1. Our Mission
BrightChat provides secure instant messaging, calling, and private social network services to users around the world available through its website or its mobile application (collectively known as the “Services“ or “App”).
Privacy and security are the core of our values. Respect for your privacy and protection of your data are our top priority. Every private message and call is secured by end-to-end encryption so that no one, including us, can read your messages or listen to your conversations except yourself and the intended recipients. Our encryption technology is based on the state-of-the-art Signal Protocol.
We pledge to maintain your trust and confidence as we build a secure and trusted social network to connect all of us around the world. Our mission is to preserve the integrity of open communication and provide our users with the ability to build a better, more upright world within their own online community.
We have community guidelines to outline what we do and don’t allow on BrightChat. These guidelines are our acceptable use policy, so if you find content that shouldn’t be on BrightChat, please report it to us. We use your reports to learn and evolve our standards, and work with subject matter experts to inform and update our guidelines.
2. Content Safety
BrightChat isn’t a place for malicious, explicit, false or misleading, harmful, hateful, or violent content or behavior. We may remove, limit, or block the distribution of such content and the accounts, individuals, groups, and domains that create or spread it based on how much harm it poses.
2.1 Threats and Violence
Users are prohibited from calling for acts of violence against others, promoting or engaging in self-harm, acts of cruelty, threatening language, or behavior that clearly, directly, and incontrovertibly infringes on the safety of another user or individual(s).
2.2 Pornography
We don’t allow for the distribution of pornography on BrightChat. Applicable materials will be removed, and relevant accounts will be dealt with appropriately under the advice of our legal counsel. We reserve the right to ban accounts that share said material and may report users to local or federal law enforcement per our legal counsel's recommendation.
2.3 Private Information
Users are not allowed to post the confidential information of other users on BrightChat, including their addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, passport numbers, credit card information, banking information, and more.
If you see unwanted photos or information about you in a post on our site or app, please report it to us through our Help Center. You’ll find an option for sensitive private information under “Report a post.”
2.4 Impersonation
Users are not allowed to impersonate any brand, business, or private entity that is not their own on BrightChat. Accounts that attempt to deceive users by impersonating others will be subject to suspension. In addition, we reserve the right to reclaim usernames on behalf of businesses or individuals that hold a legitimate claim, copyright, and trademark to said usernames.
2.5 Prohibited Transactions
Users are not allowed to use BrightChat for activities that pertain to transactions involving:
Illegal narcotics, steroids, controlled substances, or other products that present a risk to consumer safety; items that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity; stolen goods, including digital and virtual goods; services that facilitate the financial exploitation of others; ammunition, firearms, firearm parts and accessories, weapons or knives that are unlawful in one’s domicile.
3. Intellectual Property
We don't allow violations of intellectual property rights, including copyright or trademark infringement.
The use of copyrighted work under certain circumstances, such as the fair use doctrine or other applicable laws, or the use of a trademark to reference, lawfully comment, or review a product or service, may not be considered a violation of our policies.
4. Platform Security
A top priority for BrightChat is our users' safety and security, including their personal information, accounts, profiles, content, and other proprietary information. We do not allow access to the BrightChat platform through unauthorized methods or to obtain sensitive, confidential commercial or personal information. Any attempt to undermine or abuse the security, integrity, or reliability of our platform, products, or services is expressly prohibited.
5. Content Restrictions
You may not submit any Content that:
- Infringes any third party’s copyrights or other rights (e.g., trademark, privacy rights, etc.);
- Is sexually explicit or promotes a sexual service;
- Is pornographic;
- Is defamatory;
- Is harassing or abusive;
- Contains discriminatory speech against ethnic or religious beliefs;
- Promotes or supports the US designated foreign terrorist groups identified on https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations;
- Contains instructions on how to assemble explosive/incendiary devices or homemade/improvised firearms;
- Exploits or endangers minors;
- Depicts or encourages self-harm or suicide;
- Depicts animal cruelty or extreme violence towards animals;
- Promotes fraudulent or dubious money-making schemes, proposes an unlawful transaction, or uses deceptive marketing practices; or
- Violates any applicable law.
6. Code of Conduct
In using our Services, you may not:
- Use an offensive screen name (e.g., explicit language) or avatar (e.g., containing nudity);
- Act in a deceptive manner or impersonate any person or organization;
- Harass, bully, harm, intimidate or stalk any person;
- Harm or exploit minors;
- Distribute “spam” in any form or use misleading metadata;
- Linkbait;
- Collect personal information about others;
- Access another’s account without permission;
- Use or export any of our services in violation of any U.S. export control laws;
- Engage in any unlawful activity; or
- Cause or encourage others to do any of the above.
7. Prohibited Technical Measures
You will not:
- Except as authorized by law or as permitted by us: redistribute, create derivative works from, decompile, reverse engineer, alter, archive, or disassemble any part of our Services; or attempt to circumvent any of our security, rate-limiting, filtering, or digital rights management measures;
- Submit any malicious program, script, or code;
- Submit an unreasonable number of requests to our servers;
- Take any other actions to manipulate, interfere with, or damage our Service;
- Access, reproduce, download, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, alter, modify or otherwise use any part of the Service or any Content except: (a) as expressly authorized by the Service; or (b) with prior written permission from us and, if applicable, the respective rights holders;
- Circumvent, disable, fraudulently engage with, or otherwise interfere with any part of the Service (or attempt to do any of these things), including security-related features or features that (a) prevent or restrict the copying or other use of Content or (b) limit the use of the Service or Content;
- Access the Service using any automated means (such as robots, botnets or scrapers) except with our prior written permission;
- collect or harvest any information that might identify a person (for example, usernames or faces), unless permitted by that person;
- use the Services to distribute unsolicited promotional or commercial content or other unwanted or mass solicitations;
- cause or encourage any inaccurate measurements of genuine user engagement with the Services;
- misuse any reporting, flagging, complaint, dispute, or appeals process, including by making groundless, vexatious, or frivolous submissions;
- run contests on or through the Services;
- use the Services to view Content other than for personal, non-commercial use; or
- Advocate, encourage, or assist any third party in doing any of the foregoing.