Effective as of November 21, 2022.
Introduction
Welcome to the Flo Secret Chats — a safe digital community where you can anonymously discuss health- and wellness-related topics and get support from millions of other Flo users worldwide. It’s a cool place to share personal experiences and gain a broader sense of what others like you are going through. We wish you to find and share support through anonymous personal experience sharing while having fun along the way.
The following rules apply to all user-generated content and activity in our Secret Chats community. Please familiarize yourself with our rules and help us keep things safe and enjoyable for everyone. Remember that our rules may differ from those of familiar social media platforms.
The Secret Chats Basics
Respect others.
Secret Chats members talk about a lot of sensitive topics. We understand that there are different approaches to these topics and that people may have different opinions. But don't forget — there is always a real person on the other side of the screen who may need your support. Let’s respect each other and have conversations that honor our humanity.
Be civil, and don’t spread hate.
Discussions and disagreements among community members are allowed as long as the conversations remain on-topic, positive, and respectful. We encourage lively, emotional conversations and sharing of personal experiences without judgment or hate. If a thread becomes too toxic, we reserve the right to delete the whole discussion, even if the original comment is acceptable and respectful.
Keep things relevant.
When you want to ask for advice, share an experience, or just rant, please choose the proper place to post. This way, other members will discover your comment much faster, so you’ll receive relevant and helpful feedback! If you don’t do this, your comment may be considered off-topic and deleted by moderators.
Secret Chats Guidelines
1. No politics or preaching, please. Flo Secret Chats is not the proper place to discuss or debate politics or polarizing social issues, nor is it the place for religious preaching. We strive to respect everyone’s freedom of speech while ensuring that everyone feels welcome here. It means that political and preaching comments will be removed to avoid unwanted anxiety and maintain a safe space for everyone.
2. No hate, either. We don’t tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or other hate speech here at Flo. Hate has no place in our community — members are here to find and get support, share their personal experiences, and ask for advice, not to be judged or criticized. Attacking others for their beliefs and forcing your views on others is not acceptable in the Secret Chats. Any comments that promote or approve violence against individuals or groups based on race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, disability, age, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, political views, health status, or appearance will be deleted, as will comments revealing someone’s personal information, inciting harassment, threats, personal attacks, or featuring abusive or predatory behavior.
3. Don’t overuse vulgar and profane speech. We aim to make the Secret Chats acceptable for everyone. For clarity, we may delete comments with an overwhelming amount of swearing and obscenity. Please, don’t use the Secret Chats for anonymous sexting — there are other services. We want to emphasize that the primary purpose of our community is to provide the unique opportunity to talk openly about health-related topics, find support, and maybe even learn something new.
4. We encourage posting to the most appropriate topic possible. If you’d like to ask for advice, you can search through other members’ comments — someone may have already asked your question or discussed similar concerns. Each chat has a specific purpose that defines community members’ expectations of that chat. Avoid multiposting in different discussions — it may be considered spam and, therefore, deleted.
5. Everyone dislikes spam; so do we. That is why we will delete any comments that are commercial or spam-like, including, but not limited to: self-promotion with links to social media accounts, websites, emails, or phone numbers; repetitive posting of the same content or links; selling or distributing any products; promoting petitions of any kind, or solicitation of funds for any reason. We may also delete comments that use excessive spacing.
6. Sharing private information is prohibited. Anonymity is one of the essential values that define the Flo Secret Chats as a safe place. We get it — sometimes, you wish to make friends or chat in person, which is why you may want to share your info. Please, don’t. We would also like to ask you to be careful when posting images since they may contain information that can help identify you, individuals, or their private property. Make sure you don’t post facial images, birthmarks, tattoos*, or other identifiers (such as location, name, surname, or ID numbers). To maintain a safe space for everyone, we will remove this private information to avoid exposing anyone’s identity.
*Important: To preserve anonymity, we remove any information that could identify someone - including tattoos.
