Acceptable Use Policy (draft)

1. Introduction

1.1 What this policy is

This Acceptable Use Policy (the "AUP") governs how creators, clients, and visitors ("you," "users") may use the MinuteTalk platform (the "Service"). The Service is operated by MinuteTalk ("we," "us").

The AUP is part of and incorporated by reference into the MinuteTalk Terms of Service.

1.2 What the Service is, and is not

MinuteTalk is infrastructure. Creators offering legitimate real-time 1:1 conversation services — whether professional services (consulting, coaching, teaching), informal advice or lived-experience sharing, personality-driven chat, hobby and interest sharing, companionship, or other lawful conversation-based offerings — use MinuteTalk to accept bookings, conduct video or voice calls, and receive payouts. The platform does not require credentials; it relies on this Acceptable Use Policy to define what is and is not permitted. Creators own their relationship with their clients; MinuteTalk is not the primary touchpoint, not a marketplace destination, and not a party to the service the creator delivers.

MinuteTalk is not a webcam platform. Adult, sexual, sexually suggestive, or escort-adjacent services are categorically prohibited on the Service, regardless of whether those services would be legal in the creator's or client's jurisdiction. This prohibition is an absolute product boundary, not a matter of discretion, and it is not waivable by user consent.

1.3 Acceptance

By accessing or using the Service, or by clicking "I agree" during creator onboarding or client signup, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by this AUP. Your use of the Service is contingent on that acknowledgement; if you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Eligibility

2.1 Age

You must be at least 18 years of age to use the Service in any capacity. Creator accounts and client accounts both require an attestation of age at signup.

An account is subject to immediate suspension pending review when any of the following occurs:

The account holder self-identifies as under 18 through any support or in-product channel.
Another user reports the account as underage with specific cause.
Identity or payment-method data provided for creator payout onboarding (including data returned by third-party identity verification services) contradicts the age-18 attestation.
A creator reports that someone under 18 took part in a call booked by the account (§3.5, §6).

The Service does not serve minors, whether as creators, as clients, or as participants in a call. See §3.5 and §6.

2.2 Identity verification for creators

Creators must complete third-party identity and payout verification (currently provided by Stripe Connect) before receiving any payout. Identity documentation is submitted to and retained by the payout provider, not by MinuteTalk; see the Privacy Policy for details.

2.3 Jurisdiction

The Service is available only in jurisdictions where it is lawful to operate. Creators may be unable to onboard from jurisdictions where (a) the payout provider does not support creator accounts or (b) MinuteTalk has elected not to operate. Use of the Service from a jurisdiction where it is prohibited is a violation of this AUP regardless of whether MinuteTalk's controls blocked signup.

3. Absolute prohibitions

The following categories of content and conduct are absolutely prohibited on the Service, in profile media, service listings, endorsements, booking messages, and during calls. No artistic, educational, therapeutic, or cultural exception applies. "Tasteful," "safe-for-work," or "implied-only" framings do not create exceptions. §3.1.1 describes the one case-by-case human review, for talk-only coaching or education about sex, intimacy, or kink; it never permits explicit content.

3.1 Sexual and adult content or services

Adult content, pornography, or sexually explicit material in any form (image, video, audio, text, live performance).
Sexually suggestive content, including clothing, framing, or language designed to sexualize the creator or the session.
Nudity in profile images, cover media, service descriptions, endorsements, or during calls.
Sexual services offered, solicited, facilitated, or discussed — whether in exchange for payment, barter, or gifts.
Escort-adjacent services, including in-person companionship arrangements marketed as consultations or calls.
Services marketed in ways that plausibly suggest sexual or adult content, even if the creator asserts a non-sexual intent.
Content depicting real or simulated minors in sexual or suggestive contexts. Such content will be reported to the relevant authorities as required by law.

Violations of §3.1 result in immediate account termination and permanent ban. Repeat attempts to circumvent this prohibition (e.g., via renamed services, encoded language, third-party account creation) will be treated as a single escalating pattern.

