Acceptable Use Policy
Last updated: 6 May 2026
1. Introduction and scope
Kuppel is built around a safe, respectful, and supportive community. The rules below exist to keep it that way. We take them seriously, and we expect every user to do the same.
This Acceptable Use Policy applies to everyone who uses Kuppel, whether as a Single (a user using Kuppel to find matches), a Matchmaker (a user recommending profiles to their Single friends), or both at once. It explains what kinds of content you can and cannot post, how you must treat other users, what we do when the rules are broken, and how to report concerns.
This policy sits alongside our Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy. The Terms of Service is the contract between you and Kuppel; this policy is the rulebook for how you use the service. If anything in this Acceptable Use Policy conflicts with the Terms of Service, the Terms of Service prevails.
By using Kuppel, you agree to follow this policy. Breaking these rules can result in your content being removed, your account being suspended, or your account being permanently terminated, depending on the severity and circumstances.
2. What you must not post
You are responsible for the photos, profile information, messages, and any other content you put on Kuppel. You must not post content that:
- Contains nudity or sexually explicit material. This includes photographs and any other imagery showing genitalia, sexual acts, or sexual content. The rule applies whether the content is in your profile, in a message, or anywhere else on the service.
- Depicts or promotes violence or self-harm. This covers images and language that show, glorify, or encourage harm to yourself or to anyone else.
- Shows weapons, drugs, or violent imagery. Images of weapons (including guns, knives, or other instruments designed to harm), illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia, and other violent, threatening, or graphic imagery.
- Harasses, threatens, or intimidates another person. Any content directed at another user, or at any third party, that is intended to frighten, demean, or pressure them.
- Is defamatory, discriminatory, or hateful. Section 3 sets this out in more detail; the same rules apply to anything you post.
- Infringes another person's intellectual property or privacy. Do not post photos, text, or other material that does not belong to you, or that reveals private information about other people without their consent.
- Contains spam, advertising, or solicitations. Kuppel is not a marketing channel. Promotional content for goods or services, or repeated unwanted messages, are not permitted.
- Impersonates another person or misrepresents your identity. Profiles must be of yourself, with your own photos and accurate details. This means no AI-generated or substantially altered images that misrepresent your appearance, and no images (AI-generated or otherwise) that depict another person without their consent (including deepfakes).
- Contains malware or harmful code. No links, attachments, or files designed to compromise other users' devices or accounts.
- Depicts or facilitates child sexual abuse or exploitation in any form. Section 3 sets out how we handle suspected child sexual abuse material; the prohibition itself is absolute.
- Violates any applicable law. UK law applies to your use of Kuppel.
We use automated systems to detect content that breaks these rules. All photos are scanned automatically before they appear to other users. If our automated check rejects a photo, please upload a different photo which meets the rules. Other content may be reviewed when reported.
3. How you must behave toward other users
The rules in this section apply to everything you do on Kuppel: profile content, messages, recommendations made as a Matchmaker, and any other interaction.
No discrimination. You must not insult, demean, harass, or discriminate against another user on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, marriage or civil partnership, or pregnancy or maternity. This applies to profiles, messages, recommendations, and any other interaction on Kuppel. Hateful, prejudiced, or dehumanising language is grounds for immediate removal. We may also act against other forms of personal abuse where appropriate, even where they fall outside this list.
No aggression or threats. Hostile, aggressive, or threatening language is not welcome on Kuppel, even when it does not fall under the categories above. This includes violent language in profiles, in messages, and in any communication directed at another user. Threats are treated as harassment and are grounds for immediate removal, including referral to the police where appropriate.
No harassment. Repeatedly contacting a user who has not engaged with you, or who has asked you to stop, is harassment. So is unwanted communication that is intimidating, sexually persistent, or that follows a user across the service after they have blocked or unmatched you.
Respect other users' boundaries in messages. You must respect another user's stated boundaries. Continuing to send sexual content (including images or messages) to a user after they have asked you to stop, or sending such content where consent has not been given, is harassment and is grounds for removal.
No cyberflashing. Sending unsolicited sexual images to another user is prohibited. Cyberflashing is an offence under section 66A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (introduced by the Online Safety Act 2023) and we will refer suspected offences to the police.
No non-consensual intimate imagery. You must not share, threaten to share, or solicit intimate images (images depicting nudity or sexual conduct) of another person without their consent. This includes images that were originally shared with you privately. Sharing or threatening to share intimate images without consent is a criminal offence in the UK and we will refer suspected offences to the police.
