Jynx

Child Safety Policy

Last updated: May 18, 2026

Effective date: May 18, 2026

Our Commitment to Child Safety

Jynx is a gaming social platform that connects gamers through algorithmic matchmaking, community chat, and game sessions. The safety of minors on our platform is our highest priority. We have zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material (CSAM), grooming, or any form of child exploitation.

This page describes the measures we take to protect children and young people who use Jynx, and how we respond to threats to their safety.

Minimum Age

Users must be at least 16 years old to create a Jynx account. This age requirement is enforced during the onboarding process — users who do not meet the minimum age cannot complete registration.

This threshold complies with:

  • GDPR Article 8 (EU): Parental consent required for digital services below age 16 (as implemented by most EU member states)
  • COPPA (US): Surpasses the 13+ minimum required by US law

Parents or guardians who believe their child under 16 has created an account may contact us at [email protected] to request immediate account removal.

Content Moderation

Automated Systems

Jynx employs multiple layers of automated content moderation:

  • Profanity and banned word filter — A 500+ word list (based on LDNOOBW) with obfuscation detection (spaces, asterisks, unicode lookalikes, zero-width characters) filters user-generated content in real time.
  • XSS and injection prevention — All user input passes through SecureTextInput with noXSS() validation, preventing malicious content injection.
  • Rate limiting — Message frequency is capped at multiple tiers (burst, per-minute, daily) to prevent spam, flooding, and abuse campaigns.
  • Auto-escalation — Reports categorized as harassment or hate speech are automatically flagged as high priority. Content receiving 3+ reports from distinct users is auto-escalated for urgent review.
  • Profile picture auto-hide — Profile pictures receiving 3+ reports are automatically hidden from public view pending moderator review.
  • Honeypot system — Canary endpoints and behavioral fingerprinting detect automated abuse, bot activity, and coordinated attacks.

Human Moderation

  • Moderator review queue — All flagged content enters a review queue accessible by trained moderators with role-based authorization (JWT claims).
  • Admin dashboard — Moderators and administrators can review reports, take enforcement actions (warning, mute, temporary ban, permanent ban), and track moderation statistics.
  • 24/7 on-call coverage — Critical severity incidents (including CSAM) trigger immediate page to the CEO and Legal Counsel.

Reporting

In-App Reporting

Every Jynx user can report inappropriate content directly from:

  • Chat messages — Any message in community chat, private chat, or game session chat
  • User profiles — Profile picture, bio, or display name
  • Community content — Community name or description

Reports can be filed under the following categories:

  • Harassment — Targeted intimidation, bullying, or abuse
  • Hate Speech — Content attacking protected characteristics
  • Inappropriate Content — Sexual, violent, or otherwise unsuitable content
  • Spam — Repetitive, unsolicited, or promotional content
  • Other — Any content that violates our policies but doesn't fit above categories

Report Handling

  1. Reports are submitted via Cloud Function with App Check enforcement (preventing spoofed reports).
  2. Hate speech and harassment reports are automatically escalated to high priority.
  3. Content with 3+ reports from distinct users is auto-escalated.
  4. Duplicate reports (same reporter, same content, within 24 hours) are auto-dismissed.
  5. Rate limiting prevents report abuse (10 reports/day/user, cooldown escalation).

User Blocking

Users can block anyone at any time. When a user is blocked:

  • The blocked user is removed from the blocker's match queue
  • All chat requests between the two users are deleted
  • Existing private conversations and messages are deleted
  • The blocked user cannot send new messages or requests

Blocking is handled server-side via Cloud Functions with admin privileges for complete cleanup.

Enforcement

Violations of our content policy result in graduated enforcement actions:

  • Tier 1: Warning — Permanent record
  • Tier 2: Temporary Mute — 6–24 hours
  • Tier 3: Temporary Ban — 3–14 days
  • Tier 4: Permanent Ban — Indefinite
  • Tier 5: Permanent Ban + Legal Referral — Indefinite + law enforcement

Child exploitation offenses (CP-01): Any involvement with CSAM or grooming results in immediate permanent ban and mandatory report to law enforcement via the NCMEC CyberTipline. There are no exceptions and no appeals for CSAM-related enforcement.

