Terms of service

These terms are between you and Lik, a California corporation ("Lik", "we"), of 723 Brookcliff Circle, San Ramon, CA 94583. By creating an account or using the Lik app you agree to them and to the Privacy Policy and Community Guidelines. If you run a business on Lik, the Business Terms also apply.

1. Who can use Lik

You must be at least 13 years old. Sign-up asks for your birthdate and refuses anyone under 13.
If you are under 18, you confirm a parent or guardian allows you to use Lik.
You must give accurate information and be able to form a binding contract where you live.
We may refuse or end access to anyone who breaks these terms.

2. Your account

You sign in with Apple, Google, an email code or a phone code. You are responsible for what happens under your account.
Keep your sign-in methods secure. Tell us at founder@lik.app if you think someone else has access.
One person, one account. Do not sell, rent or transfer an account.
You can see and sign out your sessions, export your data and delete your account in Settings, Account security and data.

3. Your content and our license

"Your content" means reviews, scores, photos, videos, stories, posts, comments, messages, guides and anything else you submit.

You own your content.
You give Lik a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, copy, resize, reformat, display, distribute and play your content in and around Lik, including in feeds, on restaurant and product pages, on maps, in shares you start, and in promotion of Lik. The license lasts as long as the content is on Lik, and for a short time afterward while backups and caches clear.
Dish and restaurant scores you give are combined with other members' into public scores and rankings.
You promise you have the rights to what you post and that it does not break the law or anyone's rights.
Other members and restaurants can see content you post publicly. Your privacy settings control who sees your posts, Likes, Saved, Guides, Badges, Taste and Passport.
We review posts, comments, photos, video thumbnails and menu text with automated tools and sometimes by hand. We may hold, hide or remove content that breaks the Community Guidelines.

4. Reviews and anti-manipulation rules

Lik exists so reviews can be trusted. These rules are enforced by the app and by staff.

Review only a place and dishes you actually visited and tasted.
Proof. Each review photo gets a proof level based on where, when and how it was taken. A photo taken in the Lik camera at the restaurant, within 200 metres and 14 days, counts in full. A library photo whose own location and time data match counts half. A takeout or delivery meal photographed with the Lik camera counts half. Any other photo posts but earns nothing. Lik may check photo data, repeat photos and travel patterns.
Score on time. A dish scored more than 14 days after the meal stays in your journal but does not count toward rankings or XP.
No reused photos. A photo that matches one already posted by you on another visit, or by another member, is refused.
Star unlock. Restaurant stars and the ambiance, service and value ratings unlock only after either three proven dishes on one visit, or proven visits on two different days. A dish you only typed in does not count as proven.
No fake reviews. Do not post reviews for money, free food, favors or any reward other than rewards Lik itself offers. Do not post reviews for a place you have not visited, write more than one account's reviews, coordinate with others to push a score up or down, or use accounts you control to review the same place.
Honest, not positive. Bounties and quests reward a valid review, never a high score. A fair low score counts the same as a high one.
No owner self-reviews. Owners, employees and family members of a restaurant must not review it. The app does not let an owner review a restaurant they manage. Lik may remove any such review and its credit.
Delayed credit. Rewards, quests, bounties and ranking from a review count only after 48 hours, and only if the review is approved and not flagged.
We may down-weight, hold or remove reviews, cancel the XP, tickets or coins they earned, and suspend accounts that manipulate reviews. Photo location and time data are reported by your device. Faking them is a violation even when our checks do not catch it.

5. Scores, rankings and sponsored content

Lik Scores, restaurant stars, leaderboards, Rank Score and Palate Score are calculated by Lik from members' reviews and activity under rules we publish and may refine. They are not for sale. No one can pay to change a score or a ranking.
Paid placements are labeled "Sponsored", are limited in how often you see them, and never change a score or a ranking.
XP, tickets, games and coins never change how much your reviews count.

6. Virtual items

XP, levels, tickets, Lik Coins, badges, stamps, keepsakes, ranks, streaks, freezes and any other in-app items are "virtual items".

Virtual items have no cash value. You cannot buy, sell, trade or cash them out, and we owe you no money for them.
They are a limited license to use them in Lik, not property. We may change, rebalance, expire or remove them, and remove them from accounts that break these terms or are deleted.
Lik Coins are earned in Lik, for example from quest stages, bounties and season levels. You can spend them on Lik Rewards where the app offers it.
Tickets are earned in Lik and spent on the Lik Arcade. Spending more tickets on a run multiplies the XP from that run, never its score or rank. Arcade results are checked by Lik's servers.
Season Pass. Each season has a free track anyone can play. The paid Season Pass is not on sale during the pilot. If real payments start, we will update these terms and ask you first.

