Terms of use

1. General provisions

1.1. This Contract is an offer of the individual entrepreneur Polikarpov Alexey Yurievich, hereinafter the “Administration”, to a natural person who has expressed readiness to make use of the capabilities (functions) of The Taste Service and has accepted the terms of this Contract (hereinafter, the “Contract”). Upon acceptance of the terms set out below and the start of use of the Service, the person accepting this offer becomes a User.

1.2. Full and unconditional acceptance of this offer is deemed to be the performance of any actions in the Service, including, but not limited to: pressing the button to sign in to the Service, starting to use the Service, registering in the Service, using any functionality provided by the Service.

1.3. A Contract concluded in the manner described above is deemed to have been concluded in simple written form, does not require execution on paper and has full legal force.

1.4. From the moment of acceptance, the User is deemed to have read and agreed to this offer and, in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, is deemed to have entered into contractual relations with the Administration on the terms of the Contract.

1.5. Acceptance of the Contract gives the User access to the Service. The Service is provided on equal terms to every person who meets the requirements of this Contract, including the age requirement. This does not deprive the Administration of the right to refuse access to the Service or to restrict it in the cases expressly provided for by this Contract.

1.6. The Administration has the right at any time to amend the terms of the Contract unilaterally, without prior agreement with the User, while ensuring that the amended terms are published in the Service at https://thetaste.io/terms/ no less than 7 days before they enter into force.

2. Terms and definitions

For the purposes of the Contract, the Parties have agreed to use the following terms and definitions:

2.1. “Service” means the set of computer programs and the database developed by the Administration, including the website located in the information and telecommunications network “Internet” at https://thetaste.io/, with the User’s personal area, and The Taste applications. The Service is a restaurant guide: it allows one to find Venues, read Materials, and maintain a Profile and Favorites.

2.2. “Venue” means a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, hotel or other place information about which is posted in the Service.

2.3. “Materials” means Venue cards, selections, editorial ratings, magazine articles, photographs and other content posted in the Service by the Administration.

2.4. “Venue Owner” means a person who owns or manages a Venue and who provides services in it, including serving guests and preparing and serving food and drinks. A Venue Owner is not an employee, co-performer or subcontractor of the Administration.

2.5. “User” means a natural person who has reached the age of 18 and has the necessary scope of legal capacity to accept the terms of this offer and to perform the obligations assumed.

2.6. “Profile” means the User’s page in the Service containing information that the User has specified themselves: nickname, first and last name, city, date of birth, gender, information about themselves, profile images and uploaded photographs.

2.7. “Privacy Settings” means the tools provided by the Service by which the User determines which Profile information is visible to other Users of the Service, and also hides the Profile entirely.

2.8. “Favorites” means the list of Venues marked by the User in the Service.

2.9. “Account” means the record of the User in the Service, access to which is provided after sign-in. Sign-in is carried out through an authorization service or by the User’s mobile phone number. The User’s identifier in the Service is the mobile phone number or, if the authorization service has not transmitted a number, the identifier of the User’s account in that service. The number is confirmed in the manner provided by the Service, including through the authorization service. The Account contains Profile information, Favorites and settings.

3. Subject of the Contract

3.1. The subject of the Contract is the provision by the Administration to the User, free of charge, of access to the functionality of the Service on the terms of a simple (non-exclusive) license, including to the Account, the Profile and Favorites. Under the Contract the Administration also sends messages to the User in the Service interface and to the phone number specified by the User, and provides technical support to Users.

For the avoidance of doubt: the Administration runs the restaurant guide and posts Materials about Venues. Services at a Venue — serving guests, preparing and serving food and drinks, other support and service — are provided by the Venue Owner or persons engaged by the Venue Owner, on their own terms. The Administration does not provide these services, is not their provider and is not responsible for their quality, composition or safety. Relations between the User and a Venue, and between Users, arise directly; the Administration is not a party to them, except in cases expressly provided for by this Contract and by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

3.1.1. The User grants the Administration the right to use the User’s feedback to improve the quality of operation of the Service and the Materials. Such use is not a breach of the terms of confidentiality.