3.1.1 Talk-only coaching about sex, intimacy, or kink (reviewed by a person)

Coaching, education, or conversation where sex, desire, intimacy, or kink is the main subject (for example, helping couples talk about intimacy, coaching on mismatched desire, or talk-only education about kink or BDSM) is not automatically prohibited. A human moderator reviews every such profile and listing before it is published, and approves it, asks for changes, or declines it. Automated screening never approves these on its own.

Approval requires all of the following:

The service is conversation only.
No explicit content, in the listing or on calls.
No nudity, demonstration, or sexual activity of any kind on calls.
It is conversation about the subject, not a sexual service: no domination, fetish, or sexual roleplay scenes on calls.
It is not marketed in a sexualized or suggestive way.
It is not presented as sex therapy or other medical or clinical treatment unless the creator holds the relevant licence (§4).

Explicit content and sexual services remain prohibited under §3.1, however the service is framed. A listing declined under §3.1.1 that contains no explicit content, nudity, or sexual service is not a violation of §3.1 (see §8.1). An approval under §3.1.1 may be revisited at any time under §7.2.

3.2 Illegal activity

Services that facilitate activity illegal in the creator's jurisdiction, the client's jurisdiction, or MinuteTalk's operating jurisdiction.
Sale or distribution of controlled substances, firearms, stolen credentials, or other regulated goods.
Money laundering, sanctions evasion, or financing of prohibited activities.

3.3 Fraud, deception, and abuse of the Service

Misrepresentation of qualifications, credentials, affiliations, or service deliverables.
Asking clients to share their passwords, one-time or verification codes, or account or bank logins.
Fraudulent bookings (including bookings made to harvest contact information, inject payment disputes, or harass a creator).
Pyramid, Ponzi, multi-level-marketing recruiting pitched as consulting.
Abuse of payment disputes, refunds, or chargebacks as a tactic rather than a remedy.
Knowingly using the control that ends a call, or removes a client, because someone under 18 is taking part (§3.5) when no one under 18 is taking part: for example, to give a client their money back outside the published refund terms, or to stop a client making calls or bookings. This is abuse of the Service's refunds. MinuteTalk reviews every use of the control; a review that finds the creator knew no one under 18 was taking part is recorded against the creator and leads to enforcement under §8. An honest mistake is not a violation: using the control in the honest belief that someone under 18 is taking part is never held against the creator, even when the review finds no one under 18 was.
Use of the Service's free intro minutes, promotional credits, or similar mechanisms in bad faith or at scale.

3.4 Harassment, hate, and threats

Harassment, intimidation, doxxing, or stalking of any user.
Hate speech, slurs, or content that dehumanizes individuals on the basis of protected characteristics (including but not limited to race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or age).
Credible threats of violence against any person or group.
Content that promotes, encourages, celebrates, or glorifies unlawful violence, terrorism, or violent extremism.
Non-consensual sharing of intimate images or personal information.

3.5 Minors

Clients must be adults, and no one under 18 may join a call. Joining a call means taking part in the session: talking with the creator, or being taught, coached, or assessed. A child who is only in the room and not taking part, such as a baby in a parent's arms or a child passing through, has not joined the call.

