1. About these Terms and who we are
1.1 These Terms of Service (the “Terms”) govern your access to and use of the website locals.eu and the services provided through it (together, the “Service”). The Service is operated by JUDr. Gerhard Hunčaga, a sole trader established in the Slovak Republic, with place of business at Vyšnokubínska 150, 026 01 Dolný Kubín, Slovakia, Business ID (IČO) 32278209, VAT ID (IČ DPH) SK1021404053 (“we”, “us”, “our” or the “Operator”). You can reach us at [email protected].
1.2 By accessing or using the Service, you agree to these Terms, our Privacy Policy and our Cookie Policy. If you do not agree, you must not use the Service.
1.3 Please read these Terms carefully. They explain who we are, how the Service works, the rules for using it, how payments work, how either of us may end your use, and other important matters. We recommend that you keep a copy.
1.4 If you use the Service on behalf of an organisation, you confirm that you are authorised to bind that organisation to these Terms.
2. Definitions
- “User”, “you” – any person who accesses or uses the Service.
- “Interests” or “Keywords” – the words you enter to describe what you want to connect about (up to five).
- “Location scope” – the geographic area you select for matching, for example a continent or a country.
- “Match” – where your Keywords overlap with those of another User, within the selected Location scope, to the extent required by the Service.
- “Connection” – the ability for you and a Match to be put in contact with one another. Opening a Connection may be a paid feature.
- “Content” – anything you submit through the Service, including Keywords, messages and any stories or information you share.
3. Eligibility and age (18+)
3.1 The Service is intended exclusively for persons aged 18 or older. By using the Service, you confirm that you are at least 18 years old and have full legal capacity to enter into these Terms.
3.2 You confirm that the information you provide is truthful, accurate and current, and that you are not prohibited from using the Service under any applicable law.
3.3 If we become aware that a User is under 18, we will suspend or close the account and delete the associated data as required by law.
4. What the Service is – and what it is not
4.1 locals is an interest-based connection service. You enter up to five Keywords and select a Location scope; when your Keywords overlap sufficiently with those of another User within that scope (a Match), we let you connect so you can talk and share your interests, stories and experiences.
4.2 The Service is intended for general informational, entertainment and personal-development purposes and to help like-minded people find one another. It does not constitute legal, financial, investment, health, psychological or other professional advice and must not be relied upon as such.
4.3 For the avoidance of doubt, the Service is not a dating, romance, matchmaking-for-relationships or sexual-encounter service, and it is not a social network, news feed or content-broadcasting platform. It is a tool for connecting people around shared interests.
4.4 We do not guarantee that you will receive a Match, that any particular number of Matches will occur, or that any Connection will lead to a particular outcome. Matches depend on other Users and on their Keywords and Location scope.
5. How matching and Connections work
5.1 You choose up to five Keywords and a Location scope (such as a continent or a country). The Service compares your Keywords with those of other Users within that scope.
5.2 A Match occurs when the number of overlapping Keywords required by the Service is reached within the selected Location scope.
5.3 When a Match occurs, we notify the Users involved (for example by email) and may make available the information needed to connect. By using the Service and creating Keywords, you consent to your chosen display name, your matched Keywords, your Location scope and the contact method you provide being shared with a Match for the purpose of connecting you. What is shared and how it is processed is described in our Privacy Policy.
5.4 You decide whether and how to communicate with a Match. Any further contact, exchange of information or meeting between Users is solely between those Users.
6. Accounts and your information
6.1 Some features may require you to create an account or to save your Keywords and preferences. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide and for keeping any access credentials secure.
6.2 You are responsible for all activity that occurs through your account or your Keywords. Notify us promptly at [email protected] if you believe your account has been used without your authorisation.
6.3 Unless we agree otherwise, you may hold only one account, and you must not share your account with others or use another person’s account.
7. Fees, payments and paid features
7.1 Parts of the Service may be provided for a fee – in particular, opening or unlocking a Connection after a Match. Where a feature is paid, the applicable fee and what it covers are shown to you before you pay.
