Terms of Service

1. Eligibility and accounts

You must be at least 13 years old (or the minimum age of digital consent in your country) to use LightTheMap. You are responsible for the activity on your account and for keeping your credentials secure.

You agree to provide accurate information and to maintain only one personal account unless we explicitly authorize otherwise.

2. Lighting cities and proof

• You may light a city only with truthful proof that you personally visited it.
• Acceptable proof includes real-time GPS check-ins, photos with valid metadata, and historical photos you took.
• Submitting forged, borrowed, AI-generated, downloaded, or otherwise misleading proof is prohibited.
• We may review, downgrade, reject, or revoke any submission, and may request additional evidence at any time.

3. Fair competition

Points, ranks, badges, and review outcomes are determined solely by verified travel. Points cannot be purchased. A Pro subscription unlocks visual and statistical features only and never affects points, ranking, badge eligibility, or moderation decisions.

Duplicate scoring for the same user and the same city is not allowed. Attempting to manipulate leaderboards — including GPS spoofing, coordinated boosting, or operating multiple accounts — may result in score removal, account restriction, or termination.

4. Your content

You retain ownership of the photos and content you upload. You grant LightTheMap a non-exclusive, worldwide license to host, display, and use that content to operate the service, including showing it on city pages, your profile, and share cards.

Do not upload content you do not have the rights to use, or content that is unlawful, infringing, or harmful.

5. Pro subscriptions and payments

Pro subscriptions are billed through Stripe on a recurring basis until cancelled. Prices are shown at checkout in your selected currency. You can manage or cancel your subscription at any time from your billing settings. Refund eligibility is described in our Refund Policy.

6. Prohibited conduct

• Harassment, hate speech, impersonation, or threats toward other travelers.
• Spam, scraping, or automated abuse of the service.
• Attempting to bypass verification, security, or rate limits.
• Uploading malware or attempting to disrupt the platform.

7. Termination

You may delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms or that we reasonably believe threaten the integrity of the leaderboard or the safety of the community.

8. Disclaimers and liability

LightTheMap is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. Map, location, and reference data may contain inaccuracies. To the maximum extent permitted by law, LightTheMap is not liable for indirect or consequential damages arising from your use of the service.

9. Changes and contact

We may update these terms from time to time. Material changes will be announced in-app or by email. Continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance. Questions? Contact legal@lightthemap.com.