Child safety standards

Circles has zero tolerance for child sexual abuse and exploitation. This page sets out our standards, how to report something, and who to write to. It exists because we think it should, and because Google Play requires it of every social app.

What we mean by CSAE

Child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) means any sexual content involving a person under 18, any content that sexualises a child, any attempt by an adult to groom, solicit or extort a child, and the trading or advertising of such material. A child is anyone under 18.

Our standards

• CSAE is absolutely prohibited on Circles, in every form, with no exception and no context in which it is acceptable.
• Accounts are for adults. You must be 18 or over to create a Circles account.
• No child is ever enrolled in face matching. Faces in uploaded photographs are scanned so that matching can work at all, and each face found gets an unnamed record carrying no name, no phone number and no account. Such a record can only be claimed by an account holder, and accounts require you to be 18 or over — so no child is ever claimed, named, searchable by face, or matched to a person. Our privacy notice sets this out in full.
• Events are private and invitation-only. There is no public feed, no discovery, no stranger-to-stranger messaging, and no way for an adult to browse for children.
• We act on every report, and we act fastest on these.

How to report

Email ohana.software.inc@gmail.com with the subject “Child safety”. Tell us the event name and anything that helps us find the content — a screenshot is ideal, but do not go out of your way to collect one.

You do not need a Circles account to report something to us, and you do not have to give your name.

Hosts can also remove any guest from their own event immediately, at any time, without giving a reason.

What we do when we get a report

1. We look at it straight away, ahead of everything else we are doing.
2. We remove the content and disable the account that posted it.
3. We preserve the evidence rather than destroying it, so that an investigation is possible.
4. We report to the appropriate authorities where Indian law requires it, and we cooperate fully with any lawful request from them.

We comply with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the rules under it, and the child safety laws of any other place we operate in.

Point of contact for child safety

Ayush Goyal
ohana.software.inc@gmail.com · ayush1.contact@gmail.com
Ayush Goyal, sole proprietor, 47 Vimal Vatika, Kamla Nagar, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

If a child is in immediate danger

Do not wait for us. In India, call Childline on 1098 or the police on 112. You can also report online through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal at cybercrime.gov.in.