Version: July 1, 2022

Welcome to Zoukru!

Zoukru is an online dating app for black people who are looking for a serious relationship within the black community. When you create a Zoukru-account or use Zoukru, you agree to these Terms & Conditions (“Terms”). Although we have tried our best to avoid using legalese in the Terms, it’s still a legally binding contract between you and Zoukru. So take your time to read our Terms before enjoying the Zoukru mobile application (“App”). If you don’t agree to (all) the terms, you shouldn’t, and aren’t allowed, to use our App. 

As used in these Terms, the terms “Zoukru”, “us”, we”, and “our” shall refer to Zoukru. Together you and Zoukru may be referred to as the “Parties”. 

Should you, after reading these Terms, have any questions or comments, you can always contact us. We’re more than happy to help. 

01 Who we are

We are Zoukru. A sole proprietorship located in the beautiful city of Amsterdam and founded in 2021. If you have any questions, remarks or just want to share something, you can contact us in the following ways:

By email: info@zoukru.com

By phone: +31 6 42 74 9113

By post: P.O.Box 22087, 1100 CB Amsterdam

And some important numbers:

Chamber of Commerce: 81290128

Dutch VAT-number: NL003557334B81

02 Updating our Terms
Zoukru may change these Terms from time to time. We will notify you (by email for example) and give you an opportunity to review the new terms before they go into effect (unless the changes are required by applicable laws or regulations, or they are of minor importance). By continuing to access or use our App after those updated terms are in effect, you agree to be bound by our revised terms. If you don’t accept a change to the Terms, you must stop using Zoukru immediately.

We encourage you to regularly check this page for the most recent version of our Terms. The most recent version is the version that applies.

03 Who can use Zoukru?
We want Zoukru to be a fun dating app with high-quality matches, but we also want it to be safe, secure and in accordance with the law. Please note that our App is intended for black people who are looking for a serious relationship within the black community. Maintaining the integrity of our user base is critical to us. As such, we may refuse certain requests. So, before you create an account on Zoukru, please make sure that you are eligible to use our App. 

You are not allowed to create an account or use the App unless all of the following are true:

• you are at least 18 years old;
• you are legally permitted to use the App by the laws of your home country;
• you have not previously been removed from our App;

So, you’re eligible to create an account? Great! By opening an account on the App, you agree to:

• provide us with accurate, complete and updated information about you as may be prompted by the registration forms on our App;
• only have one active account. Should it come to our attention that you have multiple (active) accounts, then we can decide to close (all off) your accounts;  
• maintain the security of your password and username; 
• maintain and update your data to keep it true, correct, accurate and complete. 

You’re not allowed to share your account with any other person without our permission.

Good to know: Zoukru is always entitled to refuse a registration request, without having to explain ‘why’. 

04 We take dating seriously
Of course dating should be fun, but we are also on a successful mission to find you the perfect partner. We believe in quality over quantity. You can therefore only maintain 3 chats simultaneously. This means that if you want to open a new chat when you already have 3 active chats, you will have to close 1 chat.  

05 Styling advice
You have the option to make a purchase to receive online styling advice, or purchase a subscription. You can pay directly via the App store. Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of the period, according to the frequency of your subscription, unless you choose to cancel your subscription before the end of the then-current subscription period. We cannot promise that you will achieve a (desired) result, such as more matches, with our styling advice. 

06 You may delete your account
We’re pretty sure that you’ll enjoy our App, but if you feel like you want to leave Zoukru, you can delete your account at any time. We will delete your account immediately. It may take some time, however, for your content to be completely removed from the App. 

You should know that deleting your account on Zoukru or deleting the App from your mobile device, does not automatically terminate or cancel your subscription(s). So you will need to terminate / cancel your subscription(s) to avoid additional billing. 

07 We may delete your account
You understand and agree that we have the right to monitor and review accounts and messages for content that may violate these Terms. 

It’s important for us to keep our App a safe place where our users feel welcome. As such, we may suspend or terminate your account without notice if we, in our sole discretion, decide that:

• your content violates these Terms or may harm our reputation;
• your conduct on the App or your offline conduct with other users of the App was inappropriate;
• for any reasons whatsoever that we deem justifies termination.

You understand and agree that, if we decide to terminate your account, you will not receive a refund. 

