Terms of Service

1. Who we are and this contract

ChatNow is a trading name of Skyline Online LLC ("we", "us"), registered in New Mexico, USA (details and contacts: Company information). These Terms, including the Community Rules (the "Rules"), are a contract you accept when you enter as a Guest or register as a Member. You contract as a consumer: Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies, and the information we give you under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 forms part of the contract (regulation 13(6)).

2. Eligibility and age assurance

You must be 18 or over. Before any room, private message, image or webcam becomes accessible, every Guest and Member passes a highly effective age check run by the independent provider AgeVerif; we receive only a yes/no result (how it works). Self-declaration and tick-boxes are never accepted. Misrepresenting your age or helping anyone circumvent the check is a serious breach. An account found to belong to a person under 18 is deleted and its data erased.

3. Guests, accounts and security

Guests give a username (3 to 20 characters), a gender, an age and a city; no email or password. Their messages and media are deleted 24 hours after they leave. Members register with an email address, a password of at least 12 characters, a date of birth and a gender, or sign in with Google.

You may hold one account and one active session at a time. Keep your password confidential. You are responsible for what is done through your account unless it results from a security failure on our side; tell contact@chatnow.fr if you suspect unauthorised access.

4. ChatNow Premium

Premium is an optional paid add-on sold by Skyline Online LLC. It never affects safety features, moderation, reporting or the outcome of a complaint.

4.1 Before you buy

Before you confirm, we show the total price, what Premium includes, and the plan length. Premium never renews automatically. The price shown is the total you pay; we are not registered for VAT in the UK, so no UK VAT is added. Payment is taken by Stripe, a PCI-DSS certified processor; we never see your card number. The charge appears on your statement as SKYLINE-ONLINE.

4.2 Your 14-day right to cancel

Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 you may cancel within 14 days of purchase, for any reason. When you buy, we ask whether you want Premium to start immediately. If you choose immediate access and then cancel within the 14 days, we refund the price less a proportionate amount for the days you had Premium (regulation 36); otherwise we refund the full price. Refunds are made within 14 days to the payment method used. To cancel, email contact@chatnow.fr from your account address; any clear statement suffices.

4.3 After the 14 days

Premium runs to the end of the period paid for and then simply ends; nothing further is charged. Premium must be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. If we withdraw or materially reduce Premium, or end your account other than for a serious breach, we refund the unused period.

5. Community Rules

Use the Service lawfully, only ever involve adults, and respect consent. Sexual conversation between consenting adults is permitted in the rooms set aside for it and, with clear consent, in private messages; unsolicited sexual images are prohibited everywhere. No harassment, threats, fraud, spam, bots, scraping, ban evasion or paid sexual services. The binding detail is in the Community Rules, which we apply consistently to all users (Online Safety Act 2023, s.10(8)).

6. Protection from illegal content

ChatNow is a regulated user-to-user service under the Online Safety Act 2023. As section 10(5) requires, we address terrorism, child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) and other priority illegal content separately.

6.1 Terrorism content

Terrorism content (offences in Schedule 5, such as encouraging terrorism or inviting support for a proscribed organisation) is prohibited absolutely. Banned-word lists and our AI classifier flag it for immediate human review. Moderators remove it, permanently ban the account, IP address and device, preserve the evidence and refer the matter to the police. Accounts run by or for a proscribed organisation are removed as soon as identified.

6.2 CSEA content

CSEA content (indecent images of children, grooming, sexual communication with a child and the other offences in Schedule 6) is prohibited absolutely. Every uploaded image is hash-matched against known child sexual abuse material before anyone else can see it, and the classifier flags possible grooming for urgent human review. Confirmed CSEA content leads to an immediate permanent ban, preservation of evidence, a mandatory report to the National Crime Agency under the Online Safety (CSEA Content Reporting by Regulated User-to-User Service Providers) Regulations 2026 and, where relevant, a report to the Internet Watch Foundation (more).

6.3 Other priority illegal content

This covers the Schedule 7 offences: hate; harassment, stalking, threats and abuse; controlling or coercive behaviour; intimate image abuse, including cyberflashing; extreme pornography; sexual exploitation of adults; human trafficking; unlawful immigration; fraud; proceeds of crime; drugs; weapons; encouraging suicide or serious self-harm; foreign interference; and animal cruelty. It is detected through user reports, the classifier, banned-word lists, anti-spam controls and StopNCII.org hash-matching, and removed as soon as we become aware of it. Other illegal content is likewise removed swiftly once we know of it.

7. Proactive technology

As section 10(6) requires, this is the complete list of automated tools we use, when and how:

Webcam and voice are relayed live and never recorded, so no automated tool applies to them; moderators, the report button and your block controls do. No permanent ban is ever applied on a purely automated basis, and every automated removal can be appealed to a human.

8. Intimate images: 48-hour removal

Section 10(3A) of the Online Safety Act 2023 requires us to remove intimate image content as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than 48 hours after a report. The person shown, or someone acting for them, can report with or without an account, through the "Intimate images" report category or safety@chatnow.fr, monitored 24/7 (what to include). Real and "deepfake" images are both covered. We remove the content within 48 hours of a valid report unless we reasonably believe it is not intimate image content or the reporter is not entitled to act, in which case we say why and how to complain. We hash the image to prevent re-upload, sanction the account and preserve the evidence for the police.

