Romeo Terms of Use

Updated 31 January 2018

Key Points

We will...

Only show data which you've made publicly visible on your profile.
Show your profile to other users of our website romeo.com and our ROMEO apps and to users of hunqz.com.
Not claim ownership of your uploaded content: you keep the copyrights.
Not sell or trade your data to third party organizations.

We ask that you...

Be a real, natural person who is 18 years of age or older.
Be the copyright owner of the content you upload.
Not misuse or abuse our services or other users.
Use your profile only for non-commercial purposes (unless you create a club/guide/group profile).

And now a comment from our lawyers…

This highlight is not a substitute for reading the Terms of Service. We provide these Key Points to help answer frequently asked questions about our Terms of Service. Please note, however, that these Key Points do not replace the actual Terms of Service. You need to read these Terms in their entirety.

Terms of Use

published: 31-01-2018

Welcome to ROMEO!

ROMEO BV provides the ROMEO apps and Website romeo.com. With our Service ROMEO users can create a profile for finding friends, dates, and relationships, and to participate in the ROMEO online community for all gay and bi males, and transgenders.

ROMEO BV works closely together with its sister company HUNQZ BV, which provides the Website hunqz.com, on which HUNQZ users can advertise services such as (paid) adult companionship, modeling, massage, and video.

These Terms of Use apply to the use of the Service by ROMEO BV. Please read these Terms of Use carefully so that you know what your rights and obligations are when using the Service. The acceptance of these Terms of Use constitutes a valid and binding agreement between ROMEO and you for the use of the Service. If you make any use of the Service you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. The terms, indicated with a capital, whether single or plural, will have the meaning as stated in '15. Definitions' of these Terms of Use.

1. Scope

The Terms of Use are an integral part of the Agreement and apply to all use that Users make of the Service.
ROMEO may amend these Terms of Use at any time. The User will be individually notified of any amendments by email and/or private message and/or upon logging in to the Service. The new version of the Terms of Use will be available for viewing and downloading at the Website and/or App. If the User continues to use the Service after these Terms of Use have been amended or supplemented, the User thereby irrevocably accepts the amended or supplemented Terms of Use. If the User does not agree with the amended or supplemented Terms of Use, the User's exclusive remedy is to no longer use the Service and to terminate his Account.
If any provision in these Terms of Use shall be held to be (partly) void or unenforceable, the other provisions of these Terms of Use will remain in full force and effect. In such a case, ROMEO will replace the void or unenforceable provisions with new ones. In doing so, the purpose and meaning of the void or unenforceable provisions will be taken into account as far as possible.
These Terms of Use have been prepared in English and may have been translated into other languages. In case of a dispute, the English version shall have precedence.
In the event of a dispute between the Parties concerning the explanation of a legal term, the Dutch explanation of this term will prevail.

2. Use of the Service

ROMEO hereby grants the User a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited right to access and use the Service solely for personal and non-commercial purposes, notwithstanding the exception mentioned in 3.5, under the conditions of these Terms of Use.
The User acknowledges and agrees that ROMEO does not pre-screen User Content posted or transmitted by means of the Service and that ROMEO has no influence over the User Content provided by means of the Service. ROMEO is not liable and/or responsible for the User Content provided by means of the Service and/or any use made of the Service by Users.
ROMEO shall have the right (but not the obligation), at its sole discretion, to review, edit, limit or refuse User Content posted or transmitted by means of the Service and/or to limit and/or refuse a User access and/or use of the Service, more specifically in the event that the User has been banned from the Service earlier. ROMEO will furthermore have the right to remove any User Content that, according to ROMEO, violates these Terms of Use and/or that it deems to be otherwise objectionable. ROMEO may disclose your Personal Data and/or User Content to third parties where it believes, in good faith, that it is necessary to comply with a court order, ongoing judicial proceeding, criminal or civil subpoena, or other legal process or request by law enforcement authorities in the Netherlands, or to exercise its legal rights of defense against legal claims.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of these Terms of Use, the use of the Service may not:
1. include software such as viruses or Trojans that can damage or erase computers or data of ROMEO, Users or third parties or make it unavailable or inaccessible;
2. bypass technical security measures of the computer systems of ROMEO or third parties;
3. involve unreasonable or disproportionate use of the infrastructure of the computer systems of ROMEO or third parties or impede the functionality or functionalities of the Service;
4. involve manual or automated software, devices, or other processes to "trawl", "spider" or scrape any content of the Service;
5. constitute unauthorized or unsolicited advertising, junk, spam, bulk e-mail, scam and/or phishing;
6. infringe any third party's Intellectual Property Rights, privacy rights or any other rights;
7. involve (virtual) child pornography or bestiality;
8. harm minors in any way, including but not limited to establishing unlawful contact;
9. promote or provide instructions or information about how to engage in illegal conduct, commit illegal activities or promote physical harm or injury;
10. involve any illegal activities or activities that are contrary to morality or public order;
11. involve false or misleading information;
12. involve unlawful use such as harassment or stalking of other Users; and/or
13. involve otherwise inappropriate use;
14. breach these Terms of Use; and/or
15. be unlawful in any way whatsoever;
The use of the Service is at the User's own expense and risk. The User is responsible for meeting the technical and functional requirements and using the electronic communication facilities that are necessary to be able to access and use the Service. The risk of loss, theft or damage to any of its data will at all times be borne by the User.
The Service may contain information that is derived from and/or may refer to third parties' websites or services (for instance via hyperlinks, banners or buttons). Third party terms or conditions may apply to these websites or services. ROMEO has no control over the information and content of these third parties' websites and services. ROMEO does not accept any responsibility and/or liability for this information and content of these third parties' websites and services.