7.2 We may offer the Service, or any individual feature, free of charge, and we may introduce, change or discontinue fees at any time. Any change to fees applies only to purchases made after the change takes effect.
7.3 Payments are processed by our payment providers, currently Stripe and PayPal. By paying, you also agree to the relevant provider’s terms. We do not store full payment-card details.
7.4 Prices are stated in the currency shown at checkout and, where required, include applicable taxes. You are responsible for any charges your own bank or provider may apply.
7.5 Consumer right of withdrawal (digital services). If you are a consumer in the EU/EEA, you generally have the right to withdraw from a distance contract for digital services within 14 days. However, opening a Connection is delivered immediately. By purchasing and asking us to make the Connection available straight away, you expressly request immediate performance and acknowledge that you lose your right of withdrawal once the Connection has been opened and the service is fully performed. If performance has not begun, you may withdraw and receive a refund.
7.6 Refunds. Except for your statutory rights (including the withdrawal right above) and except where we decide otherwise, fees for a Connection that has already been opened are non-refundable, because the service has been delivered. If a paid feature fails for technical reasons attributable to us, contact us at [email protected] and we will repair, re-provide or refund as appropriate.
8. Acceptable use and code of conduct
You agree to use the Service lawfully, respectfully and only for its intended purpose. In particular, you must not:
- break any applicable law or regulation, or use the Service for any unlawful purpose;
- harass, bully, threaten, defame, stalk or intimidate any person, or promote hatred or discrimination on any ground;
- use the Service for sexual solicitation, escorting, prostitution, “hook-up” or any sexual service, or to send sexually explicit, obscene or pornographic content;
- contact, attempt to connect with, or target any person under 18, or post content that exploits or endangers minors;
- send spam or unsolicited advertising, promote commercial products or services, operate contests or pyramid/MLM schemes, or solicit money;
- impersonate any person or entity, misrepresent your identity or affiliation, or provide false or misleading information;
- collect, store or disclose other Users’ personal data without their consent, or publish private information about others (doxxing);
- post or transmit content that is defamatory, hateful, violent, deceptive, infringing of intellectual-property rights, or otherwise unlawful or harmful;
- introduce malware, attempt to gain unauthorised access, scrape or harvest data, use bots or automated means, or otherwise interfere with or overburden the Service;
- use the Service to build, train or supply a competing product or service.
You are solely responsible for your own conduct, for your Content, and for your interactions with other Users.
9. Your Content
9.1 You retain ownership of the Content you submit. You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, display, transmit and use your Content to the extent necessary to operate and provide the Service.
9.2 You confirm that you have the rights necessary to submit your Content and that it does not infringe the rights of others or breach these Terms or any law.
9.3 We do not routinely monitor Content, but we may review, moderate, refuse or remove Content that we reasonably consider to breach these Terms or applicable law.
10. Safety – meeting and interacting with other people
10.1 We do not verify the identity of Users and we do not screen, vet or carry out background checks on Users. We are not a party to, and are not responsible for, the conduct of Users or any interaction, communication or meeting between Users, whether online or offline.
10.2 You connect with, and (if you choose) meet, other people at your own risk. Use good judgement: be cautious about sharing personal, financial or sensitive information; where you choose to meet someone, consider meeting in a public place and telling someone you trust.
10.3 If you feel unsafe or encounter unlawful behaviour, stop the interaction and, where appropriate, contact your local authorities. You can also report the User to us (see section 11).
11. Reporting, moderation and enforcement
11.1 If you believe a User, any Content or any use of the Service breaches these Terms or is unlawful, you can report it to us at [email protected]. Please include enough detail for us to locate and assess the matter.
11.2 Where we reasonably consider it necessary and to the extent permitted by law, we may remove or disable Content, issue warnings, and restrict, suspend or terminate access to the Service, with or without notice depending on the seriousness of the matter.
11.3 We handle reports of illegal content in accordance with applicable law and act on valid legal notices.
12. Intellectual property
12.1 The Service, including its software, design, text, graphics, logos and other materials (other than User Content), is owned by us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual-property laws.
