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Community Guidelines

The house rules for a warm, honest CafeRadar

Last updated: 7 August 2026. These guidelines are part of our Terms of Service and are incorporated into them by reference. When you use CafeRadar, you agree to follow them. They work alongside our Privacy Policy and, for in-person meetups, our Meetup Safety, Etiquette and Privacy page.

CafeRadar is a place to discover great coffee, keep track of the cafes you love, earn a few rewards along the way, and meet other people who take their coffee seriously. It only works because the people here are honest and kind. These guidelines explain what we expect, and what happens when someone does not live up to it. They are written in plain language on purpose. If something here is unclear, ask us at legal@caferadar.app.

How enforcement works

We would always rather help you get it right than take something away. Most issues are small and end with a quick fix. When they are not, our response scales with how serious the behaviour is and whether it happens again. Your account is always in one of four states:

  • Active. Everything is normal. This is where almost everyone stays.
  • Warned. We have flagged something and let you know what needs to change. Your account keeps working. Consider it a heads-up, not a punishment.
  • Suspended. Your account is paused for a set period. You will see a countdown showing when it lifts, and it restores automatically when the time is up. We use this for repeated or more serious breaches.
  • Banned. Your account is permanently closed. We reserve this for the most serious harms, for repeat behaviour after warnings and suspensions, or for anything that puts another person at risk.

Alongside these account states, we can also remove individual content, a review, a photo, a message, without changing your account status, when a specific piece of content breaks the rules but the account is otherwise fine.

Consequences escalate with severity. A first, minor slip usually means content removal or a warning. Serious harm, threats, safety risks, or fraud can mean immediate suspension or a permanent ban with no earlier steps. We look at what happened, how bad it was, and whether it is part of a pattern.

You can appeal, once. If your account is suspended or banned, you can submit a single appeal directly in the app from the account notice you will see. We review it and either uphold the decision or reverse it. One open appeal per person, so please make it count and tell us what we got wrong.

We are a hosting service under EU law, and we follow a notice-and-action approach: when something is reported to us, we look at it and act where it breaks these guidelines or the law, and we tell people about decisions that affect them. Our App Store and Google Play obligations around user safety and objectionable content are part of the same commitment.

1. Community norms

The whole community runs on a few simple ideas.

  • Be real. Everything you post, reviews, check-ins, photos, your profile, should reflect your genuine, first-hand experience. CafeRadar is about real visits to real cafes.
  • Be kind. Treat other people the way you would at a shared table in a good cafe. Warmth costs nothing and it is the whole point.
  • Be honest. Do not fake, inflate, or game anything, whether that is a rating, a check-in, your rewards, or who you are.
  • Respect the cafes. These are real businesses with real staff. Be a good guest in person and fair to them online.
  • Look out for each other. If you see something wrong, report it. If someone needs help, help if you safely can.

If you keep those in mind, you will never trip over the specifics below.

2. Prohibited content and conduct

Some things are never okay on CafeRadar, no matter the surface. The following can lead to content removal, suspension, or a permanent ban depending on severity:

  • Harassment, bullying, threats, or stalking of anyone, including persistent unwanted contact.
  • Hate speech or discrimination targeting people based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any similar characteristic.
  • Sexual content, explicit imagery, or unwanted sexual or romantic advances. No means no the first time.
  • Violence or threats of violence, and content that glorifies or incites it.
  • Fraud and gaming the system, including fake or paid-without-disclosure reviews, faked visits, and manipulating rewards.
  • Spam, scams, and solicitation, including selling, recruiting, MLM pitches, and unsolicited promotion.
  • Impersonation of another person, a cafe, a brand, or CafeRadar staff.
  • Illegal content or activity, and anything that violates someone else's rights, including sharing other people's private or personal information without consent.
  • Content involving minors in any unsafe or inappropriate way. CafeRadar is not for anyone under 13, and some features have higher age floors (see below).

This is not an exhaustive list. If something is clearly harmful, assume it is not welcome here.

3. Reviews and ratings

Reviews are the heart of CafeRadar. They only help people if they are honest.

  • First-hand only. Review a cafe you actually visited, based on what you actually experienced.
  • No fake or paid reviews. Do not post reviews you were paid or incentivised to write without saying so, do not review your own cafe or a competitor's to move the numbers, and do not post on behalf of someone else as if it were your own visit.
  • No retaliation or review-bombing. Do not use reviews to punish a cafe over a personal dispute, and do not coordinate a pile-on of ratings to sink or inflate a place. We treat coordinated rating manipulation as gaming the system.
  • Keep it about the coffee and the visit. Feedback on the drinks, the service, the space, and the vibe is what people came to read. Personal attacks on staff are not.
  • Creators and ambassadors must disclose. If you have any partnership, sponsorship, gift, or other material connection with a cafe or brand, say so clearly and up front, for example with #publi or #ad. This is both our rule and the law. Undisclosed paid promotion can get content removed and your account actioned.