7. Lik Rewards

Lik Rewards are offered by Lik and claimed with Lik Coins. The venue that created a reward provides it under the conditions shown on the reward.
A claimed reward is used by showing its live QR code or code to the venue's staff, who confirm it. Each reward can be used once.
A claimed reward lasts the number of days shown on it, up to 90. Its terms are fixed when you claim it: if the venue later edits, pauses or removes the reward, the one you claimed still works.
Coins spent on a reward are not returned if the reward expires unused.
If a venue stops being verified on Lik, nobody can confirm its rewards, and coins spent on its unused rewards are not returned.
Do not copy, share, sell or fake a reward code. Lik may cancel rewards obtained by breaking these terms.

8. Quests, parties, leagues and events

Quests and bounties send you to real places. Their rules, rewards and end times are shown in the app. A quest or bounty can be changed or ended early; rewards already paid are kept.
Duo and Group Quests. You can invite friends or a group chat to a party. Party members see each other and each other's progress. Once any stop is done or anyone claims the reward, the party locks: nobody can join, be invited or leave.
Streaks and leagues reset on the schedule shown in the app. Lik may move, merge or rebuild leagues to keep them fair.
Events are run by their hosts, not by Lik. Lik does not sell event tickets. Any price, payment, refund or safety matter is between you and the host.
Go safely. You are responsible for how you travel, what you eat and how you behave at a venue or event.

9. Business accounts and restaurant claims

A business can apply to manage a restaurant or brand on Lik. The Business Terms set the rules. In short: you must be authorized to act for the business, Lik verifies claims, and Lik may approve, decline or revoke a claim.

10. Messages and other members

You can message other members and join group chats. Do not use Lik to harass, threaten, scam or spam. Block and report tools are in the app. We do not read private messages as a matter of course, but we may review reported messages and cooperate with lawful requests.

11. Using Lik

Do not:

break the law or these terms;
scrape Lik, probe it for weaknesses, or interfere with it;
fake your location or tamper with the camera or proof checks;
use bots or automation to earn rewards, keep streaks or play the Arcade;
impersonate a person or business;
use Lik's scores, rankings or content to build a competing service.

12. Third-party services

Lik relies on services from others (see the Privacy Policy), including Apple, Google, Mux and Twilio. Their terms apply to your use of their features. Links to restaurants, maps, calendars and other sites are not under our control.

13. Ending your account

You can delete your account any time in Settings, Account security and data. Deletion starts a 14-day grace period that you can cancel. After that it is permanent, and your virtual items and unused rewards are gone.
We may warn, restrict, suspend or end accounts or remove content for breaking these terms, for harming others, for legal reasons, or to protect Lik. Where a moderation decision can be appealed, you can appeal in the app within 30 days (see the Community Guidelines).
Sections that by their nature should survive (content license for shared copies, disclaimers, limits of liability, disputes) survive termination.

14. Disclaimers

Lik is provided "as is" and "as available". The pilot is early software and may be wrong, change or go down. To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.

Restaurant and product details, menus, prices, hours and allergen or dietary information may be wrong or out of date. Always confirm with the restaurant, especially for allergies.
On-device food recognition is a guess, not a statement of what is in a dish.
Reviews and ratings are opinions of members, not Lik. A score is not a health, safety or hygiene inspection.
We are not responsible for what restaurants, brands, event hosts or other members do.

15. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, Lik and its owners, officers and employees are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data or goodwill. Our total liability for any claim relating to Lik is limited to the greater of US$100 or the amount you paid Lik in the 12 months before the claim. During the pilot you have paid nothing. Some places do not allow these limits, so they may not fully apply to you. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

16. Changes

We may update these terms. For material changes we will give notice in the app before they take effect and update the date at the top. Using Lik after that means you accept them.

17. Governing law and disputes

California law governs these terms, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.
First, email founder@lik.app and give us 30 days to try to resolve the issue informally.
If that fails, claims go to the state or federal courts located in Contra Costa County, California, and you and Lik consent to those courts. Either party may use small claims court.

18. Contact

Lik, 723 Brookcliff Circle, San Ramon, CA 94583. Email: founder@lik.app.