3. Account

In order to be able to use the Service optimally, the User has to create an Account in the way as described on the Website and/or App. By means of the Account, the User can amend, update and/or delete his Profile. The User is responsible for keeping his Credentials confidential. The User is responsible and liable for all use made of the Service by means of his Account. As soon as the User knows or has reason to assume that his Account has come into the hands of unauthorized persons, the User should inform ROMEO of this, notwithstanding his own obligations to take immediate effective measures himself, such as changing the password of his Account.
The Service is not intended for persons under the age of 18. A person must be at least eighteen (18) years old in order to become a User and make use of the Service. By accessing the Website and/or App and by using the Service, the User confirms and guarantees that he is indeed at least eighteen (18) years old and that, according to the laws of the country in which he resides and/or the laws of the country from where he is accessing the Service and Website and/or App, he is allowed to access the Website and/or App, to create an Account and to use the Service and Website and/or App.
ROMEO accepts no liability for any damages resulting from unauthorized access to or use of the Service by the User or third parties.
The User may register his own user Account, as described on the Website or in the App. The User may only register a user Account if he is a natural person and only on his own behalf.
The User may - as an exception to the non-commercial license of 2.1 - register his own group Account, as described on the Website or in the App. The group account was formerly known as club/guide. The User may register a group Account if he is a natural person and in this case only on his own behalf. The User may also create a group Account if he is an authorized representative of a establishment, institution, company or organization. The User who has registered a group Account may limit the access to his group Account by group policies. This group policy may not breach these Terms of Use. ROMEO has no influence over these group policies and is not liable and/or responsible for these policies. The User who has registered the group Account may transfer his rights regarding his group Account to another user, but only in accordance with these Terms of Use.
ROMEO may, at its sole discretion, request a User to provide additional information to verify Personal Data and/or User Content that the User has posted on his Account and/or the Service. Based on this additional information, ROMEO may decide to edit or delete Personal Data and/or User Content and/or to suspend or delete the Account and the User's use of the Service.

4. Additional Services

The offer of Additional Services may contain a description, pictures, photographs, and/or other graphical displays. Such a description shall be as accurate as possible, but shall not be binding for ROMEO.
Prices for Additional Services are quoted in the price list on the Website and/or in the App. Prices are in euros and are inclusive of VAT, import duties and other government imposed taxes, duties and levies, which shall be the sole responsibility of the User. If Additional Services are paid through the “Apple App Store” or the “Google Play Store” the currency depends on the location of the user’s “Apple ID” or “Google Account”.
The User has the obligation to inform ROMEO immediately about any inaccuracies in the offer provided or the payment details described, including the price. The User cannot hold ROMEO to any offer for Additional Services and/or price if the User should in all reasonableness have known that this offer and/or the price are/is an obvious mistake or obvious error in writing.
ROMEO is entitled to adjust its prices at all times.
If the User has made the payment for the Additional Services by means of a credit card, he is not allowed to reclaim the payment if he has made any (further) use of the Additional Service. If the User breaches this provision, ROMEO has the right to charge all reasonable costs incurred by ROMEO to have the User fulfill his payment obligation, to terminate the Agreement with immediate effect, to suspend the provision of the Additional Service, to block the User from accessing and using the Service, and/or to postpone the provision of the Additional Services until the User has met his complete payment obligations.
The User is not allowed to revoke the Additional Service, as meant in article 7:46d of the Dutch Distance Selling Act (“Wet Koop op Afstand”), since the Additional Service is provided by ROMEO immediately after payment by the User.
Amounts paid to ROMEO are not refundable and are not transferable to another Account.

