Terms of Service

Revised and effective October 28, 2026 (first published October 24, 2026)

These Terms of Service ("Terms") set out the conditions for using CrowOn, the social service provided by the CrowOn operator [legal name to be added before public launch] ("we", "us"), including its websites, apps and related features (the "Service"). Please read these Terms, the Privacy Policy and the Community Guidelines before using the Service. IMPORTANT: IF YOU LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES, SECTION 25 REQUIRES YOU TO RESOLVE DISPUTES WITH US THROUGH INDIVIDUAL BINDING ARBITRATION AND WAIVES YOUR RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND TO TAKE PART IN A CLASS ACTION, UNLESS YOU OPT OUT WITHIN 30 DAYS. SECTIONS 16 AND 17 LIMIT OUR LIABILITY.

1. Agreement

These Terms apply to everything related to your use of the Service between you and us.

You agree to these Terms when you choose "Agree and continue" during sign-up, or when you use the Service without an account.

The Privacy Policy, Community Guidelines, Cookies & On-device Data, Information for Minors and Guardians, Specified Commercial Transactions Act notice and any other rules or help we show in the Service ("Supplemental Rules") form part of these Terms. If they conflict, the Supplemental Rules prevail.

We record the date and time you agreed and the version you agreed to.

2. Definitions

"Your Content" means everything you post, send or save on the Service, including text, photos, videos, audio, comments, messages, NOW, Drops, Letters, routes, places and reactions.

"Audience" means who you choose can see Your Content (public, friends, close friends, community members, only me, etc.).

"Community" means a members-only space created by users for a school, class, club, etc.

"Member" means a user subscribed to the paid membership.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 to use the Service, or older if the law where you live requires (for example, some EU countries require parental consent below 16). Accounts found to belong to anyone under 13 will be deleted.

If you are under 18 (or under the age of majority where you live), you need permission from a parent or legal guardian, including for any paid feature, and your parent or guardian agrees to these Terms on your behalf and is responsible for your use of the Service.

Accounts of users under 18 start with protective settings such as a private account, limited messaging and no notifications at night. See "Information for Minors and Guardians".

You may not use the Service if we have previously suspended your account for violating these Terms, or if the law prohibits you from using it.

4. Your account

Provide accurate information, including your date of birth, and keep it up to date. Registering a false date of birth is prohibited.

You are responsible for keeping your password and other credentials safe. We strongly recommend turning on two-step verification.

Your account is for you only and may not be transferred, lent, sold or inherited.

Actions taken with your credentials are treated as yours, unless unauthorized use was caused by our intent or negligence.

If you suspect unauthorized access, change your password, sign out of other devices and contact us right away.

You can delete your account at any time from the Account Center.

5. Rights in Your Content

You (or the original rights holder) keep all rights in Your Content. We do not take ownership of it.

You grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use Your Content (including storing, copying, transmitting, displaying, translating, resizing, reformatting and creating thumbnails) as needed to provide, operate, improve and promote the Service. We may sublicense this to service providers for the same purposes.

This license ends when you delete the content or your account, except for messages already delivered, content others lawfully used via Remix or templates, copies removed from backups within a reasonable period, and content we must keep for legal reasons or disputes.

If we use Your Content to promote the Service, we will only use public content and will credit you.

You confirm that you have all rights needed to post and license Your Content (copyright, publicity rights, consent of people shown, music and asset licenses, etc.).

Some content on the Service is posted by us or by official accounts with the permission of its creators ("Featured Content"). Featured Content is shown with the creator's name and, where provided, a link to their channel. The creator keeps all rights in it, and we remove it promptly if the creator withdraws permission. You may not download, repost or otherwise use Featured Content outside the Service's own features.

6. Audience and use by others

Your Content is shown to the audience you choose. Public content may be visible to people who are not signed in and outside the Service (including link previews and search engines).

Even with a limited audience, we cannot technically prevent viewers from taking screenshots or copying content.

If you allow Remix or templates, other users can edit and repost your content using Service features, with your original post and name shown. You can withdraw permission at any time, but things made before then remain.

Do not use other users' content beyond the Service's features (share, save, Remix, etc.) without the rights holder's permission.

7. Prohibited conduct

Violating laws, court orders or government orders, or committing or assisting crimes.

Infringing copyright, trademarks, publicity rights, privacy, reputation or other rights.

Harassment, bullying, stalking, threats, discrimination, hate speech, or glorifying or inciting violence or terrorism.

Any content involving child sexual exploitation or sexualizing minors (absolutely prohibited in any form; we report it to authorities).

Nudity or sexual activity, encouraging self-harm or suicide, or buying, selling or soliciting illegal drugs, weapons or dangerous goods.

Revealing someone's home, school, workplace, current location or contact details without consent, or trying to obtain someone's location without their knowledge.

Impersonation, deception, fraud, unsolicited solicitation, pyramid schemes, spam or fake reviews.

Unauthorized access, excessive load, exploiting vulnerabilities, or automated access or data collection (crawlers, bots) without our permission.

Deliberately exploiting bugs, buying or selling accounts, likes or followers, or creating accounts to evade restrictions.

