26 August 2026
Covo is for meeting people in real life. These are the rules that make that possible, what we already do to enforce them, and what happens when someone breaks one.
Nothing here is new. Everything described below is what the app has been doing — this page is us writing it down.
The three sections below match the three categories you see when you tap Report on someone's profile. If you are about to report something, the rule you are reporting against is in the matching section.
Reported as: Spam, Scam or fraud, Something else.
What we already do: scam and fraud language is blocked automatically the moment you try to post it — in event titles and descriptions, community names, descriptions, posts, comments and introductions, forum boards, threads and replies, room titles, and names and usernames. The post is refused; it is not quietly hidden.
Reported as: Harassment or bullying, Hate, Nudity or sexual content.
What we already do: hate speech and sexual-exploitation language is blocked at the point of posting, in all the places listed above. Photographs posted publicly are checked automatically before they are stored — see Photos and video.
You can block anyone at any time. Blocking stops them contacting you or seeing your profile, and you do not need a reason.
Reported as: Violence or dangerous, Self-harm, Underage user.
What we already do: language relating to drugs, weapons, violence and threats, and sexual exploitation is blocked automatically at the point of posting, across every surface listed in section 1. If you try to publish it, the post is refused and you are told which category it matched.
Covo is for people aged 18 and over. We collect date of birth at sign-up, and accounts found to belong to someone under 18 are closed.
We think you should know exactly what is checked and what is not, because the answer changes what you should report.
Photos posted to public places: posts on Explore, profile and cover photos, event banners, community banners and icons, forum Buy and Sell photos, promotion artwork and business logos. These are screened for nudity and sexual activity, gore, self-harm, corpses and similar imagery, hate and extremist symbols, and visible drugs. An image that fails is refused and never saved.
Ordinary student life is not the target. Drinking, pre-drinks, club nights, going-out outfits, beach trips and combat sport are all allowed — the screening looks for harm, not lifestyle.
Private messages are private, and we have chosen not to scan them. That is a deliberate decision and it has a consequence: if someone sends you something that breaks these rules in a private message, we will not know unless you tell us. Report it, and block them.
Hosts are responsible for the accuracy of what they advertise — the location, the time, the description, and the price if there is one. You are responsible for making sure your event is safe and runs as described. Event titles, descriptions and venue names are scanned before an event is published, and a moderator can remove an event.
If you delete your account, reports you made stay, with your identity removed from them. Reports about you are deleted with the account. This is explained in full in our Privacy Policy.
Two different things can happen, and it is worth understanding which is which.
If what you write matches one of the blocked categories, the post is refused as you submit it. Nothing is published, nobody is notified, and no record is made against you. It is a door, not a punishment. If you think a block is wrong — and ordinary words do sometimes collide with a rule — email us.
Everything else follows a report and a human decision. The outcomes available are:
Which one depends on what happened, whether it was aimed at a person, and whether it has happened before. Anything involving a threat to someone's safety goes straight to the top of the list.
If your account is suspended or banned and you think it is wrong, email covosocialapp@gmail.com from the address on your account and say what you think happened. There is no appeal form in the app; a person reads that inbox and will reply.
Tell us anything we could not have seen — context, screenshots, what led up to it. Decisions get reversed when there is something new to look at, and not otherwise.
Questions about these guidelines, an appeal, or a block you think is wrong: covosocialapp@gmail.com.
These guidelines sit alongside our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.