Terms of Use and Service Agreement

1. Scope of Service, Legal Status, Limitation of Liability, and License

1.1. Grant of License: Subject to your compliance with the terms of this Agreement, epicurIST grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable, and limited license to download, access, and use the Application and Service content on your device solely for your personal, non-commercial use. The Services are licensed, not sold.

1.2. Reservation of Ownership: All rights, title, and interest (including all intellectual property rights) in and to the Services not expressly granted to you under this Agreement are reserved by epicurIST.

1.3. Limitation of Liability and Legal Status: To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law (including Article 115 of the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098), we shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, loss of profits, or loss of data arising out of or in connection with your use of the Application.

Hosting Provider Status: We operate strictly as a Hosting Provider (Yer Sağlayıcı) under Law No. 5651. We do not generate, verify, endorse, or exercise prior editorial control over user-generated content. We are not responsible for user-generated content or for your experiences at third-party venues. Our liability regarding third-party content is strictly limited to removing unlawful content upon receiving a formal notice in accordance with applicable legislation.

1.4. Intellectual Property Rights: All rights, title, and interest in and to the Application—including software code, interface design, databases, trademarks, domain names, graphics, and logos—belong to us or our licensors and are protected under Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works and Industrial Property Law No. 6769. Nothing in these terms grants you any right or license to use our intellectual property without our prior written consent.

1.5. Privacy and Personal Data Protection: We process your personal data in accordance with Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data (“KVKK”) and applicable privacy legislation. For detailed information on how we collect, process, store, and protect your personal data, please review our Privacy Policy at https://epicurist.app/legal/en/privacy. By accepting these terms, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Privacy Policy.

2. Membership, Eligibility, and Age Limit

2.1. Age Limit: You must be at least 18 years of age to use epicurIST Services. Persons under 18 years of age are strictly prohibited from using the Application.

2.2. Registration Information: You may be required to create an account to access certain features of the Application. You agree to provide accurate, complete, and up-to-date information during registration and to keep your profile information updated.

2.3. Account Security: Maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and password is entirely your responsibility. You are directly responsible for all activities that occur under your account. You must immediately contact us at social@epicurist.app upon detecting any unauthorized use.

3. Community Rules and Prohibited Conduct

epicurIST aims to create a respectful and safe community for foodies and venue enthusiasts. You must strictly adhere to the following rules when using the Application.

The following actions are strictly prohibited and will result in the immediate suspension or termination of your account:

Hate Speech and Harassment: Engaging in hate speech targeting protected characteristics such as race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or age; harassing, threatening, insulting, or targeting other users, venue owners, or epicurIST employees.

Manipulation and Manipulative Ratings: Creating fake accounts to manipulate venue ratings and reviews; writing misleading reviews or ratings in exchange for commercial benefits; organizing coordinated reputation attacks against venues or individuals.

Cloning Platform Features: Unauthorized copying, reproducing, or imitating platform functions or content exclusive to Paid/Pro memberships via API or any other means.

Systematic Follow and Like Abuse: Artificially inflating follower or like counts by excessively following accounts or liking reviews/lists (reciprocal engagement gaming).

Data Mining and Bot Usage (Scraping): Using bots, spiders, scrapers, or automated software to extract, index, copy, or monitor data from epicurIST without express written permission.

Reverse Engineering: Attempting to derive the source code of the Application, reverse engineering, decompiling, or disassembling it.

Security Violation: Disabling security and authentication mechanisms, scanning system vulnerabilities, or uploading/transmitting malware or viruses.

Harmful Actions Against Children and CSAM: Any content leading to the sexual exploitation or endangerment of children is strictly prohibited. Such content will be reported immediately to law enforcement agencies.

4. User-Generated Content (UGC) and Granted Intellectual Property License

4.1. Ownership of User Content: Intellectual property rights in venue reviews, ratings, lists, photos, and profile texts (“User Content”) posted by you on the Application remain yours.

4.2. License Granted to epicurIST: By posting User Content on the Application, you grant epicurIST a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual, transferable, and sublicensable license to use, reproduce, distribute, display, process, and create derivative works of such content for the purposes of operating, improving, analyzing, moderating, and publishing the Services on social media and promotional materials (without presenting you in a misleading manner).

4.3. Content Originality and Responsibility: You warrant that the User Content you post is original and does not infringe upon third-party copyrights, trademarks, or privacy rights. You are solely liable, civilly and criminally, for your User Content.

5. Content Moderation, Reporting Mechanism, and Removal

5.1. Moderation Authority: epicurIST is under no obligation to pre-screen User Content; however, it reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to remove, block, or modify content that violates this Agreement, community rules, or applicable laws without prior notice.

5.2. Publicly Disclosed Data and Privacy: Reviews, photos, and lists shared publicly by you are processed as personal data made public by the data subject pursuant to Article 5/2-(d) of the KVKK. Your private lists and support requests are kept confidential.

