Terms of Use — Cloister

Effective date: October 25, 2026

These Terms include, by reference: our Privacy Policy; our Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy; our Community Guidelines.

By creating an account or using Cloister, you agree to all of them. If you don't agree, please don't use Cloister.

1. Who can use Cloister

You may use Cloister only if all of the following are true:

• you are at least 18 years old;
• you are located in the United States;
• you are not prohibited from using Cloister under U.S. law;
• we have not previously banned you.

You may have one account. You must sign in with your own Apple Account (on iPhone) or Google Account (on Android).

Creating an account requires a statement that you are 18 or older. We don't verify it independently. If we learn that you are under 18, we will close your account.

2. Your account and username

• You are responsible for your account. Keep your Apple or Google Account secure. Tell us at growevolve.business@gmail.com if you think someone else is using your Cloister account.
• Usernames are 3–20 characters: lowercase letters, numbers and underscores. Some names can't be used: names that impersonate someone; names that suggest you speak for Cloister; names that are offensive; names that are reserved. If a username breaks these Terms, we may suspend or close the account.
• When an account is deleted, its username is held for 90 days before anyone else can take it.

3. What "pseudonymous" means on Cloister

Other people on Cloister know you only by your username. They never see your real name or email address.

That does not hide who you are from us. We keep identity information from Sign in with Apple or Google, and we can disclose it in the limited situations described in our Privacy Policy, for example a report to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, or a valid legal order.

If you want to stay unrecognizable to people who know you, don't include details in your entries that would identify you.

4. Your content

• You own what you write. That includes your entries, your messages, and any notes you add to reports ("your content").
• You give us permission to run Cloister with it. You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to host, store, reproduce, process, display and deliver your content within Cloister, to operate, protect and improve Cloister, and to keep records as described in our Privacy Policy. This license ends when you delete the content or your account. It continues only for copies we must keep for safety or legal reasons, as the Privacy Policy explains.
• Entries are public within Cloister. Everyone signed in can read them, except accounts you have blocked or that have blocked you. Others may copy or screenshot what they read, and we cannot undo that.
• Reading with accessibility features. People who can see your content may use their device's accessibility features to read it, for example larger text, color settings, read-aloud, translation or summaries. You allow this, and no fee is owed to you or anyone else for it.
• One entry per day. Cloister allows one entry per calendar day. You can edit it on that day; past entries can't be edited, but you can delete them. When you edit, we keep the earlier version privately for 90 days (longer while a report about your account is open or a legal hold applies), so we can review reports.
• You are responsible for your content. You confirm that you have the right to post it and that it follows these Terms and our Community Guidelines. Don't post other people's private information or copyrighted work you don't have the right to share.
• We may remove content that breaks these Terms or the law, or that puts someone at risk. We don't have to review everything posted, but we may.

5. Messages

• You receive messages only if you turn on "Receive messages". Turning it off stops all new messages, including in existing conversations.
• Messages are not end-to-end encrypted. We may review them if they are reported, if the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety. The Privacy Policy explains exactly when.
• If either person in a conversation deletes their account, the conversation is deleted for both.
• Don't use messages to harass, to pressure anyone for sexual content, or to contact someone who has made clear they don't want to hear from you.

6. Rules

Our Community Guidelines explain what is and isn't allowed, and they are part of these Terms. In short, you must not:

• post or send any sexual content involving anyone under 18, including fiction and links, or try to contact a minor for sexual purposes;
• expose, shame or target an identifiable private person, or publish anyone's private information;
• harass, threaten, or attack people for who they are;
• offer or ask for sex, sexual services or sexual content, or send unwanted sexual messages;
• share or threaten to share intimate images of someone without consent, including through links;
• encourage or give instructions for suicide or self-harm;
• sell illegal goods or services, run scams, spam, or impersonate anyone;
• try to find out or reveal the real identity behind someone's username;
• use bots, scraping or automation to access Cloister;
• get around a ban, a block or our limits, or misuse reporting;
• break the law or anyone's intellectual-property rights.

Zero tolerance. There is no tolerance on Cloister for objectionable content or abusive users. Some words and phrases are blocked automatically before an entry or a message is posted. We review reports promptly, aiming to act within 24 hours, and we remove content and close accounts that break these rules.

7. Reports, enforcement and appeals

• Report an entry, a profile or a message from inside the app. When you report something, we save a copy of it, so it can be reviewed even if it is later deleted.
• What we may do: remove content; limit your messaging; suspend your account; close it. Child sexual exploitation, credible threats of violence, and sex trafficking or selling sex lead to immediate suspension and closure of the account, and we try to keep the person from coming back. When something is reported as involving a minor, the messaging of the account involved is paused automatically until a person reviews the report.
• Reporting to authorities. We report apparent child sexual exploitation to NCMEC, as federal law requires, and we cooperate with valid legal process.
• Notice and appeal. When we remove one of your entries, it is marked as removed in your account. When your account is suspended, the app tells you when you try to post, message or follow. For other actions, we will try to let you know by email at the address linked to your account, unless doing so would put someone at risk or break the law. To appeal, email growevolve.business@gmail.com within 30 days. We will review the decision and reply.
• Order. We review reports in order, putting child safety and threats first.

