Terms of Service

The short version

Who can use it

Anyone who is 16 or older.

Your content

It stays yours. You let us show it to other Stratum users so the app can work.

Be decent

No harassment, hate, explicit or illegal content, impersonation or spam.

Meeting people

We don’t vet anyone. Be careful about what you share and who you meet.

Free for now

Stratum has no ads or purchases today. If that changes, we’ll tell you first.

Your account

Delete it any time in the app. We may suspend accounts that break these rules.

Our liability

Limited as far as the law allows, and never in ways the law doesn’t allow.

Disputes

Email us first. Nigerian law applies, and your local consumer rights stay intact.

Agreeing to these terms

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are an agreement between you and Jeffrey Inyang, an independent developer based in Abuja, Nigeria, who operates Stratum (“Stratum”, “we”, “us”). They cover the Stratum mobile app, the servers behind it and anything else we offer under the Stratum name (together, the “Service”).

By creating an account, ticking the box confirming your age, or otherwise using Stratum, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy, which explains how we handle your information. If you don’t agree, please don’t use Stratum.

Who can use Stratum

You must be at least 16 to use Stratum, and you confirm this when you create an account. If the law where you live sets a higher age for entering a contract like this one, you must also have the permission of a parent or guardian. You also confirm that you’re not barred from using the Service under any law that applies to you, and that we haven’t previously removed your account for breaking these Terms.

Your account

• How you sign in. Stratum has no passwords. You sign in with a one-time code we email you, or with Google. Whoever controls your email address or Google account can sign in as you, so keep them secure.
• Be yourself. Create an account only for yourself, give us a real email address you can access, and don’t pretend to be someone else.
• You’re responsible for your account. You’re responsible for what happens under it. If you think someone else has accessed it, email us right away.
• Usernames. New accounts get a generated username, and you can change it. A username doesn’t become your property. We may change or reclaim a username that impersonates someone, is offensive, or breaks the rules below.

Using the app

We give you a personal, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the Stratum app on your own device for your own non-commercial use, in line with these Terms. In return, you agree not to:

• copy, modify, reverse engineer or try to extract the source code of the Service, except where the law lets you
• use bots, scrapers or other automated means to access the Service or collect other people’s information
• call our servers other than through the Stratum app, or get around rate limits, content checks or other safeguards
• probe, scan or test the security of the Service, or interfere with it, other users or its infrastructure
• use the Service, or what you learn from it, to build a competing product, or to harass, profile or spam other users
• use the Service for anything unlawful, or in a way that breaks these Terms

If you’d like to do something that looks like it’s in this list, for example security research, email us first and we’ll talk.

Community rules

Stratum is built for people to share what they love. Please don’t use your profile, bio, usernames, collections, photos or anything else you post to:

• harass, bully, threaten, stalk or target anyone, or encourage others to
• promote hatred or violence against people because of who they are, including their race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age
• share nudity, sexually explicit content, graphic violence or gore. We have zero tolerance for content that sexualises minors, which we’ll remove and may report to the authorities
• share other people’s private information, or impersonate a person or organisation
• infringe someone’s copyright, trademark or other rights, or post anything you don’t have the right to post
• post spam, scams, malware, misleading claims or advertising, or manipulate ratings, followers or search results
• break the law, or help someone else break it

How we enforce them

We check uploaded images and profile text automatically before we save them. If something is blocked, you can change it and try again. These checks aren’t perfect, and we don’t review everything you post, so we rely on people to tell us about problems. We may remove content, limit features, or suspend or end accounts that break these rules. Where it’s practical, and safe and lawful to do so, we’ll tell you why.

Reporting a problem

If you see someone or something that breaks these rules, you can report the account in the app: open the person’s profile, tap the three-dot button beside Share, choose Report, and pick a reason. You can also email hello@joinstratum.app with “Report” in the subject, the username involved and what’s wrong. We review reports promptly and take the action we think is appropriate. To stop someone finding or adding you, choose Block from the same menu. You can unblock them at any time in Settings, under Blocked accounts. If someone is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first.

