Terms of Service

Effective date: 23 May 2026 · Version: 1.0 · Jurisdiction: Queensland, Australia · goyova.com/legal/terms

1. About these Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") form a binding agreement between you and Tim Hulsen, a natural person operating the Goyova service from Shop 2/290 Boundary Street, Spring Hill QLD 4000, Australia ("we", "us", "our", "the operator"), regarding your use of the Goyova mobile application, the goyova.com website, and any related services (together, the "Service").

"Goyova" refers to the service. The legal entity currently providing it is Tim Hulsen as a natural person. We plan to transfer operation to Goyova Pty Ltd (an Australian proprietary limited company being established in 2026), at which point these Terms will be updated and you will be notified.

By downloading, installing, opening, or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

These Terms must be read together with our Privacy Policy (goyova.com/legal/privacy) and Affiliate Disclosure (goyova.com/legal/affiliate-disclosure), both incorporated by reference.

2. About the Service

Goyova is a travel-discovery service that helps you find natural events, wildlife spectacles, and seasonal phenomena worldwide. The Service includes:

  • A searchable catalog of natural events with descriptions, locations, seasons, and photos
  • An interactive map showing event locations
  • Trip planning tools: saved trips, multiple stops, airport / hotel / car rental / tour records
  • Trip export to JSON file (for personal backup) and PDF (for printable itineraries)
  • Community visit reports: photos, comments, visit dates, and visit location labels submitted by users
  • Voting (thumbs up / thumbs down) and reporting on community posts
  • A blocked-users feature to filter out posts from users you don't want to see
  • A "Founding Contributor" recognition programme (described below)
  • In-app alerts for seasonal events you have saved (stored locally on your device)
  • Links to third-party booking platforms (hotels, flights, tours, car rentals), some of which earn us commission

The Service is provided as informational and planning tools only. It is not a booking platform, tour operator, emergency information service, or substitute for professional travel, safety, medical, or financial advice.

No user accounts: the Service currently operates anonymously. You are identified by a random anonymous identifier stored on your device. There is no sign-in, no email-based account, and no cross-device sync.

3. Eligibility

  • You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service. We display an age confirmation at first launch.
  • Users aged 13-17 should have parental or guardian awareness of their use.
  • You must have legal capacity in your jurisdiction to enter into a contract.

4. Licence to use

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to download and use the Service for personal, non-commercial purposes.

You must NOT:

  • Copy, modify, distribute, sell, lease, or sublicense the Service
  • Reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to derive the source code
  • Use the Service or data extracted from it to build a competing product
  • Scrape, harvest, or systematically extract content from the Service
  • Use bots, scrapers, or scripts against the Service except via documented APIs
  • Remove or obscure copyright, trademark, or proprietary notices
  • Use the Service for any unlawful or harmful purpose
  • Interfere with or disrupt the Service or its infrastructure
  • Submit viruses, malware, or harmful code
  • Impersonate any person or entity

This licence is granted by us, not by Apple Inc. or Google LLC. Apple and Google are not responsible for the Service or for providing maintenance, support, or warranty.

5. App Store and Play Store terms

If you obtained the Service from the Apple App Store, you also agree to the Apple Licensed Application End User Licence Agreement. Apple Inc. and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.

If you obtained the Service from Google Play, you also agree to the Google Play Terms of Service.

6. How you are identified — anonymous device identifier

When you first launch the Service, a random anonymous identifier ("Device ID") is generated and stored locally on your device. This identifier:

  • Allows you to vote on community posts without voting twice on the same post
  • Lets you submit reports about other users' posts without flooding the report system
  • Powers your local "blocked users" list
  • Tracks your own community posts so you can edit or delete them
  • Is not linked to your real name, email, or any government identifier

You can delete this identifier at any time by tapping Settings → Clear my data in the app. This action also deletes your community posts, photos, votes, and reports server-side, and is irreversible.

7. Community content — ownership

You retain full ownership of all photos, comments, visit dates, visit location labels, and any display name you submit to the Service ("User Content"). We do not claim ownership of your User Content.

