In order for our communities to have app access and in order to continue to support our mobile app we must strictly adhere to the photo policies put forth by Apple and Google. These app stores have two types of photo requirements. Some photos are strictly forbidden and others must be ‘opt-in’ to be seen. Grokio’s Photo & Image Policies are stricter than Apple and Google’s policies regarding photos that are strictly forbidden, but more relaxed for photos that are ‘opt-in'. In order to deal with these requirements Grokio allows users a private image album and mark some photos as Sensitive. If a photo is marked as Sensitive then users must have consented to view these photos. Grokio adheres to this using our Safe Browsing mode. By default Safe Browsing is turned on for all new profiles, but can be turned off at any time to allow a user to view Public/Sensitive photos on profiles and in the newsfeed. By turning this off our users have consented to view the ‘more mature’ images classified under the opt-in portions of Apple and Google’s policies.
Photo Classification Table
Classification | Description | Visibility |
|---|---|---|
Public/Safe | These photos abide by all photo policies put forth by Grokio, Apple, and Google | These photos are available to anyone visiting a users profile and will show up in newsfeeds based on the viewer's site preferences. |
Public/Sensitive | These photos abide by photo policies put forth by Grokio, but may violate photo policies put forth by Apple and Google | These photos are only visible to viewers who have Safe Browsing turned off. If Safe Browsing is turned off, these photos have the same visibility as Public/Safe photos. |
Private | These photos are not subject to approval by Grokio or Apple or Google. | These photos are only visible to users who have received proper access by the owner of those images. |
What does sensitive mean?
While Public/Sensitive photos abide by all of Grokio’s Photo & Image Policies, they may not abide by the much stricter policies put forth by Apple and Google. These photos fall under Apple and Google’s opt-in portions and can only be viewed by members who have turned off Safe Browsing mode.
Why is my photo marked sensitive?
If your photo was marked Public/Sensitive then either one of two things has happened.
Our photo AI has detected something in your photo that violate’s one of Apple or Google’s photo policies
One of our admin has reviewed the photo and determined that it violates one of Apple or Google’s photo policies
In the event an AI has marked your photo Public/Sensitive you can click the link on the photo to request a manual review via an admin. Our admin team tries to review all photos uploaded to our communities throughout the day, but requesting a manual review will move your photo up in this queue. Once a photo has been been marked as Public/Sensitive by one of our admins this link for review will disappear. You can still submit a support request via our helpdesk or via email to ask our admin team about your photo and to request additional review.
A large subset of our users have Safe Browsing turned off. This means that most users will still see Public/Sensitive photos in their newsfeeds and on your profile. New profiles have Safe Browsing turned on by default (to abide by Apple and Google’s standards) and are the usual exception to this trend.
Why is my photo marked private?
If your photo was marked private then it contained something violating one of Grokio’s Photo & Image Policies. As long as your photo didn’t violate one of our Community guidelines it may remain in your private photo gallery. These photos will only be viewable to community members who have requested access from you and that you have approved.
Why can’t I use this photo as my profile photo?
Profile images will always appear as the thumbnail image for a player’s profile across both website and app. Since Public/Sensitive and Private photos may not abide by Apple and Google’s photo policies they cannot be used as profile images as those images will appear in the apps on Apple and Google’s store. Unfortunately this is outside of Grokio’s control. We strongly encourage any complaints you have with Apple and Google’s stringent photo policies be brought up with them directly. Only by reaching out to them can those policies be adjusted and changed in the future.
Profile photo recommendations
If you’re uploading a photo to use as a profile photo we recommend you follow these guidelines to help better ensure the photo is marked as Public/Safe:
Include your face - this helps to convince our AI that your photo is safe. This also helps other community members recognize you and get to know you!
Avoid overly sexualized poses - suggestive and sexualized photos violate some of Apple and Google’s photo policies. In some cases this means we must mark these photos sensitive.
Avoid the use of fetish gear - While our communities are sex positive and cater to a wide variety of fetishes and kinks, Apple and Google are less understanding of fetishes and have very strict policies regarding fetish gear in photos. For this reason we must often mark fetish gear as sensitive.
This list is not exhaustive. Unfortunately an exhaustive list is not possible to share with our members since Apple and Google refuse to provide an exhaustive list to us. As a small company we elect to follow a strict interpretation of their guidelines in order to minimize delays in updating our app.