Trust, not hope.
Most dating apps ask you to trust that the person on the other side is real, honest, and safe. Ether is built so you don't have to take that on faith. Here's exactly what we do — and why.
Every user is age-verified
Before anyone can sign up, they submit a live selfie. Amazon Rekognition estimates their age range — if the lower bound is under 18, the account is rejected on the spot. We don't keep the photo. We keep the decision, so we can prove to regulators (and to you) that the person on the other side is an adult.
Every upload is scanned before anyone sees it
Every photo and message image runs through Amazon Rekognition Content Moderation before it reaches the recipient. Every video — intros, reactions, message attachments — is sampled at four evenly-spaced frames so an offender can't hide content in a single late frame. If any scan fails for any reason, the upload is blocked — we never let content through unchecked. Suspected child sexual abuse material is quarantined instantly, the uploader is permanently banned, the precise frame that triggered detection is preserved as evidence, and an automated report is submitted to NCMEC's CyberTipline (which routes UK-flagged content to NCA / IWF). Our safety officer files an independent report with NCA CEOP within a 24-hour SLA.
Real intros, not infinite swipes
You can't spam Ether. To start a conversation you have to record a short video introduction — which gets moderated, of course. That one requirement filters out bots, low-effort accounts, and anyone who isn't willing to show up as a real person. It's a small amount of friction that changes the whole feel of the platform.
Humans in the loop
When something gets flagged — by our systems or by another user — it goes to a moderator, not just a machine. Reports have SLA-tracked response times. Banned users stay banned. Fraud patterns (romance scams, catfish accounts, synthetic profiles) are flagged and reviewed before they reach you.
Your data is yours
We're GDPR compliant from day one. You can export your data, delete your account, and see exactly what we hold about you. We don't sell personal data. We don't share it with advertisers. And the selfie you submit for age verification? It's processed in memory and thrown away — we only keep the age range and the result.
Compliant with the UK Online Safety Act
The Online Safety Act 2023 places strict duties on platforms like ours — particularly around age assurance and the prevention of illegal content. Ether was designed around those duties, not retrofitted after the fact. Our CSAM reporting process is documented (incident response runbook + named safety officer with a 24-hour NCA CEOP filing SLA), every moderation action is written to an admin audit log with legal holds, and incident evidence (offending content + provenance chain) is retained for 90 days under our compliance policy.
One more thing
No safety system is perfect. If you see something on Ether that doesn't feel right — a profile that looks fake, a message that crosses a line, a person behaving in a way that concerns you — report it. It goes to a real person on our moderation team, and we'll act on it.
For urgent concerns about a child's safety, you can also report directly to NCA CEOP — the UK's dedicated child protection body.