3.2. The following functionality of the Service is available to the User:

3.2.1. Viewing Materials and searching for Venues, including using filters and selecting a city.

3.2.2. Unrestricted access to the Account.

3.2.3. Maintaining a Profile and managing its visibility by means of the Privacy Settings.

3.2.4. Maintaining Favorites, and also viewing the Profiles of other Users to the extent made open by their Privacy Settings.

3.3. The composition of the Materials, the order in which they are shown and the list of Venues are determined by the Administration at its discretion; the selection criteria are not disclosed, and the Administration is not obliged to give reasons for its decision. The procedure for showing Venues and Materials is described in the document “Recommendation Technologies” (the rules for the application of recommendation technologies).

3.4. The User fully understands that the inclusion of a Venue in the Service is not a recommendation to visit it, and that an editorial rating expresses the opinion of the Administration and does not guarantee that the Venue will meet the User’s expectations.

3.5. The User fully understands that the Administration may at any time refuse to provide access to the Service and to individual features of it in the event of a breach by the User of the terms of this Contract, and also in any other cases, including without giving reasons.

3.6. Information about Venues — addresses, opening hours, menus, prices, average check, availability of seats and terms of service — is collected by the Administration from open sources and from Venue Owners, may become out of date or contain inaccuracies, and does not constitute a public offer by the Venue or by the Administration.

The rules of conduct at a Venue, its operating hours, range of offerings, prices and procedure of service are established by the Venue Owner.

3.7. The Account is personal. Transferring access to the Account to another person, including by communicating the confirmation code, does not give that person the rights of a User and is grounds for blocking the Account.

3.8. The User decides independently what information about themselves to place in the Profile. By placing their name, photographs and other Profile information in the Service, the User makes it available to other Users of the Service and understands that such information may be copied and disseminated by other persons, and that the Administration cannot prevent this. The User can change the visibility of their Profile in the settings of the Service.

The Profile is shown only to Users who have signed in to the Service; Profile information is not provided to visitors who have not signed in. By default, completed Profile information is visible to other Users; hiding the Profile entirely is available to the User at any time and takes effect from the moment the setting is saved. Information that the User has not filled in is not published. The User’s profile images may be shown in the Service next to the Venues that the User has marked in Favorites, including to visitors who have not signed in to the Service.

3.9. A feature of the performance of contractual obligations is the absence of a guaranteed result: whether the Service contains a Venue suitable for the User, whether the information about it is up to date, and the impressions from visiting it depend on circumstances outside the Administration’s control.

3.10. To use the Service, the User must ensure the availability of the following equipment and software:

• a smartphone or tablet with access to the Internet and the application installed;
• or a computer or laptop with access to the Internet and an up-to-date browser — for the website and the personal area;
• a valid mobile phone number and, for signing in on the website or in the application, an account in an authorization service with a phone number specified in it.

3.11. The User accepts and agrees that the Service is a software product of the Administration and operates on an “as is” basis; the information provided in the Service, including information about Venues, is for information purposes only and does not guarantee suitability for the User’s purposes and expectations; the Administration does not guarantee the absence of compatibility problems with the User’s other software products, nor does it guarantee uninterrupted and error-free operation of the Administration’s software and technical facilities, or of the third-party services through which the applications, message delivery and sign-in operate. The User uses the Service voluntarily and at their own risk; the Administration is not liable for technical failures, unavailability of the Service, delays and errors in its operation, or for the impossibility of using the Service at a particular moment.

