travelspoon Terms of Service

These Terms govern use of the travelspoon mobile application and related services (the “Service”) provided by the operator of travelspoon (the “Operator”). The Operator’s exact legal identity is shown in the developer information for travelspoon on Google Play or the App Store where the app is distributed, and questions may be submitted to travel.spoon.official@gmail.com.

These Terms do not impose one country’s rules to exclude rights that apply elsewhere. If mandatory consumer-protection or digital-service laws in your country of residence apply, those rights remain available to you.

1. Purpose

These Terms define the basic rights, obligations, responsibilities, and procedures between the Operator and users of the Service.

2. Definitions

1. “User” means a person who uses the Service under these Terms.
2. “Account” means the Service account used to identify a User through Google Sign-In and Firebase Authentication.
3. “Group” means a travel gathering created by or joined by Users for a particular place and schedule.
4. “Content” means profile information, Group information, join messages, chats, photos, videos, locations, links, and other material entered or transmitted by a User.

3. Acceptance and Changes

1. By creating an Account or continuing to use the Service, you acknowledge and agree to these Terms. Where applicable law requires separate express consent, the Operator will provide an appropriate consent process.
2. The Operator may amend these Terms to the extent permitted by applicable law.
3. If these Terms change, the Operator will announce the material changes and when they apply through the app, store release information, or another reasonable method. Material changes that disadvantage Users will be announced in advance when required by law.
4. If you do not agree to amended Terms, you may stop using the Service and delete your Account.

4. Eligibility and Account Security

1. Only users who are at least 17 may create an Account or use the Service. If your country requires a higher age or parental consent for online services or personal-data processing, you must meet that requirement. The Service does not provide a separate parental-consent process for users who do not meet the applicable age requirement.
2. You must sign in with a Google Account that you are legally permitted to use.
3. You are responsible for protecting access to your Account and device. If you discover unauthorized use, secure your Google Account and notify the Operator.
4. You may not use false information, another person’s information, or photos or Content that you do not have the right to use.

5. Service Features

The Service may provide:

1. Travel place search and maps using Google Maps and Places
2. Creation, discovery, join requests, approval, rejection, and ending of travel Groups
3. Text, photo, video, and location sharing among Group members
4. Profiles, preferred languages, interests, and social links
5. Notifications about join requests, approvals, and chats
6. Other functions necessary to operate the Service

The Operator may add, change, or discontinue features for quality, safety, legal, or technical reasons.

6. Nature of the Social Travel Service

1. travelspoon is an online platform that helps Users share travel information and communicate in Groups.
2. The Operator is not a travel seller, travel agency, carrier, accommodation provider, or a party to offline meetings between Users.
3. The Operator does not guarantee a User’s identity, background, qualifications, posted information, itinerary, safety, or offline conduct.
4. Before meeting or traveling with others, Users must independently confirm identity, plans, costs, and safety conditions and take appropriate precautions.
5. Maps and place information are provided for reference. The Operator does not guarantee business status, location, transportation, immigration, visa, health, safety, or emergency information. Verify important information with the relevant authority or provider.
6. The Service is not an emergency response or tracking service. Contact local police, fire, medical, or consular authorities in an emergency.

7. User Content

1. You retain rights in Content you create or upload.
2. You grant the Operator a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, copy, transform, transmit, and display Content only as needed to operate the Service and show it to Users you select or to Users within the audience allowed by the relevant Service feature.
3. This license is limited to service delivery, backup, security, recovery, and sharing functions requested by you.
4. You must have all rights and consents needed to provide Content. Review the audience before sharing personal or sensitive information.
5. The Operator may restrict access to or remove Content when reasonably necessary to comply with law, lawful orders, third-party rights, or Service safety, subject to applicable law.

8. Prohibited Conduct

You may not:

1. Violate law, public order, or generally accepted standards of conduct
2. Impersonate others or provide false or deceptive information
3. Promote harassment, hate, threats, sexual exploitation, stalking, or violence
4. Infringe privacy, portrait, copyright, or other rights
5. Use the Service for spam, unauthorized advertising, illegal transactions, or fraud
6. Distribute malware, scrape without authorization, disrupt the Service, bypass security, or improperly reverse engineer the Service
7. Publish or misuse another person’s location, media, or conversations without permission
8. Access the Operator’s or a third party’s systems by unauthorized means

9. Restrictions and Enforcement

1. The Operator may restrict Content or features, suspend an Account, or terminate an Account when a User violates these Terms or applicable law or threatens the safety of the Service or others.
2. Unless urgent security or legal circumstances prevent it, the Operator will make reasonable efforts to provide the reason and an available review method.
3. Service restrictions do not release a User from responsibility for unlawful conduct or harm caused to others.

10. Location, Camera, Media, and Notification Permissions

1. Location permission is used when you center the map on your current location or choose to share a current location in a chat. It is not used for continuous background tracking.
2. Camera and photo or video permissions are used when you choose to capture, select, send, or save media.
3. Notification permission and device tokens are used for notifications about join requests, approvals, and chats.
4. You may deny or revoke optional permissions in operating system settings, but related features may then be unavailable.

11. Third-Party Services

1. The Service uses third-party services including Google Sign-In, Firebase, Google Maps Platform, Google Places, and Apple Push Notification service.
2. The terms and privacy policies of those providers may also apply.
3. Third-party outages, policy changes, or data inaccuracies may limit Service functionality. The Operator does not guarantee third-party continuity or accuracy beyond matters within the Operator’s control.

12. Service Interruptions

The Operator may temporarily restrict all or part of the Service for:

1. Scheduled or emergency maintenance, equipment replacement, or incident recovery
2. Communications-network, cloud, or third-party service outages
3. Natural disasters, war, epidemics, national emergencies, or other force majeure
4. Security-incident prevention, legal compliance, or User protection

When reasonably possible, the Operator will provide the reason and expected duration and make reasonable recovery efforts.

13. Account Deletion

1. You may request Account deletion in the app’s settings. Reauthentication may be required for security.
2. When Account deletion is completed, the app ends the current signed-in session. Related data may be deleted, anonymized, or retained on a limited basis as described in the Privacy Policy and required by applicable law.
3. Content already delivered to other Users, records needed for legal obligations, disputes, or security, and copies remaining in ordinary backup cycles may not be deleted immediately.
4. Save any Content you need before deleting your Account. The Service does not currently guarantee a complete data export.

14. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

1. The Operator uses reasonable care in providing the Service but does not guarantee uninterrupted availability or that every item of information is accurate or secure.
2. Disputes between Users, offline meetings, travel incidents, cost sharing, and third-party goods or services are generally matters between the relevant Users or third parties.
3. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability for the Operator’s intentional misconduct or gross negligence or any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.
4. To the extent permitted by law, liability may be limited for loss caused by a User, device problems, denied permissions, communications failures, or force majeure.

15. Applicable Law, Consumer Rights, and Disputes

1. These Terms are governed by the law applicable at the Operator’s principal place of business. This does not limit mandatory consumer, privacy, or court-access rights available in your country of residence.
2. The parties will first attempt to resolve disputes in good faith.
3. Unresolved disputes may be brought before a court with jurisdiction under applicable law or through a consumer dispute-resolution process available where you live.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms or the Service may be submitted to travel.spoon.official@gmail.com.