Terms of Service

Effective date: July 22, 2026

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Hoot App, Inc. ("Hoot," "we," "us," or "our"), a Delaware corporation with principal offices in Colorado. They govern your access to and use of the Hoot mobile application, thehootapp.com, and all related features, content, and services (together, the "Services").

By creating an account, tapping to accept, or otherwise using the Services, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy (once published). If you do not agree, do not use the Services.

Hoot verifies human presence. The Services confirm that real people are physically present in a real place at the same time. These Terms describe how that promise works, what you may and may not do, and how disputes are handled.

1. Key terms

The following capitalized terms have specific meanings inside Hoot. They appear throughout these Terms.

Verified Human Presence™. Hoot's proprietary system for confirming that real, individual users are physically present in a specific place at the same time.

Canopy. A defined space inside the Services where a live moment happens. Launch-available Canopy types include Anchor Canopies (partner-anchored spaces) and Group or private Canopies (invite-based spaces). Additional Canopy formats may be introduced in future releases.

HootMe. The direct, presence-verified messaging feature between users who are together in the same Canopy.

HootDeals. Offers, promotions, and activations made available to users who have verified presence at a participating location, venue, or event.

Business Partner. A venue, brand, institution, athletic program, event operator, or other organization that has entered into a written agreement with Hoot to run Canopies, publish HootDeals, or otherwise activate verified audiences.

User Content. Anything you post, upload, submit, or otherwise share through the Services, including text, photos, video, audio, check-ins, and reactions.

2. Eligibility & accounts

You may use Hoot only if all of the following are true:

  • You are at least 13 years old. If you are under 18 (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction), a parent or legal guardian must review and agree to these Terms on your behalf.
  • You are able to form a legally binding contract with Hoot.
  • You are not barred from using the Services under the laws of the United States or your jurisdiction.
  • You have not previously been suspended or removed from the Services, unless we have given you express written permission to return.

Certain HootDeals and Business Partner activations may require you to be 18 or 21 or older, or to meet other eligibility criteria (for example, student status, alumni status, ticket-holder status, or geographic location). Where such requirements apply, they will be clearly disclosed and you must satisfy them to participate.

You are responsible for the accuracy of the information on your account, for keeping your credentials secure, and for all activity that occurs on your account. Notify us promptly at support@thehootapp.com if you suspect any unauthorized use.

3. What the Services are — and what they are not

Hoot is a real-world social platform built around Verified Human Presence™. The Services help users find, join, and participate in live Canopies; connect with other people who are actually present in the same place at the same time; and engage with Business Partners who choose to activate that verified audience.

The Services are not a public utility, an emergency service, a financial services platform, a healthcare platform, a background-check service, an identity-verification service for third parties, or a substitute for your own judgment about who to meet, where to go, or what to do.

Guiding standard. Hoot verifies human presence. Did it happen? That question guides how we build the product, choose partners, and shape these Terms.

4. Your license to use the Services

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, Hoot grants you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to access and use the Services for your own non-commercial use.

This license does not give you any rights in Hoot's trademarks, service marks, logos, product names, or trade dress, including "Hoot," "Verified Human Presence," "Canopy," "HootMe," and "HootDeals." All rights not expressly granted are reserved by Hoot.

5. Your content and the license you give us

You retain ownership of your User Content. You are solely responsible for it and for the consequences of sharing it.

By submitting User Content to the Services, you grant Hoot a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, reproduce, modify (for formatting), publish, publicly perform and display, and distribute your User Content in connection with operating, providing, promoting, and improving the Services and Hoot's business. This license ends when you delete your User Content, except to the extent (a) it has already been shared with others who have not deleted it, or (b) we are required to retain it to comply with law, resolve disputes, or enforce these Terms.

You represent and warrant that you own or have the necessary rights to your User Content and that it does not violate the rights of any third party or these Terms.

6. Acceptable use — what you may not do

You agree not to do any of the following:

  • Falsify, spoof, simulate, or otherwise misrepresent your presence, location, identity, age, or affiliation, or attempt to defeat any part of the Verified Human Presence™ system.
  • Use bots, scripts, emulators, or automated means to interact with the Services, create accounts, or generate presence signals.
  • Access another person's account, share your account credentials, or allow anyone else to use your account.
  • Post or transmit content that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, threatening, hateful, sexually exploitative of minors, or that infringes anyone's intellectual property or privacy rights.
  • Solicit personal, financial, or sensitive information from other users, or use the Services to stalk, harass, or endanger anyone.
  • Use the Services to send spam, unauthorized advertising, or unsolicited commercial messages, or to promote pyramid schemes, illegal offers, or fraudulent activity.
  • Reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to derive the source code, algorithms, or presence-verification techniques used in the Services, except to the extent applicable law expressly permits.
  • Circumvent, disable, or interfere with security-related features of the Services, or probe or test the vulnerability of the Services without our prior written consent.
  • Copy, scrape, harvest, or otherwise collect information about other users or Business Partners without their consent and ours.
  • Use the Services in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair Hoot's infrastructure or the experience of other users.
  • Use the Services to violate any applicable law, regulation, athletic conference or institutional rule, or contractual obligation you owe to a third party.

7. Presence, location, and privacy

The Services depend on location, device, and presence signals. To use core Hoot features, you must allow the Services to collect and process location data and related signals in accordance with our Privacy Policy and your device permissions.

