Terms of Service

1. Agreement with top 8

These Terms of Service (the "Terms") are a contract between you and top 8 LLC, a California limited liability company ("top 8," "we," "us," or "our"). They apply to the top 8 mobile application, our websites, and related services (collectively, the "Service"). If you do not agree to these Terms, do not create an account or use the Service.

You agree that we may provide notices electronically, including in the app, by push notification, by email when you contact us, or by posting an updated notice on our website.

2. Eligibility and United States availability

You must be at least 13 years old to create or use a top 8 account. By creating an account, you represent that you are at least 13. If you are under the age of legal majority where you live, you represent that you have permission from a parent or legal guardian to use the Service.

The initial Service is offered for use in the United States and is distributed through the United States App Store. You may not use the Service where doing so would violate applicable law. We may refuse, suspend, or terminate an account if we reasonably believe the eligibility requirements are not met.

3. Your account and phone verification

You create an account with a mobile phone number. We use Firebase Authentication, a Google service, to send or verify a one-time code and help prevent fraud and abuse. Standard carrier messaging and data charges may apply. More information about phone-number processing appears in our Privacy Policy.

You must provide accurate account information, maintain control of the phone number associated with your account, and promptly notify us if you suspect unauthorized access. Your account is personal to you and may not be sold, transferred, rented, or shared with another person.

Usernames, display names, profile images, and other account information must not impersonate others, mislead users, infringe rights, or violate these Terms or the Community Guidelines. We may modify, reclaim, or prevent use of an account identifier when reasonably necessary to protect users, resolve a dispute, enforce our rules, or comply with law.

4. Top 8, Stans, Circle, requests, and relationship labels

Your "Top 8" consists of up to eight outgoing connections you select. A person whose incoming request you accept may appear as your "Stan." At launch, there is no fixed product limit on the number of Stans you may have, although we may apply reasonable technical or safety limits. A person may remain in your "Circle" after being removed from your Top 8, depending on the remaining connection state.

• Requests and pending connections. You may request to add another user or an invited contact to your Top 8. A pending outgoing connection is visible only to you until it is accepted. Requests remain pending until accepted, denied, canceled, blocked, or removed through account deletion; they do not automatically expire at launch.
• Access between connections. Depending on the connection state shown in the app, users may be able to view each other's Top 8, receive stories, mention one another, and use one-to-one chat.
• Circle access. A Circle connection who is not your Stan may still be able to chat with you and view your Top 8, while story and mention access may no longer be available.
• Relationship labels. Each outgoing connection has a relationship label. The default is "friend." You may choose a predefined label or enter a custom label of up to 32 characters. Anyone who can view your Top 8 can view the labels you assigned to the connections shown there. A label on a pending outgoing connection is visible only to you because the pending connection itself is visible only to you.

Top 8, Stans, Circle, and relationship labels are product features. They do not create a legal relationship, endorsement, agency, employment relationship, or promise of friendship, and Top 8 positions are not ranked by the Service.

Changing or removing a connection affects future access but cannot undo content a person already viewed, saved, copied, captured, or shared.

5. Contacts and invitations

Contact matching is optional. If you grant Contacts access and use contact matching, phone numbers from your address book are sent to our server for matching as described in the Privacy Policy. Contact names remain on your device under the current design.

For a contact who is not yet on top 8, we may maintain a pending connection and display the last four digits of the phone number when the contact name is unavailable. You may cancel a pending request at any time.

You may invite only people you know or are authorized to contact. Do not send bulk, automated, deceptive, repetitive, or unwanted invitations. Invitations sent through Apple's Messages composer are not sent until you review the message and choose to send it.

6. Stories, reposts, comments, and mentions

A story is initially made available in the app to the poster's Top 8 and Stans. Access can expand through the Service's features:

• A person mentioned in a story may gain access to it and may be able to repost it.
• A repost may make the story available to the reposter's Top 8 and Stans.
• A person with access to a story may be able to view the poster's or a reposter's Top 8, including visible relationship labels, even without a direct connection to that person.
• Comments -- shown in the app as a 'yap sesh' -- are available to people who can access the story.
• A permitted mention in a comment may give the mentioned person access to the story and comments. People already mentioned in the story or comments, and people who have commented, may become eligible mention targets.

