LEGAL
Last updated: October 12, 2026 · Effective: June 27, 2026
These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and SIDEQ LLC, a Florida limited liability company ("SideQ," "we," "us"). When you create an account for the SideQ app or sideqofficial.com website (the "Service"), you are asked to confirm that you have read and agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. By confirming, and by using the Service, you agree to them, and we keep a record of the date and the version of the Terms you accepted. If you do not agree, do not use the Service. These Terms include an agreement to resolve disputes by individual arbitration and a waiver of class actions; see Section 17.
You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into a contract to use SideQ. By using the Service you represent that you meet these requirements. SideQ is not directed to anyone under 18, and we do not permit their use of the Service.
By using SideQ you also represent and warrant that: you have not been convicted of, or pleaded no contest to, a felony or any crime involving violence, sexual misconduct, or fraud, and you are not required to register as a sex offender in any jurisdiction; you have not previously had a SideQ account terminated for violating these Terms; and you are not located in, and are not a national or resident of, any country or territory subject to a U.S. Government embargo or comprehensive sanctions, and you are not on any U.S. Government or other applicable sanctions or restricted-party list. If any of these stops being true, you must stop using the Service.
SideQ helps you find out what is happening at nearby venues, meet new people, and stay connected with your friends. Meet Someone New matches you with another nearby user who is out and available, and opens a chat between you; whether you meet in person is up to you. Matching is automated and based on factors such as proximity and who is currently available nearby. You can also add friends, create and join circles (groups of your friends on SideQ), and choose to share your location with your circles (see Section 4). To use the Service you create an account and provide accurate information. You are responsible for your account and for keeping your credentials secure. You may hold only one account, and you may not transfer it. You may delete your account at any time from Profile → Account → Delete Account. If you verify student status, you must use your own valid school email and be currently enrolled; verifying on false pretenses is a breach of these Terms and may result in loss of access to student features or your account.
The Service is currently free to use. If we introduce paid features in the future, we will update these Terms before charging you.
SideQ introduces you to people you do not know and facilitates meeting them in person. This carries inherent risk, and you accept that risk. You understand and agree that:
Venues. SideQ displays third-party public venues as suggested meeting places and may mark certain areas as "hotspots." SideQ does not own, operate, or control any venue, has no affiliation with or endorsement from them, and venues have not necessarily agreed to be featured. SideQ is not responsible for any venue, its premises, its staff, or anything that happens there; your presence at a venue is at your own risk and subject to that venue's rules and applicable law.
Live and Ghost. SideQ lets you choose whether your presence at a venue is shared with other users. Going Live means you count toward that venue's activity level, so other users can see how busy it is, and it lets you use that venue's chat and the chat for hotspots you are in. Ghost means your presence is not shared with anyone. Going Live is always your choice, it is off by default each time you open the app, you can switch back to Ghost at any time, and it ends automatically when you close the app or after 8 hours. Being Live does not put you on the map as a pin and does not show your exact location to other users; your exact location is shown only if you choose to share it with your circles, as described below.
Location sharing and circles. SideQ lets you share your exact location with circles you choose, and lets the members of those circles get directions to you. Sharing is always your choice: nothing is shared until you select the circles yourself, each sharing session lasts 8 hours unless you extend or stop it, and you can stop at any time. While you share, every member of the circles you selected can see your exact location, including while SideQ is in the background. If you close the app on iPhone, they continue to see your last shared location, marked as paused, until the session ends or you stop it; on Android, sharing continues after you close the app until the session ends or you stop it. You are responsible for choosing who you add to your circles and which circles you share with. Only share your location with people you trust, and stop sharing if you no longer want someone to see where you are. Location sharing and directions are provided for convenience only. Locations, directions, and distances may be inaccurate, delayed, or unavailable (for example, indoors, with a weak signal, or when a device is off or the app has been closed), and you should not rely on them for your safety or in an emergency.
Staying safe when you meet. Because anyone can misrepresent who they are, take the same precautions you would with any stranger: tell a friend or family member where you are going and when you expect to be back, arrange your own transportation to and from the venue, meet and stay in public, do not share your home address or financial information, and leave or seek help if you feel uncomfortable. Trust your instincts, and do not meet anyone who pressures you to do anything you are not comfortable with.
Fraud and scams. Never send money, cryptocurrency, gift cards, or financial or account information to another user, and be wary of anyone who asks, including anyone who tries to build trust quickly, describes an emergency or hardship, or tries to move the conversation to another platform. These are common signs of a financial or confidence scam.