3.12. The Administration has the right to process and make public aggregated analytical data, such as statistics on visits to the Service and its sections, for the purposes of analyzing, refining and modifying the Service, as well as posting statistical data on the information and telecommunications network “Internet”, at events, and providing analytics to third parties, within the limits permitted by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

3.13. As part of the performance of its obligations under the Contract, the Administration transfers the User’s personal data received on the basis of the Contract to the following third parties:

• persons carrying out processing on the instructions of the Administration: a provider of hosting and infrastructure located in the territory of the Russian Federation;
• message delivery services and the platforms through which the applications operate — to the extent necessary for their operation;
• the authorization service — upon sign-in on the website, to the extent that the User has permitted to be transferred in the authorization service itself;
• the operator of the service for collecting depersonalized visit statistics — to the extent necessary for collecting it;
• other Users of the Service — Profile information to the extent made open by the User’s Privacy Settings;
• other third parties with which the Administration has concluded a contract ensuring a lawful basis for processing — including for sending messages and carrying out joint projects;
• state authorities — in the cases provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

3.14. Favorites are formed by the User independently. The User may at any time hide the Profile entirely, after which it ceases to be shown to other visitors. The Administration determines the composition of the Profile functionality and may at any time change it or switch it off without notifying the User.

4. Rights and obligations of the Administration

4.1. The Administration is obliged to:

4.1.1. Provide access to the functionality of the Service in accordance with the terms of this Contract after the User has registered in the Service.

4.1.2. At the User’s request, give explanations on questions of using the Service and its functionality.

4.2. The Administration has the right to:

4.2.1. Independently determine the functionality of the Service, and change or introduce new functionality of the Service without prior agreement with the User.

4.2.2. Require the User to provide truthful information in the Account and in the Profile.

4.2.3. Suspend the operation of the Service for technological or scheduled maintenance without notifying the User and without any penalties being applied to the Administration.

4.2.4. Require the User to provide information allowing the Account information to be confirmed, including when considering a complaint by another User or a disputed situation.

4.2.5. Refuse access to the Service, restrict access to individual functions, block or delete the User’s Account and terminate the Contract on any grounds, including without giving reasons. An Account created by a person who has not reached the age of 18 is blocked, and the data relating to it are deleted.

4.2.6. Delete from the Profile information and photographs posted in breach of the Contract or of the legislation of the Russian Federation, and also hide the Profile entirely.

4.2.7. Change the composition of the Materials, the order in which they are shown and the information about a Venue, or remove a Venue’s card from the Service.

4.2.8. Show Profile information and photographs uploaded by the User to other Users of the Service — to the extent that the User has made open by the Privacy Settings — and also use them in the Service to show the Profile in search. The User has the right to withdraw such consent at any time by switching off the relevant setting, hiding the Profile or sending a demand to the Administration at me@polikarpov.me.

5. Rights and obligations of the User

5.1. The User is obliged to:

5.1.1. Provide the Administration, on request and also by filling in the Profile, with truthful information and data necessary for the Administration’s proper performance of its obligations. When concluding the Contract, the User is obliged to sign in to the Service and obtain access to the Account. By registering, the User confirms that they have reached the age of 18.

5.1.2. Comply with the rules of the Venue announced by its Venue Owner, including the dress code and booking procedure, and clarify the terms of visiting directly with the Venue.

5.1.3. Not reproduce, copy or distribute, nor use in any other way, for any purposes whatsoever, the content of the Service, except for personal use within this Contract.

5.1.4. Not post in the Service photographs and other images of other persons without their consent (Article 152.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation); by uploading a photograph, the User confirms that they are entitled to use it and that it depicts the User themselves. Not post by any means, including in the information and telecommunications network “Internet”, information about other Users, including their personal data obtained through the Service.

Not disclose information about other Users that has become known to the User, except for generally available information (publicly available without violating the rights of the persons concerned).

5.1.5. Not take actions to place advertising information in the Service, nor any unlawful, defamatory or threatening messages, or messages contrary to the legislation of the Russian Federation.

5.1.6. Not transfer access to their Account to any third parties, and ensure the safety of access to the device and to the accounts of the authorization services through which sign-in is carried out. If this condition is not observed (including cases of loss of access against the User’s will), the Administration is not liable for providing access to the User’s Account to a person who has obtained such access by any means, and is not obliged to compensate the User for damage caused by such a breach.