4. Check-ins and loyalty (Sips and punch cards)

Check-ins, Sips, and punch cards reward real-world coffee runs. That only means something if the visits are real.

  • Check in where you actually are. Do not fake your location, spoof GPS, or check in to a cafe you did not visit.
  • Do not game points or stamps. Do not create fake activity, use multiple accounts, or exploit bugs to pile up Sips or punch-card stamps. If you find a bug that hands out rewards, tell us at legal@caferadar.app instead of using it.
  • One person, honest visits. Rewards are for genuine, individual use. Sips and stamps have no cash value and are not transferable.

Faking presence or manipulating rewards is treated as fraud, and can mean losing your rewards along with account action.

5. Photos and content

Photos make cafes come alive. Share yours, and be considerate about everyone else's.

  • Post your own content. Only upload photos and content you created or have the right to share. Do not repost others' work as your own.
  • Nothing explicit, hateful, or violent. No sexual, graphic, hateful, or violent imagery. Keep it something you would be happy to show across the table.
  • Get consent before you post other people. Plenty of people are happy to be in a photo, and plenty are not, and you cannot always tell. Ask before you photograph someone and again before you post them. If they say no, that is the end of it.
  • Respect cafes and their staff. Follow each cafe's own house rules on photography. If a cafe or a person asks you to take something down, work with us and we will help.

6. Communities and guides

Communities and guides are where the good recommendations live. Keep them useful and welcoming.

  • Stay on topic. Coffee, cafes, and the places around them. Keep contributions relevant to the space you are posting in.
  • Be welcoming. Newcomers, casual drinkers, and hardcore enthusiasts all belong. No gatekeeping, no pile-ons.
  • No spam or self-promo. Do not use communities and guides to advertise, drop affiliate links, recruit, run an MLM, or push a business. Share because it is genuinely helpful, not to sell.

7. Messaging (Coffee Connections)

Coffee Connections lets people who follow each other send private one-to-one messages.

  • Mutual follows only. You can message someone only when you both follow each other, and you can block any user to stop further messages at once.
  • 16+. You must be at least 16 to use Coffee Connections.
  • Keep it kind and keep it in-app. No harassment, threats, spam, or unsolicited romantic or sexual advances. Do not pressure anyone to move to another platform or to share personal or financial details.
  • Private, but not unaccountable. We do not monitor private messages, but when a message is reported to us we may review it to enforce these guidelines. Abuse through messages can lead to suspension or a ban.

For the full picture on how messages are stored and deleted, see our Privacy Policy.

8. Meetups (Coffee Get-Togethers)

Coffee Get-Togethers are small, in-person meetups at real cafes. They are an 18+ surface, and they always happen in a public place by design. Because meeting people in person is a different kind of trust, meetups have their own dedicated rules on safety, etiquette, and privacy, including how to meet new people smartly, host responsibilities, and exactly what your location and profile share. Please read the full Meetup Safety, Etiquette and Privacy page before you host or join. Everything in these Community Guidelines applies at meetups too.

9. Profiles and identity

Your profile is how the community knows you. Keep it genuine.

  • Be genuinely you. One real person per account. Use a name and photo that represent you honestly.
  • No impersonation. Do not pretend to be another person, a cafe, a brand, or CafeRadar staff, and do not set up a profile designed to deceive.
  • Do not put sensitive information in your profile. Your profile is visible to others, so leave out your home address, phone number, financial details, government ID numbers, or anyone else's private information. Share only what you are comfortable being public.

10. Blocking and reporting

You have direct tools to shape your own experience, and to flag anything that needs our attention.

Block anyone, anytime. Blocking is immediate and mutual: the person disappears from your view and you from theirs, across profiles, messages, and shared surfaces, and they cannot reach you again through the app.

Report a person or a piece of content when something is wrong. You can pick the reason that fits, including:

  • Harassment or threats
  • Stalking
  • Faking activity (gaming check-ins, reviews, or rewards)
  • Spam
  • Impersonation
  • Inappropriate content

Reports are confidential. We review them and act where something breaks these guidelines or the law, using the escalating steps described at the top of this page, and we let people know about decisions that affect them.

If someone is in danger, contact your local emergency services first. In Spain and across the EU, dial 112. CafeRadar is not an emergency service and cannot intervene in real time. Once you are safe, report it in the app so we can act on the account.

Questions about these guidelines or a moderation decision? Reach us at legal@caferadar.app. For data and privacy requests, contact privacy@caferadar.app.