Child Safety
Minimum ages, and how reports of child sexual abuse material are handled.
There is no version of this we treat as a grey area.
Minimum age
Whinchat is for people 18 and over, everywhere, on the website and in the apps for iPhone and Android (listed that way in the App Store and Google Play). A date of birth is collected at sign-up and anyone younger is refused, with nothing kept.
Until 29 October 2026 the website followed each country's age of digital consent (13 in the United States). An account made before then by someone now under 18 is not deleted, but it is closed to everything except downloading its data and deleting the account, until its owner turns 18. An account with no date of birth on file is asked for one before anything else.
The country is where you are, which is what selects the law that applies to you. It is not your nationality and not where you are from.
Child sexual abuse material
CSAM is reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) through the CyberTipline, as US law requires of us. When a report is made:
- The content and the account records are preserved, not deleted. Deleting the material would destroy the evidence an investigation needs.
- The account is suspended.
- Reviewers act on the report without the material being displayed to them — a reviewer does not need to see it in order to escalate it.
Grooming and endangerment
Sexualised contact with a minor, solicitation, and sharing sexualised imagery of minors in any form — including drawings and generated images — are grounds for immediate termination and a report.
If you are worried about a child
Report it in the app, and contact your local authorities. In the United States you can report directly at report.cybertip.org or on 1-800-843-5678.
What has changed
29 October 2026 · version 4
- Minimum age — 18, everywhere, on the website as well as the apps; the table of country ages is gone. What happens to an account made earlier by someone younger.
28 October 2026 · version 3
- Minimum age — the iPhone and Android apps are for people 18 and over; the website keeps the minimum ages in the table.
5 August 2026 · version 2
- Reporting child sexual abuse material: preservation, and referral to NCMEC.
12 July 2026 · version 1
- First published.