If something goes wrong. If you are the victim of a crime, you are not to blame, and you should report it to local law enforcement; support services and hotlines may also be available in your area. In an emergency, or if you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services (for example, 911 in the United States or 112 in the EU), SideQ is not an emergency service and cannot send help or intervene. You can also report another user to us in the app or at safety@sideqofficial.com.
We may provide safety tips, reporting tools, and blocking features, but these do not transfer responsibility for your safety to SideQ.
You agree not to use SideQ to engage in or post any of the following, and SideQ enforces a zero-tolerance policy toward objectionable content and abusive behavior:
When you use SideQ to meet someone in person, you must obey all applicable laws and the rules of any venue you visit, and you are solely responsible for your own conduct. We may remove content and suspend or terminate accounts that violate these rules, with or without notice, and may report unlawful conduct to the relevant venue or to law enforcement where appropriate.
You retain ownership of the content you create (your photos, prompts, messages, and the names of circles you create). You grant SideQ a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, display, and process that content solely to operate and provide the Service (for example, showing your photo to a match or your message in a venue chat, and screening an uploaded photo for prohibited content before it is published). This license ends when the content or your account is deleted, except for copies we must retain to comply with law or enforce these Terms, and except for content others have already received.
You are responsible for your content and represent that you have the right to share it and that it does not violate these Terms or any law.
You can report users and photos in the app, and block or mute other users. Profile photos are automatically screened for prohibited content before they are published, using an automated moderation service (currently provided by a third party, OpenAI); photos that are flagged are rejected. Automated screening is not perfect and does not replace your responsibility to follow these Terms. We review reports and may take action including content removal, suspension, or termination.
Objectionable content and abusive users. SideQ does not tolerate objectionable content or abusive behavior. You can report objectionable content and block abusive users from within the app. Our standard practice is to review reports of objectionable content and act on them, including removing the content and ejecting the user who provided it, within 24 hours.
Reporting illegal content, and how we respond. If you believe content on SideQ is illegal or violates these Terms, you can notify us through the in-app reporting tools or by emailing safety@sideqofficial.com, which also serves as our point of contact for users and for authorities on content matters. Tell us what the content is, where to find it, and why you believe it is illegal or violating. We act on valid notices without undue delay. If we remove your content or restrict, suspend, or terminate your account, we will, where required by applicable law, tell you the reason for the decision and how to contest it; you can appeal by replying to our notice or by contacting safety@sideqofficial.com. Where we become aware of information suggesting a criminal offense involving a threat to the life or safety of a person, we may notify law enforcement.
Non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII). Consistent with the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act, we provide a way to report non-consensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated ("deepfake") images, and you do not need a SideQ account to make such a report. You can report in the app via Report photo ("Intimate image shared without consent"), or (with or without an account) by emailing safety@sideqofficial.com. To be valid, a request should include: (1) your physical or electronic signature; (2) information sufficient to identify and locate the image on SideQ; (3) a good-faith statement that the image is non-consensual and was shared without the depicted person's consent; and (4) your name and contact information. We will remove validly reported NCII within 48 hours of a valid request and make reasonable efforts to remove known copies. Our Privacy Policy contains the full notice.
No duty to monitor. SideQ has no obligation to monitor the Service or any user's content, and nothing in these Terms creates one; when we do review or remove content, we do so voluntarily and in our discretion.
SideQ respects intellectual-property rights and expects you to do the same. Do not upload or share content that infringes someone else's copyright.
If you believe content on SideQ infringes a copyright you own or control, send a notice to our copyright contact that includes: (1) your physical or electronic signature; (2) identification of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed; (3) identification of the material you claim is infringing, and information reasonably sufficient to let us locate it; (4) your contact information; (5) a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and (6) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on its behalf.
Copyright contact: SIDEQ LLC, Attn: Copyright, 7901 4th St N, St. Petersburg, FL 33702, USA, contact@sideqofficial.com.
We respond to valid notices, may remove infringing material, and will terminate the accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances. If you believe your content was removed by mistake, you may submit a counter-notice to the same contact.
We grant you a personal, limited, non-transferable, revocable license to use the SideQ app for its intended purpose. You may not copy, modify, reverse-engineer, scrape, or build a competing service from SideQ, or use it other than as permitted by these Terms.
You download SideQ through third-party app stores, and the following apply in addition to these Terms.
Apple App Store. These Terms are between you and SIDEQ LLC only, not Apple, and Apple is not responsible for the app or its content. Your license to use the app on Apple devices is limited to use on Apple-branded products that you own or control, and as permitted by the Apple Media Services / App Store Terms of Service. Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the app. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no warranty obligation with respect to the app, and SIDEQ LLC is responsible for any claims that the app fails to conform to an applicable warranty. Apple is not responsible for addressing any claims relating to the app (including product-liability, regulatory, or consumer-protection claims) or any third-party claim that the app infringes intellectual-property rights; those are SIDEQ LLC's responsibility. You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo or designated as terrorist-supporting, and that you are not on any U.S. Government restricted-party list. Apple and Apple's subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.