8. Free month and subscriptions

• Your first 30 days are free. No payment information is needed, and nothing is charged when the free month ends. The free month starts when you create your account. If you created your account before subscriptions started, your free month starts on the day subscriptions start; the app shows you the date it ends.
• After the free month, Cloister needs a subscription. Without one, you can't read or write entries, including your own, send messages, or follow people. Nothing you wrote is deleted because your free month or a subscription ends, or because a payment doesn't go through; your pages are there when you subscribe again. Even without a subscription, you can always delete single entries (Settings → My pages), delete your account, and sign out.
• Plans. Cloister offers monthly and yearly auto-renewing subscriptions, sold through Apple's App Store on iPhone and through Google Play on Android. New subscribers to the yearly plan may be offered a lower price for their first year when the store confirms they are eligible. The app shows the price, the billing period and what renews before you confirm. Prices are in U.S. dollars.
• Automatic renewal. Your subscription renews automatically, for the same period and at the price shown, until you cancel. On iPhone, payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase and at each renewal. To avoid being charged for the next period, cancel at least 24 hours before the current period ends: in your iPhone's Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions, or use Manage subscription in Cloister's Settings. On Android, payment is charged to your Google Play account when you confirm the purchase and at each renewal. To avoid being charged for the next period, cancel before the renewal date: open Google Play, tap your profile icon, then Payments & subscriptions, then Subscriptions, or use Manage subscription in Cloister's Settings. After you cancel, you keep access until the end of the period you paid for.
• Subscribing during your free month starts your paid subscription right away; the free days you have left don't carry over.
• Changing plans. On iPhone, changing plans is handled by Apple: moving from monthly to yearly takes effect right away and Apple refunds the unused part of the monthly period; moving from yearly to monthly takes effect at your next renewal. On Android, Cloister doesn't switch plans for you: to change plans, cancel your current plan in Google Play and subscribe to the other plan after the period you paid for ends.
• Refunds are handled by Apple or Google under their policies; we can't issue them ourselves. If Apple or Google refunds a payment, access for that period ends.
• A subscription belongs to one Cloister account. When you subscribe, the store's purchase record is matched to your Cloister account. While that account exists, the same subscription can't be used by another Cloister account.
• Suspension and account deletion don't cancel your subscription. If your account is suspended or closed for breaking these Terms, or you delete it, your subscription keeps renewing until you cancel it with Apple or Google. Any refund is up to them.
• Test versions. Purchases in TestFlight test versions of Cloister use Apple's test environment and aren't charged. Purchases by license testers in test versions from Google Play use Google's test environment and aren't charged.

9. Copyright complaints

We respect copyright and we respond to notices that follow the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. §512).

To report infringing content, send our designated agent a written notice that includes:

1. your physical or electronic signature;
2. the copyrighted work you claim is infringed;
3. the content you want removed, with enough information for us to find it (for example, the username and the date of the entry);
4. your contact information;
5. a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law;
6. a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized to act for the owner.

Counter-notice. If your content was removed and you believe that was a mistake, you may send a counter-notice as the law describes. We may restore the content 10–14 business days after we receive it, unless the complaining party tells us it has filed a lawsuit.

Repeat infringers. We close the accounts of people who repeatedly infringe copyright, in appropriate circumstances.

10. Intimate images shared without consent (TAKE IT DOWN Act)

Cloister doesn't allow image uploads. Intimate content can still appear in text or as a link.

If an intimate image or video of you, real or digitally created, has been shared on Cloister without your consent, including as a link, you can ask us to remove it. So can someone authorized to act for you. You don't need a Cloister account.

Send to growevolve.business@gmail.com:

1. your physical or electronic signature;
2. where it is on Cloister (for example, the username and the date of the entry, or the message);
3. a short statement that you believe in good faith it was shared without your consent, with any information that helps us confirm this;
4. how we can contact you.

We will remove valid requests as soon as possible and no later than 48 hours after we receive them, together with any identical copies we know of. We will give you a request number and tell you what we did.

11. Emergencies

Cloister is not an emergency service. If you or someone else is in danger, call 911. If you are thinking about suicide or self-harm, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), or chat at 988lifeline.org.

12. Not medical, legal or professional advice

Anything written on Cloister is the personal writing of its author. It is not advice. Cloister is not a therapy, crisis or medical service.

