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Kinder — Terms of Service

Effective Date: March 23, 2026

Last Updated: March 23, 2026

Version: 1.0

1. About These Terms

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your use of the Kinder app and website (KonnectKinder.com), operated by Konnecturs, Lda., a company registered in Portugal with NIF 518700470, with registered address at Ave Infante Dom Henrique, Lote 1 G1D, 1950-421 Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.

By creating a Kinder account, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use Kinder.

These Terms are governed by Portuguese law and applicable European Union regulations. Nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer under EU or Portuguese law.

2. What Kinder Is

Kinder is a social connection app designed to help adults — with a particular focus on people aged 60 and over — build meaningful friendships and relationships. Kinder facilitates real human-to-human connection through features including messaging, journaling, gratitude sharing, collaborative storytelling, and daily engagement prompts.

Kinder is not:

3. Eligibility

To use Kinder, you must:

We verify your age during registration. If we discover that a user is under 18, we will close the account and delete the associated data.

4. Your Account

4.1 Account Creation

You create your account with an email address and password. You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure. Do not share your password with anyone, including family members or caregivers. Support Circle members access Kinder through their own accounts with limited, separately granted permissions — they should never need your password.

4.2 Account Accuracy

You must provide accurate information when creating your account and keep it up to date. Misrepresenting your identity, age, or other material details is a violation of these Terms.

4.3 One Account Per Person

Each person may hold only one Kinder account. Creating multiple accounts is not permitted.

5. How Kinder Works

5.1 Core Features

Intent Circles: Before connecting with another user, you declare your intention (connect, reconnect, closure, support, or growth). This sets the emotional frame for the relationship.

Messaging: You can send direct messages to your connections. All messages are encrypted. Messages pass through our safety system before delivery (see Section 8).

Translation: If you and a connection speak different languages, messages are automatically translated using Google Cloud Translation. You can disable this in settings.

Reflection Journal: A private space to write about your connections and experiences. If you enable AI Insights, the AI will generate a short contemplative perspective on your entry, delivered 2–4 hours later. Journal entries are always private — no other user or Support Circle member can see them.

Gratitude Threads: Shared journaling with your connections. You create threads and invite specific connections to participate.

Connection Seeds: Daily conversation prompts shared across the Kinder community. You choose whether to respond privately, to a specific connection, or to all connections.

Story Builders: Collaborative storytelling with a connection, taking turns to add to a shared narrative.

TITYOW (“Today I Thought of You When...”): Short, warm messages sent to specific connections.

Daily Delight Feed: A curated daily selection of activity from your connections — limited to 3–5 items per day by design, to encourage intentional rather than endless scrolling.

Mindful Mode: Session time limits and gentle exit reminders to encourage healthy app usage. You set your own limits.

Connection Hours: A visual tracker showing estimated time invested in each connection, mapped to friendship research stages. Visible only to you.

Positive Nudges: Warm reminders to reconnect with connections you haven’t messaged recently. Template-based, not AI-generated.

Empathy Library: A collection of empathy-building topics you can browse and save.

Graceful Closure: A structured, respectful way to end a connection when you choose to.

Transparency Dashboard: View and export all data Kinder holds about you.

5.2 Support Circles

You may invite up to five trusted people (family members, friends, or caregivers) to your Support Circle. Supporters create their own Kinder accounts and receive limited access based on permissions you set individually:

Supporters can never see: your message content, journal entries, gratitude entries, or the specific content of any communication.

You remain in full control of your Support Circle. You can change permissions, remove supporters, or disband the circle at any time.

5.3 Progressive Verification

Kinder uses a tiered verification system to build trust gradually:

Verification status is visible to other users and Support Circle members to help inform trust decisions. Verification confirms that the account is associated with a real person — it does not guarantee the identity, character, or intentions of any user.

6. Artificial Intelligence Disclosure

In accordance with the EU AI Act (Regulation 2024/1689), Article 50, we inform you that Kinder uses artificial intelligence in the following ways:

AI Safety Pipeline: Every message sent through Kinder is analyzed by an AI system (Anthropic’s Claude) for potentially harmful content. This is an automated system that operates without human review of each individual message. It can block messages, pause connections, and generate safety alerts. It is designed to protect you, particularly from financial exploitation, scam attempts, and manipulative behavior.

