Home/Legal/Terms of Service

Terms of Service

Draft — pending legal review. This document has not been finalised and does not constitute the current governing terms.

Simmer — Terms of Service

_Effective date: July 3, 2026 · Last updated: July 3, 2026_

Entity: Boiling Waters Technologies Inc., doing business under Boiling Waters PH
SEC Registration No.: 2022050052591-01
Applies to: Simmer web app and mobile app (iOS, Android)

Acceptance of Terms
Account Registration & Identity
The Two Modules (Community & Dating)
Community Rules
Dating Rules
Subscriptions & Payments
Prohibited Conduct
Content Ownership & License
Account Suspension & Termination
Disclaimers & Limitation of Liability
Dispute Resolution
Changes to Terms
Contact Information

1. Acceptance of Terms

By using Simmer, you agree to these terms. You must be at least 21 years old. If we update the terms, we will ask you to re-accept them before you can continue using the app.

By accessing or using Simmer (the "Platform"), including the website and mobile application, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, you must stop using the Platform immediately.

Age requirement. You must be at least 21 years of age to create an account or use any feature of Simmer. By using the Platform, you represent and warrant that you are 21 or older. Boiling Waters PH reserves the right to request proof of age and to suspend accounts that do not meet this requirement.

Version-gated consent. These Terms are versioned. Each time we publish a material update, the required consent version changes. On your next login after an update, you will see a prompt asking you to review and accept the new Terms. You must accept the updated Terms to continue using Simmer. Your acceptance is recorded along with the version number and timestamp.

2. Account Registration & Identity

One account per person. You can sign up with email, Google, Apple, or Facebook. We verify your email regardless of how you sign up. If you want to use dating features, you will need to verify your identity with a government ID and selfie.

2.1 One Account Per Person

Each individual may maintain only one Simmer account. Creating multiple accounts is a violation of these Terms and may result in suspension or termination of all associated accounts. (Note: multiple personas within the Community module are permitted — see Section 4.)

2.2 Registration Methods

You may register using any of the following methods:

Email and password
Google OAuth
Apple Sign-In
Facebook OAuth
Magic link (passwordless email login — verified on successful click)

2.3 Email Verification

Regardless of which registration method you use, Simmer requires email verification. Even if you sign up through Google, Apple, or Facebook, Simmer sends its own verification email. Your account is not fully activated until your email address is verified.

2.4 Personas

Within the Community module (please refer to Section 3.1), you may create multiple personas (anonymous display names and avatars). The number of personas available to you depends on your subscription tier (see Section 6). Personas are your identity within the Community — they are not separate accounts. You may not use personas to impersonate real individuals, public figures, or other Simmer users.

2.4a Identity Isolation

Simmer uses a service-scoped identity architecture. Your real identity is isolated within the authentication system and is never exposed directly to the Community or Dating services. Each module uses a separate, unlinked identifier. This is a design guarantee, not just a policy.

2.5 Know Your Customer (KYC) for Dating

To use dating features, you must complete identity verification (KYC). This requires:

A government-issued ID photo
A selfie for facial comparison

You have a maximum of 3 KYC attempts. Your identity documents are encrypted using SSE-KMS at rest. Upon approval, documents are deleted 30 days after the verification date. Upon rejection, documents are deleted immediately.

_[LEGAL REVIEW: KYC processes sensitive personal information (government ID, facial comparison) — may require separate, specific consent under RA 10173, distinct from general ToS acceptance.]_

3. The Two Modules (Community & Dating)

Simmer has two parts: Community (for anonymous conversations on web and mobile) and Dating (for real-identity matching on mobile only). They work differently by design.

3.1 Community Module

The Community module is available on both web and mobile browsers. It is persona-based — you participate using a display name and avatar, not your real identity. Features include posts, comments, reactions, and gamification (XP, levels, cosmetics). Your real identity is never revealed to other Community participants.

3.2 Dating Module

The Dating module is available on mobile only. Unlike Community, Dating uses your real identity and requires KYC verification. Dating features include:

Real-identity profiles
1-1 exclusive matching (you may only have one active match at a time)
A structured progression through relationship stages (Getting-To-Know → Dating)

Community and Dating are separate experiences within the same app. Your Community personas are not linked to your Dating profile in any way visible to other users. Platform availability may change over time.

4. Community Rules

Community is anonymous. You participate through personas with display names and avatars. We moderate content to keep things safe, and there is a clear escalation path if rules are broken.

4.1 Persona System

Your identity in the Community module is a persona — an anonymous display name paired with an avatar. Other users cannot see your real name, email, or any personal information through your persona. You are responsible for the activity of all your personas.

4.2 Content Rules

Posts must include text. Image-only posts are not allowed. You may attach a single optional image to a post.
Comments have a maximum nesting depth of 3 levels (depth 0, 1, and 2).
Reactions available on posts and comments: like, heart, laugh, angry, and sad.