Offering a service whose client is under 18, or in which someone under 18 would join the call. Such listings will be rejected at review. This applies even when a parent or guardian books, pays, or attends. Examples:
- "kids tutoring," or tutoring and test preparation for middle- or high-school students, such as SAT tutoring for "your 16-year-old";
- homework help for "your child";
- "youth coaching," including youth sports coaching;
- "teen mentorship," or anything "for ages 13–17";
- college-application coaching delivered to high-school students.
Permitted: services for adults about young people, where the young person does not join the call. For example, parenting coaching, college-application strategy for parents, how to support your teenager through SAT preparation, and training for teachers. Adult learners are welcome too: college students, graduate-school applicants, and adults preparing for or retaking a test.
A listing is judged by its usual audience: a service for high-school students is a service for minors, and one for college students is a service for adults, even though a few people in each group are 17 or 18. Adding "18+ only" to a service whose usual audience is school-age children does not change who it is for. Whatever the listing says, everyone who books or joins a call must be 18 or older.
Delivering a session to a client the creator knows, or has reason to know, is under 18, or continuing a call that someone under 18 has joined. The creator must end the session and report the account. The Service's control for this ends the call (or removes that client) and reports it in one step. Knowingly using it when no one under 18 is taking part is a violation of §3.3; using it in the honest belief that someone under 18 is taking part is not.
Featuring minors in profile media, cover media, or endorsements (an endorsement written by or showing someone under 18, or one showing that a minor was the client or joined the call; a parent describing the outcome of a service for parents is not featuring a minor).

3.6 Unauthorized use of intellectual property

Using third-party trademarks, copyrighted work, or likeness without authorization in profile content, service listings, or during calls.
Representing another person, brand, or organization without authorization (impersonation).

3.7 Payment and sessions outside the Service

A paid session offered on the Service must be held on the Service and paid for through it. Prohibited, in profiles, listings, endorsements, booking messages, during calls, and during a free introductory call held somewhere else:

Asking or inviting clients to pay outside the Service for a session offered on it, in full or in part and by any method — for example by Cash App, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, bank transfer, cash, cryptocurrency, or gift cards; by a "deposit" paid directly to the creator; or by asking clients to "pay the rest" outside the Service.
Asking clients to tip, or to pay anything extra, outside the Service for a session, whether before, during, or after it — for example "tips welcome on Venmo," "buy me a Ko-fi after our call," "buy me a coffee if the session helped," or a Cash App, PayPal, Patreon, Ko-fi, or Buy Me a Coffee link offered as a tip, a thank-you, or payment for a session. Tipping through the Service is not yet available.
Moving the paid session, or later sessions with the same client, somewhere other than the Service — for example "we'll do the call on Zoom (or WhatsApp, or FaceTime) instead," "after our first call we'll continue on Zoom," "let's move to my own platform," or meeting in person instead.
Sending clients who found you through the Service to buy live sessions with you elsewhere, whether single calls, packages, programmes, or a Patreon or other membership tier that includes calls.
Offering discounts or other incentives for any of these.

Permitted, as long as the paid session itself is held on the Service and paid for through it:

Sharing your social profiles, website, newsletter, email address, or a messaging handle.
Inviting clients to message or email you with questions, or to arrange a time (for example "DM me to book a time").
Pointing clients to an outside calendar to pick a time.
Inviting clients to book through your own website. Where your MinuteTalk booking page is embedded there, booking there is booking through the Service.
Selling products that are not live sessions elsewhere, such as a book or merchandise, even on the same topic as your sessions.
Offering a free introductory call somewhere else (for example, a free 15-minute chat on Zoom) before clients book paid sessions on the Service, as long as no payment changes hands for it.
Sharing a general support link, such as a Patreon or Ko-fi page for your work as a whole, as long as it is not tied to sessions: not offered as a tip, a thank-you, or payment for a session. What ties a link to sessions is what you say about it ("after our call," "if the session helped"), not where it appears: the same link with no such wording on a profile or a listing is a general support link.

Why: refunds, dispute handling, and safety reports only work for sessions held on and paid through the Service, and requests for payment outside the Service or "deposits" are a common fraud pattern (§3.3).

4. Regulated services

Some services are lawful but regulated in the creator's or client's jurisdiction. Creators offering these services must hold the applicable credential and comply with any jurisdiction-specific disclosure, recordkeeping, and advertising rules. MinuteTalk does not verify professional credentials at v1; the burden of compliance is on the creator.

The following framings are prohibited unless the creator is duly licensed in the relevant jurisdictions and so represents truthfully in their listing:

"Therapy," "psychotherapy," "counseling" (as regulated terminology), or other clinical-mental-health terminology.
"Legal advice" or "attorney consultation."
"Medical advice," diagnosis, or treatment.
"Financial advice," "investment advice," "tax advice," "financial planning," or similar terminology carrying regulated meaning.
Any service pitched as a substitute for credentialed professional care in a regulated field.

