Terms of Service

1. Provider and scope

These Terms of Service govern access to and use of the HoodApp messaging service and related HoodApp services.

HoodApp is provided by Ugur Maman, Hauptstraße 412, 53639 Königswinter, Germany. Legal contact: [email protected].

2. HoodApp service

HoodApp is a privacy-focused messaging service built around HoodApp IDs, temporary encrypted conversations, short message retention and data-minimizing account architecture.

The service is intended for communication between HoodApp users. Features may change as the application is developed, maintained or updated.

Nothing in these Terms should be understood as a guarantee that the service will always operate without interruption, delay or technical error.

3. Eligibility and minimum age

You must be at least 16 years old to create or use a HoodApp account. HoodApp is not intended for persons under the age of 16.

A person who is not legally permitted to use the service under applicable law must not create or use a HoodApp account.

4. HoodApp ID and account creation

The current account model uses a HoodApp ID. An email address and a real name are not required under the current design.

Users must not deliberately choose or use an identifier in a way that unlawfully impersonates another person, infringes rights or is intended to deceive other users.

Users are responsible for activity performed through their HoodApp account and for maintaining reasonable control over the device on which their HoodApp identity is stored.

5. Account and device responsibility

HoodApp relies on local cryptographic state as part of the current account and security architecture.

Users should take reasonable steps to protect access to their device and HoodApp account.

Loss of a device, deletion of local application data, operating-system actions or other events affecting local cryptographic state may affect access to the service or existing account state.

6. Acceptable use

Users may use HoodApp for lawful communication and other purposes supported by the service.

Users must respect applicable law, the rights of other users and the technical integrity of HoodApp.

Use of HoodApp must not intentionally interfere with the normal operation, security or availability of the service.

7. Prohibited abuse

Users must not use HoodApp to carry out unlawful activity, intentionally distribute malware, conduct unauthorized access attempts, attack or disrupt HoodApp infrastructure, evade technical security controls, or use automated activity in a manner that materially harms the service.

Users must not use the service to unlawfully threaten, harass, impersonate or defraud another person.

This clause does not create a general obligation for HoodApp to monitor private communications. HoodApp does not currently provide public feeds, public groups or open channels. Account restrictions and review requests are handled as described in these Terms.

8. User communications

Users remain responsible for communications they choose to send through HoodApp and for ensuring that their use of the service is lawful.

HoodApp does not claim ownership of the content of users' private communications.

Technical processing of communication data may occur only to the extent necessary for the operation, security, delivery, temporary storage or deletion functions described for the service and in the Privacy Policy.

9. Encrypted conversations and security limits

HoodApp is built around encrypted conversations and a data-minimizing architecture.

Encryption and other security measures are designed to reduce unnecessary exposure, but no communication or information-security system can guarantee absolute security.

Users should not interpret statements about HoodApp security as a promise that compromise, loss, interruption or unauthorized access can never occur.

10. Temporary messages

Under the current HoodApp design, every message has a maximum lifetime of five minutes.

Expired messages are designed to become unavailable and to be removed from active message storage.

HoodApp is therefore not intended to function as permanent message storage, long-term archival storage or a backup service for important information.

11. Blocking

HoodApp allows a user to block another HoodApp ID.

Where a block is active, HoodApp may restrict communication between the relevant accounts in order to provide the blocking function.

Users should not attempt to circumvent a block through abusive or unauthorized means.

12. Service availability and maintenance

HoodApp may require maintenance, security work, technical updates or infrastructure changes.

Temporary interruptions may occur as a result of maintenance, security events, network conditions, infrastructure failures or circumstances outside HoodApp's reasonable control.

Where legally required, users will be informed of material service changes through an appropriate channel.

13. Changes to the service

HoodApp may modify features where there is a legitimate reason to do so, including security, technical, legal, compatibility or service-development reasons.

Changes must not override mandatory rights that users have under applicable consumer law.

Where applicable law requires advance information, continued access to an earlier version or a right to terminate because of a material modification, those legal requirements remain unaffected.

