Terms of Use

Release / Last Updated Date: July 11, 2026.

This document ("Terms of Use" or "Agreement") constitutes a binding and enforceable electronic legal contract between "Cookster Advertising Agency", a company legally established and existing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under Commercial Registration, headquartered in Dhahran (hereinafter referred to in this document as "Company", "we", "us", or "Cookster"), and you in your capacity as an independent individual user, or a legally authorized representative of a commercial entity, restaurant, or sponsor (hereinafter referred to as "User", "you", or "Account Holder").

The Cookster app, available exclusively on smartphones (for iOS and Android systems), aims to provide an advanced interactive social platform enabling food lovers to discover restaurants, share their reviews and visual experiences via videos and photos, exchange written recipes, and engage in effective community communication, in addition to empowering business owners to reach their target segment.

Crucial Legal Disclaimer: Please read these terms carefully and thoroughly.

Your mere download of the app, or registration to create an account by any available means (including registration via email, or through single sign-on services belonging to Apple or Google), or your access to the services, constitutes conclusive acknowledgment and explicit irrevocable consent to your full compliance with all the terms and conditions contained in this document, in addition to your agreement to the "Privacy Policy" which is considered an integral part of these terms.

In the event you do not agree, in whole or in part, to any of these provisions, you must immediately cease using the app and proceed to uninstall it from your devices permanently.

Article One: Procedural Definitions and Interpretation

In the context of interpreting and applying this Agreement, the following terms and phrases bear the meanings set forth opposite them, unless the linguistic or legal context clearly requires otherwise:

• "App" or "Platform": Refers to the smartphone application named "Cookster" in all its current and future versions, updates, software, algorithms, and connected interfaces, in addition to the company's website dedicated to informational and blog purposes only.
• "User": Every natural or legal person who accesses the app, browses it, or creates an interactive account to obtain the provided services.
• "Content" or "User-Generated Content (UGC)": Covers all data, texts, recipes, reviews, still photos, videos, comments, likes, private messages, and any other materials or information uploaded, broadcasted, exchanged, or published through the app's servers.
• "Personal Account": The free account intended purely for non-commercial personal use, which allows individuals to share their experiences and reviews.
• "Business Account": The account intended for commercial entities, restaurants, and service providers in the food sector, with the aim of displaying their menus, determining their geographical locations, and professional communication with customers.
• "Sponsored Account (Sponsors and Advertisers)": The account intended for individuals or companies wishing to exploit advertising spaces to provide sponsored content or paid marketing campaigns within the app interface.
• "Applicable Regulations": All laws, executive regulations, royal decrees, and instructions issued by legislative and regulatory authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including but not limited to: the E-Commerce Law, the Anti-Cyber Crime Law, the Copyright Protection Law, and the Personal Data Protection Law.

Article Two: Legal Capacity, Registration Requirements, and Account Security

• Minimum Legal Age: The Cookster app is designed to be available to users who are at least thirteen (13) years old. By initiating the registration process, you legally declare and warrant that you have reached this minimum age. Those under the age of 13 are strictly prohibited from creating accounts or entering any personal data on the platform.
• Use by Minors and Legal Guardian's Consent: In response to applicable regulations and child data protection rules, if your age is between (13) and under (18) years old (the legal age of full capacity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), your account creation is considered documented acknowledgment that you have obtained prior, explicit, and informed consent from your parent or legal guardian. The legal guardian agrees under this clause to bear all legal and financial obligations arising from the minor's use of the platform. The Cookster administration retains the absolute and discretionary right to request official documents proving this consent, to temporarily suspend the account, and to perform automatic destruction of all account data in the event of failure to provide proof within the specified timeframe.
• Data Accuracy Obligations: The user, regardless of their account category, is obligated to provide accurate, true, and complete registration information, and to update it immediately whenever any changes occur. This includes the name, email, and date of birth. Providing fictitious information or impersonating others is a severe violation that leads to immediate account closure.
• Account Security and Absolute Responsibility: You bear the exclusive and absolute responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of your login data, whether it is a direct password, or accounts linked to third-party services (such as Apple or Google). Any interactive activity executed through your account is considered an activity personally originating from you and legally binding upon you. You must notify Cookster administration immediately if you suspect any unauthorized access or security breach of your account.