Creators offering guidance adjacent to these areas (e.g., wellness coaching, study skills, business operations advice) must frame their listing in non-regulated terms. MinuteTalk's service categories reflect this boundary and deliberately exclude regulated framings.

5. Creator obligations

Creators must:

Accurately represent services. Listing descriptions, qualifications, pricing, session length, and cancellation terms must match what the creator actually delivers.
Honor published terms. Cancellation, refund, and rescheduling commitments publicly stated to clients are binding on the creator.
Respect client privacy. Session content (including anything the client discloses) may not be disclosed to third parties without the client's clear, informed consent, except where disclosure is legally required.
Record only with consent. If a creator records a call, all participants must be notified before recording begins and must be able to decline without penalty. Declining ends recording, not the call.
Comply with tax, consumer-protection, and professional-licensing obligations in the jurisdiction where the creator operates. Creators, not MinuteTalk, are responsible for reporting income, collecting and remitting applicable taxes, and complying with local consumer-protection rules.
Maintain account security. Do not share account credentials. Report suspected unauthorized access promptly.
Fulfill in-flight bookings before closing an account. When a creator closes their account, any confirmed bookings must either be honored or fully refunded before account closure completes.

6. Client obligations

Clients must:

Be an adult (18 or older) to book, pay, or join a session. A client may not book a session for, or bring onto a call, anyone under 18 (someone who takes part in the session, as defined in §3.5). See §2.1 and §3.5.
Use the Service for the stated service purpose and not to harass, defraud, or harvest data from creators.
Pay for services booked. Non-payment, reversed payments made in bad faith, and chargeback abuse are grounds for suspension and are subject to collection actions.
Respect the creator's intellectual property and professional boundaries. Session content delivered by the creator (including coaching frameworks, materials, recordings, etc.) is the creator's work product unless the parties agree otherwise.
Not record calls without the creator's consent.

7. Content moderation and review

7.1 Pre-publication review

Creator profiles, service listings, and endorsements are reviewed before publication. MinuteTalk uses a combination of automated screening and human review. The review evaluates content against this AUP and the service-quality requirements in the MinuteTalk Constitution.

Review outcomes:

Approval — content complies with this AUP and may be published.
Rejection — content cites the specific AUP section violated; the creator may revise and resubmit, or submit an appeal under §9.
Escalation to human review — when automated screening cannot confidently decide, or when the content is in a category a person always reviews (§3.1.1). Escalated content is reviewed by a human moderator before any publication.

Review applies equally to content presented on MinuteTalk-operated pages and to content that creators embed into their own websites.

7.2 Ongoing moderation

Published content remains subject to this AUP. MinuteTalk may remove or suspend visibility of any content, listing, endorsement, or account that violates this AUP, whether discovered through user reports, automated detection, or routine review.

7.3 Takedown response times

Subject to the operational-coverage note in the MinuteTalk Constitution (Ext: Moderation SLA and Appeals), confirmed violations are acted on within:

1 hour for in-call abuse.
24 hours for listing or profile violations.
72 hours for review or rating abuse.

"Acted on" means visibility removal, account hold, or suspension as appropriate to the violation. These are completion targets for confirmed violations, not acknowledgement-of-report times.