Google Play. Your use of the app obtained through Google Play must comply with the Google Play Terms of Service. These Terms are between you and SIDEQ LLC only, not Google, and Google is not responsible for the app or its content.
If you send us ideas, suggestions, or feedback about SideQ, you grant SIDEQ LLC a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license to use it for any purpose, without restriction or compensation to you. You are never obligated to give feedback, and we are not obligated to act on it.
The Service relies on third-party providers, including server hosting, mapping, email delivery, automated photo moderation, push notifications, and product analytics. These providers are described in our Privacy Policy. Their services are governed by their own terms, and SideQ is not responsible for third-party services. The current list of providers, with links to their terms, is maintained in Section 8 of our Privacy Policy and may change from time to time without amendment of these Terms.
The Service is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free, that matches will be suitable or safe, that any meeting will meet your expectations, or that locations, directions, or distances shown in the Service will be accurate, current, or available. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all such warranties.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, SIDEQ LLC and its members, officers, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, profits, or goodwill, arising out of or related to your use of the Service or any interaction or meeting with another user. To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim relating to the Service will not exceed USD $100. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless SIDEQ LLC from claims, damages, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of your content, your use of the Service, your interactions with other users, or your violation of these Terms or any law.
We may suspend or terminate your account at any time for violations of these Terms, for conduct that risks the safety of others, or as required by law. You may delete your account at any time. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 4, 6, 8, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 18) survive, subject to the specific rules in Section 17.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, United States, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules, and the Federal Arbitration Act governs the arbitration agreement below. Any dispute that is not subject to arbitration, or that is brought in court after a valid opt-out, must be brought in the state or federal courts located in Pinellas County, Florida, and you consent to their exclusive jurisdiction.
Time limit on claims. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service must be brought within one year after the claim arose, or it is permanently barred.
Informal resolution first. Before starting arbitration or a lawsuit, you and SideQ agree to try to resolve the dispute informally. Send a written notice describing the dispute and what you want to contact@sideqofficial.com; we will send ours to your account email. If the dispute is not resolved within 60 days after the notice is received, either of us may proceed as described below.
Agreement to arbitrate. You and SideQ agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms, the Service, or your interactions with other users through the Service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, rather than in court. Either party may instead bring an individual claim in small claims court if it qualifies there. The arbitrator, not any court, has exclusive authority to decide all questions about the interpretation, applicability, enforceability, or scope of this arbitration agreement, except that a court decides the enforceability of the class action waiver below. The arbitrator may award the same relief a court could award to the individual party, but no relief for or against anyone who is not a party. Arbitration will take place in the county where you live, by video, or by written submissions, at your election. SideQ will pay all AAA filing and arbitrator fees for claims under $10,000 unless the arbitrator finds the claim frivolous. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court with jurisdiction.
Class action waiver. You and SideQ agree that each may bring claims against the other only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, consolidated, or representative proceeding, and the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims. If this waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim or request for relief, that claim or request, and only that one, must be brought in the courts named above and will be stayed pending the outcome of any individual arbitration of the remaining claims.
Coordinated filings. If 25 or more demands for arbitration raising similar claims are filed against SideQ with the assistance of the same law firm or organization, the AAA will administer them in batches of 50 (or fewer for the final batch), with one arbitrator, one filing fee per side per batch, and a single case-management process per batch. Batches proceed one at a time, and the parties will work with the AAA and the arbitrator to resolve remaining batches informally after the results of the first. The applicable statute of limitations is tolled from the filing of the first batch until a demand is assigned to a batch.
30-day opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement and class action waiver by emailing contact@sideqofficial.com within 30 days after you first accept these Terms, with the subject line "Arbitration opt-out" and your name and the email address on your account. If you opt out, the rest of these Terms still apply, and disputes will be resolved in the courts named above.
Severability of this Section. If any part of this Section other than the class action waiver is found unenforceable, that part will be severed and the remainder of this Section will remain in effect. Changes we make to this Section in the future will not apply to a dispute for which either party has already given notice under the informal resolution paragraph.
We may update these Terms. If changes are material, we will notify you in the app or by other appropriate means and update the "Last updated" date. Continued use after changes take effect means you accept them.
Questions about these Terms: contact@sideqofficial.com.
Safety reports, illegal content, and non-consensual intimate image reports: safety@sideqofficial.com.
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