12.2 We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable licence to access and use the Service for your personal, non-commercial use in accordance with these Terms. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.
12.3 You must not copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, reverse-engineer or create derivative works from the Service or its content, except as permitted by law or with our prior written consent.
13. Third-party services and links
13.1 The Service relies on third parties (for example payment providers, e-mail delivery, hosting and analytics) and may contain links to third-party websites. We do not control and are not responsible for third-party services or their content, and your use of them may be subject to their own terms.
14. Privacy and cookies
14.1 Our use of your personal data, including what we share with a Match, is described in our Privacy Policy, and our use of cookies is described in our Cookie Policy. Please read them carefully.
15. Service availability and “as is”
15.1 We aim to keep the Service available, but we do not guarantee that it will be uninterrupted, error-free or secure, and we may change, suspend or withdraw all or part of it.
15.2 The Service is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the extent permitted by law, we exclude all implied warranties, including as to availability, accuracy, fitness for a particular purpose, and the achievement of any Match, Connection or result.
16. Limitation of liability
16.1 Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes any liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law, including, for consumers, your mandatory statutory rights.
16.2 Subject to section 16.1, we are not liable for: the conduct of, or your interactions with, other Users (online or offline); any loss or damage that was not reasonably foreseeable; any indirect or consequential loss; or any loss arising from your breach of these Terms or your misuse of the Service.
16.3 Subject to section 16.1, our total liability to you arising out of or in connection with the Service is limited, to the extent permitted by law, to the greater of the fees you paid us in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim, or EUR 100.
16.4 If you are a consumer, you have legal rights that these Terms do not affect, and the Service is provided to you for your private use.
17. Indemnification
17.1 To the extent permitted by law, and except where you are a consumer acting outside any trade or business, you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from claims, losses and reasonable costs arising out of your breach of these Terms, your Content, your misuse of the Service, or your interactions with other Users.
18. Suspension and termination
18.1 You may stop using the Service at any time and, where an account exists, close it.
18.2 We may suspend or terminate your access, with immediate effect where reasonable, if you breach these Terms or applicable law, if required by law, or if we discontinue the Service.
18.3 Termination does not affect rights or obligations that arose before it. Provisions that by their nature should survive (including those on the Content licence, intellectual property, liability, indemnification and governing law) survive termination.
19. Changes to the Service and to these Terms
19.1 We may change the Service and these Terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes in the law, our features or our business. The “last updated” date shows when these Terms were last changed.
19.2 For material changes we will give reasonable notice (for example on the website or by e-mail). Your continued use of the Service after the changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms. If you do not accept them, you must stop using the Service.
20. Governing law and disputes
20.1 These Terms and any dispute arising out of or in connection with them are governed by the laws of the Slovak Republic, without prejudice to any mandatory consumer-protection rules of the country where you, as a consumer, are habitually resident.
20.2 The courts of the Slovak Republic have jurisdiction. If you are a consumer, you may also bring proceedings in the courts of your country of residence, and the mandatory protections of that country continue to apply to you.
20.3 If you are a consumer, you may be entitled to use an alternative (out-of-court) dispute-resolution body in your country of residence. Details of any competent body can be obtained from your national consumer authority.
21. Final provisions
21.1 These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and the Cookie Policy, are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service.
21.2 If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force and effect.
21.3 Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it.
21.4 We may assign or transfer our rights and obligations under these Terms, for example as part of a reorganisation or a sale of the business. You may not assign yours without our consent.
21.5 These Terms are written in English; any translation is provided for convenience only and the English version prevails unless applicable law requires otherwise.
22. Contact
JUDr. Gerhard Hunčaga, a sole trader established in the Slovak Republic, place of business: Vyšnokubínska 150, 026 01 Dolný Kubín, Slovakia, Business ID (IČO) 32278209, VAT ID (IČ DPH) SK1021404053. E-mail: [email protected]. Further contact details are available on the website.