Children & Minors

URL: wouch.app/minor Last updated: [date at publish]

Wouch is not for anyone under 18

This is not a regulatory minimum. This is a position.

The work Wouch asks of you assumes adult capacity to reflect on relational patterns, adult relational stakes, and adult consent to a depth of self-disclosure that we do not believe a minor should be asked for in a consumer-product context.

We do not accept users under 18 with guardian consent. We do not accept users between 13 and 17 under any framework. We exceed the regulatory floor on this on purpose.

How we keep this true

We ask for date of birth at sign-up. Users computing as under 18 are blocked from creating an account, with a friendly message and pointers to age-appropriate resources.

We monitor for patterns consistent with under-18 use. Clinicians reviewing cases are trained to recognise potentially-minor users and escalate. Other users can report suspected minor accounts to us, and we will investigate.

We have considered and rejected hard photo-ID verification at sign-up. The privacy cost of processing every user's government ID, and the exclusion of legitimate adults who do not have convenient ID, outweighs the marginal effectiveness against determined evasion. If empirical evidence shows the current approach fails materially in a specific market, our Tier 0 governance reviews and the policy may change for that market.

What happens if we discover a minor user

A minor account is closed within 24 hours of discovery. The path:

Account access frozen pending review.
Clinical Governance and Trust & Safety review.
If the minor appears to be in distress or has disclosed crisis material, we route them to age-appropriate crisis resources before further action. We do not simply offboard a child in distress.
The minor is told, in age-appropriate language, that Wouch is for adults and the account will be closed. They are pointed to resources that are appropriate for them.
The account data is erased, with a minor-status flag applied to audit records (which are retained for seven years for accountability, not for any other use).
Where the law requires safeguarding or mandatory reporting, our Legal Counsel reviews and acts.

We document each instance. The pattern is reviewed quarterly to identify whether our age-verification approach needs strengthening.

Marketing to minors - we don't

Our marketing does not target audiences under 18. Where we use age-based ad targeting on platforms that permit it, we set a minimum age of 22 as a deliberate buffer above the legal threshold. Influencer partnerships are with creators whose audiences are verifiably adult.

Specific jurisdictional commitments

United States (COPPA). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have, we delete it.

United Kingdom (Age Appropriate Design Code). Wouch is designed for adults only. The risk-based approach to children's data in the ICO code is addressed by not accepting children's data at all.

India (DPDPA s.9). Wouch does not process the personal data of children (defined under DPDPA as users under 18) or persons with disabilities under the special category provisions. The data fiduciary obligations toward children do not apply to Wouch because we do not knowingly process such data.

European Union (GDPR Art.8). Children's consent thresholds are not invoked because Wouch is not available to minors.

If you are under 18 and reading this

Wouch is not built for you. We are not saying this dismissively. Some of what we work with - the patterns from very early experience, the way attachment and distress shape adult relationships, does affect young people, sometimes seriously. But the help you need is not from a consumer app for adults working on adult relationships.

If you are in difficulty right now, please use a youth-specific resource:

Childline India (1098), 24/7.
Childline UK (0800 1111), 24/7.
The Trevor Project for LGBTQ+ young people in the US (1-866-488-7386), 24/7.
Nummer gegen Kummer in Germany (116 111).
For other countries: Befrienders Worldwide directory.

We will be here in a few years if you want us then.