Child Safety Standards

Our binding standards against Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE)

Last updated: 27 May 2026 · Version 1.0

1. Scope and app identification

These standards apply to the mobile application Gathered ("the App"), available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, as well as to all content delivered through the App and all related online services.

Full operator details are available in our Imprint.

2. Definition of CSAE

CSAE stands for Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. It covers any content, communication or behaviour that sexually exploits, abuses or endangers a child, including in particular:

• CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) — visual or textual depictions of the sexual abuse of minors
• Grooming — deliberate manipulation of a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation
• Sextortion — extortion of a child using real or fabricated intimate imagery
• Child sex trafficking, sexual solicitation or requests for sexual conduct involving minors
• Sexualised or eroticised portrayal of minors in any form
• Content that glorifies, justifies or trivialises sexual violence against children
• Any forwarding, storage or further dissemination of the above content

For the purposes of these standards, a child or minor is any person under the age of 18.

3. Express prohibition

This prohibition is additionally anchored in our Terms of Service (§ 4.2 Prohibited Content). Acceptance of these rules is a precondition for use of the App.

4. Minimum age and age verification

The minimum age for using Gathered is 16. Persons under 16 are not permitted to register or use the App. This minimum age is binding both in our Terms § 3.1 and in our Privacy Policy.

Where we have reason to believe that a user has misstated their age (for example, on the basis of a profile picture, chat content or a user report), we suspend the account and may require proof of age. Accounts that demonstrably belong to a person under 16 are deleted.

Gathered is explicitly not directed at children and does not provide any content or features aimed at children under the age of 13.

5. CSAE prevention measures

5.1 Content moderation

• Uploaded profile and event images are screened by automated image moderation for known CSAM and non-age-appropriate content prior to publication.
• Chat messages are server-side checked for unambiguous child-safety and violence-related keywords; matching messages are blocked and logged.
• Suspect accounts are reviewed by a Trust & Safety process that takes account of content, behavioural patterns and reports from other users.

5.2 Account-level measures

• Where there is a substantiated suspicion of CSAE we suspend the account immediately and preserve evidence in a GDPR-compliant manner so that it remains available for assessment by authorities.
• We operate a strike mechanism for ordinary violations — however, CSAE cases lead without strike levels to immediate permanent suspension.
• Device and identity signals are used to make it harder for suspended users to re-register under a different identity.

6. In-app reporting mechanism

Gathered provides an in-app reporting mechanism for CSAE and all other violations. You can submit reports without leaving the App:

• Report a user — via the user profile, using the "Report" action in the three-dot menu
• Report an event — via the event detail page, using the "Report" action
• Report a chat message — via the three-dot menu on a message in the event chat
• Report a photo — via the photo viewer, using the "Report" action

For every report the category "Sexual abuse / child in danger" can be selected. A report is confirmed with a technical acknowledgement ("Thank you for your report") and picked up by our Trust & Safety process without delay. Where there is an acute risk to a child's welfare, the report is prioritised and may be escalated immediately to the authorities (see section 7).

Users who do not have the App installed, or who wish to submit a report outside the App, can contact our Child Safety Point of Contact at any time.

7. Response to confirmed CSAM

Once we obtain actual knowledge of CSAM on the App we take the following steps:

1. Immediate removal of the content and suspension of the responsible account (as a rule within 24 hours, in acute cases without delay).
2. Forensic preservation of evidence and of metadata required for identification, in accordance with § 184b of the German Criminal Code (StGB) and Art. 17 of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
3. Notification of the responsible bodies:
   • Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) — German Federal Criminal Police Office, central authority for child sexual abuse material
   • jugendschutz.net (joint youth-protection body of the German federal states)
   • Internet-Beschwerdestelle.de (eco / FSM, member of the INHOPE network)
   • For US-related matters in addition: NCMEC CyberTipline (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)
4. Permanent ban: reinstatement of the affected account is excluded.
5. Cooperation with law-enforcement and supervisory authorities on the basis of court or administrative orders, within the limits of the applicable law.

8. Designated Child Safety Point of Contact

For notifications from authorities, from Google Play or Apple, from child-safety partners, and for any other time-critical CSAE notification, the following contact applies:

This contact is authorised to speak to internal enforcement and review procedures and to initiate corrective action without delay.

9. Compliance with applicable child-safety laws

Gathered complies with all applicable laws and regulations on the protection of children, in particular:

• § 184b of the German Criminal Code (StGB) — distribution, acquisition and possession of child sexual abuse material
• §§ 176 et seq. of the German Criminal Code (StGB) — sexual abuse of children
• German Youth Protection Act (JuSchG) and the Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media (JMStV)
• Digital Services Act (DSA), in particular Art. 28 (protection of minors online)
• GDPR, in particular Art. 8 (children in the context of information-society services)
• U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), where applicable due to store distribution

We have established processes to report confirmed CSAM without delay to the competent authority, including the Bundeskriminalamt and — where necessary — the U.S. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).

10. Relationship to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

These standards supplement our Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy. Where there is a conflict between this document and any other provision, the more stringent rules protecting children prevail.

11. Updating these standards

We review these standards at least once a year and on an ad-hoc basis (legislative change, new type of incident, audit outcome). Material changes are published here with a corresponding date.

Version 1.0 — published on 27 May 2026. German version: kinderschutz.