Terms of Service

1. Description of Service

Forked is a community-powered dish ranking app. Users rate dishes at restaurants by providing sentiment-based ratings and pairwise comparisons. These ratings are used to generate personalized rankings and aggregated community leaderboard scores using algorithmic calculations (Elo scoring and Bayesian averaging). Forked does not provide professional food reviews, endorsements, or guarantees about food quality or safety.

2. Account Registration

• You must be at least 13 years old to create an account.
• You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials.
• You must provide accurate information when creating your account.
• One account per person. Do not create multiple accounts.

3. User-Generated Content

What You Submit

When using Forked, you may submit photos of dishes, sentiment ratings, taste tag selections, pairwise comparisons, and optional notes ("User Content").

License You Grant Us

By submitting User Content, you grant Forked a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable license to use, display, reproduce, and distribute your User Content within the App for the purpose of operating the service — including displaying photos on dish and restaurant pages, computing community scores, and improving the App. This license continues for anonymized/aggregated data (such as your contribution to community scores) even after account deletion, as described in our Privacy Policy.

Your Ownership

You retain ownership of your User Content. We do not claim ownership of your photos or ratings.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Submit photos that are obscene, pornographic, violent, hateful, discriminatory, or otherwise objectionable.
• Upload photos that do not depict food or are unrelated to the dish being rated.
• Submit fraudulent or intentionally misleading ratings.
• Attempt to manipulate community scores through fake accounts, coordinated rating schemes, or automated submissions.
• Use the App to harass, abuse, or harm other users.
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the source code of the App.
• Use the App for any illegal purpose.
• Interfere with or disrupt the App's infrastructure or other users' experience.

5. Content Standards and Moderation

Zero Tolerance for Objectionable Content

Forked has zero tolerance for objectionable content including but not limited to: hate speech, explicit or sexual content, harassment, violence, illegal activity, or content that exploits minors.

Reporting

Users can report objectionable content (such as inappropriate photos) through the reporting feature in the App. We review reports and take action as appropriate, which may include content removal, account warnings, or account termination.

Our Right to Remove Content and Terminate Accounts

We reserve the right, but are not obligated, to:

• Remove any User Content that violates these Terms or that we find objectionable, at our sole discretion.
• Suspend or permanently terminate accounts that violate these Terms.
• Take any action we deem necessary to protect the safety and integrity of the App and its users.

6. Community Scores Disclaimer

Community leaderboard scores displayed in the App are generated algorithmically based on aggregated user ratings. These scores:

• Are not endorsements, recommendations, or guarantees by Forked.
• Are not professional food reviews or safety assessments.
• Reflect aggregated user sentiment and may not represent any individual's experience.
• May change over time as more ratings are submitted.

You should exercise your own judgment when choosing where and what to eat. Forked is not responsible for the quality, safety, or accuracy of any restaurant or dish.

7. Intellectual Property

The App, including its design, code, algorithms, branding, and non-user-generated content, is owned by Forked and protected by applicable intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, or distribute any part of the App without our written permission.

8. Account Deletion

You may delete your account at any time from the Settings screen within the App. Upon deletion:

• Your personal information is anonymized and de-identified. An anonymous placeholder profile is retained for database integrity but contains no identifiable information.
• All photos you uploaded (dish photos and profile avatar) are permanently deleted from our servers.
• Your rating scores are anonymized and continue to contribute to community scores, as described in our Privacy Policy. All personal notes and photo metadata are permanently deleted.
• Your authentication account is permanently deleted.
• This action is irreversible.

9. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE APP IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

We do not warrant that the App will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components, or that any content (including community scores) is accurate, reliable, or complete.

10. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, FORKED AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE APP.

OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR THE APP SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR $100, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Forked and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your use of the App, your User Content, or your violation of these Terms.

12. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms shall be governed by the laws of the State of Louisiana, United States, without regard to conflict of law principles.

Any dispute arising from these Terms or your use of the App shall first be attempted to be resolved through informal negotiation. If unresolved within 30 days, either party may pursue resolution through binding arbitration administered under the rules of the American Arbitration Association, with arbitration taking place in New Orleans, Louisiana.

You agree to resolve disputes on an individual basis and waive any right to participate in a class action lawsuit or class-wide arbitration.

13. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated Terms within the App or by other reasonable means. Continued use of the App after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

14. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms, contact us at support@forkedapp.com or visit www.forkedapp.com.