We will try to notify you if we’ve suspended or terminated your account. Do you feel that your account has been terminated or suspended by mistake? Please contact us via email: info@zoukru.com.

08 Content on the App
We like for our users to be as informed as possible. It is important that you know (and understand) your rights.  

For a start: never share content that you are not comfortable sharing with other users. Why? Because Zoukru is a public community and your content will be visible to other users of the App. 

Besides the content that you upload and provide (“Your Content”), you can also access content that other members of the App provide (“Member Content”) and content that Zoukro provides (“Our content”). 

09 Content we can’t allow on Zoukru
We want to create a safe and positive environment, where our users feel free to express themselves, but not at the expense of others. We cannot tolerate inappropriate content or behavior on our App. 

So, you agree: 

• not to post content that is obscene, pornographic, violent or otherwise may offend human dignity (including for example, content that could be deemed discriminatory towards an individual’s gender identity or sexual orientation);
• not to post content that is hateful, harassing, obscene, threatening or that promotes or encourages bigotry, hatred or sexism;
• not to post content that infringes or breaches someone else’s rights, including their privacy rights and intellectual property rights;
• not to post content that contains malware (such as viruses).

10 Your content
You understand that you are solely responsible for your communications and for the content (such as pictures, text, images, videos and messages) and information you post, distribute, link to or upload to our App (“post”). You hold us harmless from any claims made in connection with your content. 

Please note that some of the content that you share or upload, can be protected by the applicable intellectual property laws (copyright, trademarks, etc.). Make sure that you only post content that is yours (or for which you have obtained the necessary permission). In creating your account and posting your content, you give other users of our App the right to view and / or share your content on the App. If you’re not happy with how another user uses your content, it is your responsibility to contact them. 

Although we do not own your content, we do need your permission – in order for us to provide our online services to you – to use the content you post on our App. This means that when you post content on our App (so, for example, by uploading your profile picture) you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, transferable, unrestricted, sub-licensable, royalty-free license to use, copy, reproduce, modify, publish, display, translate, distribute and publish your content in any and all media or distribution methods now known or later developed. The permission you give us, will only be used to operate, provide, promote and improve our App. Furthermore, we will only modify your content as a necessity for showing your content in the most optimal way. We try not to do anything with your content that would surprise you.   

You should know that the license you give to us continues even if you stop using our App. Why? Because of the social nature of our App. When you post something publicly, others may choose to comment on it or share your post on their own feed. It becomes practically impossible for us to take down all copies of your content, etc. Of course, we’ll make reasonable efforts to delete your content when you’ve deleted your account. You understand, however, that your content may persist in backups or caches. 

We are entitled to assign and / or sub-license the above license to our affiliates and successors, without any approval by you. 

Please be aware that Zoukru has no obligation to store your content. Is it important? Make a copy! 

11 Member content
Obviously, other users of Zoukru will also share their content on the App. We call this content “Member content”. Member content belongs to the user who posted this content. It is not yours and you may only use it to communicate with and meet one another. You may not use other members’ information for commercial purposes, to harass, to spam or to stalk. We are entitled to terminate your account if we notice that you’ve misused member content. 

Although we reserve the right to review or remove all content that appears on our App, we do not necessarily review all of it. In other words: we do not guarantee that member content will comply with our Terms.

12 Our content 

Oké, so we have “your content” and “member content”, but what happens to the rest of the content on the App? The answer is quite simple: it belongs to Zoukru. 

Just as we respect your rights, you must also respect our copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights. This means, among other things, that you cannot use our logo, database, software, text, icons, designs, photographs, videos, branding, or any other materials Zoukru makes available via the App, except when you’re explicitly allowed to do so. 

We give you the non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable right to use our App in accordance with these Terms, under the following conditions:

• you’re not allowed to use our name in keywords or metatags;
• you’re not allowed to create derivative works from our content or decompile, scrape or commercially exploit our content;
•  you’re not allowed to use our content for unlawful purposes;
• you’re only allowed to use our content as permitted by the functionality of the App. 

 Zoukru reserves all rights not expressly granted under these Terms.

13 Privacy
We take good care of the privacy of our users, and comply with relevant laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation. We also expect you to comply with our privacy- and cookie statement. See our privacy- and cookie statement for more information about the way we collect and process your personal data, and what your rights are in this regard. 

