Our approach
Apperah is built for real-life connection between people who already know each other, and the product is designed so that minors are protected by default. This page explains our age policy, the protections applied to users under 18, how we handle child sexual abuse material, and how to reach us.
1. Our age policy
- You must be at least 16 to use Apperah. This is the minimum we apply everywhere today.
- We are introducing per-country minimum ages aligned to each country’s digital-consent age under local law. In the EU/EEA that age ranges from 13 to 16 (for example 16 in Germany, 15 in France, 14 in Spain, 13 in Norway and Sweden), and a few countries require you to be 18 or to have a parent’s or guardian’s consent (for example India, South Africa, and Brazil). Until that country-by-country tailoring is in place, the 16 minimum applies to everyone. The exact minimum for your country, once tailored, will be set out in your country supplement. See our Privacy Policy.
- Apperah is a general-audience service — it is not directed to young children, and we do not design features for children.
2. What we do for users under 18
Apperah’s protective defaults apply to every account — which means they protect users under 18 from the first day:
- Private-by-default profile sections — your events tab, memories map, and availability all start private or off; you choose what to open up.
- Location sharing is off by default — you must turn it on yourself, each time, and we encourage “area” rather than “exact” precision.
- No behavioural profiling — we do not run behavioural profiling or segmentation on any account, under-18 or otherwise. Usage analytics are optional (opt-in) and never used to profile you.
- No targeted advertising — promoted placements are selected by area and event category, never from a profile of you or your behaviour.
- You can switch personalised recommendations off at any time in Settings > Data & personalization; we encourage younger users to review these settings.
- Apperah has no paid consumer features today; if we introduce any, some may need a parent’s or guardian’s consent in your country.
3. How we detect and act on under-age users
- At sign-up we ask your date of birth and refuse registration below the minimum age.
- We know a declared age can be false. If our team or systems see signs that a user is under the minimum age, we review the account under our internal process and may suspend or remove it.
- If you believe someone under the minimum age is using Apperah, please report it in-app so we can act.
4. Zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
- We do not allow any sexual content involving minors, in any form.
- When we become aware of CSAM, we remove it, preserve the relevant information, and report it to the appropriate authorities — for example the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) or, in Norway, Kripos — as the law requires.
- We act on both user reports and, as we roll it out, automated detection that matches images against authoritative registries of known illegal content.
- CSAM is illegal in every jurisdiction; there is no exception and no appeal for CSAM-related enforcement.
5. Safety resources
If you or someone you know needs help:
- In an emergency, call your local emergency number (112 in Norway and most of the EU; 999 UK; 911 US).
- Child-safety / exploitation concerns: NSPCC (UK), ECPAT International, Stop It Now — and report in-app so we can route it to the authorities.
- If you’re being harassed or stalked: NCK (Norway), Refuge (UK), and local equivalents.
- Mental-health support: Mental Helse (Norway), Samaritans (UK), 988 (US).
Apperah is not an emergency or counselling service — please reach trained professionals for sustained support.
6. How to report a concern
- Tap “Report” on any content or profile.
- When you report a child-safety concern, we keep your identity confidential from the person you reported, and you do not need to put your name in the report. We will not disclose your identity except where the law requires us to. You can also raise a concern by email to trust@apperah.com.
- We review serious reports promptly and act under our Community Guidelines and Acceptable Use Policy. For decisions about content, you’ll get a written reason and (except for CSAM) you can ask us to review the decision.
- You can also email trust@apperah.com.
7. For parents and guardians
- What we do: enforce our minimum-age requirement, apply protective defaults to every account (private profile sections, location sharing off), prohibit and report CSAM, and provide easy reporting.
- What we do not do: we do not build features for children, we do not profile minors, and we do not show them targeted advertising.
- Deleting an account: a young person can delete their account at any time in Settings; deletion is straightforward and unobstructed. If you are a parent or guardian and need help removing your child’s account or data, contact privacy@apperah.com.
Updating this page
We note material updates in-app and archive past versions. Feedback: feedback@apperah.com.