Child Safety Standards

1. Who This Page is For

This page is for everyone — our users, our partners, parents, researchers, and the public. These safety standards apply to our website, the Sidekick (Friends & Adventure) app published on Google Play and the AppStore by Sidekick Enterprises, Inc., and everything we do.

We believe safety standards shouldn’t live in a legal footnote buried in a terms document. They should be front and center, written in plain language, and easy to find. So here they are.

2. Our Absolute Prohibitions

The following are strictly prohibited on Sidekick, without exception:

• Child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) of any kind — including the creation, sharing, distribution, or possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM);
• Any content that sexualizes minors, whether real or fictional, photographic or illustrated;
• Grooming behaviors — any communication intended to establish inappropriate access to or trust with a minor;
• Soliciting or sharing personal contact information of minors for any inappropriate purpose;
• Using Sidekick to arrange in-person contact with a minor in an inappropriate or unsafe context.

3. Sidekick is an 18+ Platform

Sidekick is designed exclusively for adults aged 18 and older. Our Terms of Service prohibit anyone under 18 from creating an account or using the platform. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors, and if we discover that a minor has created an account, we delete it immediately. (For more on our data practices regarding children, see Section 12 of our Privacy Policy.)

That said, we know that age gates are not foolproof, and we take additional steps – through content moderation, community standards, and user reporting – to keep our platform safe.

Our Terms of Service require every user to represent that they have no conviction for a felony or a crime involving violence and are not required to register as a sex offender with any registry. We do not conduct criminal background checks, so this is a representation each user makes, not something we verify.

4. Content Moderation

We take content moderation seriously. Sidekick uses automated keyword and pattern filters, together with human review, to help identify content that violates our standards. Communities, events, and Kickits on Sidekick are overseen by real, named, non-anonymous human admins, which means there is always a responsible person accountable for the activity in every group.

We move fast when something is flagged. Reports are reviewed promptly, and content that appears to violate our child safety standards is removed while we investigate.

Sidekick has no image or video messaging. Users cannot send photographs or video to one another through the app, which removes the most common vector for sharing child sexual abuse material. Images can be posted to public feeds, where they are visible to the community and subject to the reporting and review process described in Sections 5 and 6.

5. See Something Suspicious? Tell Us Immediately.

If you encounter anything on Sidekick that looks even remotely like child exploitation, grooming, or any other threat to a child’s safety – please don’t hesitate. Tell us right away.

To report child safety concerns, email us at [email protected]. A real human being reads this address every day and will act promptly, including by contacting law enforcement if warranted.

You can also use the in-app reporting tool to flag content or a user directly. Just tap the three-dot menu on any profile, post, or message and choose “Report.” Our team will be notified immediately.

You can also block another user directly. Blocking prevents that person from contacting you or seeing your profile.

We know that reporting takes courage. You don’t need to be certain. If something feels wrong, that’s enough. Tell us. We’d rather investigate a false alarm than miss something that matters.

6. How We Handle Reports

When we receive a child safety report, here’s what happens:

• Immediate review. A member of our team personally reviews the report as soon as it comes in;
• Preservation of evidence. Relevant content and account data are preserved in accordance with legal requirements;
• Account action. If a violation is confirmed, the account is permanently terminated. We do not offer second chances. We will correct our own errors, so if you believe an account was terminated through mistaken identity or a compromised account, write to us and we will review it;
• Law enforcement referral. Federal law requires us to report apparent child sexual abuse material to the NCMEC CyberTipline once we have actual knowledge of it, and to preserve the related content. We comply, and we refer matters to law enforcement where warranted;
• Follow-up. Where appropriate, we follow up with the person who filed the report to let them know the matter has been addressed.

7. Our Ongoing Commitment

Child safety isn’t a policy we wrote once and filed away. It’s something we actively work at. We review our moderation practices regularly, stay current with best practices from child safety organizations, and update our tools and procedures as the landscape evolves.

We are a small, founder-led team, which means the people making decisions about child safety at Sidekick are the same people who built the product and care deeply about the community it serves. This is personal to us.

If you have any suggestions about “best practices” or how we can improve our safeguards and procedures, we’d love to hear them. Please reach out.

8. Contact Us

If you have questions about these Standards, please contact us:

Child safety point of contact: Laura Illig, Chief Executive Officer, [email protected]

Sidekick Enterprises, Inc.
480 Alexander Loop, Apt 3307
Eugene, OR 97401
United States
Phone: 541.510.4556