14 The App ‘as is’ and ‘as available’ 

Zoukru cannot guarantee that the App will operate error-free or that the App and its server are (always) free of malware. We provide our App to you ‘as is’ and ‘as available’. This means, for example:

• that we’re not liable for any damages resulting from our App not being available;
• that we cannot guarantee that you will always be able to use our App (and your account) without any problems; 
• that we cannot guarantee that our App is free of viruses or other malware;
• that we cannot guarantee the compatibility of any matches;
• that we cannot promise that the App will meet your expectations or that our content and / or member content is always correct or reliable; 
• that we always have the right to temporarily suspend access to our App and to modify or cancel (parts of) our services, at any time and without prior notice. 

15 Stay safe
You’re probably using our App because you’re excited to meet new people and that’s great! However, when (virtually) meeting someone for the first time, you should always be a little cautious. Use your best judgment and take care of your own safety. 

It is important to know that Zoukru is not responsible for the conduct of any user of the App. We do not conduct criminal background checks. So please stay safe and be cautious in all interactions with other users. For example: keep your financial information private and don’t send money to other users of the App. 

You can report any abuse or misconduct of another user by clicking the “report” button. You can also contact us directly. We will act appropriately, within 48 hours, and we may, in our sole discretion, (i) contact the user, or (ii) immediately terminate the user’s right to use the App.  

16 We’re always improving

We’re always looking for new and better ways to improve our App. As such, our App (and the services we provide) may change from time to time, at our discretion. This may mean that we stop (temporarily or permanently) providing our online services or any features within the App to our users. 

17 Purchases and automatically renewing subscriptions
Zoukru offers services (such as subscriptions) and (digital) products for purchase through a third-party platform such as the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. 

If we choose to increase our price for a subscription, these changes will only apply on renewal of your subscription. Of course, we will notify you of a price increase before your subscription renews. 

Access to the App may from time to time be made available on a free trial basis. A trial is always time-limited (a 7-day trial for example). You understand and agree that these Terms also apply to any trial. If you sign up for a free trial, your trial will not automatically be converted into a paid subscription and you will not be charged, unless you purchase a subscription. Please be aware that you are only entitled to a free trial once, and that we can choose to limit certain features from the App during the trial period. 

Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of the period, according to the frequency of your subscription, unless you choose to cancel your subscription before the end of the then-current subscription period. So for example, if you’ve paid for an annual subscription, your subscription will renew automatically on each anniversary of the date you signed up to our App, unless you make sure that you cancel your subscription on time. 

18 Refunds, right of withdrawal
Generally, all charges for purchases are nonrefundable, and there are no refunds for partially used periods. We make an exception if a refund for a purchase is mandatory according to the (consumer) laws applicable in your jurisdiction.

So, for example, if you are an EU resident, the following terms apply to you:

As an EU resident, you have the right to cancel your subscription within 14 days without specifying any reasons (“right of withdrawal”). Did you benefit from a free trial? Then you should know that your right of withdrawal will expire 14 days from the beginning of your free trial. If you wish to make use of your right of withdrawal, you can send an ambiguous statement to info@zoukru.com. Another option is that you use the Model Withdrawal form, which, however, is not mandatory. Zoukru will refund you a pro-rata amount of the subscription fee for the unused period of your subscription. Zoukru will use the same payment method for repayment that you have used, unless you agree to another method. 

The right of withdrawal is precluded for the following products and services:

• Service contracts, after full completion of the service, but only if: 
  • implementation started with the explicit prior agreement of the consumer; and 
  • the consumer declared having lost his right or withdrawal as soon as Zoukru has completed the contract in full; 

• Contracts relating to leisure activities, if the contract already stipulates a certain date or period of implementation
• The delivery of digital content other than on a material medium, but only if:
  • the delivery commenced with the consumer’s explicit prior agreement, and 
  • the consumer declared that this implied his having lost his right of withdrawal.

19 Canceling your subscription
You may cancel your subscription at any time. Because you’ve purchased a subscription through a third-party platform such as the Google Play Store or the Apple Play Store, you must access your account with that third-party platform and follow their instructions to cancel your subscription. Did you cancel your subscription? Then it’s good to know that you can use your subscription until the end of the period you last paid for. When that period expires, you will no longer be able to use our App.

Last but not least: if you cancel your subscription you will not be entitled to a pro-rated refund (except as mentioned in article 18: “right of withdrawal”). 

