Terms of use

Who we are

VeiligSamen is an app for asking neighbours nearby for help. It is built and run by Gold Development, registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. Our contact details are on the About page.

These terms apply as soon as you create an account or use the app. If you do not create one they do not apply — but neither does the app, because without an account we do not know who to alert.

What VeiligSamen is — and what it is not

VeiligSamen tells neighbours nearby that you need help. That is all it does. It is not an emergency service, not a security company and not a helpline. Nobody is sitting at the other end waiting for your alert.

In an emergency, always call 112 first. Do that even if you have already sent an alert in the app. This app is meant alongside 112, never instead of it.

We cannot promise anyone will come. Your neighbours are volunteers, not a service: they may be asleep, away, unable to hear their phone, or may simply decide not to go. That is their right. So never assume help is on its way until you can see it.

We also cannot promise an alert arrives. A phone can be switched off, have no signal, or fail to show the alert for reasons outside our control.

Your account

To create an account you must be 16 or older and live in the Netherlands or Belgium. You create one account, for yourself, with your own e-mail address.

We ask you for details that are true — your name, your e-mail address and, if you add one, your address. That is not a formality: answering an alert means somebody travels to the place you gave us.

Keep your password to yourself. If you think somebody else can get into your account, change it straight away and tell us.

What we ask of you

The app only works if people can rely on it. So we ask the following of you:

• Only send an alert when you genuinely need help. A false alert gets neighbours out of bed at night.
• Only answer an alert if you judge it safe to. You are never obliged to.
• Stay decent in conversations, including when you disagree with somebody.
• Do not use the app to follow, harass or frighten anyone.
• Do not pass on what you see in the app: somebody's location and their call for help are theirs, not yours.
• Do not try to misuse, copy or overload the app.

If you do not keep to this we may restrict or end your account. For a false alert, or for misusing somebody's location, we do so immediately.

Alerts, help, and what happens between neighbours

What happens after an alert is sent happens between people. We put you in touch and nothing more: we send nobody out, we vet nobody in advance, and we are not there.

You judge for yourself whether to answer an alert and what to do when you get there. Never enter a building, never step into violence, and call 112 if the situation calls for it.

Stars a neighbour gives you are their opinion, not our verdict. We do not check what they mean by them, but we do remove ratings clearly meant to damage somebody.

Your location

The app shares your location only at the moments set out in the privacy policy: during your own alert, and — if you switch it on — while you are on your way to somebody else's. Outside those moments the app does not share your location with other users.

What we keep, for how long, and what your rights are is in the privacy policy. It belongs with these terms.

Availability

We do our best to keep the app working, but we cannot promise it always works everywhere. There may be maintenance, something may break, and part of it depends on things we have no say over: your phone, your connection, and Apple's and Google's notification services.

We may change the app or stop parts of it. If it is something that matters, we will say so in advance in the app or by e-mail.

The app is free. There are no paid features, no subscription and no advertising.

Liability

We are responsible for the app: that it does what we say it does, and that we handle your data with care. If we fall short of that you can hold us to it — and that is not ours to sign away, because the law decides it.

We are not responsible for what neighbours do or fail to do. Not if nobody comes, not if somebody comes and does not help, and not for what happens between you after contact is made. That is not a legal trick: it is exactly what an app that puts people in touch can and cannot be.

These terms do not limit the rights mandatory Dutch consumer law gives you. If anything here is not allowed under that law, that part does not apply and the rest stands.

Stopping

You can stop at any time. In the app: Menu → Delete account. What happens to your data afterwards is in the privacy policy.

We may end your account if you do not keep to these terms, or if we stop the app altogether. Except in cases of misuse, we will say so in advance.

If these terms change

We may change these terms, for instance when the app changes. If it is something substantial we will say so in the app or by e-mail before it takes effect. If you disagree, you can delete your account.

Complaints and disputes

If you have a complaint, tell us first — most things are settled that way. Our contact details are on the About page.

Dutch law applies to these terms. If you live in Belgium you keep the protection of your own country’s mandatory law. If we cannot resolve something together, you can go to the competent court. As a consumer you can also use the European ODR platform.