6. Subscriptions, In-App Purchases, and Refund Policy

This section will apply if epicurIST offers a paid service or subscription in the future. At present, all features of epicurIST are free of charge and there are no purchases within the Application.

6.1. Fees and Auto-Renewal: If you select epicurIST Pro or paid subscription services, applicable fees will be charged via your selected payment method. Subscriptions automatically renew at the end of each billing period (monthly/annually) unless canceled.

6.2. Cancellation and Refund Procedures:

Apple iOS Subscriptions: Cancellation and refund processes for subscriptions purchased via the Apple App Store are managed directly through Apple Account Settings. Refund requests are evaluated by Apple in accordance with Apple policies.

Google Play Subscriptions: Subscriptions purchased via Google Play Store are canceled via Google Play Settings. Refund requests are processed in accordance with applicable legislation and Google Play policies.

Web Subscriptions and Right of Withdrawal: For subscriptions made via our website, pursuant to Law No. 6563 and the Consumer Protection Law, the 14-day statutory right of withdrawal applies except where digital content or services have commenced immediate execution upon purchase.

6.3. Price Changes: Any changes to subscription fees will be notified to users at least 30 days in advance. If you do not accept the new price, you have the right to cancel your subscription prior to the renewal date.

7. Account Deletion, Cancellation, and Data Destruction

Pursuant to Apple App Store Review Guidelines (Guideline 5.1.1(v)) and Google Play Store Policies, two independent channels are provided for deleting your account and data:

1. In-App Deletion: You can permanently delete your account and all associated data in the Application by navigating to Profile → Settings → Manage Account → Delete My Account.

2. External Web URL Deletion: Even if you have uninstalled the Application, you can submit a deletion request via https://epicurist.app/delete-account.

Upon receipt of an account deletion request, your data is immediately purged from the main database and permanently erased from backups within 30 days at most. Transaction logs required to be retained by legal regulations are stored in an isolated environment for a maximum of 2 years.

8. Third-Party Services and Map Architecture Guarantee

8.1. Server-Side Proxy Map Architecture: epicurIST uses Google Maps and Google Places API for map display and venue search functionalities. To protect your privacy, your venue search queries are not sent directly to Google; they are transmitted through epicurIST’s Server-Side Proxy servers with your IP address and Device ID masked, and your location is not sent to Google. The map display itself is loaded on your device directly from the map provider (Google Maps, Apple Maps or Mapbox); during this, your IP address reaches the respective provider.

8.2. External Links: The Application may contain links to third-party websites or services. epicurIST is not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such external sites.

9. Copyright Infringement Notice (DMCA / Notice-and-Takedown under Law No. 5846)

If you believe your intellectual property rights have been infringed, you may submit a written notice containing the following details to our Copyright Agent:

A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or authorized representative.

Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed.

Exact location/URL of the infringing material within the Application.

Your name, address, telephone number, and email address.

A good-faith statement that the use of the material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.

Copyright Agent Contact Details — Email: social@epicurist.app. Service Address: Metro, Emniyetevleri Sapphire B4 Floor, 4.Levent, 34415 Kağıthane/Istanbul, Republic of Türkiye

10. Limitation of Liability and Disclaimer of Warranties

10.1. "As Is" Basis: epicurIST Services and Application content are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. epicurIST makes no warranties of uninterrupted, error-free, or entirely secure service.

10.2. Venue Information and User Reviews: Operating hours, menus, prices, and user reviews of venues displayed in the Application are not guaranteed to be accurate. User reviews do not reflect the official views of epicurIST.

10.3. Cap on Liability: To the maximum extent permitted by applicable mandatory law, epicurIST shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or punitive damages, including loss of profits, data, or goodwill. epicurIST’s total aggregate liability for any claim shall be limited to the amount paid by the user for the Service in the preceding 12 months or 1,000 TRY, whichever is greater.

11. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless epicurIST, its partners, and employees against any losses, damages, liabilities, legal costs, and attorney fees arising from your violation of this Agreement, infringement of third-party rights (copyrights, privacy, etc.), or unlawful use of the Application. (For consumers in the UK and EU, this clause applies to the extent permitted by local mandatory consumer laws.)

12. Amendments to Terms

epicurIST reserves the right to amend this Agreement at any time. Material changes will be notified to users via in-app notification or email at least 30 days prior to taking effect. Your continued use of the Application after the effective date constitutes your acceptance of the revised terms.

13. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

13.1. For Republic of Turkey Users: This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the Republic of Turkey. Any disputes arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Istanbul (Çağlayan) Courts and Execution Offices. Consumers may apply to Consumer Arbitration Committees or Consumer Courts within statutory monetary limits.

14. Contact Information

For any questions, requests, or notices regarding this Agreement, you may contact us at:

Joint Data Controllers / Service Providers: Baran Emre Güreş & Barış Halil İnal (epicurIST Ordinary Partnership) (“epicurIST”)

Address: Metro, Emniyetevleri Sapphire B4 Floor, 4.Levent, 34415 Kağıthane/Istanbul, Republic of Türkiye

Email: social@epicurist.app