gooner

Terms of service

Effective 2 October 2026 (updated 5 October 2026 for messages between accounts and photos in them; updated 7 October 2026: the old squads are gone, hangouts replace them; updated 12 October 2026: contact details)

Who we are

gooner (chat.gooner.in, gooner.in) is run by an independent developer. "We" and "us" mean the person running gooner. By using gooner, you agree to these terms and to our privacy policy. If you don't agree, please don't use gooner.

Adults only

You must be 18 or older to use gooner. By confirming you're 18+ and using the app, you tell us that you are. Before your camera or screen goes to strangers (random chat; not hangout voice channels, which people join by invite), an AI estimates your age from one selfie. That's an estimate, not an ID check, so this still depends on you telling the truth. If we find out that someone is under 18, we remove their access.

What gooner is

gooner matches you with random strangers for text or video chat. A random chat can also drop you into a hangout's channel that is open to strangers; its members can invite you in.

If you sign in with Google you can also use hangouts (saved group spaces with channels, voice rooms, posts and shared photos, videos and voice notes), messages between accounts, the public directory of hangouts, public posts, profiles you can follow, reels (short videos), personal stories, stages (live voice rooms where a few people talk and the rest listen), events, and anonymous posts in hangouts that turn them on.

The name is a joke. gooner is not an adult or dating service, and sexual content isn't allowed anywhere on it.

Your account and nickname

• You can use gooner without signing in. Your browser keeps a random device id and your nickname.
• If you sign in with Google, keep your Google account secure. You're responsible for what happens on your account.
• Don't pick a nickname that impersonates someone, is sexual, hateful, or includes someone's personal details.

Public posts, profiles and anonymous posts

• Public means public. What you post in a listed hangout or on your profile (posts, comments, reels, photos, your username and bio) can be seen by everyone who is signed in and shared by link. Only post what you are happy for strangers to see.
• Private accounts: if you make your account private, only the people you approve can see your posts, reels and stories. Approve carefully: anyone you approve can see them (and could screenshot or share them), and you can remove a follower at any time from your followers list. Asking to follow is not a way around a block, and repeated or abusive requests can lead to action on your account.
• Usernames follow the nickname rules above. They are unique, you can change yours twice a month, and names that copy ours or make you look like staff (for example admin or support, including look-alike spellings) are not allowed. We can change or remove a username that impersonates someone, is misleading or breaks the rules.
• Hangout owners and moderators run their own hangouts inside these terms: they can remove posts and people from them. They are not gooner staff and we don't check what they decide.
• Anonymous posts: other members can't see who wrote one, but we can, and every rule here applies to them. If an anonymous post breaks the rules, report it: we can find the author and act on their account.
• Stages and events: the rules for calls apply on stages. Hosts can give and take the microphone and end a stage. Event reminders are notifications you asked for by saying you'd go.
• We can remove any public post, reel, story, profile or hangout listing that breaks these terms or that we are told is unlawful.

Messages

• You can message anyone by their @username and send them posts or reels. A message to someone who doesn't follow you waits in their requests, and you can only send a few there until they accept. Don't use messages to spam, sell, or keep writing to someone who hasn't answered.
• The rules below apply to messages exactly as they do everywhere else. Anyone can report a chat or a message, and that also blocks you.
• Unsend and delete only take messages out of the chat. Our safety logs keep them (see the privacy policy).
• "View once" and "allow replay" limit how often a photo can be opened in the app; they can't stop a screenshot or a second phone. Don't screenshot or share someone's photo to embarrass or harm them (the rules below).

Rules

Don't use gooner to:

• show, send or ask for nudity or sexual content, including on camera, in screen shares, photos, videos, voice notes or messages
• involve, sexualise or endanger anyone under 18 in any way. We report this to the authorities.
• harass, bully, threaten or stalk anyone, or push people to hurt themselves
• post hate against people for their religion, caste, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability or nationality
• share someone's personal details, or photos or recordings of them, without their consent
• record, screenshot or share other people's video, voice or messages to embarrass or harm them
• show violence, gore, weapons for sale, drugs or other illegal goods or activity
• spam, scam, phish, advertise or send people to other sites for money
• pretend to be someone else, including gooner staff or goon, our AI
• break the law, or infringe anyone's copyright
• attack, overload, scrape or reverse engineer gooner, get around a block or ban, or use bots

Report and block

You can report a stranger, a hangout member, a message, a chat between accounts, and (in the public side) a post, a reel, a story, a profile or a hangout, and you can block people. Every report also blocks that person, so you won't be matched with them again. When you report someone during video, your browser sends us one still image of what you were seeing, as evidence.

We look at reports and act on them, but we don't watch chats or calls live, and photos, videos, voice notes, video calls and screen shares aren't checked automatically. If someone makes you uncomfortable, skip, block or report them straight away.

Safety logs

Random chats disappear from your screen when they end. But our server keeps a log of messages, matches, reports and blocks so we can deal with abuse and answer valid legal requests. That includes who wrote an anonymous post. We don't record video calls, voice calls, stages or screen shares. The privacy policy has the details, including how long we keep things.

Enforcement and bans

If you break these terms, or we reasonably believe you have, we can remove your content, end your chats, remove you from hangouts, and suspend or ban you from gooner, with or without warning. We may also report illegal content and share evidence with the police when the law requires it.

If you think we got it wrong, email [email protected].

Your content

What you send stays yours. You give us permission to store, process and show it to the people you send it to, as needed to run gooner and keep it safe (including the AI checks and features described in the privacy policy). Only send things you have the right to share.

AI features

gooner uses AI (Claude, by Anthropic) for the age check, "Catch me up" summaries and @goon, a hangout member that's always labelled as AI. @goon can also join voice calls: whoever adds it confirms that it will listen to the call (everyone sees a listening mark on it), it answers only when someone talks to it, and what is said to it and its answers are logged as text, like chat messages. In voice, goon talks the way people talk to it, including swearing, slang and roasts; it is meant as banter between adults, and you can report anything it says. @goon may search the web for recent questions. AI can be wrong. Don't rely on what goon says for anything important, and treat its answers as a bit of fun.

Other people

You're talking to strangers. We don't check who they are and we can't control what they say or do. Be careful what you share about yourself, and never send money to someone you met on gooner.

The service

gooner is free right now and is still being built. Features may change, break or go away, and we may pause or shut down the service. gooner is provided "as is". As far as the law allows, we aren't liable for what other users do, or for any indirect loss from using gooner. Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under the law that can't be limited.

Leaving

You can stop using gooner at any time. To have your data deleted, email [email protected] (see "Your rights" in the privacy policy).

Grievance officer

You can complain about content on gooner or about these terms to our grievance officer:

Email: [email protected]

We'll acknowledge your complaint within 24 hours and aim to resolve it within 15 days. If you report content that shows nudity or sexual acts of you, or impersonates you, tell us in the email and we'll act on it within 24 hours.

Law

These terms are governed by applicable law.

Changes

We'll update this page when the rules change, and change the effective date at the top. For important changes, we'll also show a notice in the app.