14. Restrictions, suspension and security measures

Access to some or all HoodApp functions may be restricted where reasonably necessary to protect service security, respond to abuse, enforce these Terms, comply with law or protect the rights of users or third parties.

Any restriction should be applied consistently with applicable law and, where required, proportionately to the circumstances.

HoodApp may restrict, suspend or terminate an account where reasonably necessary to protect the security of the service, enforce these Terms, prevent abuse or comply with applicable law. HoodApp is designed for private encrypted interpersonal messaging and does not currently provide public feeds, public groups or open channels. It therefore does not operate a public-content moderation system for such features. Where technically possible and legally permitted, a user affected by an account restriction may request review through [email protected] or [email protected]. Any statutory complaint or redress rights under applicable law remain unaffected.

15. Inactive accounts

Under the current HoodApp design, accounts are intended to be automatically removed after five days of inactivity.

Users should not rely on an inactive HoodApp account as permanent storage of account state or communication history.

The precise production behavior must remain consistent with the Privacy Policy and the released application.

16. Account deletion and termination

Users can initiate deletion of their HoodApp account through the application.

The deletion flow is designed to remove server account data and local cryptographic state associated with the account, subject to any retention that is technically or legally required and disclosed in the Privacy Policy.

Users may stop using HoodApp at any time. Any additional statutory termination rights remain unaffected.

17. Intellectual property

HoodApp, its software, branding, design, graphics and other service materials may be protected by intellectual-property and other applicable laws.

Except where expressly permitted by law or by a separate licence, users may not copy, distribute, sell, commercially exploit or misrepresent HoodApp proprietary materials as their own.

These Terms do not transfer ownership of HoodApp intellectual property to users.

18. Third-party infrastructure and platform services

HoodApp may rely on infrastructure or distribution services supplied by third parties in order to operate or distribute the service.

The HoodApp website is currently delivered through Cloudflare Pages, and the HoodApp messaging backend currently uses Railway infrastructure. Data-protection and infrastructure details are described in the Privacy Policy.

The use of an application-distribution platform may also be subject to mandatory platform terms that apply independently of these HoodApp Terms.

19. Privacy and data protection

Processing of personal data in connection with HoodApp is described separately in the HoodApp Privacy Policy.

The Privacy Policy explains the current account-information model, public cryptographic information, encrypted message transport data, temporary retention, local-device processing and user data-protection rights.

If these Terms and the Privacy Policy address different subjects, each document applies to the subject it governs. Mandatory data-protection law remains unaffected.

20. Liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where such exclusion or limitation is prohibited by applicable law.

In particular, liability is not excluded for intent or gross negligence, or for injury to life, body or health where liability cannot legally be restricted.

For damage caused by slight negligence, any limitation of liability is intended to apply only to the extent legally permitted. Where an essential contractual obligation is breached, liability may remain for foreseeable damage typical of the contract, subject to mandatory law.

Mandatory statutory liability, guarantees expressly given and mandatory consumer rights remain unaffected.

21. Consumer rights, disputes and governing law

Nothing in these Terms removes mandatory consumer-protection rights that apply to a user.

These Terms are governed by German law. If you are a consumer, this choice of law does not deprive you of any mandatory consumer protection granted by the law that would apply in the absence of this choice. Statutory rules on jurisdiction, including mandatory consumer jurisdiction rules, remain unaffected.

The service provider employed no more than ten persons on 31 December of the preceding year and is therefore exempt from the general information duty in section 36(1) no. 1 VSBG under section 36(3) VSBG. To the extent HoodApp qualifies as a publicly available telecommunications service and the statutory requirements are met, eligible end users may submit disputes covered by section 68 TKG to the Schlichtungsstelle Telekommunikation of the Bundesnetzagentur. Participation in that conciliation procedure is voluntary for both parties.

No reference to the former EU Online Dispute Resolution platform is included because that platform has been discontinued.

22. Changes to these Terms and contact

These Terms may be updated where necessary because of changes to HoodApp, security requirements, legal requirements or the service model.

Where applicable law requires users to be informed of significant changes, HoodApp will provide the required information through an appropriate channel.

Questions concerning these Terms may be directed to: [email protected].