Your content

Your content is what you put into Stratum: your profile details and photos, ratings, collections, bio and anything else you create. It’s yours. We don’t claim ownership of it.

To run Stratum, we need your permission to use it. You give us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, resize and re-encode, display and make your content available to other Stratum users, only as needed to operate, secure and improve the Service. We won’t use your content to train AI models, and we won’t use it for advertising.

This licence ends when you delete your content or your account, apart from backup copies that are overwritten within 7 days (see the Privacy Policy) and anything other people have already copied or captured on their own devices.

You promise that you own your content or have the right to post it, and that it doesn’t break these Terms or anyone else’s rights. You’re responsible for what you post. Ratings and reviews are opinions, and other people’s opinions on Stratum belong to them, not us. We don’t endorse them.

If you send us feedback or ideas, we may use them without owing you anything or crediting you.

Third-party content and services

Stratum helps you discover, rate and share your experiences, but it doesn’t stream, sell or host the things you rate, such as songs, films and books. Information about them, including titles, artwork and descriptions, comes from third-party services such as Deezer, TMDB, Google Books, Open Library and Genius. That material belongs to its owners. It may be incomplete, inaccurate or change without notice, and we don’t guarantee it. To listen to, watch, read or otherwise experience something, use an official source.

This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

The daily picks and other suggestions in Stratum are selections made by our systems. They’re not advice or endorsements. Links to other sites and services are for your convenience, and we’re not responsible for them or their terms.

Support and AI answers

The support chat on our website is run by AI. It uses Google’s Gemini API to write answers from Stratum’s own help information. Answers can be wrong or out of date, they aren’t legal, medical or financial advice, and they don’t change these Terms or the Privacy Policy, which always win if they differ. Please don’t put passwords, sign-in codes or other personal details in the chat.

We may limit how many questions one person can ask, and you must not use automated tools against the chat. To reach a person, use “Talk to a human” on the support page or email hello@joinstratum.app.

Meeting people safely

Stratum helps you find people who share your taste. We don’t verify identities, run background checks or vet what people say about themselves, and we don’t endorse any user. Be thoughtful about what you share, especially personal details, and take care if you decide to talk or meet offline. We’re not responsible for what other users say or do, online or offline. If someone makes you uncomfortable, block or report them as described above.

Free today, changes tomorrow

Stratum is free to use today, with no ads or purchases. We might add paid features, subscriptions or advertising in the future. If we do, we’ll update these Terms and the Privacy Policy first, give you notice, and ask for your consent where the law requires. Any purchases made through the Apple App Store or Google Play will be governed by that store’s terms as well.

Stratum is a young product and will change. We may add, change or remove features, and we may suspend or stop the Service, at any time. If we discontinue the Service entirely, we’ll try to give you reasonable notice so you can leave.

Our property and copyright

The Service, including the app, its software, design, name, logo and everything we create, belongs to us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. These Terms don’t give you any rights in them other than the licence to use the app described above. Please don’t use the Stratum name or logo without our written permission.

Copyright complaints

We respect copyright and respond to valid notices. If you believe something on Stratum infringes your copyright, email hello@joinstratum.app with “Copyright notice” in the subject. Please include:

• your name, contact details and signature (electronic is fine)
• a description of the work you say has been infringed
• where the material is on Stratum, for example the username or profile involved
• a statement that you believe in good faith that the use isn’t authorised by the owner, its agent or the law
• a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the notice is accurate and that you’re the owner or authorised to act for them

We may remove the material and tell the person who posted it. If you believe we removed your content by mistake, you can send us a counter-notice with the same kind of details and a statement that you believe the removal was a mistake, and we’ll review it. We end the accounts of people who repeatedly infringe copyright.

Suspension and ending your account

You can stop using Stratum at any time, and you can delete your account in the app under Profile, then Settings, then Delete account. What happens to your data is explained in our Privacy Policy.

We may suspend or end your access, with or without notice where necessary, if you break these Terms, if your use puts other people or the Service at risk, if we’re required to by law, or if we stop offering the Service. If your account is ended, your licence to use Stratum ends too. Parts of these Terms that by their nature should survive (such as the sections on content, disclaimers, liability and disputes) will continue to apply.