8. Community content — licence you grant to us

By submitting User Content, you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, transferable, sublicensable licence to:

  • Display, store, reproduce, and distribute your User Content within the Service
  • Show your visit location label, visit date, display name (if provided), and any caption alongside your photo to other users of the Service
  • Promote the Service using your User Content on social media, marketing channels, the website, and app-store listings (with attribution where practical)
  • Promote your photo as the primary event photo for a spectacle if it is highly rated by the community
  • Use your User Content for moderation, abuse prevention, analytics, and product improvement

This licence exists only to operate, promote, and improve the Service. We will never sell your photos to third parties or use them in paid third-party advertising without your separate, specific written consent.

The licence in this Section 8 survives termination of these Terms with respect to User Content that has been substantially used by the Service (for example, a photo promoted as a hero image and embedded in marketing materials).

Removal of promoted content: if your photo is promoted as the primary event photo and you no longer want it displayed, email [email protected]. We will remove it within 30 days of receipt.

Your representations when submitting User Content: by submitting User Content, you confirm that:

  • The content is yours, or you have all necessary rights and permissions to share it
  • It does not infringe any third-party copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other right
  • It does not contain identifiable people without their consent
  • Any visit location label and visit date are accurate to the best of your knowledge
  • The content complies with these Terms and applicable laws

You are solely responsible for User Content you submit. We are not liable for User Content posted by users.

9. Founding Contributor recognition

We offer an opt-in "Founding Contributor" badge to early contributors. Joining is voluntary, requires no payment, and creates no commercial relationship between you and us.

Founding Contributors are publicly displayed with a badge alongside their community posts and may have their display name credited on event pages they have visited. The recognition is honorary; it does not entitle you to revenue, royalties, or other payment in the absence of a separate written agreement.

You can opt out at any time by deleting your posts via Settings → Clear my data, or by emailing [email protected].

In future, we may offer a paid Contributor Programme allowing photographers to opt into commercial licensing of their photos. Any such programme will be subject to a separate written agreement and is not part of these Terms.

10. Content standards

You must not submit User Content that:

  • Is sexually explicit, pornographic, or obscene
  • Depicts graphic violence, gore, self-harm, or animal abuse
  • Harasses, threatens, defames, or intimidates any person
  • Is discriminatory based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, or any other protected characteristic
  • Infringes copyright, trademark, trade secret, privacy, publicity, or any other right
  • Contains another person's personal information without their valid consent
  • Is spam, phishing, scams, or unsolicited commercial content
  • Is deliberately false, misleading, fraudulent, or defamatory
  • Promotes illegal goods, services, or activities
  • Encourages dangerous behaviour, including unsafe wildlife encounters
  • Violates any applicable law or regulation

Moderation and reporting: users may report objectionable content via the in-app report flow with categories: spam, harassment, offensive, misleading, other. We review reports and may remove User Content at our discretion without prior notice. Repeat or serious violations may result in your device being blocked from the Service. We may report serious violations to law enforcement.

Blocking other users: you may block any user from appearing in your view of community content. Blocking is local to your device.

11. Accuracy of event information

Event information in the Service is provided as general informational guidance only. Natural events, wildlife behaviour, and weather are inherently variable and unpredictable. We make no warranty that any event will occur at the described time, place, intensity, or duration.

You are responsible for verifying current local conditions, regulations, access requirements, and safety information before travelling. Wildlife encounters carry inherent risks — always follow local guidelines, park regulations, qualified guides, and safety precautions specific to each event (for example, proper eye protection for solar eclipses, safe distances from large mammals or marine wildlife).

We are not responsible for any travel, financial, safety, health, or other decisions made in reliance on Service information.

12. Third-party bookings and affiliate links

The Service displays links to third-party tour operators, accommodation providers, car rental companies, flight booking platforms, and other external services. These third parties operate their own businesses under their own terms and privacy practices.