No content involving minors. You must not upload, share, or solicit any sexual imagery of a person under the age of 18. We treat this as our highest-priority safeguarding concern: we report suspected child sexual abuse material to the Internet Watch Foundation and to law enforcement, and any account we suspect of involvement is terminated immediately.
No solicitation for financial gain. You must not solicit money, gifts, gift cards, cryptocurrency, investment opportunities, or financial information from other users for personal financial gain or as part of any scheme. This covers romance scams, fraudulent investment pitches, and any pattern of money-asking that is not part of a legitimate, bona-fide arrangement between two adults.
No sharing other users' information. Do not screenshot, copy, post, or share another user's profile content, photos, or messages outside the Kuppel app. The contents of your conversations and the profiles you see on Kuppel are private to that interaction.
4. Account integrity
One account per person. Each user is allowed one Kuppel account. Creating multiple accounts to evade rate limits, swipe limits, or moderation actions is not permitted.
Use your real identity. Your profile must represent the real you. The name on your profile should be the name you go by in everyday life, and your age and other identifying details must be accurate. Section 2 sets out the rules on misleading and AI-generated images.
Do not share account credentials. Your login is yours. Do not share your password, log in for someone else, or let someone else log in as you.
No ban evasion. If we have suspended or terminated your account, you must not create a new one under a different name, email, or phone number. Ban evasion is treated as an additional violation.
5. Matchmaker conduct
If you act as a Matchmaker on Kuppel, you take on a role of trust toward your Single. The following rules apply in addition to everything else in this policy.
Recommend in good faith. Only recommend people you genuinely believe might be a good match for your Single. Do not recommend people without a reasonable basis, in bulk, or as a joke.
Do not share Singles' or other users' information outside the app. This includes screenshots of profiles you browse on behalf of your Single, screenshots of conversations between your Single and a match, and any details you learn through the Matchmaker role. The trust your Single places in you, and the trust other users place in the Kuppel community, depends on this.
Do not use the Matchmaker role to surveil, track, or profile others. Browsing other users' profiles to monitor an ex-partner, gather information about a colleague, or otherwise misuse the role is prohibited regardless of whether you make a recommendation.
Treat your Single's matches and conversations as private. Matchmakers cannot see your Single's matches or private messages in Kuppel, and users may rely on that. If you learn about them informally (for example because your Single tells you), keep that to yourself.
6. Off-platform conduct
Kuppel cannot monitor what users do off the platform. However, where we receive credible evidence (such as message logs, screenshots, or police involvement) that another user has behaved off-platform in a way that would have breached this policy if it had happened on Kuppel, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate that user's Kuppel account. We rely on user reports to bring such conduct to our attention. We will not act on uncorroborated accusations alone, and we may seek corroboration where evidence is uncorroborated or contested.
7. What we do about violations
We respond to violations in proportion to their severity, taking into account any history of previous breaches.
The actions we may take include:
- A warning for a first or minor breach, asking you to correct the behaviour.
- Removing the offending content from the service.
- Temporarily suspending your account while we investigate.
- Permanently terminating your account for serious breaches or repeated violations.
For severe violations (including but not limited to threats to another user, suspected non-consensual intimate imagery, suspected child sexual abuse material, and clear evidence of fraud), we may take any of these actions immediately and without prior notice. Section 3 sets out the specific cases where we will refer matters to the police or to the Internet Watch Foundation.
If you believe we have removed your content or your account in error, please use our contact form. We aim to acknowledge appeals within 10 working days and we will consider the decision.
8. How to report
We take reports seriously and act on them quickly. Reports made in bad faith, or knowingly false reports, may be treated as a breach of this policy. Reports made in good faith will not be penalised, even if not upheld.
Block another user. Use the block button in your conversation with a user you have matched with. To block someone by phone number, whether or not they are currently on Kuppel, open Settings and add them to your Blocked Contacts list.
Report another user. Use the report button on any conversation with them.
If you cannot reach the user that way, please use our contact form.
If you believe another user is under 18, please contact us immediately via our contact form and flag the message as a safeguarding concern. We treat these reports as a safeguarding priority and review them as quickly as we can.
If you are in immediate danger, contact the police on 999. For non-emergency police contact in the UK, dial 101.
Other safety services that may help, depending on your situation:
- Samaritans (free, 24/7 emotional support): call 116 123.
- Internet Watch Foundation (report illegal sexual images of children): report.iwf.org.uk.
- CEOP (concerns about a child's online safety): ceop.police.uk/safety-centre.
9. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time as the service evolves and as the law changes. When we make material changes, we will tell users in advance through the app or by email. The "Last updated" date at the top of the document records the most recent change.
10. Contact
For questions about this policy, please use our contact form.