Terms of Service

This is a legal agreement between you and Hank Software, LLC. It covers your use of the Beau app and everything you post, claim and say in it. Please read the parts about other people, about claims, and about meeting in person: they are the parts that are specific to Beau.

In brief. You must be 18 or older. Beau does not verify who anyone is, whether an encounter happened, or whether a person who says “that might be me” is telling the truth. You are responsible for what you post about other people and you promise it is honest and not a way to locate, out or harass them. We remove content and ban accounts for the conduct in our Community Guidelines, we act on reports within 24 hours, and we do not tolerate objectionable content or abusive users. Meeting someone from Beau is your decision and at your own risk.

1. The agreement

These Terms of Service, together with the Privacy Policy, the Community Guidelines and the Meeting Safely guidelines (all incorporated by reference), form a binding agreement between you and Hank Software, LLC (“we”, “us”), the company that operates the Beau app and related services (the “Service”). This agreement is between you and Hank Software, LLC only, not Apple Inc. or Google LLC. By creating an account or using the Service you accept these Terms. If you do not accept them, do not use Beau.

2. Who may use Beau

You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority where you live if that is higher, and legally able to enter this agreement. You may not use Beau if you have previously been removed from it, or if you are prohibited from using it under the laws of your country. Beau is intended for gay, bisexual, queer and trans men and the people who want to meet them; it is available to any adult who accepts these Terms and follows the Community Guidelines.

3. What Beau is, and what we do not verify

Beau lets you describe a person you encountered and could not reach, lets people who may have been that person say so, and, if both of you agree, opens a conversation. We do not and cannot verify any of the following, and you agree that you will not rely on Beau having done so:

• Identity. We do not verify that any user is who they say they are, and we do not run background checks or criminal-record screening on anyone.
• Age. We do not verify age. The date of birth you enter is used only to display your age on your profile; it is not an age-verification or age-assurance system, and we do not confirm it against any record.
• Encounters. We do not verify that any described encounter happened, or happened as described.
• Claims. When a user says a post might be about them, we do not confirm that they are the person described. See Section 8.
• Matches. When our matching engine pairs two posts, that pairing is a model’s estimate that the posts describe the same encounter. The confidence score is an estimate, not a finding of fact, and is not identification of anyone.

4. Your account

You sign in with your email address, with Apple, or with Google. You are responsible for everything that happens under your account and for keeping your device and sign-in secure. One person, one account; accounts may not be shared, sold or transferred. We may require you to re-authenticate, and we may suspend an account we reasonably believe is compromised, inauthentic or operated by someone under 18.

5. License to use the app

Beau is free to download and use. Hank Software, LLC grants you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to install and use the Beau app on a device you own or control, for your personal, non-commercial use, in accordance with these Terms and the App Store or Google Play usage rules that apply to you. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, lease, sublicense, reverse engineer, decompile or attempt to extract the source code of the app, or remove any proprietary notice, except to the extent the law expressly permits. The Beau name, logo and app content belong to Hank Software, LLC or its licensors. Open-source components are licensed under their own terms.

6. Your content

What you own and what you license to us

You own the content you post. So that Beau can work, you grant Hank Software, LLC a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, transmit, display, adapt (for example, to resize an image or extract place and time terms from a story), and distribute your content within the Service, including: transmitting post text to our matching and safety-screening provider (Anthropic) and photos to our content-classification provider (Amazon Rekognition); displaying your posts in feeds, event hubs and search results to signed-in users; showing your profile and RSVPs to members; and retaining content as described in the Privacy Policy. This license lasts as long as the content is on the Service, plus the retention periods in the Privacy Policy, and does not permit us to use your content in advertising, to sell it, or to train machine-learning models.

What you promise about posts that describe other people

A Beau post is about someone else. Each time you post, you represent and warrant that:

1. the encounter you describe happened, and your description is truthful to the best of your recollection;
2. you have the right to post everything in it, including any photograph, and any photograph of another person was taken in a public setting where they could reasonably expect to be seen, is not sexual, and does not identify them beyond the moment;
3. you are not posting to locate, track, out, harass, embarrass, extort or intimidate anyone, or to reach a person who has blocked you, asked you to stop, or ended contact with you;
4. the person you describe is, to the best of your knowledge, an adult; and
5. your post follows the Community Guidelines, including the rule that it describes the moment, not a way to find the person again.

You are solely responsible for your posts and for any claim a described person makes about them. If a person or authority brings a claim against Hank Software, LLC arising from your post, Section 16 (indemnification) applies.

Photos of other people

You may include a photo of the person you are describing only if it meets the standard above. Post photos, like profile photos, are stored where anyone with the link can view them, including people who are not signed in; do not upload a photo of another person that you would not want to be publicly reachable. We remove a photo of a person on their request without asking them to prove who they are.

