## Our standards against child sexual abuse and exploitation
StepOut connects adults who want to meet in person, in real life, right now. Children are not our
audience and are not permitted on the service. We prohibit child sexual abuse and exploitation
(CSAE) in every form: sexualised content involving minors, grooming, sextortion, trafficking, and
any other exploitation of a person under 18. There is no context in which this is tolerated on
StepOut.
## StepOut is an 18+ service
- An account cannot be created with an age under 18. The minimum is enforced on our server, not
only in the app, so it cannot be bypassed by a modified or older client.
- Age is set once, during sign-up, and is not editable afterwards.
- Every profile requires a live selfie taken in the app, which expires and must be retaken every
two weeks. Profiles cannot be built from uploaded or historical photos.
- StepOut is rated for adults and is not distributed to children through any Designed for Families
programme.
## Reporting
Every profile in StepOut can be reported from the app, at any point — from a profile, from a
moment, and after meeting. The report screen includes a dedicated **"Looked under 18"** reason.
Choosing it always blocks the reported account from contacting the reporter or seeing their
moments; that is not an option the reporter has to remember to switch on. Reports are recorded
under their own category so that suspected-minor reports can be found and acted on separately from
routine reports, and are never silently grouped with general complaints.
Reports are confidential. A reported person is never told who reported them.
## How we act
- Reports of a suspected minor are reviewed and the account is removed from the service where the
report is substantiated. Suspended accounts cannot sign in, cannot appear in anyone's matches,
and cannot host or join moments.
- Apparent CSAE content or conduct results in account termination.
- We cooperate with law enforcement and, where applicable law requires it, report apparent child
sexual abuse material to the competent authority — including the National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children (NCMEC) for reports arising in the United States.
- Users can block any other user at any time, independently of reporting.
## What StepOut deliberately does not do
- There is no anonymous chat and no random-stranger chat roulette. Every person you can reach has
a name, a stated age and a current verified selfie.
- There is no public feed, no open chat room and no way to broadcast to an unbounded audience.
- Conversations exist only around a specific meeting and are removed afterwards unless both people
agree to keep them.
## Contact
Child safety and CSAE reports, including requests from law enforcement and from Google:
**talk@vertexinteligence.com**
We aim to respond to child safety reports ahead of all other correspondence.