We are not a party to any transaction between you and a third party. We are not responsible for any third-party service, content, accuracy, pricing, availability, or conduct.

Affiliate disclosure: we may receive commission from third parties when you make a booking via a link in the Service. This does not increase the price you pay. Full disclosure is at goyova.com/legal/affiliate-disclosure.

13. Intellectual property

The Service, including its name "Goyova", logo, design, code, database, original written content, photographs, illustrations, and other materials (excluding User Content), is owned by Tim Hulsen or our licensors and is protected by Australian copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws and by international treaties.

You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, publicly display, publicly perform, or create derivative works of any part of the Service without prior written permission.

14. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy at goyova.com/legal/privacy describes how we collect, use, share, and protect personal information. By using the Service, you consent to the practices described in the Privacy Policy.

15. Australian Consumer Law

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any consumer rights, guarantees, or remedies that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)) or any other applicable consumer protection legislation ("Non-Excludable Rights").

To the extent permitted by law, where the Service is supplied to a consumer (as defined in the ACL) and the services are not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic, or household use or consumption, our liability for breach of a consumer guarantee is limited (at our option) to: (a) the supply of the services again; or (b) the payment of the cost of having the services supplied again.

16. Disclaimer of warranties

Subject to your Non-Excludable Rights:

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, AVAILABILITY, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or free of viruses, malware, or other harmful components.

17. Limitation of liability

Subject to your Non-Excludable Rights, to the maximum extent permitted by law:

We, our agents, contractors, affiliates, and licensors are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, including loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or business opportunity, arising from or related to your use of or inability to use the Service.

Our total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising from or related to these Terms or the Service in any 12-month period shall not exceed AUD $100, or such higher amount as Non-Excludable Rights require.

18. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us harmless from claims, damages, losses, and reasonable legal fees arising from or related to:

  • Your use of the Service
  • Your User Content
  • Your violation of these Terms
  • Your violation of any third-party right (including IP, privacy, or publicity)
  • Your violation of any law

19. Force majeure

We are not liable for any failure or delay arising from causes beyond our reasonable control, including natural disasters, war, terrorism, civil unrest, pandemic, government action, telecommunications or internet failures, third-party service-provider failures, or labour disputes.

20. Suspension and termination

We may, at our discretion:

  • Remove any User Content for any reason, with or without notice
  • Block any device that repeatedly violates these Terms
  • Modify or discontinue the Service (in whole or in part) at any time
  • Suspend or terminate your use of the Service for breach of these Terms

Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination — including ownership of User Content, licences granted to us, intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, governing law, and general provisions — survive termination.

21. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The version number and "Effective date" at the top reflect the current version. Material changes will be notified at least 14 days before they take effect via in-app notice and on goyova.com/legal/terms.

Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance. If you do not agree to material changes, you may stop using the Service and request data deletion before the effective date.

22. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia and the Commonwealth of Australia, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

Informal resolution: please contact us at [email protected] first. Most issues are resolved informally.

Jurisdiction: subject to your Non-Excludable Rights and any mandatory consumer-protection laws of your country of residence, the courts of Queensland, Australia have exclusive jurisdiction.

Australian consumers may also pursue rights under the Australian Consumer Law and may contact the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) or their state consumer protection agency.

23. General

Entire agreement: these Terms, the Privacy Policy, and the Affiliate Disclosure constitute the entire agreement between you and us.

Severability: if any provision is held invalid, the remaining provisions remain in effect.

No waiver: failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver.

Assignment: you may not assign your rights without our written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a transition to Goyova Pty Ltd, a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

Notices: notices to you may be given by in-app notice or by posting an update on goyova.com. Notices to us must be sent to [email protected] with subject "Legal Notice" or by post to Shop 2/290 Boundary Street, Spring Hill QLD 4000, Australia.

24. Contact

Tim Hulsen, operator of the Goyova service.

Postal: Shop 2/290 Boundary Street, Spring Hill QLD 4000, Australia Email: [email protected] Website: goyova.com