Terms of Service

1. What This Is

VOPE is a messaging app for Android and iOS that requires no phone number, no email address, and no identity of any kind to sign up. All you need is a device. You connect with people you already know by exchanging a code, QR scan, or Bump (holding two phones close together). VOPE does not offer public discovery, random matching, or "meet strangers" features of any kind.

By creating an account or using the App, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the App.

2. Eligibility

You must meet the minimum age shown in the App at the time you create an account. VOPE may raise this minimum age at any time. If VOPE becomes aware that an account belongs to someone who does not meet the applicable minimum age, that account and its data may be disabled or deleted without notice.

3. No Warranty

THE APP IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR THAT THE APP WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, SECURE, OR AVAILABLE AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME.

VOPE makes no guarantee that messages will be sent, delivered, received, stored, or retained. Messages may be lost, delayed, or fail to deliver at any time without notice. You use the App entirely at your own risk.

THE APP MUST NOT BE USED AS A SOLE OR PRIMARY MEANS OF COMMUNICATION IN ANY SITUATION WHERE RELIABLE DELIVERY IS ESSENTIAL.

VOPE is a consumer messaging service intended for casual communication between people who know each other. It is not suitable for medical emergencies, coordinating emergency services, crisis communication, or any context where a failure to receive a message could result in harm, injury, or loss. For emergencies, always use your local emergency services. VOPE bears no responsibility for any consequence arising from reliance on the App in any such context.

4. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, VOPE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF DATA, MESSAGES, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE APP, OR FROM THE CONDUCT OF ANY OTHER USER, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

To the extent any liability cannot be disclaimed, VOPE's total liability to you for all claims arising from the App will not exceed the amount you paid VOPE in the 12 months before the claim arose.

Nothing in these Terms limits any rights you may have under the Australian Consumer Law or other applicable non-excludable statutory rights.

5. Your Conduct

You agree to use VOPE in good faith, as it was designed and intended: for private communication between people who know each other. You agree not to use the App for any illegal purpose or in violation of any applicable law or regulation. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree not to use the App to:

• Send content that is illegal, harassing, threatening, or abusive.
• Impersonate any person or misrepresent your identity or age.
• Send or request child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or engage in the sexual exploitation of minors in any form. This will be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and/or law enforcement as required by law, and the account will be permanently removed.
• Spam, phish, distribute malware, or attempt to circumvent the App's invite-only connection model.
• Attempt to interfere with, disable, or overload the App's infrastructure.

6. Content Is Yours, and Your Responsibility

You retain ownership of the messages you send. You are solely responsible for the content you send. VOPE does not pre-screen messages and is not responsible for content sent by any user, but may act on reports as described in section 9.

By sending content through the App, you grant VOPE a limited, non-exclusive licence to store, transmit, and display that content solely as necessary to provide the service to you and the other members of your group. This licence ends when the content is deleted.

7. Service Availability

VOPE does not guarantee any particular level of uptime, availability, or performance. The service may be interrupted, degraded, or suspended at any time, with or without notice, due to maintenance, technical failures, events beyond VOPE's reasonable control, or any other reason. VOPE may modify, limit, or discontinue any feature or the service as a whole at any time. Where practicable, VOPE will endeavour to give reasonable notice of planned changes.

8. Media Retention

Photos and other media you send are automatically and permanently deleted from the App's storage approximately 12 months after they were sent. Once deleted, a photo cannot be recovered by you, the recipient, or VOPE. The surrounding message is not removed — it remains in the conversation marked as expired. This automatic deletion does not apply to message text, which is retained as described elsewhere in these Terms and the Privacy Policy.

9. Reporting, Moderation, and Removal

If you see abusive content or behaviour, use the in-app report/block tools. VOPE aims to review reports promptly but makes no guarantee of a specific response time. Reports about child safety are prioritised.

When content is reported, it is automatically placed under a legal hold. This means it is preserved and exempt from the automatic media deletion described in section 8, until any applicable legal retention period has passed. You cannot delete content that is under legal hold, and neither deleting your account nor resetting the App will remove it. Because messages are end-to-end encrypted, the preserved record is the encrypted form only — VOPE cannot read its content.

Where VOPE becomes aware of apparent child sexual abuse material, it is required by law to report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and to preserve the related account data. Because messages are end-to-end encrypted, VOPE cannot read their content and does not perform automated scanning of message text or images. Reported users are not notified, because notification could interfere with an investigation. See the Privacy Policy for further detail on what VOPE can and cannot do in relation to child safety.

VOPE may suspend, disable, restrict, or permanently delete any account, group, or content, at any time, with or without prior notice, and with or without cause, at VOPE's sole discretion. This is not limited to proven violations — VOPE's judgment is sufficient.

10. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless VOPE from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your use of the App, your content, or your violation of these Terms.

11. Privacy

See the separate Privacy Policy for what data is collected and how it is used. By using the App you also agree to the Privacy Policy.

12. Advertising

VOPE is free to use. To cover the cost of running the platform, VOPE displays advertisements within the App. Ads are served by Google AdMob.

VOPE's advertising does not involve reading your messages, analysing the content of photos you send, or using anything from inside your conversations to select or target ads. Your message content and image content stay private.

For more detail on how advertising works in VOPE and what data is and is not used, see the Privacy Policy.

13. Third-Party Services

The App relies on third-party providers including Google Firebase for data storage and infrastructure, Google AdMob for advertising where applicable, and Google Analytics for anonymous usage statistics. Your use of the App is also subject to these providers' own terms and privacy policies. VOPE is not responsible for the acts, omissions, or failures of any third-party provider.

14. Feedback and Suggestions

VOPE welcomes your ideas for improving the App. You can share feedback, suggestions, or feature requests by emailing team@vope.me. By doing so, you grant VOPE a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free licence to use, implement, or disclose that feedback in any way, without obligation or compensation to you.

15. Changes to These Terms

VOPE may update these Terms at any time. If a change is significant, the App will require you to accept the new version before continuing. Continued use after acceptance means you agree to the updated Terms.

16. Termination

VOPE may suspend, restrict, or permanently terminate your access to the App at any time, for any reason or for no reason, with or without notice, at VOPE's sole and absolute discretion. VOPE is under no obligation to provide a reason for any such action. A banned user may not create a new account or access the App through another account or device to circumvent a ban. Termination of your account does not affect any rights or obligations that arose prior to termination, including VOPE's rights under these Terms.

You may stop using the App at any time and delete your account from within the App, which deletes your profile and removes you from your groups.

17. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Australia, without regard to conflict of law principles.

18. Severability and Waiver

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect. VOPE's failure to enforce any provision or to exercise any right does not constitute a waiver of that provision or right.

19. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and VOPE regarding your use of the App, and supersede all prior agreements or understandings relating to the App.

20. Intellectual Property

All rights, title, and interest in and to VOPE — including the App (in source and compiled form), its name, logo, trade marks, trade dress, user interface design, and all underlying software, technology, systems, documentation, and content created by VOPE — are and remain the exclusive property of VOPE and its licensors. These Terms do not grant you any ownership interest in any of the foregoing, and nothing herein shall be construed as conferring any right or licence to any intellectual property of VOPE by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, except as expressly stated.

"VOPE," the VOPE logo, and any other product or service names, designs, or slogans displayed in the App are trade marks of VOPE. You may not use any VOPE trade mark without prior written permission from VOPE.

You agree not to copy, modify, create derivative works from, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to extract or derive the source code of the App, or to remove, alter, or obscure any copyright, trade mark, or other proprietary rights notice contained in or on the App.

21. Contact

Our team can be reached by email at team@vope.me.