Legal

Community Guidelines

Effective date: August 7, 2026

WhyNot exists to help real adults build real relationships. These guidelines describe what we expect from everyone on WhyNot and what we do when someone breaks them. They apply to everything you do on the app: your profile, your photos, your messages, your conversations with Adrian (our AI matchmaker), and your behavior on any date arranged through WhyNot. By using WhyNot you agree to these guidelines and to our Terms of Service.

If you see something that breaks these rules, report it in the app. Every profile, photo, and message can be reported, and reports are reviewed by a human. We never tell the person you reported who reported them.

1. You must be 18 or older

WhyNot is strictly for adults aged 18 and over. There are no exceptions. Do not use the app if you are under 18, do not misrepresent your age, and do not knowingly interact with anyone you believe to be under 18 — report them immediately instead. Accounts found to belong to minors are removed.

2. Be yourself

  • Use recent photos of yourself. Don't use other people's photos, AI-generated likenesses of someone else, or heavily misleading images.
  • Don't impersonate another person, brand, or organization.
  • One account per person. Don't create accounts on someone else's behalf, and don't share your account.
  • Don't misrepresent your identity, age, or intentions.

3. Respect other people

We remove content and accounts involved in:

  • Harassment and abuse — unwanted sexual messages, insults, threats, intimidation, or continuing to contact someone who asked you to stop. Blocking someone in the app means exactly that; attempting to evade a block is itself a violation.
  • Hate — attacking people for their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic.
  • Threats and violence — threatening, encouraging, or glorifying violence or self-harm. If we believe someone is at risk of real-world harm we may involve law enforcement.
  • Doxxing — sharing anyone's private information (address, workplace, phone number, financial details) without their consent, or threatening to.
  • Non-consensual intimate imagery — sharing or threatening to share intimate images of anyone without their consent ("revenge porn", sextortion). This results in an immediate ban and may be reported to law enforcement.

4. Stay safe when you meet in person

WhyNot — and Adrian — will suggest real places for real dates. That's the point of the app, but you are the one going: WhyNot doesn't vet the people you match with or supervise the venue. A few habits we strongly recommend for any first date:

  • Meet in a public place, and stay in public for the first few dates. If your date pushes to move somewhere private, you can leave — you don't owe anyone an explanation.
  • Tell a friend or family member where you're going, who you're meeting, and when you expect to be back.
  • Arrange your own transportation there and back. Don't rely on your date for a ride, and don't share your home address before you're comfortable.
  • Keep an eye on your food and drink, and don't feel pressured to drink at all.
  • Video chat or voice call before meeting if anything feels off — and trust that feeling. It's always okay to cancel.

You can unmatch or block anyone at any time, before or after a date — they are not notified, and they immediately lose the ability to contact you on WhyNot. If someone made you feel unsafe, please also report them so we can protect other users. If you are ever in immediate danger, contact local emergency services (911 in the US) first.

5. Keep it clean in public spaces

Profile photos, bios, and profile fields are visible to other users and must not contain nudity, sexually explicit content, or graphic violence. Don't use WhyNot to advertise or solicit commercial sexual services — prostitution, escorting, or "sugar" arrangements are not allowed in any form.

6. No scams, spam, or commercial use

  • No romance scams, financial cons, or requests for money, gift cards, or crypto — asking other users for money is grounds for removal, full stop.
  • No advertising, selling, recruiting, link farming, or driving people to other platforms or paid services.
  • No pyramid schemes, "investment opportunities", or job offers.

7. Nothing illegal

Don't use WhyNot to arrange, promote, or engage in illegal activity, including buying or selling drugs or weapons, fraud, or human trafficking. We cooperate with law enforcement where the law requires or permits it.

8. Using Adrian, our AI matchmaker

Adrian helps you build your profile, find matches, and plan dates. A few rules specific to AI features:

  • Don't attempt to manipulate Adrian into producing content that violates these guidelines, and don't use AI-generated text to deceive other users about who you are.
  • AI-generated content (your bio, match introductions, Adrian messages) can be wrong. Review your AI-written bio before publishing it — you are responsible for what your profile says.
  • If Adrian ever produces content that is inaccurate, offensive, or unsafe, report it directly from the message — every piece of AI-generated content in the app has a report option.
  • Your conversations with Adrian are stored like any other messages and may be reviewed by a human when they are reported or when we investigate a safety concern, as described in our Privacy Policy.

9. Child Safety Standards (CSAE)

WhyNot has zero tolerance for child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE). This section is our published standard against CSAE and applies to every user and every surface of the service.

What is prohibited

We explicitly prohibit, without exception:

  • Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) — creating, uploading, sharing, requesting, or linking to any content that depicts or sexualizes a minor (anyone under 18), including illustrated, computer-generated, or AI-generated imagery.
  • Sexualization of minors — any content or behavior that presents a minor in a sexual manner, including text, role-play, or "age-play" scenarios involving characters presented as minors.
  • Grooming — befriending or building trust with a minor for the purpose of sexual contact or exploitation, on or off the platform.
  • Sextortion — threatening to share intimate imagery of a minor, or coercing a minor into producing sexual content.
  • Trafficking of minors — advertising, soliciting, or facilitating the sexual exploitation of a minor in any form.
  • Attempting to use the service while under 18, or facilitating a minor's access to it.

What we do about it

  • Prevention. WhyNot is an 18+ service enforced through a date-of-birth gate at sign-up (with re-attempt lockout), store-level minor restrictions, and photo moderation on upload.
  • Removal and permanent ban. Violations of this section result in immediate content removal and a permanent ban of the account. These bans are issued only after a human has reviewed the evidence, and once issued they are final.
  • Reporting to authorities. Where we obtain actual knowledge of CSAM we preserve the material as required by law and report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and/or the relevant law enforcement authorities, in accordance with applicable child safety laws (including 18 U.S.C. § 2258A where it applies).
  • In-app reporting. Every profile, photo, message, and piece of AI-generated content in WhyNot can be reported from within the app. Reports of suspected CSAE are prioritized ahead of all other moderation queues.

How to report a child safety concern

  • Use the in-app Report option on the profile, photo, or message, or
  • Contact our designated child safety point of contact directly: stump865+childsafety@gmail.com

If a child is in immediate danger, contact your local law enforcement first. In the US, you can also report directly to NCMEC at report.cybertip.org.

10. Enforcement

Depending on severity and history, violations lead to content removal, a warning, temporary suspension, or a permanent ban. Some violations — CSAE (section 9), non-consensual intimate imagery, threats of violence, and fraud — skip the ladder and result in an immediate permanent ban. We may also remove accounts that create risk for WhyNot users off-platform.

Suspended users are logged out on all devices and hidden from other users. If you believe we made a mistake, contact stump865+thrivesupport@gmail.com — appeals are reviewed by a human. Bans under section 9 are issued only after human review of the evidence and are final once issued.

11. Contact

Questions about these guidelines: stump865+thrivesupport@gmail.com
Child safety contact: stump865+childsafety@gmail.com

WhyNot may update these guidelines as the product and the law evolve; the version at this URL is always current.