← Back

Child Safety Standards

This page describes how before handles the protection of children and young people. It applies to the before app, the web app at the door of the evenings and the website before.social. The provider is Thomas Gnahm (details in section 9).

1. Adults only

before is software for organizers of evenings where adults meet, such as singles nights and open community formats. All features, that is check-in, selfies, afterparty, see-again wishes and conversations, are intended exclusively for people aged 18 and over. The terms of use only permit use from the age of 18.

2. How we ask about age

When signing in, every person must tick "I am 18 years old or older". Without this tick, use is not possible. This is a self-declaration: we do not check any ID and cannot reliably determine a person's actual age. The live selfie is not an age check either; we do not analyse it automatically. The organizer is responsible for admission to the evening on site. We store the age confirmation as described in the privacy policy.

3. Indications of minors

If we learn, for example through a report, that a person under 18 is using before, we block access and remove their visible content, in particular their selfie from the afterparty. We delete their data unless we have to secure it temporarily because of a suspected criminal offence or due to a legal obligation. We do not knowingly collect data from persons under 18.

4. Zero tolerance for child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE)

before does not tolerate any child sexual abuse or exploitation (CSAE). In particular, sharing, distributing, requesting or storing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), grooming and any other behaviour that endangers minors are prohibited.

If we detect such content or behaviour, we remove the content or disable access to it, suspend the account immediately and permanently exclude the person. We secure evidence required for criminal prosecution to the extent permitted by law instead of destroying it, and only pass it on to the competent authorities (section 7). Only the operator has access to secured evidence, and only for the case concerned; we keep it only for as long as the proceedings or a legal obligation require.

5. Reporting in the app and handling

You can report people directly in the app, on the person concerned and in conversations, there also with selected messages; you report photos and anything else by email or via the contact form (section 6). Blocking is possible at any time. Reports are reviewed by the operator personally; reports about risks to minors are handled with priority over all others. Depending on the case, we remove content, suspend accounts temporarily or permanently and inform the competent authorities. The identity of the reporter is kept confidential from the reported person, unless the law requires otherwise.

6. How to report concerns

If you come across content or behaviour that may be related to the exploitation of minors, or if you are worried about a child's safety, please report it immediately:

You can also report child sexual abuse material directly to the police or to a hotline such as jugendschutz.net. If a child is in immediate danger, call the police (110 in Germany).

We treat reports confidentially. We only pass on information insofar as this is necessary to protect children, for criminal prosecution or due to a legal obligation.

7. Cooperation with authorities

We cooperate with law enforcement authorities and competent bodies in cases of suspected abuse or exploitation of children. If we become aware of information giving rise to a suspicion that a criminal offence involving a threat to the life or safety of a person has taken place, is taking place or is likely to take place, we inform the competent law enforcement authorities (Art. 18 of the Digital Services Act, DSA). Beyond that, we transmit information where we are legally obliged to do so or where it is necessary to protect a child and legally permitted. We only pass on the information that is needed for this. We only process information about criminal offences within the limits of Art. 10 GDPR, and specially protected information, for example about sex life or health, only where an exception under Art. 9(2) GDPR applies, in particular for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims (point (f)). Details are set out in the privacy policy, section 4.11.

8. Legal framework

The rules relevant to us include in particular the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), the Digital Services Act (DSA), German criminal law and the requirements of the app stores through which before is offered, including Google Play's child safety standards.

9. Child safety contact

The contact person for questions about child safety and for requests from authorities is:

Thomas Gnahm
Mainzer Str. 44
12053 Berlin, Germany
Email: contact@before.social
Contact form: before.social/contact

Last updated: September 2026