8. Enforcement

Violations of this AUP may result in, at MinuteTalk's reasonable discretion and consistent with the severity and pattern of the violation:

A warning and required revision of the content or practice.
Suspension of the account, with payout holds for creators and no new calls or bookings while suspended. A suspension lasts until MinuteTalk lifts it, after the problem is fixed or an appeal succeeds; MinuteTalk looks again within two (2) business days of the account holder's reply. While a creator is suspended, their page stays up but says only that they are not taking bookings; bookings in the next 24 hours are cancelled with a full refund, and later ones 24 hours before they start if the suspension is still in place.
Permanent termination of the account. Every termination is also a permanent ban (item 4). A terminated creator's page is taken down and every upcoming booking is cancelled with a full refund.
Permanent ban from the Service, including across any successor or affiliated account. A banned person may not open a new account: the same email address cannot set up a new account or check out as a guest. A new account that uses the same payout bank account or card as a banned person, or the same email address as a banned guest, is paused until a person checks it.
Refund, clawback, or payout reversal for payments received in connection with a violation, subject to §8.3.
Referral to law enforcement where the violation also constitutes a crime.

8.1 Immediate termination triggers

The following violations result in immediate account termination and permanent ban without opportunity to cure:

Any violation of §3.1 (Sexual and adult content or services). A listing or profile declined under §3.1.1 that contains no explicit content, nudity, or sexual service is not a §3.1 violation for this purpose.
Any violation of §3.5 where the creator knew or had reason to know a client was a minor, or knowingly continued a call that someone under 18 had joined.
Credible threats of violence under §3.4.
Content that promotes, encourages, celebrates, or glorifies unlawful violence, terrorism, or violent extremism under §3.4.
Content depicting real or simulated minors in sexual or suggestive contexts (reported to authorities as required).

8.2 Pattern-based escalation

The same violation with the same history receives the same action. Violations confirmed in the twelve (12) months before a new one count toward it:

Immediate termination triggers (§8.1): termination and permanent ban.
Serious violations (illegal activity under §3.2, fraud and deception under §3.3, and harassment or hate under §3.4): suspension, then termination the next time.
Other violations (including §3.6 intellectual property, §3.7 payment outside the Service, misleading listings, and knowing use of the under-18 control when no one under 18 was taking part under §3.3): a warning, then suspension, then termination.

A profile or listing declined before it is published does not count; only violations a person confirms on published content, in a call, or from a report do. An action that is reversed on appeal never counts. An honest mistake with the under-18 control is not a violation and is never counted. Attempts to evade enforcement by creating new accounts are treated as a continuation of the prior pattern, and result in termination.

8.3 Financial consequences

Creator suspension pauses payouts. Funds already earned are held pending resolution, for at most ninety (90) days, after which a person either pays them out or uses them to refund clients. Calls the creator already gave are charged as usual, and the creator's share is held with their other earnings.
Creator termination: clients are refunded for calls connected to the violation. The creator bears those refunds in full, as with a refund they make themselves; MinuteTalk keeps its usual fee and never keeps money taken from a creator. Funds not needed for those refunds are paid to the creator on the normal payout schedule. Any amount the creator still owes MinuteTalk remains owed.
Bookings cancelled because of a creator suspension or termination: when a booking the client paid for in advance is cancelled because of a suspension or termination, the client is refunded in full and the creator pays the card fee the payment processor keeps on that refund; it is returned if the action is reversed or the termination is not upheld.
Client termination does not forfeit any funds owed to creators for services already delivered.

8.4 No admission of liability

Enforcement actions under this AUP are taken to maintain the Service and do not constitute an admission of liability by MinuteTalk or a legal determination of wrongdoing.

9. Appeals

9.1 Right to appeal

Users may appeal any enforcement action once, by submitting a written appeal: creators from the Appeals page of their dashboard, and anyone by email to the support address on the Contact page with "Appeal" in the subject. A creator may also tell MinuteTalk they have fixed the problem, which a person looks at in the same way. An appeal of a suspension or of held earnings is an appeal where financial impact is pending (§9.2).

9.2 Response times

Appeals where financial impact is pending: two (2) business days. This covers an appeal of a rejection that keeps a profile or listing from being published (until it is decided, the creator cannot take bookings for that content) and an appeal where a creator's payout is held.
Standard appeals: MinuteTalk will respond within five (5) business days of receiving the appeal. Examples: a rejected edit where the previously approved version stays published, or a rejected endorsement.