13. Our rights in Cloister

We own Cloister: the app, its design, the name, the logo and the software. These Terms give you a personal, non-transferable right to use the app for its intended purpose; they don't give you any other rights in it. On Android, these Terms don't limit the license that Google's Developer Distribution Agreement gives you to use the app; if the two conflict, that license prevails. Your account and the online service are separate from that license and can be suspended or closed as described in section 14. Don't copy, modify, reverse-engineer or resell Cloister, except as the law allows.

If you send us ideas or feedback, we may use them without any obligation to you.

14. Ending your use

• You can stop at any time and delete your account in the app (Settings → Delete account). You choose how:
  • Delete in 30 days: your profile and entries are hidden from everyone right away. If you sign in again with the same Apple or Google account within 30 days, you can restore everything. After 30 days, your account is deleted permanently.
  • Delete now: your account is deleted right away.
  What is deleted and what is kept is described in our Privacy Policy. If you can't open the app, see Delete your Cloister account. Deleting your account doesn't cancel an App Store or Google Play subscription (section 8).
• We may suspend or close your account if you break these Terms, if we must do so by law, or if your use creates risk or legal exposure for others or for us. We will try to let you know, unless that would put someone at risk or break the law.
• Sections 4 (licenses for copies we must keep), 9–13 and 15–23 continue after your account ends.

15. Changes to Cloister and to these Terms

• We may change Cloister, add or remove features, or stop offering it.
• If we make a material change to these Terms, we will tell you in the app before it takes effect. Where the law requires, we will also notify the app stores in advance.
• If you keep using Cloister after a change takes effect, you accept the new Terms. If you don't accept them, delete your account.

16. Disclaimers

To the fullest extent the law allows, Cloister is provided "as is" and "as available." We make no warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.

We don't promise that Cloister will always be available or error-free. We don't promise that what other people write is true or safe to rely on.

Some jurisdictions don't allow certain disclaimers. In that case, those disclaimers don't apply to you.

17. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows:

• What we are not liable for: indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or loss of data, profits or goodwill, arising from your use of Cloister.
• The cap: our total liability for any claim relating to Cloister is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim, or US$100.

These limits don't apply where the law doesn't allow them, for example for gross negligence or willful misconduct, where the law says so.

18. Indemnity

To the extent the law allows, you agree to defend and indemnify us against third-party claims arising from your content, your breach of these Terms, or your violation of the law or of someone else's rights.

19. Disputes and governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the U.S. state where you live and by applicable U.S. federal law. Nothing in these Terms limits rights you have under the consumer-protection laws of your state.

20. Parental controls notice (47 U.S.C. §230(d))

Tools exist that can help parents and guardians limit children's access to material that is harmful to minors. For example: Screen Time, which is built into iPhone and iPad; Google Family Link for Android devices; filtering software from other providers.

Cloister is for adults only.

21. App store terms

If you downloaded Cloister from Apple's App Store:

• These Terms are between you and us, not Apple. We alone are responsible for Cloister and its content.
• Support. Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for Cloister.
• Warranties. If Cloister fails to meet a warranty that applies to it, you may notify Apple, and Apple may refund the purchase price of the app, if any. To the maximum extent the law allows, Apple has no other warranty obligation for Cloister.
• Claims. We, not Apple, are responsible for handling any claims relating to Cloister, including product liability claims; claims that Cloister fails to meet a legal or regulatory requirement; claims under consumer-protection, privacy or similar laws; and any claim that Cloister infringes someone's intellectual property.
• Legal compliance. You confirm that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo or designated as a "terrorist supporting" country, and that you are not on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
• Third-party beneficiaries. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.
• Apple's rules. Your use must also follow the usage rules in Apple's Media Services Terms and Conditions.

If you downloaded Cloister from Google Play: these Terms are between you and us, not Google. We alone are responsible for Cloister, its content and any claims about it.

Our name, address and contact details for questions or complaints are in section 23.

22. General

These Terms, together with the documents they include, are the entire agreement between you and us about Cloister.

• Severability. If any part is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect.
• No waiver. If we don't enforce a provision, we haven't waived it.
• Assignment. You may not transfer these Terms. We may transfer them as part of a merger, acquisition or sale of assets.
• Events beyond our control. We are not responsible for failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control.

23. Contact

Zeyneddin Hasan Erdönmez, doing business as NewEvolve · Osmangazi Mah., Dr. Cemil Özbal Cad., Çamlıca Evleri A Blok, No: 31 A, 27560 Gaziantep, Türkiye · growevolve.business@gmail.com

• Safety and law enforcement: growevolve.business@gmail.com
• Copyright agent: see section 9
• Intimate-image removal: see section 10