You should assume that content can be seen by every person who receives access through a mention, comment, repost, or relationship change. Recipients may screenshot, record, download, copy, or share content outside top 8. A person who obtains a direct story-media link may be able to open or share it until the underlying file is deleted, even after the story is no longer displayed in the app. Do not treat stories or audience controls as a guarantee of confidentiality.

7. Chat, notifications, and disappearing content

At launch, top 8 supports one-to-one chats between eligible connected users. Messages cannot currently be edited or deleted by the sender after they are sent. An unviewed message may remain available until the recipient views it, the chat is deleted because of blocking or account deletion, or the message is removed for safety or legal reasons.

After the recipient views a message, it ordinarily becomes unavailable in the active conversation about 24 hours later. When the underlying message expires, its text is also cleared from the chat's last-message preview. Limited non-content metadata, such as message type, sender identifier, and timestamp, may remain to operate the chat list. Story media attached to a reply or repost expires with the underlying story.

Blocking another user or deleting an account removes the active chat between those users. A restricted copy may remain if the content was reported or must be preserved for safety, dispute, or legal purposes.

Chats are not end-to-end encrypted. If you enable notifications, a push notification may contain a sender's name and a preview of up to 120 characters of a message, comment, mention, or other user content. Notification previews may appear on a lock screen or connected device and may remain in Notification Center after the underlying content becomes unavailable. You control how notifications appear through your device settings.

Stories ordinarily become unavailable in the app about 24 hours after they are posted. Comments ordinarily become unavailable about 24 hours after the comment is posted, which means a comment may remain available after the Story it relates to has expired. Comments may become unavailable sooner if the associated Story or comment is deleted, removed, or otherwise becomes unavailable. “Disappearing” or “expiring” describes ordinary in-app availability, not guaranteed erasure at an exact moment. Deletion from databases, storage, recovery systems, local caches, and provider backups may occur later. Reported content may be preserved longer.

8. Your content and the permissions you grant

You retain ownership of content you create and submit, subject to rights held by others. You represent that you have the rights and permissions needed to share the content, including rights to any music, artwork, trademarks, or other third-party material and appropriate permission from people shown or heard in it.

You grant top 8 a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable, and sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, transcode, adapt for technical formatting, transmit, display, distribute, and otherwise use your content only as reasonably necessary to operate, provide, secure, maintain, and enforce the Service and the audience, mention, comment, chat, and repost features you choose. We may sublicense these rights to service providers and to users only to the extent needed to provide those features.

This license ends when your content is deleted from our active systems, except to the extent a copy is retained in a report, safety record, legal hold, backup, recovery system, or other record permitted by these Terms or the Privacy Policy.

You grant other users a limited right to view and interact with your content through the Service's features and audience rules. This does not give another user a general right to exploit your content outside the Service.

9. Community rules and prohibited conduct

You must follow our Community Guidelines. You may not use the Service to create, upload, send, request, encourage, or distribute content or conduct that:

• sexually exploits, grooms, endangers, or sexualizes a minor, or involves child sexual abuse material;
• contains pornography, nonconsensual intimate imagery, sexual coercion, sextortion, trafficking, or prohibited sexual solicitation;
• threatens serious harm, coordinates violence, encourages self-harm, or creates an imminent safety risk;
• harasses, bullies, stalks, blackmails, doxxes, intimidates, or targets a person with hateful or degrading abuse;
• reveals another person's private or sensitive information without authorization;
• impersonates another person, misrepresents affiliation, scams users, or uses another person's phone number, contacts, identity, or account without permission;
• infringes copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other rights;
• promotes or facilitates illegal conduct, malicious software, unauthorized access, regulated transactions, or evasion of safety controls;
• is spam, an unwanted solicitation, bulk messaging, or automated activity; or
• scrapes, reverse engineers, probes, overloads, disrupts, or circumvents the Service, its connection limits, access controls, moderation, reporting, or security measures.

Context matters, and we may act on harmful conduct that is not specifically listed when reasonably necessary to protect users or the Service.