4.3 Image Moderation

All uploaded images are screened by an automated AI moderation system before publication. There are three possible outcomes:

Approved — the image is published immediately.
Queued for review — the image is held for human review. While under review, it is shown as "Image under review" to other users.
Rejected — the image violates content guidelines and is not published. You will be notified with the reason for rejection.

4.4 Prohibited Community Conduct

The following are prohibited in the Community module:

Harassment, bullying, or targeted abuse
Hate speech or discrimination based on race, gender, sexuality, religion, or other protected characteristics
Spam, including repetitive posts, self-promotion, or commercial solicitation
Nudity or sexually explicit content
Graphic violence or gore
Content promoting illegal activity
Content promoting or glorifying self-harm or suicide
Impersonation of real individuals, public figures, or other users
Doxxing — sharing another person's private information without consent

4.5 Moderation Escalation

Violations are addressed through a 6-level escalation system:

L0 — Content hidden: violating content is removed from public view.
L1 — Warning: user receives a formal warning.
L2 — Mute: user is muted for 24 hours or 7 days.
L3 — Temporary ban: user is banned for 7 days or 30 days.
L4 — Permanent ban: user is permanently banned from Community.
L5 — Account suspension: full account suspended (affects all modules).

Auto-escalation rules:

3 or more content hides within 7 days triggers an automatic mute.
2 or more mutes within 30 days flags the account for admin review.

4.6 Persona Deletion

If you choose to delete a persona, you have two options:

Hard delete — the persona's display name, avatar, and all associated posts and comments are permanently removed.
Anonymize — the display name is replaced with "[deleted]", the avatar is removed, but posts and comments are preserved for community continuity.

5. Dating Rules

Dating on Simmer is exclusive — one match at a time only. You progress through stages, and both people have to agree to move forward (or to part ways). After a match ends, both parties are requested to write a review.

5.1 Exclusivity

Simmer dating is 1-1 exclusive. While you have an active match, you cannot like, browse, or engage with other dating profiles. This is by design — Simmer encourages focused, intentional connections.

5.2 Matching Stages

Matches progress through two stages:

GTK (Getting-To-Know) — the initial stage after a match is formed. Either party may unmatch at any time during GTK.
Dating — the committed stage. Unmatching during the Dating stage requires mutual agreement from both parties. Once one party initiates an unmatch request, the other party has 24 hours to respond. If both agree, the match ends. If the other party does not agree within 24 hours, the unmatch proceeds automatically.

5.3 Post-Match Reviews

After a match ends (from either stage), both parties are required to submit a review. Reviews are freeform text. You can see reviews that others have written about you, but you cannot see reviews you have written about others.

_[LEGAL REVIEW: disclosure implications + right-to-erasure for reviews written about a deleted user by others.]_

5.4 Image Visibility

When you can see your match's photos depends on your subscription tier. Details are displayed in the app.

5.5 KYC Requirement

Identity verification (KYC) is mandatory for all dating participants. You cannot use dating features without completing KYC (see Section 2.5).

5.6 Anti-Catfishing

Misrepresenting your identity — including using someone else's photos, providing false personal information, or any form of identity fraud — results in immediate account suspension.

6. Subscriptions & Payments

Simmer has subscription tiers with different levels of access. You can pay on the web or through the app stores. Subscriptions auto-renew, and you can cancel anytime.

6.1 Subscription Tiers

Simmer offers multiple subscription tiers with different levels of access to Community and Dating features, including the number of personas you can create, dating capabilities, and visibility options.

The specific features, limits, and tier names included in each subscription may change over time. The current feature set, limits, and pricing are always displayed in the app.

_[NOTE: Tier names to be finalized — "Community+" confirmed by Bill (April 3, 2026) for community subscription. Full tier naming TBD.]_

6.2 Payment Methods

Web payments:

HitPay (credit/debit cards and Philippine e-wallets including GCash)
Maya (PayMaya)

_[NOTE: ADR-0012 does not include Stripe — confirm whether Stripe is a web payment provider before finalizing.]_

Mobile payments:

Apple In-App Purchase (iOS)
Google Play Billing (Android)

6.3 Auto-Renewal

All paid subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period unless you cancel before the renewal date.

6.4 Cancellation

You may cancel your subscription at any time. Upon cancellation, you retain access to your paid tier's features until the end of the current billing period. After that, your account reverts to the Free tier.

6.5 Downgrade Behavior

If you downgrade from a paid tier (or your subscription lapses), and you have more personas than your new tier allows, your excess personas are soft-locked — they are not deleted, but you cannot use them until you re-upgrade. All content associated with soft-locked personas remains intact.