AI Reflection Insights: When enabled by you, an AI system generates contemplative perspectives on your journal entries. These are clearly labeled as AI-generated in the app.

Machine Translation: Messages between users who speak different languages are translated by Google Cloud Translation, a machine learning service.

Automated Connection Scoring: The app automatically estimates time invested in relationships and assigns stage labels based on published friendship research. This is a statistical estimate, not a clinical assessment.

None of these AI systems are designed to manipulate your behavior, exploit any vulnerability, or produce decisions with legal effects. They are tools to support your safety and enhance your experience of human connection.

7. Content and Intellectual Property

7.1 Your Content

You retain ownership of all content you create on Kinder (messages, journal entries, gratitude entries, stories, photos, and all other user-generated content).

By using Kinder, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide license to store, process, transmit, translate, and display your content solely for the purpose of providing and improving the Kinder service. This license exists only for as long as your content remains on the platform. When you delete content or your account, this license ends (subject to the deletion timeline described in our Privacy Policy).

We do not sell your content. We do not use your content for advertising. We do not use your personal content to train AI models without your explicit, separate consent.

7.2 Our Content

The Kinder app, brand, design, Connection Seeds prompts, Empathy Library content, and all other materials created by Konnecturs are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works from our content without our written permission.

7.3 AI-Generated Content

AI-generated reflection insights are produced by the AI system based on your input. You may use these insights for your personal purposes. We do not claim intellectual property rights over AI-generated insights delivered to you.

8. Safety System and Content Moderation

8.1 How the Safety System Works

Kinder’s safety system is a core part of the service, designed to protect users — particularly those who may be vulnerable to exploitation. It operates as follows:

  1. First pass: Pattern and keyword detection (runs locally, no external service)
  2. Second pass: AI analysis using Anthropic’s Claude for more nuanced assessment
  3. Action: Based on severity, the system may allow the message, flag it for review, block delivery, pause the connection, or generate a safety alert for Support Circle members

The safety system evaluates content for: financial exploitation attempts, romance scam patterns, manipulation and coercion, sexual content, violent threats, hate speech, identity theft attempts, and grooming behavior.

8.2 Limitations of the Safety System

The safety system is not perfect. It may:

The safety system is a protective layer, not a guarantee of safety. You should always exercise your own judgment in online interactions. If you feel unsafe, contact us at support@konnecturs.com or contact local authorities.

8.3 Disputing Safety Decisions

If you believe a safety decision was made in error (for example, a message was incorrectly blocked), you can contact support@konnecturs.com. A human team member will review the decision and respond within 15 working days.

8.4 Content Moderation Policy

We moderate content on Kinder to maintain a safe and respectful environment. Our moderation includes:

Moderation decisions are made in a timely, diligent, and objective manner. When we remove content or take action on an account, we will provide you with a clear explanation of the reason.

8.5 Reporting Harmful Content

If you encounter content or behavior that concerns you, use the Report function in the app. You can report:

When you submit a report, you will receive an acknowledgment. We will review your report and take appropriate action. We will inform you of the outcome of your report.

9. Acceptable Use

9.1 You Agree Not To:

9.2 Consequences of Violations

Depending on the severity and nature of the violation, we may:

For serious violations (threats of violence, exploitation attempts, illegal activity), we may terminate your account immediately and, where legally required, report the activity to the relevant authorities.

10. Important Disclaimers

10.1 Kinder Is Not a Medical or Mental Health Service

Kinder is designed to help you build social connections, which research supports as beneficial to wellbeing. However, Kinder is not a medical device, healthcare provider, or mental health service. The app’s features are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, mental health care, or emergency services.

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact a qualified professional or your local emergency services.

10.2 AI-Generated Content

AI reflection insights are generated by artificial intelligence for personal contemplation only. They are not psychological assessments, therapy, clinical guidance, or professional advice of any kind. They may contain inaccuracies. Do not rely on AI-generated content for health, medical, or life decisions.

10.3 Safety System

The automated safety system is designed to protect users but is not infallible. False positives and false negatives can occur. The safety system does not replace your own judgment. We are not liable for harm that occurs through interactions on the platform that the safety system did not detect.

10.4 Connection Hours and Friendship Stages

Connection Hours are estimates based on message activity (character count as a proxy for time), not a precise measure of relationship quality. Friendship stage labels are based on published research heuristics applied via approximation. They are informational and for your personal interest only.