9.3 Scope of appeal

Appeals may address:

Whether the content or conduct actually falls within the AUP category cited.
Whether the specific enforcement action is proportionate.
Whether there is new or corrective information that changes the determination.

Appeals may not address:

The existence or wording of the AUP's absolute prohibitions (§3.1, §3.2 narcotics / sanctions, §3.4 credible threats, §3.5 services for minors). For these categories, an appeal resolves only the factual question of whether the content or conduct fell within the category; it does not reopen the policy question.

9.4 Embedding revocation

Where MinuteTalk revokes a creator's ability to embed the Service on third-party sites, the creator has the same right to appeal as for any other enforcement action.

10. Call safety

Either party must be able to exit a call instantly using a clearly marked safety-exit control. The safety exit is visually distinct from the standard end-call control and is available at all times during a call.
Exiting a call via the safety-exit control takes that person out of the call immediately (in a one-to-one call, this ends it), and the screen that follows lets them report what happened. Use of the safety-exit control is not itself a violation of this AUP and does not result in client-side penalties for the exiting party.
Call recording, if implemented, requires notification to all participants and a meaningful opportunity to decline. Declining ends recording for that session; it does not end the call.

11. Reporting violations

Users may report suspected violations using the reporting contact below. We do not tell the reported person who reported them. False reports submitted in bad faith are themselves a violation of this AUP (§3.3).

Emergencies, credible threats of imminent harm, or suspected child exploitation should be reported to the relevant authorities in addition to, or instead of, MinuteTalk. Reporting contact: support@minutetalk.com. Our contact page explains how to report a safety concern. During a call, the shield button ("Safety exit") leaves the call at once, and the "Report Issue" button on the screen that follows opens that page. Every creator page, and each service's booking page, has a "Report this page" link that opens our reporting section with the page's address filled in. Copyright and trademark owners can read how to ask us to remove content.

12. Changes to this AUP

MinuteTalk may update this AUP from time to time. Material changes — changes that make the policy meaningfully stricter, change absolute prohibitions, or materially alter user obligations — require:

A new version (semantic version increment).
Notice to existing creators via the in-product notification channel.
A re-acknowledgement opportunity before the creator's next listing publication or review submission.

Non-material changes (clarifications, typographical fixes, reorganizations) do not require re-acknowledgement but are logged in the version history below.

13. Data, privacy, and session content

This AUP addresses conduct on the Service. Handling of personal data, session metadata, and payout-related identity data is governed by the MinuteTalk Privacy Policy and, where applicable, by the payout provider's own notices.

Nothing in this AUP limits or waives rights users may have under applicable data-protection law (including but not limited to access, correction, erasure, and portability rights).

14. Governing law and disputes

This section will be completed before MinuteTalk launches. Until then, contact support@minutetalk.com about any dispute.

15. Contact

Questions about this AUP: email support@minutetalk.com, or see our contact page.

16. Version history

1.1.0 — adds §3.7 (payment and sessions outside the Service) and §3.1.1 (talk-only coaching or education about sex, intimacy, or kink, reviewed by a person); §3.3 names asking for passwords or codes as fraud; §3.5 clients must be adults and no one under 18 joins a call, with worked examples (services for parents where the child does not join are permitted), and §2.1 and §6 match it; §3.4 names content that promotes, encourages, celebrates, or glorifies unlawful violence, terrorism, or violent extremism, and §8.1 makes it an immediate termination trigger; §8.1 also follows from §3.1.1 and §3.5; §9.2 says which appeals are financial-impact appeals; §9.3 says "services for minors"; §8, §8.2, §8.3 and §9.1 say how enforcement works (the ladder, suspension, termination as a ban, held earnings, refunds, the card fee on a booking paid in advance that a suspension or termination cancels, and how to appeal). Materially stricter than 1.0.0. Not yet in force.
1.0.0 — initial version (draft; superseded before activation).

End of AUP v1.1.0 draft.

Acceptable Use Policy — v1.1.0