6.6 Digital Products & Rewards

Simmer includes a digital rewards system. By using the Platform, you may earn experience points ("XP") and digital products ("Sparks") through eligible activities such as posting, commenting, reacting, and logging in.

XP and Sparks are digital products only. They:

Have no real-world monetary value and cannot be exchanged, redeemed, or converted into cash, credit, or any form of legal tender.
Are not virtual currency, digital currency, or stored value as defined under applicable Philippine regulations including those of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Are non-transferable between accounts.
May be used only within the Platform to obtain other digital products such as cosmetic items, profile enhancements, or other rewards available in the Reward Shop.
Are earned at no cost through Platform activity. They are not purchased.
Are granted at Boiling Waters PH's sole discretion. We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the rewards system — including XP values, Sparks balances, and available rewards — at any time without prior notice.
Expire and are forfeited upon account deletion or termination.

All premium purchases on Simmer (subscriptions, individual items) are transacted directly in Philippine Pesos or other supported currencies. There is no intermediary token or credit system for paid transactions.

6.7 Introductory Pricing

Simmer may offer introductory pricing for new subscribers. Introductory pricing is time-limited and subject to change. Boiling Waters PH reserves the right to adjust subscription pricing at any time.

6.8 Price Changes

If we change subscription pricing, you will be notified in advance. The new price applies at your next billing cycle after the notification period.

6.9 Refund Policy

_[LEGAL REVIEW: define refund policy — consider platform-specific rules for Apple IAP / Google Play.]_

7. Prohibited Conduct

These are the things you absolutely cannot do on Simmer. Violating any of these may result in immediate suspension.

You agree not to:

Violate any applicable law or regulation — including local, national, and international laws.
Use the Platform if you are under 21 years of age.
Create or maintain multiple accounts — one account per person. (Multiple personas within Community are permitted.)
Engage in catfishing or identity fraud — misrepresenting who you are, using someone else's photos, or providing false identity information.
Scrape, crawl, or use automated means to collect data from the Platform, including user profiles, posts, or any other content.
Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any part of the Platform's software or infrastructure.
Circumvent security measures or moderation systems — including attempting to bypass bans, mutes, content filters, or access controls.
Distribute malware, viruses, or other harmful code through the Platform.
Use the Platform for unauthorized commercial purposes — including advertising, solicitation, or selling goods/services without explicit written authorization from Boiling Waters PH.
Interfere with the Platform or other users' experience — including denial-of-service attacks, flooding, spamming, or any activity that degrades Platform performance.
Exploit bugs or vulnerabilities — if you discover a bug or security vulnerability, report it to us. Do not exploit it.

8. Content Ownership & License

You own what you create. By posting it on Simmer, you give us permission to display it on the Platform and — unless you opt out — to feature it on our social media channels. That permission ends when you delete your content (with some exceptions for legal and moderation purposes).

8.1 Your Ownership

You retain ownership of all content you create and post on Simmer, including text posts, comments, images, reviews, and persona details.

8.2 License to Boiling Waters PH

By posting content on Simmer, you grant Boiling Waters PH a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to:

Use, display, reproduce, and distribute your content on and through the Platform for the purpose of operating and providing the Simmer service.
Feature your content on Boiling Waters PH channels — including social media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X/Twitter), podcasts, and other media produced by Boiling Waters PH — for promotional and community-building purposes. Content may be read aloud, quoted, or adapted for audio format. When featured externally, your content will be attributed to your persona name only — your real identity is never disclosed.

You may opt out of having your content shared outside the Platform at any time via Settings → Privacy. When you opt out:

New content you post will not be eligible for external sharing.
Content already shared externally before your opt-out may remain on those channels, but we will make reasonable efforts to remove it upon request.
Opting out does not affect the license granted for use within the Platform.

8.4 License Termination

The license granted in Section 8.2 terminates when you delete your content, subject to:

Reasonable technical delays in removing content from caches and backups.
Retention of content that is required for ongoing moderation proceedings.
Retention required by applicable law or legal process.
Content already shared on external channels prior to deletion (we will make reasonable efforts to remove it upon request).

8.5 Content Removal

Boiling Waters PH reserves the right to remove, hide, or restrict access to any content that violates these Terms, applicable law, or our content guidelines — at any time and without prior notice.

_[LEGAL REVIEW: exact license scope and survival clauses, including scope of external sharing license and obligations around removal of externally shared content.]_

9. Account Suspension & Termination

We can suspend your account if you break the rules. You can delete your account whenever you want — there is a 7-day grace period in case you change your mind. After that, your data is permanently removed (with some exceptions).

9.1 Suspension by Simmer

Boiling Waters PH may suspend or terminate your account at any time if you violate these Terms, pursuant to the moderation escalation levels described in Section 4.5. You will be notified of the reason for suspension where practicable.