5.1.7. Not mislead the Administration and other Users as to their identity, and not post in the Service information that is in any way defamatory and/or information that does not correspond to reality.

5.1.8. Report to the Administration any breaches of the Contract by other Users, including the posting in Profiles of other people’s images and personal data.

5.1.9. Notify the Administration without delay of cases of loss of access to the Account or of unauthorized access to it.

5.1.10. Provide the necessary information at the Administration’s request.

5.1.11. Independently assess the information in the Service before visiting a Venue: verify the up-to-date status of the address, opening hours, prices and terms of service directly with the Venue. The decision to visit a Venue is made by the User, who bears the risks associated with it; the User informs the Venue of any health restrictions, food intolerances and other special circumstances before making a choice.

5.1.12. When registering in the Service, not introduce themselves under another person’s name or act on behalf of another person, and not specify at registration a phone number and/or email address to which the User does not have lawful access.

5.1.13. Have no more than one Account and use it only personally. Creating additional Accounts, including to circumvent a restriction of access, is prohibited.

5.1.14. Not use the Profile and Favorites for sending out messages in bulk, for intrusive contact with other Users, or for other actions unrelated to the purpose of the Service.

5.1.15. Upload to the Profile only those photographs that the User is willing to show to other Users of the Service, and remember that enabled visibility makes them available to any signed-in User who opens the Profile.

5.1.16. When using the Service, the User undertakes to comply with the legislation of the Russian Federation in force, including, but not limited to, the following:

• refrain from using profanity (swear words and expressions);
• not engage in insults, threats, harassment or discrimination on any grounds towards other Users, Venues and employees of the Administration;
• not transmit or disseminate materials that violate the legislation of the Russian Federation, nor information about racial and national origin, political views, religious and philosophical beliefs, health and intimate life — their own or that of third parties;
• not use in a nickname, first name or last name any insults, obscene expressions, data of third parties, advertising, or designations confusingly similar to trademarks of third parties;
• not transmit or disseminate advertising information and messages unrelated to the subject of the Service, either in relation to themselves or in relation to third parties;
• not commit actions aimed at disrupting the operation of the Service, automated data collection or circumvention of technical restrictions.

5.2. The User has the right to:

5.2.1. Use the Service in accordance with its functionality.

5.2.2. Maintain a Profile and at any time change the scope of information visible to other visitors by means of the Privacy Settings, including hiding the Profile entirely.

5.2.3. Contact the Administration for technical support by the means provided in the on-screen interface of the Service, and also at me@polikarpov.me.

5.2.4. Decline to receive advertising and informational messages without losing access to the Service.

5.2.5. Unilaterally refuse to use the Service and terminate the Contract by sending the Administration a relevant notice at me@polikarpov.me or by deleting the Account in the Service settings, as a result of which the Administration deletes the User’s Account. In the event of such refusal, the Contract is deemed terminated from the day following the day on which the Administration receives such notice or the Account is deleted.

5.2.6. Demand deletion of their Profile.

5.2.7. Report to the Administration inaccuracies in information about Venues and propose corrections.

The Administration may at any time change the composition of the Profile functionality without notifying the User.

The User independently determines the content of the information that they place in the Profile and is responsible for placing it. When filling in the Profile, the User is prohibited from including information that violates the legislation of the Russian Federation or contains obscene (profane) or insulting language. The Administration does not carry out prior moderation of Profiles and is not liable for the information that the User places in them.

6. Financial terms

6.1. The User does not pay for obtaining access to the Service and its functionality.

6.2. Visiting a Venue may be paid. The cost of services and the procedure and time limits for payment are established by the Venue Owner; such terms are not governed by this Contract.

6.3. The Administration does not process the User’s bank card data by means of the Service and does not accept payments in the Service.

6.4. Information about the cost of the services of Venues posted in the Service, including menus, prices and average check, is for reference only and may be changed by the Venue without notice to the Administration.

6.5. Paid functionality may be introduced in the Service only after the terms of payment for it have been published in a new edition of the Contract.