5. Intellectual Property Rights

ROMEO and/or its suppliers reserve all rights not expressly granted to the User in these Terms of Use. The User acknowledges and agrees that - except as specifically set forth in these Terms of Use - ROMEO and its suppliers retain all rights, title and interest, including the Intellectual Property Rights, in and to the Service as well as any modifications adaptations or translations thereof. The User acknowledges and agrees that he does not acquire any rights therein, express or implied, except for the rights expressly granted under these Terms of Use.
The User is not permitted to sell, rent out, transfer or grant restrictive rights to the Service, or to make it available to third parties in any way or for any purpose. The User will also refrain from granting third parties access - remotely or otherwise - to the Service or to provide the Service to a third party.
1. The User retains all Intellectual Property Rights with regard to the User Content he uploads. ROMEO does not claim any Intellectual Property Rights that belong to the User. The User grants ROMEO a royalty-free, unencumbered, world-wide, sub-licensable, non-exclusive right to use User Content he uploaded solely in connection with the Service provided by ROMEO by means of the Website and/or App.
2. The User himself can control which of his User Content including pictures become publicly visible.
3. As part of the Service, ROMEO may present content that a User has chosen to make publicly visible to other Users of the Website and/or App, like highlighting User profiles or showing interesting profiles in the GuyCandy Section of the Website and/or the App.
4. ROMEO may present content, that a User has chosen to make publicly visible, by email to other Users of the Website and/or App.
5. ROMEO will provide User Content, that a User has chosen to make publicly visible, to HUNQZ to be presented on the HUNQZ-website.
6. This license granted in 5.3a ends when the User deletes his User Content or his Account. When the User deletes User Content, it is deleted in a manner similar to emptying the recycle bin on a computer. However, the User understands and agrees that removed content may persist in caches and/or backup copies for a reasonable period of time (but will not be available to others). The above does not apply to User Content that the User has shared with other (ROMEO) Users or third parties (including but not limited to users of the HUNQZ-Website). Such User Content has to be deleted by the recipients of such User Content. The User understands and accepts that these recipients may not have deleted such User Content and that the deletion of such User Content is beyond ROMEO’s control.
7. ROMEO does not sell, trade or rent Personal Data of the User to third parties without the User's prior consent. More information about the manner in which ROMEO safeguards and processes Personal Data of its Users can be found in ROMEO's Privacy Statement.
The User acknowledges and accepts that the User Content he posts by means of the Service is accessible and may be used by other Users and such other Users may not use the User Content in accordance with these Terms of Use and / or applicable legislation. ROMEO cannot guarantee that other Users will use the User Content in accordance with these Terms of Use and/or applicable legislation. The User will not hold ROMEO responsible for the submissions or actions of other Users. ROMEO does not accept any liability for any actions of other Users which are in violation of these Terms of Use, the applicable legislation and/or which are otherwise unlawful.

6. Database

The collection of data by means of the Service is to be regarded as a database within the sense of Directive 96/6/EC on the legal protection of databases and the Dutch Databases Act (“Databankenwet”). ROMEO and/or its licensors are the producer(s) of this database and in that capacity has/have the exclusive right to grant consent for the use of data from this database. The User may only use data from the database insofar as use is allowed pursuant to these Terms of Use. The User is not allowed, without the prior written consent of ROMEO and/or its licensors, to retrieve and re-use a substantial part of the data of the database and/or retrieve and repeatedly and systematically re-use non-substantial parts of the data of the database within the sense of the Directive 96/6/EC and the Dutch Databases Act.

7. Privacy

During the use of the Service, the User provides Personal Data to ROMEO. This Personal Data will be saved and processed in accordance with the Privacy Statement, and the applicable Dutch legislation in force from time to time, currently being the Dutch Personal Data Protection Act (“Wet bescherming persoonsgegevens”) and the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The User acknowledges and agrees that it is his responsibility to review the Privacy Statement periodically and familiarize himself with any updates.

