accepted connections; and optionally join temporary Events and persistent Kogoto Spots. Kogoto does not connect you to strangers automatically or anonymously — every connection requires an explicit request from one side and an explicit accept from the other.

2.Eligibility and minimum age

You must be at least 16 years old to create a Kogoto account. By registering, you confirm that the date of birth you provide is accurate. Kogoto enforces this both in the app and independently on its backend. Kogoto is a single-person consumer service and is offered for personal, non-commercial use.

3.Your account and authentication

You may register with an email address and password, or (where enabled) with "Continue with Google" or "Sign in with Apple." You are responsible for keeping your password and your device secure, and for all activity that occurs under your account. Notify Kogoto promptly at kogoto2026@gmail.com if you believe your account has been compromised. You must complete email verification to use Nearby, connections, messaging, and Stories. You agree to provide accurate registration information and not to create an account for anyone else or under a false identity.

4.Your content

Anything you post, upload, or send through Kogoto — your profile information and photos, gallery photos, Stories, messages, emoji reactions, and any "Ask" question or reply — is your content. You retain ownership of your content.

By posting it, you grant Kogoto a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, transmit, resize, and display that content solely as necessary to operate the service for you and the people you choose to share it with (for example, showing your profile photo to a nearby user who discovers you, or delivering your message to its recipient). This licence ends when you delete the content or your account, except for a copy already captured as moderation evidence in an active abuse investigation, and except where a short delay is caused by routine backups.

You are solely responsible for the content you post and for making sure you have the right to post it. Kogoto does not pre-screen content before it is posted or sent.

5.Acceptable use and prohibited conduct

You agree not to use Kogoto to:

• Harass, stalk, threaten, or intimidate anyone.
• Post or send hateful, discriminatory, or violent content.
• Bully, or engage in unwanted sexual behaviour or communication.
• Sexually exploit anyone, including any content or behaviour involving a minor. Kogoto's Child Safety Standards apply in full alongside these Terms.
• Groom, or attempt to groom, a minor.
• Share child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in any form — a zero-tolerance violation, reported to the relevant authorities where legally required.
• Share intimate images of another person without their consent.
• Scam, defraud, or attempt to extract money or financial information from another user.
• Send spam or unsolicited commercial content, or use the service for advertising or promotion.
• Impersonate another person or organisation, or create a false identity.
• Publish another user's private information without their consent (doxxing).
• Engage in illegal activity of any kind, or post illegal content.
• Infringe another person's intellectual-property rights.
• Misuse Kogoto's reporting system, including filing knowingly false reports to harass another user.
• Manipulate or abuse Nearby, Events, or Spots — for example by spoofing proximity, running the service through automation or multiple coordinated accounts, or attempting to appear present somewhere you are not.
• Attempt to bypass a block, access another user's account or private data without authorisation, scrape the service, or interfere with Kogoto's normal operation or security.

See the Kogoto Community Guidelines for a fuller, user-facing explanation of these rules.

6.Nearby, Events, Spots, and their limits

You control when you are discoverable: Nearby is never on by default, each activation lasts up to 30 minutes and then switches off automatically, and turning it off removes you from other people's results immediately. Joining an Event or a Spot does not by itself make you discoverable — Nearby must also be turned on.

Proximity detection relies on Bluetooth Low Energy signals between phones. Kogoto does not guarantee that proximity detection is always available, complete, or accurate. Whether two devices discover each other, and how "close" a signal appears, depends on hardware, operating-system limits, battery settings, physical obstacles, and radio conditions outside Kogoto's control. Kogoto shows proximity only as an approximate label, never an exact distance or a location on a map, and does not use GPS.

7.Real-world meetings and safety

Kogoto may lead to real-world meetings between users. Kogoto facilitates the opportunity to connect but does not control, and is not a party to, what happens between users — on or off the app. Kogoto has no way to verify the identity, intentions, or background of any user.

You are responsible for your own safety in any interaction arising from Kogoto. Basic precautions: meet in public places, especially the first time; tell someone you trust where you are going and who you are meeting; do not share your password or sensitive financial or personal information; leave any situation that makes you uncomfortable; and block and report anyone who makes you feel unsafe. Kogoto is not an emergency service — if you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services directly.

8.Blocking, reporting, and moderation

You can block another user at any time, which stops further interaction between you in both directions across Nearby, messages, connection requests, and Stories. You can report content or a user you believe violates these Terms or the Community Guidelines; reports are confidential and reviewed by the operator, not automatically acted on, and filing a report never by itself blocks or restricts the reported person.

Kogoto reserves the right, but does not undertake an obligation, to review, remove, or restrict access to content, and to restrict specific features (for example, disabling messaging or Nearby for an account), suspend, or permanently terminate an account, where the operator reasonably believes these Terms, the Community Guidelines, or applicable law have been violated, or where necessary to protect users or the integrity of the service.

9.Restriction, suspension, and termination

Where reasonably practicable and not inconsistent with an ongoing safety investigation, Kogoto will make reasonable efforts to explain the reason for a significant restriction, without disclosing confidential information about a reporter or an investigation.

You may stop using Kogoto and delete your account at any time from Settings → Delete account, or by emailing kogoto2026@gmail.com if you cannot sign in. Deletion is described in Section 10 of the Privacy Policy.

10.Third-party services

Kogoto relies on third-party infrastructure providers (hosting, database and storage, push notifications and crash diagnostics, transactional email, and optional Google / Apple sign-in) listed in Section 6 of the Privacy Policy. Your use of the app stores (Apple App Store, Google Play) and of your device operating system is governed by those providers' own terms. Kogoto is not responsible for third-party services it does not operate.

11.Intellectual property

The Kogoto name, logo, app, website, and their design and code are the property of Kogoto's operator and are protected by intellectual-property law. These Terms grant you a limited, personal, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the Kogoto app for its intended purpose. You may not copy, modify, distribute, reverse-engineer, or create derivative works of the app except to the extent that mandatory law permits.

12.Service availability and changes

Kogoto is provided on an "as available" basis. The operator does not guarantee that the service will always be available, uninterrupted, or error-free, and may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the service, including individual features. Where a change is significant and within the operator's control, Kogoto will make reasonable efforts to give notice.

13.Limitation of liability and disclaimers [Legal review required]

This section requires review by a qualified lawyer before it can be treated as final or enforceable. The intent, pending that review, is: to the extent permitted by applicable law, Kogoto is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind; the operator's liability is limited to the extent permitted by mandatory EU and Austrian consumer-protection law, which is never excluded or waived by these Terms.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability, or any statutory right you have as a consumer, that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under EU or Austrian law — including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or under mandatory product- and consumer-protection rules. As Kogoto only facilitates connections between users and does not control real-world interactions, it is not liable for the conduct of other users or for what happens when you meet someone in person, save where such liability is mandatory under applicable law.

14.Dispute resolution and governing law [Legal review required]

Kogoto does not require mandatory arbitration and does not attempt to waive your right to bring a claim in the courts of your own EU member state as a consumer, where such a right exists under applicable law. As a consumer in the EU you may also use the European Commission's online dispute-resolution platform. The specific governing law and venue for these Terms have not yet been finalised and require legal review before publication.

15.Changes to these Terms

Kogoto may update these Terms from time to time. If a change is material, Kogoto will update the "Last updated" date above and make reasonable efforts to notify active users, and a material change may require you to accept the new version again before continuing to use certain features. If you do not accept a change, you may delete your account.

16.Contact

Questions about these Terms: kogoto2026@gmail.com.