7. Don’t promote illegal activities. To ensure that people of all backgrounds feel safe and comfortable here, we must respect local and international laws and remove comments that advocate and promote illegal activities, such as drugs, underage drinking, criminal activity, animal abuse, terrorism, and others. To further ensure everyone’s sense of safety, we will remove most images of weapons.
8. We protect children's safety. You must be at least 13 years old (16 for EU/UK residents) to use the Flo app and contribute to our community. We do not intentionally collect information about children, and we will ban you from Flo and delete your account if we find out that you are younger than 13 (under 16 for EU/UK residents).
9. No cheating! The age you put in the app defines your Secret Chats experience because we offer different content for teenagers and adults. If we find out that you put in the wrong age to fool the system, your ability to participate in the Secret Chats will be restricted.
10. Always seek professional medical advice. Flo does not verify comments for accuracy, safety, or effectiveness. Our moderation team will delete comments asking for or sharing medical advice on specific treatments and medication dosages. Feel free to share your personal experience, but remember that comments in the Secret Chats should not replace medical advice from your doctor. Always seek the opinion of a qualified healthcare professional if you have any concerns regarding your health.
Reporting
You can report abusive comments or other inappropriate behavior. If you notice something offensive, please don’t engage; use the “Report” button to submit a comment for review by our Moderation Team, who will determine whether there’s a violation of our Secret Chats Rules. You may also report abusive or inappropriate comments by emailing the attached screenshots to support@flo.health or contacting us via the “Help” menu in the App.
Naturally, you might not like or agree with everything you see in the Secret Chats. Please do not use the “Report” button to express your disapproval.
Enforcement
To protect our community, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate or irrelevant comments without prior notification if said comment violates our guidelines. We also reserve the right to issue suspensions and other enforcement actions. Depending on the nature of the violation, we may take a range of actions, including comment removal, a warning, a short-term suspension, and permanent suspension for more severe offenses.
Remember, when reviewing reports for violations, we consider several factors, including the intent and context, potential harm to the community, legal obligations, etc. We do not remove comments based on reports alone; we always apply our rules in every situation.
Warnings
A warning is a notification for specific violations and other cases. When we delete a comment, we may send a warning associated with a particular rule violation. Repetitive violations of the same nature may result in a suspension.
Short-Term Suspensions
A short-term suspension is an inability to comment in the Secret Chats for seven days. You may still use the App and read Secret Chats conversations while suspended. After the suspension is complete, you can comment in the Secret Chats again. We record past violations, and multiple suspensions over time may lead to a permanent suspension.
Permanent Suspension
We will instantly and indefinitely suspend your account for the most serious and/or repeated violations. With a permanent suspension, you may still use the App and read Secret Chats conversations, though your ability to comment will never be restored unless the permanent ban was misapplied. Please see the appeal process below.
Appealing a Suspension or Comment Removal
If you believe you have not violated our Terms of Use and/or Secret Chats Rules, please contact us at support@flo.health or via the “Help” menu in the App. Appeals sent via any other means will not be considered.
In your appeal, include the reason you believe you were incorrectly suspended.
After submitting your appeal, you will receive an auto-response to the email registered to your Flo account acknowledging that we’ve received your request.
Once your appeal has been reviewed, we will reply by email to notify you of your appeal and account(s) status. It will complete the appeal process.
Remember that appeals are reviewed in the order they are received, and we do not guarantee suspensions will be overturned. Only the owner of the account in question may appeal an account suspension. Abusing or spamming the appeals process may lead to additional enforcement actions.
Further Information and Resources
If you have suggestions or questions about any aspect of participation in the Flo Secret Chats, please contact our Support Team at support@flo.health or via the “Help” menu in the App.
You may also be interested in reading our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy or visiting our Crisis Support Center. Please remember that you acknowledge that you accept and agree to be bound by the Terms of Use by creating an account and/or accessing or using the App.