8. Report

In order to stop breaches of any third parties' rights as soon as possible, ROMEO has developed a procedure for reporting allegedly infringing or unlawful User Content. Users can send a Report which should contain the information as stated on the Website and/or in the App.
ROMEO will study the Report. Based on the information in the Report and/or any other information, ROMEO can, at its sole discretion, decide to take the measures it deems appropriate, including but not limited to:
1. issuing a warning to the responsible User;
2. deactivating the responsible User's Account;
3. deleting the responsible User's Account; and/or
4. deleting User Content.
ROMEO reserves the right to forward the Report to the User responsible for the allegedly infringing or unlawful User Content.
ROMEO reserves the right not to meet the requests made in the Report, for instance if it has reasonable grounds to doubt the accuracy of the Report, the validity of the evidence provided or if a balancing of interests requires ROMEO to do so. In this context, ROMEO may require - for instance - a judicial decision of a competent court in the Netherlands, which judicial decision demonstrates that the material or the activity is manifestly unlawful.
ROMEO will in no event be a party to a dispute between the User and the party that submitted the Report, unless ROMEO, at its sole discretion, decides otherwise.
By issuing a Report, the User will indemnify and hold ROMEO harmless against any third-party actions or claims related to the deletion of material or stopping of activities. The indemnification includes all costs and damages ROMEO may suffer and has suffered in connection with such action or claim, including - but not limited to - the costs for legal aid.
ROMEO respects and protects the privacy of Users and/or third parties who submit Reports. All Personal Data that it receives with a Report will always be processed in accordance with 7.1.

9. Indemnities and interruptions

ROMEO does not warrant that the Service will be error free, complete or up-to-date at all times.
The User agrees that the Service only provides the functionality and other features as found in the Service at the time of use ("as is"). ROMEO does not guarantee that the Service or any part thereof will be accessible at all times and without any interruptions or failures. Failures in the Service can occur as a result of failures in the internet or phone connection or as a result of viruses and/or faults/defects. ROMEO is not liable towards the User for any damage, loss or costs resulting or arising from the Service being (temporarily) unavailable, including but not limited to the loss of data or inability to access or use the Service.
ROMEO is entitled to change and/or update the Service and replace the design and lay-out of any of the functionalities of the Service without any prior notification and without being obliged to pay any compensation whatsoever to the Users.
ROMEO is entitled to put the Service (temporarily) out of service and/or to reduce the use of it without any prior notification and without being obliged to pay any compensation whatsoever to the User, if in the opinion of ROMEO this is necessary, for instance in connection with the reasonably required maintenance of the Service or due to force majeure (“overmacht”). Force majeure includes - but is not limited to - site or building blockades, strikes, riots, civil disruption, war, terrorist acts, inclement weather, epidemic, specific work interruptions, delay in transportation, earthquake, fire, storm, flood, or water damage, delay in or cancellation of the delivery to ROMEO of parts, goods or services ordered from third parties, or governmental, legal or regulatory restrictions.
ROMEO does not warrant in any way whatsoever that any terms and conditions applicable to third party software or services - including but not limited to the terms and conditions of Apple and Google - allow the use of and/or interaction with the Service.
The User is responsible and liable for all use he makes of the Service, including but not limited to his use of his Account and/or Profile. The User indemnifies and holds ROMEO harmless against any and all claims by third parties in connection with or resulting from the use that the User makes of the Service, a violation by the User of these Terms of Use, and/or any unlawful activities.

10. Limitation of liability

ROMEO's liability for attributably failing (“toerekenbare tekortkoming”) to perform the Agreement or any unlawful act (“onrechtmatige daad”) will be excluded, to the extent allowed by a mandatory or peremptory rule of law.
The User's only remedy in the event of an attributable failure or unlawful acts of ROMEO, is to discontinue the use of the Service and/or to delete his Account.
In the event that ROMEO is liable for damages under a mandatory or peremptory rule of law, the damage will be limited to an amount of EUR 100.- per event (a series of connected events being considered as one event). In no event will ROMEO's total, aggregate liability, exceed EUR 200.-.
ROMEO's liability for consequential damages (“vermogensschade”, “gevolgschade”) arising out of, or in connection with the Agreement or these Terms of Use, such as, but not limited to, loss of profit, loss of business, loss of anticipated savings, or any other similar financial loss or loss of goodwill or reputation, or other incidental, indirect, punitive or exemplary damages of any kind, independent of whether the User provides notice to ROMEO of such potential injury, damages or loss, is excluded.
In any event, the User's right to claim under the Agreement, these Terms of Use, unlawful act or otherwise shall lapse one (1) year after the occurrence giving rise to the claim or action.
The limitations mentioned in the preceding paragraphs of this section 10. shall not apply if and insofar as the damage or injury is the result of intentional acts (“opzet”) or omissions or gross negligence (“bewuste roekeloosheid”) by ROMEO or its managers.

