Terms of Service

By creating an account on Yaluwo, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, do not use the platform.

• You must be a currently enrolled university student with a valid .edu email address
• You must be at least 16 years of age
• You must use your real university email for authentication
• Only one account per person is permitted

• You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account
• You must provide accurate information about your home country and university
• You must not impersonate another person or create fake profiles
• You must not share your account credentials with others

When using Yaluwo, you agree to:

• Treat other students with respect and dignity
• Use the platform for genuine connection and community-building
• Respect other users' privacy and visibility settings
• Report behavior that violates these terms

You must NOT:

• Harass, bully, threaten, or intimidate other users
• Send spam, unsolicited promotions, or repetitive messages
• Share sexually explicit, violent, or illegal content
• Discriminate against users based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin
• Attempt to circumvent blocks, bans, or moderation actions
• Use automated tools, bots, or scrapers on the platform
• Collect or store other users' personal information without their consent
• Use the platform for commercial purposes without authorization

• Connection requests include a single intro message (100 words max)
• No further direct communication is permitted until the request is accepted
• Rejected requests mean no direct communication with that user
• Pending requests expire after 30 days
• Abusing the connection system (e.g., mass-sending requests) may result in account restrictions

• Each user belongs to one country community based on their home/origin country
• Community group chat is shared among all members of that country
• Community rules apply in addition to platform-wide rules
• Abusive behavior in group chat may result in messaging restrictions or account suspension

• You retain ownership of content you create (messages, profile info, photos)
• By posting content, you grant Yaluwo a limited license to display it within the platform
• We do not claim ownership of your content
• We may remove content that violates these terms

Yaluwo maintains a moderation system to ensure platform safety. Actions we may take include:

• Warning — a notice about a specific behavior
• Temporary restriction — limited messaging or connection capabilities
• Temporary ban — account suspension for a defined period
• Quarantine — account held pending investigation
• Permanent ban — removal from the platform

All moderation actions are logged. Decisions are made by Yaluwo administrators and are final, though we aim to be fair and proportionate.

Users can report:

• Profiles, direct messages, group messages, and connection requests
• Report reasons include: spam, harassment, fake account, hate/discrimination, inappropriate behavior, sexual misconduct, threats, and other concerns
• Reports are reviewed by the Yaluwo moderation team
• Filing false or malicious reports may result in action against the reporter

Yaluwo features a friendship globe that visualizes real cross-border friendships.

• Friendship edges are computed at the country level only — no personal location is displayed
• A friendship edge appears when two users from different countries meet defined criteria (connected, 10+ messages, 2+ days of conversation, mutual participation, no blocks)
• This data is aggregated and does not reveal individual user identities on the globe

• You may deactivate your account at any time from your profile settings
• Deactivation hides your profile and suspends your account for up to 30 days
• Signing back in during the 30-day period reactivates your account
• For permanent deletion, contact us and we will remove your data

• Yaluwo is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind
• We do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free service
• We are not responsible for the conduct of individual users
• We are not affiliated with any university or educational institution

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Yaluwo and its operators shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the platform.

We may update these Terms of Service. Changes will be posted on this page. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

If you have questions about these Terms of Service, contact us at:

yaluwo.app@gmail.com