7. Warranties and liability

7.1. The User’s personal data are accepted solely on the User’s word, and also by filling in the Profile. The User is personally responsible for the accuracy of the personal data provided, including for the fact that the uploaded photograph depicts the User themselves. No content or information posted in the Service is intended to be used as professional recommendations of any kind.

7.2. The User’s personal data may not be provided by the Administration to third parties without the User’s consent; the exceptions are the disclosure of personal data at the request of state authorities and the transfer to the persons specified in clause 3.13 of the Contract.

7.3. The Administration does not guarantee that information about Venues is up to date and complete, that a Venue has available seats, that the menu and prices correspond to those posted in the Service, or that a Venue can be visited on the date and at the time of interest to the User.

7.4. The Administration is not liable if the User fails to achieve the results they expected, or if the result obtained does not correspond to the User’s expectations, including for the impressions of visiting a Venue and the quality of food, drinks and service.

7.5. In the event of a breach of this Contract by the User, the Administration has the right unilaterally to terminate the Contract and block access to the Service without sending the User a relevant notice.

7.6. The User is solely responsible for interaction with other Users, including meetings outside the Service. The Administration is not liable for information posted by the User in the Service, including, but not limited to: errors, inaccurate information contained in such information, and any losses arising in connection with such information.

7.7. The liability of the Administration for any lawsuits and claims connected with the performance of this Contract is limited to the amount of the actual damage caused by the Administration to the User. This limitation does not apply if the legislation of the Russian Federation provides otherwise.

7.8. The User’s dissatisfaction with the composition of the Materials, the order in which Venues are shown, or the Administration’s decision to change or delete information is not grounds for holding the Administration liable.

7.9. The User shall compensate the Administration for any damage caused to the Administration by the User’s breach of the terms of this Contract and of the legislation of the Russian Federation.

7.10. The Administration does not provide catering or service at Venues, does not control the preparation and serving of food and drinks, does not check their composition and does not guarantee that they will suit a particular User. The User sends claims relating to the services of a Venue, including food, drinks, service and the condition of the premises, directly to the Venue.

7.11. The Administration has the right to consider independently a User’s complaint about a Venue or about another User and to take a decision at its own discretion, including on restricting access to the Service.

8. Force majeure circumstances (force majeure)

8.1. The Parties are released from liability for partial or complete failure to perform their obligations under this Contract if performance has become impossible as a result of force majeure circumstances that arose after the conclusion of the Contract as a result of events of an extraordinary nature, including the following circumstances (but not limited to them):

• (a) war, hostilities (whether or not war has been declared), invasion, sudden military attack, action of an enemy army;
• (b) riot, rebellion against lawful authority, civil unrest, disorder, organized armed resistance to the government, military coup, civil war, drills for the purpose of preventing acts of terrorism and mass disorder in places where crowds gather;
• (c) flood, fire, arson, earthquake, storm, lightning strike, collapse (landslide) or other natural disasters;
• (d) epidemic, disease, death, raid, sabotage, crime, explosion, terrorist acts of any nature;
• (e) adoption of acts by state or municipal authorities and administration bodies that prevent performance of the Contract, including a ban or restriction on the activity of the Service;
• (f) occurrence of a technical failure in public telecommunications and/or power networks, failures in the operation of the hosting provider, restrictions by telecommunications operators and third-party services, the action of malicious software, and also bad-faith actions of third parties aimed at unauthorized access and/or disabling the software and/or hardware complex, or the occurrence of another similar event.

8.2. A Party affected by force majeure circumstances must, within three (3) business days, notify the other Party thereof in writing, including by publication in the Service, and, where possible, as soon as possible provide confirmation of the existence of the force majeure circumstances issued by a competent state or administrative authority.

8.3. If force majeure circumstances occur, the time for the Parties to perform their obligations under this Contract is extended in proportion to the time during which the force majeure circumstances apply.

8.4. If force majeure circumstances continue for more than one (1) month, each of the Parties has the right to refuse further performance of its obligations under this Contract, provided that the other Party’s actually incurred expenses are reimbursed.

