terms of service

These terms are an agreement between you and ThroughFriends. By creating an account, you accept them. If you do not accept them, do not use the app.

Please read the section on dates and venues carefully. ThroughFriends arranges real bookings at real venues and introduces you to people you have not met. That section explains what we are and are not responsible for.

Who we are

ThroughFriends is operated by Jack Brereton, operating as ThroughFriends, based in Sydney, Australia. You can reach us at jack.k.brereton@gmail.com. How we handle your personal information is set out separately in our Privacy Policy.

Who can use ThroughFriends

You must be at least 18 years old to use ThroughFriends. There are no exceptions, and this applies to both Daters and Matchmakers.

You must also:

• provide accurate information about yourself, including your real name, age and photographs of yourself
• hold only one account at a time
• not use ThroughFriends if you have previously been removed by us
• not use ThroughFriends if the law where you live prohibits it

You are responsible for keeping your password secure and for everything that happens on your account.

How ThroughFriends works

ThroughFriends has two roles, and one person may hold both.

• Daters create a profile and set their availability. They do not choose their own matches.
• Matchmakers are friends invited by a Dater. They see a daily batch of candidate profiles and choose on that Dater's behalf, up to a daily limit.

When two Daters have each been chosen by the other's Matchmakers, ThroughFriends books a date at a venue in a time slot you both marked as free, and opens a short message thread shortly before it.

Being a Matchmaker is free. The Sydney pilot is free for everyone. If we introduce charges in future we will tell you before they apply to you, and you will be able to decline them by not continuing.

Zero tolerance for objectionable content and abusive users

There is no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive behaviour on ThroughFriends. This is a condition of using the app, not a guideline.

You must not post, send or upload anything that:

• harasses, bullies, threatens, intimidates or stalks another person
• is hateful, or attacks or demeans anyone on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, disease, age, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation
• is sexually explicit, or depicts nudity or sexual activity
• depicts or promotes violence, self harm, or illegal activity
• is defamatory, deceptive, or impersonates another person
• involves anyone under 18, in any way
• is spam, advertising, solicitation, or a scam
• infringes anyone else's intellectual property or privacy
• contains another person's private information, including photographs of someone who has not agreed to appear

You must not use ThroughFriends for commercial solicitation, sex work, recruitment, fundraising, or to obtain money from other users. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the app or to other users' accounts, scrape or copy other users' profiles or photographs, or use the app for any unlawful purpose.

Matchmakers are held to the same standard. A Matchmaker acts on behalf of a friend, and the reviews and choices they make are subject to every rule in this section.

Reporting, blocking, and what we do about it

Every user profile and every booked date carries a way to report a person and a way to block them. Blocking is immediate, it prevents any further contact, and it removes that person from your matching pool in both directions.

We review every report within 24 hours. Where a report is upheld we will remove the offending content and, depending on severity, warn, suspend or permanently remove the account responsible. Serious cases result in immediate removal without warning, and we may report conduct to the police where we believe someone is at risk.

If your account is actioned we will tell you why, and you may respond to us at the address above. We aim to be fair rather than automatic, and we will not penalise you for something another person did.

To report someone, use the report option inside the app, or write to jack.k.brereton@gmail.com if you cannot access your account.

Dates, venues, and your safety

This is the most important section in these terms.

ThroughFriends books a table at a third party venue and tells you both when and where. We are not a party to the booking beyond making it, we do not attend, and we do not supervise, chaperone or monitor what happens at a date.

You should understand that:

• We do not conduct criminal background checks on Daters or Matchmakers, and we do not verify anyone's identity beyond an email address. A profile being on ThroughFriends is not a statement by us that the person is safe, honest, or who they say they are.
• You meet other users at your own risk. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other people, whether on the app or in person.
• Your bill is yours. Payment at the venue is between you and the venue. ThroughFriends takes no part in it and does not pay for or subsidise your meal or drinks unless we have told you otherwise in writing.
• The venue sets its own terms. Opening hours, dress standards, cancellation policies and service are the venue's, not ours. A booking may be changed or cancelled by the venue.

Sensible precautions are your own to take, and we recommend all of them: tell a friend where you are going and when, arrange your own transport there and back, meet in the public area of the venue, do not leave your drink unattended, and leave whenever you want to, for any reason or none.

If you feel unsafe, leave, and call 000 if you are in danger. Then tell us, so we can act on the account.

Cancellations and no-shows

You can cancel a booked date in the app. Please do it as early as you can, because a late cancellation costs the other person their evening and costs the venue a table.

Repeated late cancellation or failing to turn up may result in suspension or removal. We do not publish reliability scores and we do not penalise you for a cancellation made by the other person.

Your content

You keep ownership of your photographs, bio and everything else you put on ThroughFriends. You give us permission to store, reproduce and display that content for the purpose of operating the app, including showing it to Matchmakers so they can choose on a Dater's behalf. This permission ends when you delete the content or your account, except for copies we are required to keep as described in the Privacy Policy.

You confirm that you own or have the right to use everything you upload, and that any other identifiable person in a photograph has agreed to appear in it.

A note specific to how this app works. Your Matchmakers can see your profile, and Matchmakers may write a short review of you which you can choose to feature on your profile. Only you decide which review is featured, and you may remove it at any time.

Ending your account

You can delete your account at any time from the app, under Settings. Deletion is permanent and removes your personal information as set out in the Privacy Policy.

We may suspend or terminate your account if you breach these terms, if we are required to by law, or if we reasonably believe your conduct puts another person at risk. Where we can, we will tell you why.

We may also stop offering ThroughFriends, in whole or in a particular city. If we do, we will give you reasonable notice.

Availability

ThroughFriends is offered as it is. We do not promise that the app will always be available, uninterrupted or free of errors, that you will be matched, that you will be chosen by anyone's Matchmakers, or that any date will lead to anything at all.

Liability

Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer guarantee, right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law or any other law that cannot be excluded. If a guarantee under the Australian Consumer Law applies and we are entitled to limit our liability for failing to meet it, our liability is limited to resupplying the service or paying the cost of having it resupplied.

Subject to that, and to the extent the law allows, we are not liable for the conduct of any user, for anything that happens at or after a date, for loss or damage arising from your use of the app, or for indirect or consequential loss.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. If a change materially affects you, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect. Continuing to use ThroughFriends after that means you accept the updated terms.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia, and you and we submit to the courts of that state.

Contact

Questions, reports, or anything else: jack.k.brereton@gmail.com