Violating the Community Guidelines, or other conduct we reasonably consider inappropriate.

8. Communities

The user who creates a community becomes its admin and can manage how people join, its rules, member approval and removal, and announcements.

Community posts are shown only to members, but we may review reported posts for safety.

School and class communities, and communities created by users under 18, cannot be set to "Anyone can join".

Admins should take reasonable care that members follow these Terms and the Guidelines, but are not responsible for members' actions.

9. Location, maps and places

Your current location is shared with friends only when you turn it on and choose who and for how long. With Ghost mode on, nobody sees your location.

Letters open only after your device's location confirms you are nearby. Spoofing your location to open them is prohibited.

"Bump phones to add friends" matches two people who bump at the same moment nearby. Location is used briefly for matching and not stored.

Places, hours, menus, routes, travel times and crowd information are for reference only and may be inaccurate or out of date. Check official sources before visiting.

Put safety first while moving. Do not use the Service while driving or walking, and do not enter restricted areas or private property.

10. Messages and calls

Do not keep contacting people who do not want to hear from you.

Messages are stored on our servers (we do not currently use end-to-end encryption). We do not look at message content except when required by law, needed to protect someone's safety, or when a message is reported to us.

Call audio and video generally travel directly between devices and are not stored on our servers.

11. Paid membership

The Service offers a monthly paid membership ("Membership"). Price, benefits and payment methods are shown on the sign-up screen and in the Specified Commercial Transactions Act notice.

Membership renews automatically every month from your sign-up date, and you are charged at each renewal.

You can cancel at any time from the Account Center. You keep Membership until the end of the paid period and will not be charged again.

Except as required by law, payments are not refunded pro rata. If you could not use the Service because of us, we will handle it individually.

Payments are processed by Stripe. Card details are never stored on our servers.

We may change Membership benefits or price. We will notify you at least 30 days before a price increase takes effect at your next renewal.

12. Our enforcement

We may, without prior notice, restrict visibility, age-restrict, remove, limit features of, or suspend content or accounts that violate or may violate these Terms or Supplemental Rules.

We will tell you why, unless the law forbids it or there is a safety reason not to.

If you disagree, you can appeal through Feedback. If we made a mistake, we will reverse it.

We have no duty to monitor all content, but we may review reports, use automated detection and conduct human review for safety.

13. Copyright and other rights claims

We respect intellectual property and respond to notices of alleged infringement, including under the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512) and Japan's Act on the Limitation of Liability of Specified Telecommunications Service Providers.

To report infringement, send a notice to our designated agent (below) that includes: (a) your physical or electronic signature; (b) identification of the copyrighted work or other right you claim is infringed; (c) the link to, or other information reasonably sufficient for us to locate, the material; (d) your name, address, telephone number and email; (e) a statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the rights holder, its agent or the law; and (f) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the rights holder or authorized to act for them. You can also use "Report" on the content.

When we receive a valid notice, we remove or disable access to the material and tell the person who posted it.

If your content was removed and you believe this was a mistake or misidentification, you may send a counter-notice to our designated agent that includes: your physical or electronic signature; identification of the material and where it appeared before removal; a statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief the material was removed by mistake or misidentification; your name, address and telephone number; and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the courts for your address (or, if you are outside the United States, any judicial district in which we may be found) and will accept service of process from the person who sent the original notice. We may restore the material 10 to 14 business days after we receive a valid counter-notice, unless the claimant tells us it has filed a court action.

Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), anyone who knowingly makes a material misrepresentation in a notice or counter-notice may be liable for damages. Consider whether fair use or another exception applies before sending a notice.

We terminate, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe the rights of others.

Designated agent for notices: CrowOn Copyright Agent, [contact address and email to be added before public launch].

For other rights (privacy, publicity, defamation, trademark), report via "Report" or Feedback, stating which right is infringed and where the content is. We will review it in accordance with law, which may include notifying the poster and giving them a chance to respond.

14. Third-party services

The Service uses third-party services for maps, routing, place search, payments and notifications. Their terms may apply.

We are not responsible for external websites you open from the Service.

15. Changes, interruptions and termination

We may change the Service, add features or end some features.

We may temporarily suspend all or part of the Service for maintenance, failures, disasters or other unavoidable reasons.

If we end the Service, we will give at least 30 days' notice and a period for you to download your data.

The Service is currently in beta. Features may change frequently and data migration or storage issues may occur. Please download important data from Settings.

16. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS A FREE BETA AND IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE". TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

We do not guarantee that the Service is free of errors, interruptions, data loss or security defects, that it will be available at any particular time, or that content, translations, recommendations and place information are accurate.

Content on the Service is created by users and creators, not by us. We do not endorse it and are not responsible for it, and opinions in it are not ours.

Nothing on the Service is professional advice (medical, legal, financial or otherwise).

Disputes between users, or between users and third parties, should be resolved between them. We will cooperate as the law allows.

17. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL OR OPPORTUNITIES, ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS, EVEN IF WE WERE TOLD THEY WERE POSSIBLE.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF WHAT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR US$50 (OR JPY 10,000 IF YOU LIVE IN JAPAN).