9. Confidentiality, protection and receipt of information

9.1. The User is notified that the personal data provided by them are processed by the Administration in accordance with Federal Law No. 152-FZ of 27 July 2006 “On Personal Data”, for the purpose of performing the Administration’s obligations to the User under this Contract and in accordance with the “Personal Data Processing Policy” (https://thetaste.io/personaldata/). The “Consent to data processing” (https://thetaste.io/consent/) is executed as a separate document. Profile information is visible to the Administration and to persons acting on its instructions, and to other Users of the Service — to the extent determined by the User’s Privacy Settings.

The User is notified that the data left by them upon registration and use of the Service may be transferred to the persons listed in clause 3.13 of the Contract.

9.2. If the User gives consent to receive advertising and informational messages — by ticking the relevant field on the sign-in screen of the Service — such messages may be sent in the Service interface, to the phone number specified by the User and/or to their email. The User has the right to refuse to receive such messages without giving reasons for the refusal, by unticking the box in the Service settings or by sending a relevant statement to the Administration’s email address: me@polikarpov.me.

9.3. The Administration has the right to send, in the Service interface and to the phone number specified by the User, service messages informing the User of the status of the Account, of the actions of other Users in relation to their Profile, of changes to the documents of the Service, and other service and functional messages. Such messages are sent automatically and cannot be declined by the User.

10. Rights to the results of intellectual activity

10.1. The exclusive rights to the Service, the content contained in it (except for materials posted by Users) and the databases belong to the Administration.

10.2. The Administration grants the User, on the terms of a simple (non-exclusive) license, the right to use the Service within this Contract. This license includes the right to use the Service for its direct functional purpose by the means provided within the Service and subject to the prohibitions and restrictions stated in this Contract, for personal non-commercial purposes. By uploading materials to the Service, the User grants the Administration a free-of-charge simple (non-exclusive) license to store and reproduce them to the extent necessary for the operation of the Service and for showing the Profile in accordance with the Privacy Settings, for a period until the material or the Account is deleted.

10.3. Except in cases expressly provided for by this Contract, the User does not acquire any intellectual property rights in the Service and in the content posted in the Service. All intellectual and other applicable rights to the Service and all its components, including the designation The Taste, belong to the Administration.

10.4. The User is prohibited from copying, reproducing, modifying, adapting, displaying, distributing, publishing, transferring, selling or otherwise using the results of intellectual activity posted in the Service, whether in whole or in part, without the prior and expressly stated permission of the Administration, except in cases where the Administration has expressly stated its consent to the free use of the result of intellectual activity by any person.

10.5. Any use of the Service, except in cases expressly permitted by this Contract, is prohibited for the User and is deemed a breach of the terms of the Contract.

11. Final provisions

11.1. The Contract constitutes the entire agreement between the Administration and the User.

11.2. Matters not regulated by this Contract are governed in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation in force.

11.3. All disputes and disagreements arising out of or in connection with the Contract shall, where possible, be resolved through negotiations between the Parties. If the Parties do not reach agreement, disputes are considered in the manner established by the legislation of the Russian Federation in force. Compliance with the pre-trial claims procedure for settling disputes is mandatory for the Parties; a claim is sent to me@polikarpov.me, and a response to the claim may not take longer than 30 (thirty) calendar days from the date of its receipt. The User’s rights as a consumer provided for by the Law of the Russian Federation “On Protection of Consumer Rights”, including the right to bring a lawsuit at the place of residence, are not limited by the Contract.

11.4. The Contract enters into force from the moment the User accepts this offer and remains in effect until the Parties have fully performed the obligations they have assumed.

12. Administration’s details

• Individual entrepreneur Polikarpov Alexey Yurievich
• INN: 772372028405
• OGRNIP: 310774630201092
• Registered on 29.10.2010 by the Interdistrict Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service No. 46 for the City of Moscow, certificate series 77 No. 013932607
• Email: me@polikarpov.me