9.2 Account Deletion by You

You may request account deletion from your account settings at any time. The deletion process works as follows:

Grace period. After you request deletion, there is a 7-day grace period during which you may reactivate your account by logging back in.
Cascade deletion. After the 7-day grace period, the Auth Service orchestrates a permanent deletion cascade across all services.

9.3 Community Data on Deletion

When your account is deleted, you choose how your Community content is handled:

Hard delete — all personas, posts, and comments are permanently removed.
Anonymize — persona names are replaced with "[deleted]", avatars are removed, and posts/comments are preserved.

9.4 Dating Data on Deletion

Upon account deletion, the following dating data is handled as follows:

Profile — permanently deleted.
Match history — anonymized.
Chat messages — permanently deleted.
Reviews you wrote — permanently deleted.
Reviews others wrote about you — _[LEGAL REVIEW: determine whether anonymized or deleted]._

9.5 Data Retention

Anonymized records (with no personally identifiable information) may be retained for up to 5 years in compliance with RA 10173 (Philippine Data Privacy Act) and other applicable regulations.

9.6 Re-Registration

After account deletion is complete, you may register a new account using the same email address. The new account is entirely fresh — no data from the previous account is restored.

10. Disclaimers & Limitation of Liability

_[LEGAL REVIEW: entire section.]_

Simmer is provided "as is." We do our best to create a safe, enjoyable experience, but we cannot guarantee outcomes — especially in dating. Our liability is limited.

10.1 "As Is" Disclaimer

The Platform is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. Boiling Waters PH makes no warranties, express or implied, regarding the Platform's reliability, availability, accuracy, or fitness for a particular purpose.

10.2 No Guarantee of Outcomes

Boiling Waters PH does not guarantee:

That you will find matches or compatible partners through the Dating module.
Any particular outcome from using the Community or Dating modules.
That other users' profiles, personas, or content are accurate or truthful.

Dating features are introductions only. Users interact with each other at their own risk.

10.3 User Behavior

Boiling Waters PH is not responsible for the conduct of any user, whether on or off the Platform. While we enforce our Community and Dating rules through moderation, we cannot monitor all interactions in real time.

10.4 Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Boiling Waters PH's total liability to you for any claims arising from or related to your use of the Platform is limited to the total fees you paid to Boiling Waters PH in the 12 months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

10.5 Exclusion of Damages

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Boiling Waters PH shall not be liable for any consequential, incidental, indirect, special, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, data, or goodwill, arising from your use of the Platform.

10.6 Jurisdictional Limitations

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain warranties or damages. In such jurisdictions, the limitations in this section apply only to the extent permitted by applicable law.

11. Dispute Resolution

If you have a problem, contact support first. If we cannot resolve it informally, disputes go to arbitration under Philippine law.

11.1 Step 1 — Informal Resolution

Before initiating any formal proceeding, you agree to contact Simmer support and attempt to resolve the dispute informally. You must allow at least 30 days for informal resolution before escalating.

11.2 Step 2 — Binding Arbitration

If informal resolution fails, the dispute shall be resolved through binding arbitration conducted under Philippine arbitration rules.

_[LEGAL REVIEW: specify arbitration body and rules.]_

11.3 Step 3 — Jurisdiction

Any disputes not subject to arbitration, or where arbitration is found unenforceable, shall be resolved exclusively in the courts of Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

11.4 Governing Law

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of the Philippines.

11.5 Class Action Waiver

You agree that any dispute resolution proceedings will be conducted on an individual basis only, and not as part of a class, consolidated, or representative action.

_[LEGAL REVIEW: enforceability in PH jurisdiction.]_

12. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms. When we do, you will be asked to re-accept them the next time you log in. You cannot continue using Simmer without accepting the updated Terms.

Boiling Waters PH reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time. When we do:

The required consent version is updated.
On your next login after the update, you will see a prompt displaying the updated Terms.
You must review and accept the updated Terms to continue using the Platform.
Your acceptance is recorded with the new version number and a timestamp.

If you do not accept the updated Terms, your access to the Platform is blocked until you either accept or delete your account.

_[NOTE: Existing BoilingWaters users who are lazily migrated to Simmer (ADR-0009) will need to accept these new Terms on their first Simmer login, as this is a new entity with new terms.]_

13. Contact Information

Here is how to reach us.

Entity: Boiling Waters Technologies Inc., doing business under Boiling Waters PH
SEC Registration No.: 2022050052591-01
Email: help@simmerbybw.com
Address: 2nd Floor Bldg. C, Metrowalk Commercial Complex, Meralco Ave., Ugong, City of Pasig, NCR, 1604

For support inquiries, account issues, or to report violations, contact us at the email address above.

_These Terms of Service were last updated on July 3, 2026._