9. Keeping children out

Rooms for adult conversation permit pornographic content, which is primary priority content harmful to children (Online Safety Act 2023, s.61). Whether or not the duties in section 12 apply to us, children are prevented from encountering it by being prevented from accessing the Service at all: the age check in section 2 gates every room, message, image and webcam, and nothing is visible before it is passed. We use only methods Ofcom recognises as capable of being highly effective. An adult wrongly assessed as a child can challenge the result.

10. Moderation

Human moderators are present daily and decide reasonably and consistently, by reference to the Rules, the evidence and the seriousness of the harm. We may remove content, reduce its visibility for a limited time, mute you, or ban your account, IP address and device temporarily or permanently (sanctions). CSEA, terrorism, non-consensual intimate images and threats of violence lead directly to a permanent ban. Every decision against you is notified with the reason, the rule or law relied on, whether automation was involved and how to appeal. Evading a ban is itself a breach.

11. Complaints and appeals

As section 21(4) requires, our complaints policies are on the Report & complaints page. You can complain about content, a decision against you, a rejected report, an age-check outcome, our proactive technology, our Online Safety Act compliance, your data, or the Service as a consumer. Reports are acknowledged within 24 hours and decided within 7 days; appeals are decided within 14 days by a different human reviewer; intimate-image complaints are expedited.

12. Claims for breach of contract

Section 72(1) of the Online Safety Act 2023 requires us to tell you: if we take down or restrict access to content you generated, uploaded or shared, or suspend or ban you, in breach of these Terms (including the Rules), you have the right to bring a claim against us for breach of contract. You need not complain to us first, though an appeal is faster and free. See section 21 for the courts.

13. Freedom of expression and privacy

As section 22 requires, we have particular regard to your freedom of expression within the law and to your privacy when designing and applying safety measures. We act only where we have reasonable grounds to believe content is illegal or breaks the Rules, and use the least restrictive sanction that deals with the harm; lawful content you dislike is for your block and mute controls. Staff read private messages only when flagged or reported, or where the law requires. The classifier receives text only, webcam is never recorded, and the age check reveals only yes or no.

14. Your content

You keep ownership of what you post, send, upload or stream. You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to host, store, transmit, display to the people you send it to, moderate and secure it, and to use it to comply with the law. The licence may be sub-licensed only to our processors, never covers advertising without your separate consent, and ends when you delete the content or your account, except for backups and records we must keep by law or for a pending report or investigation. You promise that everyone shown in your images, voice notes or webcam is an adult who consented to appear and to be shared, and that your content complies with the Rules. You are responsible for it; moderating it does not make us its author.

15. Our intellectual property

The ChatNow name, logo, software, design and text belong to us or our licensors. You get a personal, non-commercial, non-transferable licence to use the Service under these Terms. You must not copy, scrape, reverse engineer or make derivative works of it, except as the law allows. Copyright and defamation complaints: Report & complaints.

16. Availability and changes to the Service

We provide the Service with reasonable care and skill but cannot promise it will always be available; we may take it offline for maintenance, with notice where practicable. We change or withdraw features only to comply with the law, protect users or the Service, reflect a technical change, or improve the Service. A change that materially reduces the Service gets at least 30 days' notice, unless the law or an urgent safety risk requires otherwise, and a refund of any unused Premium period affected.

17. Ending the agreement

By you: a Guest leaves (content deleted 24 hours later); a Member deletes the account in settings at any time (data anonymised within 30 days, except records the law requires). Premium then ends under section 4. By us: immediately, for illegal conduct, a serious or repeated breach of the Rules, a risk to other users, evidence you are under 18 or a legal requirement, with the reason and how to appeal; otherwise, including closure of the Service, with at least 30 days' notice and a refund of any unused Premium period.

18. Liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; under section 46 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 for damage to your device or digital content caused by digital content we supply; or for anything else the law does not allow us to exclude. Nothing affects your statutory rights.

If we break these Terms or fail to use reasonable care and skill, we are responsible for foreseeable loss you suffer as a result. We are not responsible for unforeseeable loss; business losses (the Service is for personal use); other users' content or conduct, unless we failed to act as these Terms require once aware of it; or events beyond our reasonable control.

If a third party claims against us because you broke the law or the Rules, you compensate our resulting losses and reasonable costs, to the extent caused by your breach.

19. Changes to these Terms

We change these Terms or the Rules only for a change in law or regulatory guidance, a change to the Service, a safety or abuse risk, or clearer wording. Material changes get at least 30 days' notice in the Service and by email to Members. If you disagree, you may delete your account before the change takes effect, with a refund of any unused Premium period. Changes required by law or urgent safety may apply sooner, with an explanation. Changes never apply retrospectively.

20. General terms

Your personal data is covered by the Privacy & Cookie Policy. We may transfer this contract only to a successor operator who takes on the same obligations, without reducing your rights; you may not transfer your account. No third party may enforce these Terms. If part of them is unenforceable, the rest applies. Formal legal notices go to legal@chatnow.fr.

21. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. You can bring proceedings in the courts of England and Wales or, if you live there, of Scotland or Northern Ireland. You keep the protection of the mandatory consumer law where you live, and we never require arbitration.

For a consumer complaint, write first to contact@chatnow.fr; we reply in writing. As section 308 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 requires, our answer tells you about any alternative dispute resolution scheme available: ChatNow is not a member of one and is not required to be. You may then go to court, or raise concerns with Ofcom or the ICO (escalating).

22. Version history

Earlier versions are available on request from legal@chatnow.fr.