10. Reporting, blocking, review, and enforcement

Users can report accounts, stories, comments, messages, and other content and can block other users. Blocking generally removes the connection, deletes the active chat, and prevents the blocked people from finding or directly accessing one another through the Service. Blocking may not remove references created by other users or copies made outside the Service. Unblocking does not restore the former connection.

Authorized members of our team may review reported content and relevant account, relationship, and technical information. We may preserve reported content after its ordinary expiration. Depending on severity, context, history, and risk, we may reject or remove content, restrict features, warn a user, suspend or terminate an account, prevent re-registration, or report conduct to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, law enforcement, emergency services, regulators, or other appropriate organizations.

Reports do not guarantee a particular outcome or response time. Misusing the reporting process, submitting knowingly false reports, or manipulating evidence violates these Terms.

For nonconsensual intimate images or videos, including digital forgeries, our public notice-and-removal instructions are available at Support: intimate-image removal. top 8 is not an emergency service. If someone is in immediate danger, contact local emergency services.

11. Intellectual property and copyright complaints

The Service, including its software, design, branding, icons, and non-user content, is owned by top 8 or its licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual-property laws. Except for the limited right to access and use the Service under these Terms, no rights in the Service or its content are granted to you.

You may not post, upload, share, or otherwise make available content that infringes or violates another person’s copyright, trademark, or other intellectual-property rights.

If you believe that content available through the Service infringes your copyright, you may submit a notice to our designated Copyright Agent by following the instructions on our Copyright & DMCA page. That page also explains how to submit a counter-notification if content you posted was removed or disabled because of a copyright complaint.

We may remove or disable access to content that we believe infringes intellectual-property rights. In appropriate circumstances, we may suspend or terminate accounts belonging to users who repeatedly infringe copyrights or other intellectual-property rights.

12. Feedback

If you voluntarily submit ideas, suggestions, or feedback about the Service, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free right to use and commercialize that feedback without restriction or compensation. We will not publicly identify you as the source without permission.

13. Account deletion, suspension, and termination

You may initiate account deletion in the app through Settings > Account > Delete Account. We promptly disable the account, delete the Firebase Authentication user, and begin deleting associated content and account data from active systems. Your username may remain unavailable for up to 30 days. During that period, we retain the username and limited administrative dates to prevent immediate reuse and complete the deletion workflow.

We may retain limited information longer when needed for safety, security, legal compliance, dispute resolution, enforcement, provider backups, or as described in the Privacy Policy. Deleting the app from your device does not delete your account.

We may suspend, restrict, or terminate access if you violate these Terms or the Community Guidelines, create risk or legal exposure, fail eligibility requirements, engage in abusive, fraudulent, or unlawful conduct, or if we discontinue the Service. We may act without advance notice when immediate action is needed for safety, security, or law.

Sections that by their nature should survive termination, including ownership, retained-content licenses, disclaimers, liability limits, indemnification, and dispute terms, will survive.

14. Third-party services and Apple terms

The Service relies on third parties, including Apple and Google/Firebase, for app distribution, authentication, cloud infrastructure, analytics, crash reporting, notifications, and related services. Their services are governed by their own terms and privacy practices. We are not responsible for third-party products or services outside our control.

Your download and use of the iOS app are also subject to the Apple Media Services Terms and Apple's Standard End User License Agreement, unless another license is displayed in the App Store. These Terms govern your top 8 account and use of the top 8 Service. Apple is not responsible for providing maintenance or support for the Service.

15. Service changes and availability

We may change, test, suspend, or discontinue features, relationship rules, audience mechanics, retention periods, or the Service as a whole. We may impose reasonable limits for safety, security, performance, or legal compliance. We do not guarantee that the Service will always be available, error-free, secure, compatible with every device or carrier, or that content will be recoverable.

16. Disclaimers

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." TOP 8 AND ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND LICENSORS DISCLAIM ALL EXPRESS, IMPLIED, AND STATUTORY WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, QUIET ENJOYMENT, AND WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE.

WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT USERS ARE WHO THEY CLAIM TO BE; THAT CONTENT IS ACCURATE, LAWFUL, OR SAFE; THAT AUDIENCE CONTROLS, DIRECT LINKS, OR EXPIRATION WILL PREVENT COPYING OR DISCLOSURE; OR THAT THE SERVICE WILL PREVENT ALL ABUSE. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain disclaimers, so some of these terms may not apply to you.

17. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, TOP 8 AND ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND LICENSORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES; LOSS OF DATA, CONTENT, REPUTATION, PROFITS, REVENUE, OR OPPORTUNITY; OR DAMAGES ARISING FROM OTHER USERS, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS, CONTENT COPYING, SERVICE INTERRUPTION, OR ACCOUNT ACTIONS.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, TOP 8'S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TOP 8 DURING THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM OR (B) 100 U.S. DOLLARS. These limits do not apply to liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

18. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by law, you will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless top 8 and its affiliates, officers, employees, agents, and licensors from claims, losses, liabilities, damages, judgments, penalties, costs, and reasonable attorneys' fees arising from your content, your conduct, your violation of these Terms or law, or your infringement of another person's rights. We may control the defense of a covered matter, and you will cooperate with us.

19. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except that the Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of Section 20. Except for disputes subject to Section 20, eligible individual small-claims matters, and claims or remedies that applicable law does not permit to be arbitrated, any court proceeding must be brought in the state or federal courts located in Los Angeles County, California.

20. Arbitration and Class Action Waiver

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. EXCEPT FOR THE LIMITED EXCEPTIONS DESCRIBED BELOW, IT REQUIRES YOU AND TOP 8 TO RESOLVE DISPUTES THROUGH BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION RATHER THAN IN COURT. IT ALSO INCLUDES A JURY-TRIAL WAIVER AND CLASS-ACTION WAIVER. YOU MAY OPT OUT WITHIN 30 DAYS AS EXPLAINED BELOW.

Arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, including the AAA's Consumer Fee Schedule then in effect. top 8 will pay all AAA filing, administrative, and arbitrator fees for claims under $10,000, except that the arbitrator may direct payment of fees as provided under the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules if your claim is found to be frivolous. For claims over $10,000, fees will be allocated as provided by the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules. top 8 will not seek to recover its attorneys' fees or costs from you unless the arbitrator finds your claim was brought in bad faith.

YOU AND TOP 8 EACH WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION, CLASS ARBITRATION, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding.

You may opt out of this arbitration agreement within 30 days of first accepting these Terms by emailing legal@top8app.co with the subject "Arbitration Opt-Out" and your username. If you opt out, disputes will be resolved as described in Section 19 (Governing Law and Disputes).

If a final decision finds that the class, collective, consolidated, or representative-action waiver is unenforceable as to a particular claim or remedy, that claim or remedy will be severed and proceed in the forum required by applicable law. All remaining arbitrable claims will remain subject to individual arbitration. If this arbitration agreement is found unenforceable in its entirety, disputes will be resolved under Section 19.

Nothing in this Section waives or restricts any right to seek public injunctive relief that applicable law does not permit the parties to waive. Any such claim or remedy will proceed in the forum required by applicable law.

This Section does not apply to a claim or dispute that applicable law permits a party to elect to pursue in court, including a qualifying election under 9 U.S.C. § 402.

21. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. We will post the revised Terms and update the effective or last-updated date. If a change materially affects your rights or use of the Service, we will provide additional notice and, when appropriate or required, request renewed agreement before the change takes effect. Continued use after the effective date of a nonmaterial change means you accept the revised Terms.

22. General terms

These Terms, the Privacy Policy, and the Community Guidelines are the entire agreement between you and top 8 regarding the Service unless additional terms are presented for a feature. If a provision is unenforceable, it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary and the remaining provisions will remain in effect, except that Section 20 (Arbitration and Class Action Waiver) is governed by its own severability and fallback terms, which control over this Section in the event of a conflict. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our consent. We may assign them in connection with a merger, financing, reorganization, sale, or transfer of the Service. Headings are for convenience only.

23. Contact

Legal questions: legal@top8app.co
General support: support@top8app.co
Safety: safety@top8app.co
Privacy: privacy@top8app.co