Terms of Use

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing and using Local-Link, you accept and agree to be bound by the terms and provision of this agreement. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use our service.

2. Use License

Permission is granted to temporarily use Local-Link for personal, non-commercial transitory viewing only. This is the grant of a license, not a transfer of title, and under this license you may not:

• Modify or copy the materials
• Use the materials for any commercial purpose
• Attempt to reverse engineer any software
• Remove any copyright or proprietary notations

3. User Accounts

When you create an account with us, you must provide information that is accurate, complete, and current at all times. You are responsible for safeguarding the password and for all activities that occur under your account.

4. User Content

You retain ownership of any content you submit, post, or display on or through the service. By submitting content, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, and distribute your content.

5. Prohibited Uses

You may not use our service:

• For any unlawful purpose
• To transmit any viruses or malicious code
• To harass, abuse, or harm others
• To violate any local, state, or federal law
• To infringe upon intellectual property rights
• To collect, republish, or redistribute another user's saved places or activity outside the app

6. Business Listings

Business owners are responsible for the accuracy of their listings. We reserve the right to remove or modify any listing that violates our policies or contains false information.

7. Gems & Rewards Program

Local-Link Gems are earned exclusively through genuine interactions with businesses that currently hold Hidden Gem status on the platform. Gems are not awarded for general platform activity such as browsing, liking content outside of Hidden Gem businesses, or account creation.

Users earn gems by completing any one of the following qualifying actions for a Hidden Gem business:

• Physical GPS visit — being within 0.25 miles of the business (device GPS verified; maximum once per business per calendar day)
• Writing a review — submitting a review on the business profile (one gem credit per business, lifetime)
• Like and comment — performing both actions on the same Hidden Gem business post (one credit per post)
• Tagging the business — authoring a post that explicitly tags the business (one credit per business, lifetime)

Trailblazer Status: The first 10 users to perform any qualifying action for a given Hidden Gem business earn a permanent Trailblazer badge for that business, visible on their profile. Users ranked 11th or later may still collect gems but do not receive the Trailblazer badge. Trailblazer badges are permanently removed if a user reclaims their gem for that business and cannot be re-earned.

Gem Gifting: Users may gift gems to any business on the platform (Hidden Gem status is not required) in preset amounts of 25, 50, or 100 gems. Gifted gems contribute to a business's Local-Link visit count. Users must have a sufficient gem balance to gift; gifted gems are deducted from the user's balance immediately and cannot be reversed.

Nomination Limit: Users may submit a maximum of 3 Hidden Gem nominations per week. Nominations require GPS-verified proximity to the business at the time of submission.

Vouching: A vouch is a discovery signal, not a gem-earning action. You get 5 vouches per day on Discover, plus 1 shared vouch per day across the Hidden Gems, Rising Gems, and Local Faves pages. A business can be vouched from those three pages only once, ever. Vouches help move a business toward Rising Gem and Local Fave status, so coordinated or automated vouching is treated the same as gem farming.

• Gems have no cash value and cannot be transferred between user accounts
• Users CANNOT redeem gems for cash or monetary value
• We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the Gems program at any time
• Unused gems may expire according to program terms
• Attempting to manipulate or game the Gems system (including fake GPS, coordinated farming, or bot activity) may result in gem balance resets and account suspension

See Business & Organization Terms for complete details on how gems affect business status and analytics.

8. Subscriptions & Credits (Business Accounts)

Business and organization accounts may subscribe to paid tiers (Free, Pro at $19.99/month, or Premium at $79/month, billed monthly or annually). Paid tiers include a monthly credit pool used to publish ads and promotions, where 1 credit equals $1. Unused credits do not roll over month to month. Referral credits are a separate pool and are applied before subscription credits. Full details, including draft and active-listing limits per tier, appear in the Business & Organization Terms.

Paid subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period until cancelled. You can cancel at any time in Manage Subscription; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid period. Price or plan changes apply from your next renewal, with at least 30 days' notice.

9. Perks & Deals (Users)

Perks and deals appear in your Perks & Deals screen and are issued by businesses on Local-Link. When you claim a perk:

• Each claim generates a unique 4-digit code and a QR payload tied to your account
• Claims are single-use and personal — they cannot be shared, transferred, or resold
• Claims expire 24 hours after creation or at the promotion's expiry date, whichever is sooner
• The business verifies the claim in person by scanning the QR, entering the 4-digit code, or using merchant override
• Attempting to redeem expired, fraudulent, or duplicate claims may result in suspension of your perks privileges
• Trailblazer deals — a business holding Hidden Gem status may send one free deal per calendar month to the first 10 people who discovered it; these arrive in Perks & Deals and are claimed like any other perk

10. Forums & Community Help

Local-Link includes community forums and a Community Help Group where users can ask questions, share tips, and discuss local topics. All forum activity is governed by our Community Guidelines. Posts that harass, dox, spam, or violate the Guidelines may be removed. You can report a forum post or comment using the ⋯ menu on the item.

11. Messaging Conduct

You can control who is allowed to message you (Everyone or No one) in Settings → Message Preferences. Direct messages are for community connection, not unsolicited commercial outreach. Commercial spam, harassment, and abusive content are prohibited. You can report any conversation using the flag icon in the message header.

12. Limitation of Liability

In no event shall Local-Link, nor its directors, employees, partners, agents, suppliers, or affiliates, be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages resulting from your use of the service.

13. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Local-Link and its licensee and licensors, and their employees, contractors, agents, officers and directors, from and against any claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debt, and expenses.

14. Termination

We may terminate or suspend your account and bar access to the service immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason whatsoever, including without limitation if you breach the Terms.

15. Changes to Terms

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time. If a revision is material, we will provide at least 30 days notice prior to any new terms taking effect.

16. Governing Law & Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Maryland. If something goes wrong, contact us first — most issues can be resolved informally. Any dispute that cannot be resolved informally must be brought in the state or federal courts located in Maryland.

17. Contact Information

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at:

Email: contact@local-link-app.com

Support: contact@local-link-app.com