Effective 3 August 2026 · BellyButton ("we", "us") · Contact: support@bellybutton.global
1. What these terms are
These terms are a binding agreement between you and BellyButton covering the BellyButton mobile app, the public web gallery, and related services (together, "the Service"). By creating an account or using the Service you accept them. If you don't agree, don't use the Service.
2. Who can use BellyButton
You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority where you live, if higher) to create an account. By signing up you confirm you meet this requirement. If we learn an account belongs to someone under 18, we will delete the account and its data.
3. Your account
- Your account is identified by your phone number, verified by a one-time SMS code. Keep your number and device secure — anyone who can receive SMS on your number can access your account.
- One active session at a time: signing in on a new device signs out the old one.
- Adding and verifying an email address is optional but strongly recommended — it is the only anchor for account recovery if you lose your phone number. Without a verified email, we cannot recover your account (a deliberate security boundary, with no exceptions).
- You are responsible for activity on your account.
4. The heart of the Service: events are temporary
BellyButton is an ephemeral photo service. This is the product, not a limitation:
- A host creates an event and invites crew; everyone shoots photos into a shared gallery. The host also sets the event's capture quality and other settings.
- All photos in an event are permanently deleted 7 days after the event starts. The exact deletion date is shown in the app. A host may extend this once, by 7 more days (to 14 days after the start), only after the event has ended.
- Deletion is permanent and unrecoverable. Download what you want to keep before the deadline.
- BellyButton is not a backup or storage service. We are not liable for photos deleted on schedule — the schedule is the service working as designed.
5. Your photos: ownership and the licence you give us
- You own your photos. Uploading changes nothing about your ownership.
- You grant us a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, process (including resizing, format conversion, and metadata removal), and display your photos solely to operate the Service: showing them to the event's members per the host's visibility settings, on the public web gallery if the host enables it, and enabling downloads (a host may download the event's full-quality photos; members may save the photos they can see). The licence ends when the photo is deleted (by schedule, by you, by the host, or by moderation), except for copies we must retain briefly for legal or safety obligations.
- We never sell your photos, never use them for advertising, and never use them to train AI models.
6. Your responsibilities when uploading
- Only upload photos you took or have the right to share.
- Photos of other people: you are responsible for having their consent appropriate to the setting. Be especially careful with photos of children — the host controls visibility, and you should not upload photos of minors to an event whose gallery is public.
- The host of an event controls its visibility settings, including whether a public web link exists. If you enable the public link as a host, you are choosing to make approved photos visible to anyone holding the link — treat that choice with care. You can disable the link at any time, which immediately cuts off public access.
7. What you may not do
You may not use the Service to upload or share content that: is illegal; sexualises, endangers, or exploits minors in any way; is non-consensual intimate imagery; harasses, threatens, or defames; infringes someone else's rights; contains malware; or attempts to probe, overload, or abuse the Service (including automated signup, SMS-triggering abuse, scraping, gaming referral rewards, or attempting to access other users' data). We may remove content, restrict features, or terminate accounts for violations, with or without notice.
8. Reactions
You can react to photos with a "love". Reactions are positive-only by design. Misusing the reaction system (for example to harass) may lead to feature restrictions or account action under section 7.
9. Moderation, safety, and zero tolerance
- Hosts moderate their own events (approval-first is the default for new events). Anyone can report a photo or a person in the app.
- We operate an internal review capability. We may remove content that violates these terms from every surface at once, and may suspend or ban accounts.
- Child sexual abuse or exploitation material is zero tolerance: we preserve evidence as required, report to the relevant authorities (including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children or local equivalents), cooperate with law enforcement, and permanently ban the account.
10. Refer-and-earn
We may offer a referral programme ("refer-and-earn"):
- You can share a personal referral code. When a new user creates an account with your code and hosts their first event, both of you receive a reward of one additional free event.
- Rewards are earned only on genuine activity (a real new account hosting a real event). A limit applies to how many referral rewards you can earn per month.
- Anti-abuse: we may withhold, reverse, or void rewards, and restrict accounts, for referrals we reasonably believe are fake, self-referred, automated, or otherwise gaming the programme.
- Rewards have no cash value, are non-transferable, and apply only within the Service. We may change or end the referral programme, or its limits, at any time; changes are not retroactive to rewards already properly earned.
11. Deleting your account
You can request account deletion any time in Settings. Your account is then scheduled for deletion at the end of the current calendar month — the exact date is shown in the app. Until then your account keeps working and you can cancel the deletion. On the scheduled date your account, the events you host, and every photo in them are permanently deleted. Photos also continue to follow the normal event deletion schedule, which may run earlier. If you need your data erased sooner, contact support@bellybutton.global and we will process an expedited erasure request. We may retain minimal records where the law requires it (for example safety-report evidence).
12. Free service, fair limits
The Service is currently free. To keep it fair and sustainable, limits apply (shown in the app), currently including: events you can create per month, crew size per event, and storage per contributor and per event. We may grant higher limits to specific accounts at our discretion. We may change limits, introduce paid tiers, or change features over time; if we introduce payments, anything you could already do free at that time will be handled fairly and communicated in advance.
13. Availability, changes, and no warranty
The Service is provided "as is" and "as available". We work hard to keep it running, but we do not promise uninterrupted availability, and we may change, suspend, or discontinue features. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim implied warranties, and our total liability to you for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the last 12 months (today: zero) or ₹5,000. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited.
14. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify us against claims arising from your content or your breach of these terms, to the extent permitted by law.
15. Our property
The BellyButton app, brand, design, and software are ours (or our licensors'). These terms give you a personal, non-transferable right to use the app; they transfer no ownership.
16. Governing law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of India; the courts of India have jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory consumer-law rights where you live.
17. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms. For material changes, the app will ask you to review and accept the new version before continuing; the version and your acceptance date are recorded.
18. Contact and grievances
Support, questions, and grievances: support@bellybutton.global. We acknowledge grievances within the statutory window.