Disclaimers

We work hard to make Stratum good, but we can’t promise it will be perfect. To the extent the law allows, the Service is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We don’t promise that Stratum will be uninterrupted, secure or error-free, that third-party information will be accurate, or that content won’t be lost.

We’re also not responsible for what other users post or do. Some places don’t allow certain disclaimers, so some of this may not apply to you. Your legal rights as a consumer, where they exist, are not affected.

Limits on liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we aren’t liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data or goodwill, arising from your use of the Service. Our total liability to you for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the greater of US$100 and the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose. Because Stratum is currently free, that is US$100.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability that can’t legally be limited. That includes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that the law of your country doesn’t let us exclude. If you’re a consumer, you keep any rights that can’t be waived under the law where you live.

You agree to defend and compensate us against claims and costs (including reasonable legal fees) that arise from your content, your breach of these Terms or your violation of someone else’s rights, to the extent the law allows.

Disputes and governing law

If you have a problem, email us first at hello@joinstratum.app. Most things can be sorted out that way, and we’ll try to resolve it informally within 30 days before either of us takes formal action.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. If an issue can’t be resolved informally, the courts of Abuja, Nigeria, will have jurisdiction. If you’re a consumer, this doesn’t take away the mandatory consumer-protection rights of the country where you live, including any right to bring a claim in your local courts.

We don’t require arbitration, and we don’t ask you to give up the right to join a class action where the law gives you that right.

App store terms

If you got Stratum from the Apple App Store

• These Terms are between you and us only, not Apple Inc. (“Apple”). We, not Apple, are solely responsible for Stratum and its content.
• Your licence is limited to use on Apple-branded products that you own or control, as the Usage Rules in the Apple Media Services Terms allow.
• We’re responsible for any maintenance and support for Stratum. Apple has no obligation to provide any.
• If Stratum doesn’t meet any applicable warranty, you can tell Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price if there is one (Stratum is currently free). To the extent the law allows, Apple has no other warranty obligation. Other claims, losses and costs from failing to meet a warranty are our responsibility.
• We, not Apple, are responsible for any claims about Stratum or your use of it, including product liability, legal or regulatory compliance, and consumer protection or privacy claims.
• If a third party claims Stratum infringes their intellectual property rights, we, not Apple, are responsible for the investigation, defence, settlement and discharge of that claim.
• You must comply with any third-party terms that apply when you use Stratum, such as your mobile carrier’s terms.
• Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms. Once you accept them, Apple has the right to enforce them against you as a third-party beneficiary.
• For questions, complaints or claims about Stratum, contact Jeffrey Inyang, Abuja, Nigeria, at hello@joinstratum.app.

If you got Stratum from Google Play

These Terms are between you and us, not Google. Google has no obligation to provide support or maintenance for Stratum. Google Play’s own terms also apply to your download and any purchases through it.

Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms as Stratum evolves or the law changes. The date at the top shows when they last changed. For material changes, we’ll tell you in the app or by email at least 14 days before they take effect, unless the change is needed sooner for legal or security reasons. If you keep using Stratum after the change takes effect, you accept the new Terms. If you don’t agree, stop using Stratum and delete your account.

General

• Whole agreement. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between you and us about Stratum.
• If part is unenforceable. If a court finds part of these Terms unenforceable, the rest stays in force.
• No waiver. If we don’t enforce a right straight away, that doesn’t mean we give it up.
• Transfers. You can’t transfer your rights under these Terms. We may transfer ours to a successor of Stratum, for example if it’s sold or merged.
• Beyond our control. We’re not liable for failures caused by things outside our reasonable control, such as outages of hosting or internet providers, or natural disasters.
• Legal compliance. You confirm you’re not located in a country subject to a US government embargo or designated as supporting terrorism, and that you’re not on any US government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
• Notices. We may give you notices by email, in the app or on this website. You can give us notice at hello@joinstratum.app.
• Language. If these Terms are translated, the English version controls where the law allows.

Contact us

Questions about these Terms? Email hello@joinstratum.app.

Jeffrey Inyang, operating as Stratum
Abuja, Nigeria