These limits apply whatever the legal theory (contract, tort, negligence, strict liability or otherwise), but do not apply to liability caused by our intent or gross negligence, or where the law (such as Japan's Consumer Contract Act, or consumer protection laws in your country) does not allow them. Some places do not allow certain limits, so some of them may not apply to you.

18. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, you will defend, indemnify and hold harmless us and our team from any claims, damages, losses and costs (including reasonable lawyers' fees) brought by third parties that arise from Your Content, your use of the Service or your violation of these Terms or of anyone's rights.

We may take control of the defense of any such claim at your expense, and you will cooperate with us. You may not settle such a claim without our written consent.

This section does not apply to consumers in places where the law does not allow it.

19. Accessibility

We want everyone to be able to use the Service, and we work toward the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA. See our Accessibility Statement for what we do and known limitations.

If something on the Service is hard to use with a screen reader, keyboard, magnification or other assistive technology, tell us via Feedback or our contact point. We will respond and, where we can, give you another way to access the same information or feature.

20. Exclusion of anti-social forces and sanctions

You represent that you are not, and have no ties to, organized crime groups or other anti-social forces. If this proves untrue, we may suspend your account without notice.

You may not use the Service if you are subject to sanctions by Japan, the United Nations, the United States, the European Union or the United Kingdom, or if you are in a country or region subject to comprehensive sanctions.

21. Notices and electronic communications

We contact you through in-app notices, notifications, email to your registered address or other appropriate means. Notices are treated as received when shown in the Service or when the email is sent.

You agree that agreements, notices and other communications we provide electronically satisfy any legal requirement that they be in writing.

22. Changes to these Terms

We may change these Terms in accordance with applicable law, including the Civil Code of Japan's rules on standard terms.

We will announce the change and its effective date in the Service a reasonable time in advance (at least 30 days for changes unfavorable to you), and may ask you to agree again for important changes.

Using the Service after the effective date means you accept the changed Terms. Changes to Section 25 do not apply to disputes that arose before the change.

23. Termination

You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time.

We may suspend or end your access if you violate these Terms, if required by law, or if we stop providing the Service, as described in Sections 12 and 15.

Sections 5 (for licenses already granted), 13, 16, 17, 18, 24, 25 and 26 survive termination.

24. Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of Japan, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. If you live in the United States, the Federal Arbitration Act governs Section 25.

Except as provided in Section 25, the Tokyo District Court has exclusive jurisdiction in the first instance.

If you are a consumer in the European Union, the United Kingdom or another country whose law gives you the right to sue in your local courts or keep the protection of your local consumer law, nothing in these Terms takes that right away.

25. Dispute resolution and arbitration (users in the United States)

This section applies only if you live in the United States. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY, BECAUSE IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.

Informal resolution first: before starting any claim, you and we agree to try to resolve it informally for at least 60 days. Send a written notice describing the dispute and the relief you want to our contact point; we will send ours to your registered email. Any limitation period is paused while we try.

Binding individual arbitration: if the dispute is not resolved, you and we agree that any dispute, claim or controversy arising from or relating to these Terms or the Service (including whether this section applies or is enforceable) will be resolved by final and binding arbitration administered by JAMS under its Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Consumer Minimum Standards, before a single arbitrator. The arbitration may be held by video or in writing, or in the county where you live. We will pay arbitration fees beyond what you would pay to file a claim in court, as JAMS consumer rules require.

Exceptions: either of us may bring an individual claim in small claims court, and either of us may ask a court to stop the infringement or misuse of intellectual property.

CLASS ACTION AND JURY TRIAL WAIVER: YOU AND WE MAY BRING CLAIMS ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. YOU AND WE WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL. The arbitrator may award relief only to you individually.

Mass filings: if 25 or more similar demands are filed by or with the help of the same lawyers or organizations, they will be handled in batches of up to 25, with one arbitrator per batch, and the remaining demands will not be filed or charged fees until the earlier batches are resolved. This does not limit your right to an individual decision.

Opt-out: you may opt out of this section by sending written notice to our contact point within 30 days after you first agree to these Terms, including your name, username and a clear statement that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out does not affect any other part of these Terms.

If the class action waiver is found unenforceable for a claim, that claim (and only that claim) will be decided in court, not arbitration. If any other part of this section is found unenforceable, the rest still applies.

Time limit: to the extent permitted by law, any claim must be brought within one year after it arose, or it is permanently barred.

26. General

Entire agreement: these Terms, with the Supplemental Rules, are the entire agreement between you and us about the Service.

No waiver: if we do not enforce a provision, we have not given up the right to enforce it later.

Severability: if any provision is held invalid, the rest remains in effect, and the invalid provision is read as closely to its intent as permitted.

Assignment: you may not transfer your position or rights under these Terms without our written consent. If we transfer the business, we may transfer our position, rights, obligations and your information to the transferee, who must protect your information at the same level as the Privacy Policy.

Force majeure: we are not responsible for failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control, such as natural disasters, epidemics, war, unrest, government actions, power or network outages, or failures of third-party providers.

Language: these Terms are provided in Japanese and English. If they conflict, the English version prevails for users outside Japan and the Japanese version prevails for users in Japan.