CSAM Reporting to Authorities

Jynx is committed to mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse material:

  • United States: Reports are filed with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org, as required by 18 U.S.C. 2258A.
  • European Union: Reports are directed to national hotlines in compliance with Directive 2011/93/EU (e.g., Point de Contact in France, IWF in the UK).
  • International: NCMEC serves as the international clearinghouse, forwarding reports to relevant national authorities via INTERPOL channels.

CSAM Response Protocol

When CSAM is discovered on Jynx, we follow a strict protocol with defined time SLAs:

  1. STOP (within 5 minutes) — Content is not downloaded, screenshotted, or shared.
  2. CONTAIN (within 15 minutes) — Content is hidden from public view and the user's account is suspended.
  3. ESCALATE (within 30 minutes) — CEO and Legal Counsel are paged. SEV-1 incident is declared.
  4. PRESERVE (within 2 hours) — Full legal hold is placed on all user data for evidence preservation.
  5. REPORT (within 24 hours) — NCMEC CyberTipline report is filed by designated reporter (Legal Counsel).
  6. DOCUMENT (within 48 hours) — Complete incident record is created and securely stored.

Data Privacy for Minors

  • Jynx does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
  • Profile data for users identified as minors is subject to enhanced protections.
  • All user data is processed in compliance with GDPR (EU), COPPA (US), and applicable local privacy laws.
  • Data retention follows strict schedules with automatic deletion. See our Privacy Policy for details.
  • Content involved in safety incidents is preserved under legal hold, separate from routine data retention.

Platform Security

Jynx implements defense-in-depth security measures:

  • Firebase App Check — Device attestation (Android Play Integrity, iOS Device Check) prevents unauthorized API access and replay attacks.
  • Server-side validation — All content writes go through Cloud Functions (never direct Firestore writes), ensuring server-authoritative validation.
  • Custom claims and role-based access — Moderation actions require verified JWT claims (moderator or admin role).
  • Secure authentication — Multi-method authentication (Google, Apple, email/phone) with cryptographic nonce generation and token refresh.
  • Rate limiting — 9-tier rate limiting across all platform endpoints prevents automated abuse.

What We Do Not Tolerate

The following content and behaviors are strictly prohibited on Jynx, with specific attention to the protection of minors:

  • Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) — Any content depicting, describing, or promoting sexual abuse or exploitation of minors. Policy Code: CP-01 — Permanent Ban + Legal Referral
  • Grooming — Building trust with a minor with intent of sexual exploitation. Policy Code: CP-01 — Permanent Ban + Legal Referral
  • Sexual content — Explicit sexual content including descriptions, images, or links. Policy Code: CP-09 — Temporary Ban (3–14 days)
  • Hate speech — Content attacking protected characteristics (race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.). Policy Code: CP-02 — Temporary Ban (3–14 days)
  • Harassment and bullying — Targeted intimidation, degradation, or distress of a specific person. Policy Code: CP-03 — Temporary Mute to Permanent Ban
  • Violence and threats — Content depicting, promoting, or threatening real-world violence. Policy Code: CP-10 — Temporary Ban to Legal Referral
  • Doxxing — Sharing private, personally identifiable information without consent. Policy Code: CP-05 — Temporary Ban (14 days) to Permanent Ban

For the complete content policy, see our Terms of Service.

Contact

Report a Safety Concern

  • In-app: Use the report button on any message, profile, or content
  • Email: [email protected]
  • NCMEC CyberTipline: report.cybertip.org (for reporting CSAM directly to authorities)
  • Emergency: If a child is in immediate danger, contact your local law enforcement or call 911 (US) / 112 (EU)

Law Enforcement

Law enforcement requests should be directed to [email protected]. All requests are processed in accordance with applicable law and require verification of identity and legal authority.

Parental Inquiries

Parents or guardians with questions or concerns about their child's safety on Jynx can contact us at [email protected].

Continuous Improvement

Jynx is committed to continuously improving child safety measures. We are actively working on:

  • Image hash scanning (PhotoDNA) — Automated detection of known CSAM images on upload
  • ML-based content classification — Machine learning models to detect inappropriate images
  • Enhanced age verification — Beyond self-declaration at account creation
  • Grooming detection — Behavioral pattern analysis in chat to identify potential grooming

Review Schedule

This policy is reviewed:

  • Every 6 months (scheduled review)
  • After any CSAM incident
  • When relevant legislation changes
  • When new platform features are launched that affect child safety

Last reviewed: May 18, 2026

Next scheduled review: November 18, 2026