You can control certain location and notification permissions through your device or account settings; however, disabling those permissions may limit or prevent your ability to use Canopies, HootMe, HootDeals, or other presence-based features.

Presence signals inside Canopies are visible to other verified users of the same Canopy and to the applicable Business Partner in accordance with the Privacy Policy. Do not share Canopy activity with anyone who is not part of that moment.

8. HootDeals & Business Partner content

Business Partners — including venues, brands, athletic departments, event operators, and partnership organizations such as JMI Sports and the University of Kentucky Athletics ecosystem — may publish HootDeals, run Canopies, and otherwise interact with verified users through the Services.

HootDeals are offers made by Business Partners, not by Hoot. Redemption, delivery, refunds, and any goods or services provided in connection with a HootDeal are the responsibility of the applicable Business Partner. Any disputes about a specific HootDeal must be resolved directly with that Business Partner, though Hoot may assist where reasonable.

Name, image & likeness. Where a Business Partner activates student-athletes, coaches, or other individuals under name, image, and likeness (NIL) arrangements, participation is subject to all applicable NCAA, athletic conference, institutional, and state-law NIL rules. Hoot does not administer NIL agreements between athletes, institutions, collectives, or brands and makes no representation about the enforceability, tax treatment, or compliance status of any such arrangement.

Business Partners are independent third parties. Hoot does not endorse and is not responsible for their products, services, statements, promotions, or conduct beyond the Services themselves.

9. Intellectual property

The Services, including all software, designs, text, graphics, and the trademarks "Hoot," "Verified Human Presence," "Canopy," "HootMe," and "HootDeals," are owned by Hoot or its licensors and are protected by U.S. and international intellectual property laws.

If you believe content on the Services infringes your copyright, you may send a notice to Hoot's designated agent at legal@thehootapp.com. Please include the information required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3), including identification of the copyrighted work, identification of the allegedly infringing material and its location on the Services, your contact information, a good-faith statement, and your electronic or physical signature. We may remove content and terminate repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances.

10. Feedback

If you send Hoot ideas, suggestions, or feedback about the Services ("Feedback"), you agree that Hoot may use that Feedback for any purpose without any obligation to you. Feedback is not confidential and creates no ownership rights in your favor.

11. Third-party services

The Services may link to or integrate with third-party services, including app stores, mapping providers, identity or ticketing providers, and Business Partner platforms. Your use of those third-party services is governed by their own terms and privacy policies. Hoot is not responsible for third-party services beyond the Services themselves.

12. Changes to the Services and these Terms

We may add, change, suspend, or remove features of the Services at any time. We may also update these Terms; when we do, we will post the updated version at thehootapp.com/terms and update the "Effective Date" above. If a change is material, we will provide reasonable notice, such as an in-app message or email. Your continued use of the Services after the updated Terms take effect means you accept them.

13. Suspension & termination

You may stop using the Services at any time. You can request account deletion from within the app or by contacting support@thehootapp.com.

We may suspend or terminate your access to all or part of the Services, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms, put other users or Business Partners at risk, or exposed Hoot to legal or reputational harm. Sections that by their nature should survive termination will survive, including Sections 5, 6, 9, 10, and 14 through 18.

14. Disclaimers

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, HOOT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

HOOT DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT PRESENCE VERIFICATION WILL BE ACCURATE IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE. YOU USE THE SERVICES AT YOUR OWN RISK.

15. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, HOOT AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, AND LICENSORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF HOOT HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

HOOT'S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE SERVICES WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100) OR (B) THE AMOUNTS YOU HAVE PAID TO HOOT FOR THE SERVICES IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages; in those jurisdictions, the limitations above will apply to the maximum extent permitted by law.

16. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Hoot and its officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, and licensors from and against any claims, damages, liabilities, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to (a) your use of the Services, (b) your User Content, (c) your violation of these Terms, or (d) your violation of any law or the rights of any third party.

17. Governing law, arbitration & class-action waiver

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services ("Dispute") will be resolved by binding, individual arbitration administered by JAMS or, at Hoot's option, the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. The arbitration will be seated in Denver, Colorado, and conducted in English by a single arbitrator. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

YOU AND HOOT AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE MORE THAN ONE PERSON'S CLAIMS AND MAY NOT PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF REPRESENTATIVE OR CLASS PROCEEDING.

30-day opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by sending written notice to legal@thehootapp.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. The notice must include your name, the email associated with your account, and a clear statement that you wish to opt out of arbitration. Opting out will not affect any other part of these Terms.

Notwithstanding the above, either party may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to protect its intellectual property, confidential information, or the integrity of the Services.

18. Miscellaneous

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy (once published) and any additional terms we present to you in connection with specific features, are the entire agreement between you and Hoot regarding the Services. They supersede any prior end-user license agreement, terms, or notice previously posted at thehootapp.com, including any prior placeholder EULA.

If any provision of these Terms is held to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of that provision. You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent; Hoot may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets. There are no third-party beneficiaries to these Terms.

19. Contact us

Questions, feedback, or legal notices about these Terms can reach us here:

General support: support@thehootapp.com

Legal & privacy: legal@thehootapp.com

Mailing: Hoot App, Inc. — a Delaware corporation with principal offices in Colorado.