Terms & Conditions

TERMS AND CONDITIONS — openTalk 1. What openTalk is openTalk is a marketplace that connects Clients who want to practice a language with Tutors — native speakers living in the Client's own city — for paid, in-person conversation sessions in vetted public places (cafés, parks, hotel lobbies, libraries, universities, coworking spaces, and similar approved venues). openTalk facilitates the connection, scheduling, and payment between Clients and Tutors; it does not employ Tutors and is not a party to the language-practice session itself. 2. Eligibility You must be at least 18 years old to create an account, whether as a Client or a Tutor. By creating an account you confirm the information you provide (name, date of birth, identity documents where applicable) is accurate and belongs to you. 3. Account, verification, and roles Every account starts as a Client account. Email and phone verification (via WhatsApp or SMS) is required at signup. A Client may separately apply to become a Tutor; becoming a Tutor requires manual approval and additional verification described in Section 5. A Client also needs a Stripe-verified payment card before booking any session — an added identity/fraud layer on top of the email and phone verification. 4. What Clients are exposed to and responsible for - Meeting a stranger in person. Practicing with a Tutor means meeting someone you have not met before, in a public venue chosen by the Tutor. openTalk vets venues and Tutors but cannot guarantee any individual's conduct; use the safety tools in Section 7 and use normal personal caution. - Payment. Sessions are paid through the app via Stripe at the time of booking. Cancelling is free within 5 minutes of payment; after that it costs a $2 fee, up to 3 hours before the session. Inside the 3-hour window before the scheduled start, a Client cannot cancel at all. - No-shows. If you do not show up and do not cancel, the Tutor may mark you as a no-show starting 30 minutes after the scheduled start, and you will be charged the full session amount. - Reviews. After a session you may rate and review your Tutor. Tutors are required to review you as well. - Conduct. You agree to treat Tutors with respect, follow the venue's rules, and comply with Section 8 (Prohibited Conduct). 5. What Tutors are exposed to and responsible for - Independent-contractor status. Tutors are independent users of the platform, not employees, agents, or representatives of openTalk. openTalk does not direct how a Tutor conducts a session beyond the rules in these Terms. - Approval and KYC. Becoming a Tutor requires being an adult foreign national in the Client's country/city, submitting a government ID and a face-match check (KYC), recording a 30-second introduction video, and completing a profile (bio, hourly rate, weekly availability, and a meeting location that meets Section 6's venue rules). Applications are reviewed by openTalk staff and may be rejected or sent back for changes. - Meeting a stranger in person. As with Clients, Tutors are meeting someone they don't know. Before starting a session, a Tutor must confirm the person present matches the Client's profile photo, and may decline the session and report a mismatch if it doesn't. - Location restriction. Sessions may only take place at the vetted public venue on file for that booking (Section 6) — never a private residence or any other unapproved location. - Payouts. Tutors are paid out via Stripe Connect, net of a 20% platform commission, and must have a verified payout account on file. A Tutor may cancel a confirmed session up to 3 hours before it starts, which fully refunds the Client; cancelling inside that window is discouraged and may be reviewed. - Mandatory review. Tutors must review the Client after each completed session. - Liability for own conduct. A Tutor is solely responsible for their own conduct during a session and for complying with all applicable local laws. 6. Venue rules All sessions must take place in a public venue from openTalk's approved list (café, park, hotel lobby, library, university, coworking space, and similar). Private residences are never an approved venue. If a Tutor changes their default meeting address, any reservation already booked against the old address keeps that address — only future reservations are affected. 7. Safety tools openTalk provides an in-session panic button, post-session safety reports, and live location sharing during a session so either party can see themselves approaching the meeting point. Reports are reviewed by moderators, who may apply strikes or bans as described in Section 9. In a genuine emergency, contact local emergency services directly — the panic button supplements, but does not replace, calling emergency services. 8. Prohibited conduct You may not: provide false identity information; harass, threaten, or discriminate against another user; solicit or conduct sessions outside the app or outside approved venues; request or offer sessions at a private residence; use the platform for purposes unrelated to language practice that violate these Terms or the law; or attempt to circumvent payment, safety, or verification systems. 9. Strikes and bans Violations reported through a safety report may result in a strike against your account. Three strikes result in an automatic, permanent ban. openTalk staff may also issue a manual ban for serious violations, independent of the strike count. 10. Payments, fees, and refunds All payments are processed through Stripe. openTalk retains a 20% commission on each completed session; the remainder is paid out to the Tutor. Cancellation fees and no-show charges are described in Sections 4 and 5. Refunds are issued to the original payment method when a session is cancelled under the terms above, or by openTalk in cases of a profile mismatch or unsafe situation. 11. Data and privacy openTalk collects the personal data needed to operate the marketplace: contact details, profile information, location data (used to show nearby tutors and, during a session, to power safety features), identity/KYC documents for Tutors, and payment information (handled by Stripe — openTalk does not store full card numbers). Data is used to provide the service, verify identity, ensure safety, and comply with legal obligations, and is not sold to third parties. 12. openTalk's role and limitation of liability openTalk is a facilitator connecting independent Clients and Tutors; it is not a party to the language-practice session and does not guarantee the conduct, safety, or availability of any user. To the maximum extent permitted by law, openTalk's liability for any claim arising from a session or interaction between users is limited to the amount paid for that session. 13. Termination You may delete your account at any time from the Profile tab; this permanently removes your account and personal data, subject to what the law requires openTalk to retain (e.g., transaction records). openTalk may suspend or terminate an account for violations of these Terms. 14. Changes to these Terms openTalk may update these Terms from time to time. Continuing to use the app after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. You can re-read the current Terms at any time from the Profile tab. 15. Contact Questions about these Terms can be sent through the in-app support ticket system, available from the Profile tab.