7. The consent gate

Beau’s central promise is this: interest may cross the gate, but language may not. No message is exchanged between two people until both have said yes: one by posting or by raising a claim, the other by accepting. Its exact edges are part of this agreement:

• A decline is delivered to the person who was declined, and is attributed to the person who declined. Beau does not disguise a decline as silence.
• A claim that has been declined cannot be raised again on the same post.
• Once a conversation has opened, it survives the deletion of the post that opened it. Either participant may leave, block or report at any time.
• Nothing that passes the gate is verified. A “yes” from the other side means they chose to talk, not that they are who you think.

8. Claiming to be the person in a post

When you tell Beau that a post might be about you, you are making a statement to the poster, and the gate opens a private conversation on the strength of it. You agree that you will raise a claim only if you believe, in good faith, that you are the person described. Knowingly claiming a post that is not about you is impersonation, is grounds for suspension or permanent removal, and may expose you to liability to the person you deceive. Hank Software, LLC does not and cannot confirm that a claimant is the person described, and the confidence score attached to any match or claim is an estimate produced by a model, not identification.

9. How long content lasts, and how it can be removed

Content on Beau has a lifespan and can be hidden without a person deciding. You agree to each of the following:

• Posts expire 45 days after creation. Expiry is a feature of the product, not a removal for cause.
• Three reports hide a post automatically pending human review.
• Every photo is classified before anyone sees it, and a photo that fails classification is rejected automatically. Rejected photos are retained for approximately 30 days for appeal, then purged.
• Every post is screened before it can match, and a post that fails the screen is suppressed from matching automatically.
• We may remove or hide any content and restrict, suspend or terminate any account at any time for a breach of these Terms or the Community Guidelines, for a credible safety concern, or as required by law.

You can appeal any automated rejection, hide or suppression, and any moderator decision, from the content itself or by writing to safety@heybeau.app. A person will review it and tell you the result.

10. Objectionable content and abusive users

Hank Software, LLC has no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive users. Beau provides, on every screen where content appears: automated filtering of objectionable content before it is shown; a one-tap way to report content and users; a one-tap way to block a user so that they cannot see or contact you; and published contact information (safety@heybeau.app) so you can reach us directly. We review reports and act on them within 24 hours of receipt, including removing the content and ejecting the user who provided it. What counts as objectionable is set out in the Community Guidelines.

Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) Prohibitions

Beau has a strict, zero-tolerance policy regarding the creation, distribution, sharing, or facilitation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) or Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE).

Users are strictly prohibited from utilizing the platform to engage in any behavior that exploits, harms, or threatens minors. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Uploading, sharing, or transmitting explicit or sexually suggestive imagery or text involving individuals under the age of 18.
• Attempting to groom, contact, or manipulate minors for harmful or exploitative purposes.
• Sharing resources, links, or metadata that facilitate access to illicit material involving minors.

Enforcement & Reporting

Any violation of this policy will result in the immediate and permanent termination of the user’s account and the removal of all associated content. In accordance with applicable laws, Hank Software, LLC will proactively report violations, including user account details and relevant data, to law enforcement and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).

If you encounter any content or behavior on our platform that you suspect violates these safety terms, please report it immediately by using our in-app reporting tools or emailing us at safety@heybeau.app.

11. Prohibited conduct

You agree not to do any of the following, and you understand that doing so is grounds for immediate removal without notice and, where appropriate, referral to law enforcement:

• Out anyone: post, or attempt to establish, that an identifiable person was at a gay venue, cruising location, sauna, Pride event or any place where being seen would reveal their orientation or otherwise put them at risk.
• Post about, message, or attempt to identify anyone under 18, or upload any image of a minor in any context.
• Describe a person in a way that lets someone find them again outside the encounter: full names, employers, routines, home neighborhoods, vehicles or plates, social handles.
• Post about a person who has blocked you, asked you to stop, or ended contact, or use repeated posts to keep a person surfaced.
• Stalk, harass, threaten, intimidate, defame or extort anyone, or send unsolicited sexually explicit images in a conversation.
• Solicit, advertise, offer or arrange commercial sexual services of any kind, on any Beau surface, including posts, profiles, event hubs and private chat; or solicit money, gifts or payment-app details from other users.
• Fabricate encounters, raise claims you know to be false, or flood a venue or event with posts to harvest responses.
• Screenshot, record, save, redistribute or republish another member’s profile, photos, posts, chat or an event guest list, on or off Beau, except with that person’s express consent. Beau’s chat screenshot block is a courtesy; this clause is the rule.
• Scrape, crawl, bulk-export or compile Beau profiles, posts, photos or guest lists into any list, dataset or database, by any means, automated or manual, or use Beau content to train any machine-learning system.
• Impersonate any person, misrepresent your affiliation, or use another person’s photos as your own.
• Use Beau for any commercial purpose, advertising or promotion without our written permission.
• Interfere with the Service, probe or bypass its security or access controls, or introduce malicious code.
• Violate any applicable law, or the Community Guidelines.

12. Sensitive information you share

Using Beau reveals information about your sexual orientation, and the profile fields and the Nearby location trail can reveal more. The Privacy Policy explains what is collected and why. Everything sensitive that Beau holds about you is information you chose to enter, and every such field, including Nearby, is optional. By accepting these Terms when you create your account you agree that we may process the information you provide as the Privacy Policy describes, and you can withdraw that at any time as the Privacy Policy explains.

