Safety at AroundMe

We put strangers in a room together on purpose. That only works if it is genuinely safe, so here is exactly what we do, what we don't, and how to reach a human.

If you are in immediate danger, call 911 first.

Then tell us at deven@aroundme.co so we can act on the account. Your safety comes before our process.

How to report someone

From your invite— open the meetup link we emailed you and use “Report a problem with this meetup”. This is the fastest route: we already know which group and venue you mean.
From your account page— “Report a problem”, available any time, about anything.
By email — deven@aroundme.co, if you would rather not use the app or no longer have an account.

A human reads every report and responds within 24 hours. The person you report is never told that you reported them.

Blocking

After any meetup you can mark anyone in your group as someone you'd rather not be matched with again. It is one tap, it is silent, and it is permanent: they are never told, nothing about their experience changes, and our matcher will never put the two of you in a group again. You never have to explain it to anyone, including us.

What we do by design

Everyone is email-verified. At launch, every member holds a real ucr.edu address.
Nobody browses people. There are no profiles to scroll, no photos to judge, and no way to search for a person. You only ever see the 4–6 people in your own confirmed group.
Meetups are in public places. Never a private home. The venue is a real business we have arranged the slot with.
Nothing is revealed early. Venue details unlock when you confirm; group names appear only to the group.
You can leave at any point. Decline an invite, cancel the morning of, or delete your account entirely — none of it costs you anything or requires a reason.
Same-gender groups on request.If you would be more comfortable in one, say so in your intake and we will do it whenever the week's pool allows.

What we are honest about

We do not run background checks. Verifying a university email proves someone is a student at that university. It does not prove they are safe or honest. Meet in the public venue we name, tell a friend where you are going, and leave the moment you want to — you never owe anyone an explanation, and there is no penalty from us for walking out of a meetup.

What happens after you report

Your report reaches a human inbox immediately, and is acknowledged within 24 hours.
We separate the people involved in matching straight away, before deciding anything.
We look at what happened — the reports, the meetup, and the accounts. We may contact you for detail, and we will not share your identity with the person reported.
Depending on what we find, we warn, suspend, or permanently remove the account. Serious safety reports go straight to removal.
We tell you what we did.