11. Termination and remedies

The User is entitled to terminate the Agreement at any time by discontinuing the use of the Service and/or by terminating the Account.
In addition to the other remedies available to ROMEO, ROMEO is at all times, at its sole discretion, without prior written notice or explanation and without becoming liable to the User, entitled to:
1. temporarily or permanently terminate the User's Account and his use of the Service in the event that ROMEO, at its sole discretion, deems such termination necessary, including but not limited to a violation as mentioned in 2.4, 3.2, 3.6 or 8.2;
2. (temporarily) restrict or suspend the User's activities in connection with the Service or to ban a User from the Service;
3. ban a User from using the Service and prevent banned Users from creating a new Account and/or delete Accounts created by banned Users;
4. (partly) edit, delete or refuse any content or services within the Service as described in 2.3 and/or 8.2; and/or
5. transfer a group Account to ROMEO itself and/or to another User if ROMEO deems this necessary.
All provisions which are meant to survive the termination of the Agreement, including but not limited to all of the User's representations, warranties and indemnification obligations, shall survive such termination.

12. Third parties

ROMEO reserves its right to commission third party service providers and their authorized agents to perform and/or enable the performance of any of the services under the Agreement and/or these Terms of Use, either in whole or in part.
As part of the Service it provides, ROMEO pursues fraud identification and prevention. To this end ROMEO may provide Personal Data to (a) third part(y)(ies) it hires to perform fraud identification and prevention activities as our processor on its behalf.
The User is not entitled to transfer his rights and/or obligations under the Agreement or these Terms of Use to a third party.

13. Contact

Any and all correspondence and communication between the User and ROMEO may be undertaken in the English language. In case the User does not understand the English language, he must immediately inform ROMEO of this.
ROMEO can be contacted by means of the contact details available on the Website and in the App.

14. Applicable law and competent court

These Terms of Use, the Agreement and the use of the Service are governed by the laws of the Netherlands. The applicability of the Vienna Convention on the Sale of Goods is expressly excluded.
All controversies, disputes or claims arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use, the Agreement and/or the use of the Service will be exclusively and finally settled by the competent civil court in the District of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, unless a mandatory or peremptory rule of (international) law prescribes another competent court.

15. Definitions

Account:the section created by the User upon registering for the Service, such as a user account or group account (formerly known as club/guide account) which section is maintained by him and which section includes the Personal Data that the User provided during the registration process;
Additional Service:additional, paid services provided by ROMEO as described on the Website and/or App;
Agreement:the agreement between ROMEO and the User for access to and use of the Service and/or Additional Services;
App:the ROMEO app for mobile devices, as described on the Website;
Credentials:the User's Profile name and password that are required to access the Account and use the Service;
HUNQZ-website: all websites, domains, IP-addresses and all underlying pages thereof, used by HUNQZ B.V. in the performance of their services including but not limited to www.hunqz.com.
Intellectual Property Rights:all the intellectual property rights including but not limited to rights such as copyrights, trademark rights, patents, model rights, trade name rights, database rights and neighboring rights as well as the rights to know-how;
Parties:the User and ROMEO;
Personal Data:any data that directly or indirectly relates to a an identified or identifiable natural person;
ROMEO:the private company with limited liability ROMEO B.V., having its office in (1013 AA) Amsterdam, the Netherlands, at De Ruyterkade 7;
Privacy Statement:ROMEO's privacy statement available on the Website and in the App;
Profile:the part of the Account which is visible to other Users. The Profile is part of the Account;
Report:the notice which can be used to report infringing User Content, available on the Website and in the App;
Service:all services, including Additional Services, provided by ROMEO by means of the Website and/or App;
Terms of Use:these Terms of Use that apply to any and all use of the Service;
User:the natural person registered for the user Account or group Account;
User Content:any content provided by the User by means of the Service, including but not limited to Profile information, forum posts, profiles, images, classified advertisements and guestbook entries;
Website: all websites, domains, IP-addresses and all underlying pages thereof, used by ROMEO in their performance of the Service including but not limited to www.romeo.com.