13. Meeting in person, and assumption of risk

The purpose of Beau is to help two people move from the app to a real meeting. That is also its risk. You alone decide whether, where and when to meet anyone you encounter through Beau, and you do so at your own risk. Hank Software, LLC does not screen users, does not verify identity, and is not a party to and has no responsibility for any interaction, meeting, relationship or dispute between users, online or off. You agree to read and consider the Meeting Safely guidelines, and to take reasonable precautions in every interaction. If you believe you are in danger, contact local emergency services first and Beau second.

14. Termination

You may stop using Beau and delete your account at any time from Settings; the Privacy Policy explains what deletion does and does not remove. We may suspend or terminate your account at any time for breach of these Terms or the Community Guidelines, for a credible safety concern, if required by law, or if we discontinue the Service. Sections 3, 6, 8, 11, 13 and 15 through 20 survive termination.

15. Disclaimers

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available", with all faults, and without warranty of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Hank Software, LLC disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and any warranty arising from course of dealing or usage. Hank Software, LLC does not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, accurate or error-free; that any match, claim, proximity hit or confidence score is accurate; that any user is who they say they are; that any content is truthful; or that the screenshot block, content filters or moderation will prevent any particular harm. Some jurisdictions do not allow these disclaimers, in which case they apply to the extent permitted.

16. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Hank Software, LLC, its members, managers, employees and agents from any claim, demand, loss, liability, damages or expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from: your content, including any claim by a person described or pictured in your post; your claims to be the person in a post; your interactions with other users, online or in person; your misuse of location or other information about another user; your breach of these Terms or the Community Guidelines; or your violation of any law or third-party right. We may assume the exclusive defense of any matter subject to indemnification, at your expense, and you agree to cooperate.

17. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Hank Software, LLC will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, goodwill or reputation, or for any personal injury, emotional distress, or damage arising from your interactions with other users or from any meeting arranged through the Service, however caused and under any theory of liability, even if advised of the possibility. Hank Software, LLC's total liability for all claims arising out of or relating to the Service will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid to Hank Software, LLC in the twelve months before the claim arose and US$100. These limits do not apply to liability that cannot be limited by law, including for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud.

18. Governing law and dispute resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York and the Federal Arbitration Act, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Before filing any claim, you and Hank Software, LLC agree to try to resolve it informally by written notice to the other, followed by a 45-day negotiation period. Any dispute that cannot be resolved informally will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, by a single arbitrator, by video or in the county where you live. You and Hank Software, LLC each waive the right to a jury trial and to participate in a class or representative action. Either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court instead, and either party may seek injunctive relief in court to protect intellectual property or to stop the misuse of another person’s data. You may opt out of arbitration by emailing support@heybeau.app within 30 days of first accepting these Terms, with your name and the email on your account. If the class-action waiver is found unenforceable as to a claim, that claim will proceed in the state or federal courts located in Kings County, New York, and you consent to their jurisdiction. Nothing in this section removes mandatory consumer-protection rights you have under the law of the place where you live.

19. Apple and Google terms

If you downloaded Beau from the Apple App Store, the following also applies. This agreement is between you and Hank Software, LLC only, and Apple is not a party to it and is not responsible for the app or its content. Your license to use the app is limited to Apple-branded devices you own or control, as permitted by the App Store Terms of Service. Hank Software, LLC, not Apple, is solely responsible for the app, for maintenance and support (support@heybeau.app), and Apple has no obligation to provide any maintenance or support. If the app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple and Apple will refund the purchase price of the app, if any; Apple has no other warranty obligation. Hank Software, LLC, not Apple, is responsible for addressing any claim relating to the app, including product-liability claims, any claim that the app fails to conform to legal or regulatory requirements, and consumer-protection or similar claims, and for the investigation, defense and settlement of any claim that the app infringes a third party’s intellectual-property rights. You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a US government embargo or designated as “terrorist supporting”, and are not on any US government list of prohibited or restricted parties. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of this agreement and may enforce it against you. You must comply with applicable third-party terms (for example, your wireless data service agreement) when using the app.

If you downloaded Beau from Google Play, Google’s Terms of Service and Play policies also apply, Google is not a party to this agreement, and Google is a third-party beneficiary of it to the extent required by Google’s developer terms.

20. Copyright complaints

We respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and terminate repeat infringers. Send notices, with the information required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3), to support@heybeau.app.

21. General

We may change these Terms. We will post the new version with its effective date and, for material changes, tell you in the app before they take effect; continued use after that date is acceptance. We may assign this agreement in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of assets. If any provision is unenforceable, the rest remain in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. This agreement, with the documents it incorporates, is the entire agreement between you and Hank Software, LLC about the Service. Notices to us go to support@heybeau.app, and email is the only notice method we require or publish; notices to you go to the email on your account or in the app. California residents may contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, CA 95834, or (800) 952-5210.