10.5 Translation

Message translations are machine-generated and may not be perfectly accurate. Konnecturs is not responsible for miscommunications arising from translation errors. For important or sensitive conversations, we recommend confirming meaning with your connection directly.

10.6 User Verification

Kinder’s verification system confirms that an account is associated with a real person through the verified method (email, phone, or selfie). Verification does not guarantee the identity, character, honesty, or intentions of any user. Always exercise caution when interacting with people you meet online.

10.7 No Emergency Service

Kinder is not an emergency service. While the safety system may display informational resources related to crisis support, it does not connect you to emergency services. In an emergency, contact your local emergency number directly.

11. Subscription and Payment Terms

Kinder is currently offered free of charge. If we introduce paid features or subscription tiers in the future, we will update these Terms and notify you before any charges apply. No payment will ever be taken without your explicit consent.

When paid services are introduced, this section will be updated to include: pricing, billing cycles, payment methods, auto-renewal terms, and cancellation procedures.

12. Your Right to Withdraw and Cancel

12.1 Right of Withdrawal (EU Consumer Rights)

Under the EU Consumer Rights Directive, if you purchase a paid digital service, you have the right to withdraw from the contract within 14 days of purchase, without giving any reason, and receive a full refund.

If you request immediate access to the service and expressly acknowledge that you will lose your right of withdrawal once the service is fully provided, we will honor that waiver — but only with your explicit, informed consent at the time of purchase.

12.2 Cancellation

You may cancel your account or any paid subscription at any time. We provide a clearly accessible cancellation function within the app under Settings > Account > Cancel Subscription (for paid services) or Delete Account (for full account closure).

Cancellation is designed to be as simple as sign-up. You will never need to call a phone number, send a letter, or navigate hidden menus to cancel.

13. Account Termination

13.1 By You

You may delete your account at any time through the app under Settings > Account > Delete Account. Upon deletion:

13.2 By Us

We may suspend or terminate your account if:

Before terminating your account (except in cases of serious violations or legal obligation), we will notify you and give you an opportunity to address the issue. If your account is terminated, you may request export of your data as described in our Privacy Policy.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law:

Nothing in these Terms limits our liability for: death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be excluded under applicable Portuguese or EU law. Your statutory consumer rights are not affected.

15. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by Portuguese law. You retain any mandatory consumer protections of the laws of your country of residence where those protections cannot be overridden by contract.

Any disputes that cannot be resolved directly should be submitted to the competent courts of Lisbon, Portugal, unless mandatory consumer protection rules in your jurisdiction give you the right to bring proceedings in your local courts.

Alternative Dispute Resolution: Under EU Regulation 524/2013, you can also submit complaints through the European Commission’s Online Dispute Resolution platform at https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.

16. Complaints

16.1 Contact Us

For any questions or complaints about the service:

Support: support@konnecturs.com
Privacy: privacy@konnecturs.com
Data Protection Officer: dpo@konnecturs.com

Konnecturs, Lda.
Ave Infante Dom Henrique, Lote 1 G1D, 1950-421 Lisboa
Lisbon, Portugal
NIF: 518700470

16.2 Livro de Reclamações (Complaints Book)

In accordance with Portuguese law, you may also submit a formal complaint through the official Electronic Complaints Book (Livro de Reclamações Eletrónico) at:

https://www.livroreclamacoes.pt

We will respond to complaints submitted through this channel within 15 working days.

17. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms to reflect changes in our service, legal requirements, or business practices. When we make material changes:

The current version of these Terms is always available in the app under Settings > Terms of Service and at https://konnectkinder.com/terms.

18. General Provisions

Severability: If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force.

No waiver: Our failure to enforce any provision does not constitute a waiver of that provision.

Entire agreement: These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Konnecturs regarding your use of Kinder.

Assignment: We may assign our rights and obligations under these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, provided that the assignee agrees to honor these Terms. You may not assign your rights under these Terms.

Language: These Terms are available in Portuguese and English. For users in Portugal, the Portuguese version is the legally binding text. In the event of any discrepancy between the Portuguese and English versions, the Portuguese version prevails.

Last updated: March 23, 2026
Konnecturs, Lda. — Lisbon, Portugal