These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your use of the Nicechat mobile app (listed as “Nicechat Mesh” on the App Store and Google Play) and the website nicechat.me (together, the “Services”), provided by the Nicechat team (“we”, “us”, “our”).
By downloading or using the Services, you agree to these Terms. If you don’t agree, please don’t use the Services. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle information.
1. Who can use Nicechat
You must be at least 17 years old, or older if required where you live, and able to agree to these Terms. You’re responsible for making sure that your use of the Services is lawful where you are.
2. How Nicechat works
Nicechat is a peer-to-peer messaging app. There are no accounts: your identity is a set of keys created on your phone. Messages travel directly between phones over Bluetooth, are relayed by other people’s phones, and, when you’re online, may pass through public relays run by third parties and the Tor network. Nicechat works with bitchat and other compatible apps.
We don’t operate servers that carry your messages, and we don’t control other people’s phones, other apps, relays or the Tor network.
3. Your content and public spaces
You keep any rights you have in the messages, photos, voice messages and other content you send, and you’re responsible for it. Because we don’t host your content, we don’t claim any rights in it.
Nearby chat, Places, place notes and channels without a password are public. Anyone in range or in that place can read, copy and keep what you post there, other phones and relays may store and pass it on, and place notes are intended to be permanent. We can’t remove content from other people’s phones or from public relays, so think before you post — especially about personal information, yours or anyone else’s.
4. Acceptable use
Don’t use the Services to:
- harass, bully, threaten, intimidate or stalk anyone, or promote hatred or violence against people based on who they are;
- share illegal content, including any content that sexually exploits or endangers children, which we will report to the authorities where we become aware of it;
- share sexual content involving anyone who hasn’t consented, or intimate images of anyone without their consent;
- send spam, scams, phishing, malware or unsolicited advertising;
- impersonate any person or organisation, or misrepresent your affiliation with them;
- share other people’s private information without their permission;
- send false SOS alerts or otherwise misuse SOS;
- interfere with the Services or the network, for example by flooding it with messages, or attempt to break the security of other users;
- infringe anyone’s intellectual property or other rights; or
- break any applicable law.
5. Blocking, reporting and stopping use
You can block anyone at any time; blocked people can’t message you and you won’t see them nearby. You can report people and messages from within the app or by emailing [email protected]. Reports made in Places are also published publicly. We review reports we receive, but because there are no accounts or central servers, we usually can’t identify users or remove their content.
You can stop using the Services at any time by using Erase everything and deleting the app. Other users can block you. We may stop offering the Services or any part of them, and other users and compatible apps may refuse to relay or display your messages if you break these Terms.
6. SOS and emergencies
SOS is not an emergency service. It sends your call for help, peer to peer, to people nearby and to your friends. It doesn’t contact the police, ambulance, fire services or any other emergency service, and we don’t monitor SOS alerts.
Delivery of an SOS is not guaranteed. It depends on Bluetooth, on other phones being nearby, on battery and, for friends far away, on an internet connection. People who receive an SOS have no obligation to respond. Don’t rely on SOS as your only way to get help — if you can, call your local emergency number.
7. Location features
Sharing your location is always your choice. Live location is shared only with the friends or group you choose, for the time you choose. An SOS shares an approximate area with everyone nearby, and Places are tied to approximate areas that others can see. Please share location responsibly, and only share other people’s location with their permission.
8. No guarantee of delivery
The Services work on a best-effort basis. Over Bluetooth and the internet, messages may be delayed, lost, duplicated or delivered out of order, and features may work less well in the background, in crowds, or when few people nearby use a compatible app. Don’t rely on the Services for communications where a failure could cause harm.
9. Open source and the bitchat protocol
The app includes open-source components, each licensed under its own terms; you can find them in the app under About. The fonts used on this website are licensed under the SIL Open Font License.
Nicechat implements the open bitchat protocol so that it can interoperate with bitchat and compatible apps. bitchat is an independent open-source project; we are not affiliated with or endorsed by bitchat or its contributors. Other names and trademarks belong to their owners.
10. Our intellectual property and your licence
The Nicechat name, logo, app and website (other than open-source components and your content) belong to us or our licensors. We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to install and use the app on devices you own or control, for your own non-commercial use, in line with these Terms and the rules of the app store you got it from. Don’t copy, modify or redistribute the app except as allowed by these Terms or by an open-source licence that applies to a component.
11. App store terms
If you got the app from the Apple App Store, these Terms are between you and us, not Apple. Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the app. To the extent permitted by law, Apple has no warranty obligation for the app; if the app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple may refund the purchase price (if any). Apple is not responsible for addressing any claims by you or any third party relating to the app, including product liability claims, claims that the app fails to meet legal or regulatory requirements, consumer protection claims, or claims that the app infringes third-party intellectual property rights. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you. You confirm 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 list of prohibited or restricted parties.
If you got the app from Google Play, the Google Play Terms of Service also apply to your use of Google Play.
12. Third-party services
The Services rely on third-party services such as public Nostr relays, the Tor network, Google Play services and Maps on Android, and Apple MapKit on iOS. Their own terms and policies apply, and we aren’t responsible for them.
13. Changes to the Services
We may change, suspend or discontinue features, or the Services, at any time — for example to improve them, to stay compatible with other apps, or for legal or security reasons. Updates may be required to keep using the app.
14. Disclaimers
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Services are provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, availability, security or accuracy. We don’t control, and aren’t responsible for, content sent by other users, the behaviour of other users, other apps, or third-party services.
Nothing in these Terms limits any rights you have as a consumer that can’t be limited or excluded by law.
15. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, we won’t be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, profits, goodwill or opportunity, arising from or related to the Services — including messages or SOS alerts that are delayed or not delivered, and content or conduct of other users. Our total liability for all claims relating to the Services is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us for the Services in the 12 months before the claim and USD 50.
These limits don’t apply to liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or to any other liability that can’t be limited or excluded by law.
16. Indemnity
To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify us against claims, losses and costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising from content you send or your breach of these Terms.
17. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws that apply where we are established, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. If you are a consumer, you keep the protection of any mandatory laws of the country where you live, and you may bring proceedings in your local courts. Before starting any formal proceedings, please contact us at [email protected] so we can try to resolve the issue.
18. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms. We’ll post the new version on this page and update the date at the top; if changes are significant, we’ll also give notice on this website or in the app’s release notes. If you keep using the Services after the changes take effect, you accept the new Terms.
19. General
If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. If we don’t enforce a right, we haven’t waived it. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms; we may transfer ours to a successor. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and us about the Services.
20. Contact
Questions about these Terms: [email protected]