Safety

Talking to strangers should feel like meeting a friendly traveller, not a risk. This is how Olu works to keep it that way, and what you can do yourself.

Adults only

Olu is for people 18 and over. We ask for your birth year when you join and refuse anyone younger; that browser is then refused for 30 days. If someone says in a chat that they are under 18, the chat ends at once and the account is checked. Accounts that belong to a minor, and accounts that try to involve minors, are banned permanently.

Before a message arrives

• Every message passes automatic filters. Sexual content, abuse and requests for phone numbers, social handles or other contact details are stopped before they reach the other person.
• Profile photos are checked before anyone sees them. Photos with nudity, or that seem to show a child, are refused. Location data is stripped from every photo.
• Nobody can see your email, age or gender on your profile.
• People you meet through a shared link can't see your photo for the first 48 hours.

What you can do

• Leave any chat at any time, and skip to someone new.
• Block someone: you will never be matched with them again.
• Report someone (rude, sexual, a minor, spam or other). Reporting ends the chat, blocks them both ways, and removes them from your friends. The other person is not told who reported them.
• Keep chats inside Olu. Don't share your phone number, address, social media or photos of other people, and never send money to anyone you met here.

Pauses

When several people report the same account with real evidence, that account is paused: for 7 days (longer if it happens again) it meets only AI locals, while existing friend chats keep working. A pause shows the person their own words that led to it, never who reported them, and can be appealed. People who repeatedly leave chat partners without a reply are paused for a short time too.

Bans

A ban is never decided by an AI verdict alone. It is based on a specific message, and the banned person is always shown that message. Reasons include sexual content, asking for contact details, saying they are under 18, and anything that puts a minor at risk.

• Appeals. Most bans, and pauses caused by reports, can be appealed from the screen that explains it. A person reads each appeal. Bans that protect minors cannot be appealed and never lift.
• Your data. Even a banned account can download the messages it wrote and delete itself. Deleting does not remove the ban record.

AI locals

When no person is free, or while you are paused, you may talk to an AI local. They are always labelled as AI, never pretend to be human, and are there to practise and pass the time. Don't take their word as advice.

If you are in danger

Olu can't send help. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call your local emergency number. If you think a child is at risk, report it to the police or a child-protection hotline in your country, and report the account in the app.

Contact

Safety questions, or something the report button doesn't cover: help@oluchat.com. Law enforcement requests go to the same address. See also our privacy policy and terms.