As we’ve already mentioned in article 6, deleting your account or deleting the App from your mobile device, does not cancel your subscription. 

You can request assistance at https://getsupport.apple.com (Apple Play Store) or https://getsupport.apple.com (Google Play Store). 

20 Third party content, advertisements
Our App may contain (commercial) links to third party websites and ads or promotions offered by third parties. You understand that these third parties are not under the control of Zoukru, unless explicitly stated otherwise. As such, Zoukru is not responsible for any of the products or services that are offered by these third-parties. To put it more simply: if you choose to interact with these third parties, you decide to do so at your own risk. 

21 Limitation of Liability
You should be aware of the fact that the liability of Zoukru is limited in the way it is stated in these Terms. 

To the maximum extent permitted by law and in so far as these Terms do not provide otherwise, Zoukru’s liability as a result of an attributable shortcoming or unlawful act is excluded at all times. 

Zoukru (nor any employee, affiliate, licensor, officer, director, agent or supplier) will not be liable for any damages, direct or indirect, including but not limited to: reputational damage, loss of data, loss of profit, loss of income and claims of third parties in connection with your use of the App, our content or any member content. 

Was the damage, however, caused because Zoukru intentionally caused it or because Zoukru was grossly negligent? Then Zoukru is, of course, liable for the damage. Seems only fair, right? 

In any case, the liability of Zoukru is at all times limited to the amount paid out by the insurer in the specific case, including its deductible under that insurance. If no payout takes place, Zoukru’s liability shall not exceed one hundred euros (EUR 100,-).

Any claim against Zoukru expires within 12 months after the agreement has come to an end.  

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits Zoukru’s liability to the extent that it cannot be limited or excluded by applicable mandatory law. 

22 Your indemnification of us, you hold Zoukru harmless
You should be aware that all the content you share on the App and actions you make, remain your responsibility. You agree to indemnify Zoukru if a claim is made against Zoukru due to your actions. Or to put it in legalese: you agree to indemnify and hold Zoukru (and its respective contractors, employees, suppliers, agents, directors, officers and affiliated companies) harmless from any and all claims, damages, losses, demands, liabilities, costs and expenses, including attorneys’ fees due to or resulting from your use of the App, your conduct, your content or your beach of these Terms. 

23 If you have a complaint

Zoukru welcomes your feedback. Please note that a complaint must be submitted within a reasonable time after discovering the defect. If you do not submit a complaint within a reasonable time, your right to complain expires. 

You will receive a response to your complaint within 3 days (counting from the date of receipt of the complaint). 

If Zoukru considers the complaint to be well-founded,  Zoukru will come up with a reasonable solution as soon as possible. 

The EU Commission provides a platform for extrajudicial dispute arbitration. This platform gives you as an EU resident the opportunity to settle your dispute associated with your online order out of court. As an EU resident you may present a dispute to the dispute committees via the ODR platform. Click here to submit your complaint.

24 Mandatory consumer law
You should know that, as a consumer, you may benefit from any mandatory provisions of the law of the country in which you are resident. 

So, nothing in these Terms shall exclude or restrict your rights in relation to the (digital) products and services to be provided by Zoukru, where to do so is unlawful pursuant to mandatory consumer law. 

25 Applicable law, jurisdiction
These Terms and anything related to it, shall be exclusively governed by and be construed in accordance with the laws of the Netherlands. In case of a dispute between the Parties in respect of these Terms or in respect of any matters relating to it or arising from it, the Parties shall seek to achieve a settlement of the dispute through consultation between the Parties. If no settlement is reached within a period of 30 days from the date of commencement of such consultation, any interested party will give the other party written notice of any such dispute not resolved, after which the dispute shall be finally settled by the competent courts in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 

The local law of your jurisdiction may give you the right to have a dispute settled by the competent court according to the local law. These Terms do not limit any such rights. 

26 Last but not least
Zoukru may transfer its rights and duties to a third party. If you want to transfer any of your rights and duties, you need Zoukru’s written permission to do so.  

If a provision of these Terms is unlawful, invalid, or unenforceable for any other reason, this provision will be separated from the Terms. The other provisions will remain in full force. 

Zoukru is entitled to engage third parties to perform (part of) the agreement. Sections 7:404, 7:407 paragraph 2 of the Dutch Civil Code (BW) are hereby excluded to the extent permitted by law.

Effective from July 1, 2022.