Safety, in plain English

What is not allowed

Nudity and sexual content of any kind, hate and slurs, harassment and threats, anything involving minors, scams and spam, sharing someone else's details, dragging a chat off to other apps, and anything illegal. The guidelines spell it out. Break them and you are out of TalkTo.

How the filter works

When you press send, the message goes to our server before it goes anywhere near the other person. A filter checks it for sexual content, slurs, anyone saying they are under 18, links, email addresses, phone numbers and requests to continue on other apps. If it passes, it is delivered. If it does not, it is dropped and you get a line saying which rule it tripped.

It is a filter, not a mind reader. It works on words and patterns, mostly in English, and it will miss creative spelling and some other languages. That is why the report button matters more than any filter.

Reports, blocks and bans

A report goes to a queue that a person reads, with a short excerpt of the chat attached. You choose a reason: harassment, sexual content, looks under 18, hate speech, spam or scam, or other. Reporting someone you were just matched with ends that chat.

Several reports from different people, a run of blocked messages, or a message where someone says they are under 18 trigger an automatic temporary ban while a person looks. Anything longer is a person's decision. A ban applies to the account and to the network connection it came from, which we keep only as a one-way hash, so a fresh anonymous account on the same connection does not undo it.

Adults only, and what that means

TalkTo is for people aged 18 and over, and you confirm that before you start. We cannot check ID, so we enforce the rule with filtering, reports and bans rather than proof. If someone seems younger than 18, report them as looks under 18 and stop talking to them.

Two rooms, Dating and 18+, ask you to confirm your age a second time before you can read them. Sexual content is still not allowed there. They exist for adults to talk like adults, not for anything explicit.

What is private, and what is not

Chats with strangers are between two people and are not saved when they end. DMs are between you and a friend. Three things are visible to more people than that:

• Public rooms. Anybody inside sees your handle, avatar and every message you post, and a visitor can scroll back through recent history before joining. Write as if it is a pavement.
• Your note. The 60 character line you can share with friends is visible to them for 24 hours.
• Your country. The person you are matched with sees which country your connection is in, and nothing more precise.

Looking after yourself

• Keep your real name, address, school, workplace and other accounts to yourself.
• Nobody you meet here needs your money, gift cards or photos. Say no, then report.
• A stranger can say anything. Treat a story as a story until you have a reason not to.
• If a chat feels off, skip it. You owe no one an explanation.
• Meeting a stranger in person is a different level of risk. If you ever do, pick a public place and tell someone first.
• Report anything that breaks the rules, even if the filter let it through. It is how the filter gets better.