Article Three: Specific Regulatory Obligations for Account Categories

To meet the requirements of the Saudi E-Commerce Law and consumer protection regulations, Cookster imposes varying operational obligations based on the nature of the account used:

• Controls for Personal Accounts: These accounts are granted a limited license for personal, non-commercial use. The individual user is prohibited from exploiting this account to practice direct selling, offer commercial deals, or broadcast promotional advertisements without upgrading to the designated category. Individuals are obligated to provide objective reviews that reflect their true experiences without deliberate bias or misleading.
• Categorical Obligations for Business and Restaurant Accounts:
• Commercial entities acknowledge by creating these accounts that they are existing legal entities operating in accordance with Saudi regulations.
• Transparency and Disclosure: In application of the provisions of Article Six of the E-Commerce Law, business accounts explicitly commit to accurate disclosure to the public of their commercial identity, including listing the official commercial name, approved contact phone numbers, contact email, and accurately determining the actual geographical location of the establishment.
• Responsibility for Offers: The merchant or restaurant representative bears full legal responsibility, both criminal and civil, for the accuracy and validity of the information uploaded on their account, including menus, prices, working hours, and promotional offers. The Cookster platform bears no joint responsibility towards consumers in the event of proven commercial misleading or failure to provide the advertised service.
• Strict Compliance for Sponsor and Advertiser Accounts:
• Using the app to publish marketing campaigns and sponsored content is conditional upon full compliance with the Regulatory Framework for Advertising Content in the Kingdom.
• Mawthoog License and Parallel Licenses: In compliance with the directives of the General Authority for Media Regulation (GAMR), individuals (citizens or residents) are strictly prohibited from practicing commercial advertising activity within the platform without obtaining a valid "Mawthoog" license. The advertising account holder pledges to possess this license or the necessary commercial registrations, and solely bears the burdens and risks of any regulatory fines imposed as a result of a violation.
• Sponsor accounts commit to providing real contact data (name of the advertising entity or person), while acknowledging Cookster's right to clearly tag their content as an "advertisement" or "sponsored content" to ensure complete transparency and avoid consumer confusion.

Article Four: Intellectual Property Rights, Safe Harbor, and Use Licenses

User content represents the heart of the experience on Cookster. This clause regulates intellectual property in accordance with the latest amendments to the Saudi Copyright Protection Law for the years 2024 and 2026, which established the principle of balance between protecting creativity and operating platforms.

• Content Ownership and User Retention of Rights: The Cookster app does not claim any exclusive ownership or transfer of original copyright ownership for the content (such as photos, videos, food reviews, or innovative recipes) that you upload. You, as the content creator, retain all your moral and financial rights as determined by law.
• The Broad License Granted to the Platform: By clicking the publish button and uploading any content to the app's servers, you grant Cookster Advertising Agency a global, non-exclusive, free (royalty-free), direct irrevocable, and sublicensable license to: host, store, copy, display, broadcast, and publicly perform your content within the app's environment and its interactive features. This license includes the platform's right to make purely "technical" modifications necessary for the storage and display process across networks (such as compressing video size or cropping photo dimensions), without affecting the core of the creative work, in compliance with content provider operating controls.
• Use of Content in Promotion: The granted license extends to include the company's right to use parts of the public content you publish in Cookster app marketing and promotional campaigns across other platforms or media, with an ethical commitment to indicating your account name as the content creator whenever possible and practical. This operational license ends when you delete the content or account, except for copies stored in backup servers which are destroyed periodically, or if your content has been favorited or bookmarked by other users who are still active in the system.
• Pledges of Originality and Non-Infringement: You legally pledge and declare that you own all rights, licenses, or written consents necessary to publish the content, and that this content is original and does not infringe any copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, or patents belonging to any third party. It is strictly prohibited to use commercially protected audio clips, or to copy others' recipes and visual rights and attribute them to yourself.
• Activation of the "Safe Harbor" Principle: Based on the exemptions prescribed for internet content providers in the amended Copyright Law, you acknowledge that Cookster's role is limited to being a technical intermediary providing an automated infrastructure to route, store, and display data. The platform does not conduct strict proactive monitoring of all uploads, and does not have actual knowledge of the occurrence of violations immediately upon their upload. Accordingly, Cookster is not considered a "partner" in any copyright infringement committed by users.
• Notice and Takedown Mechanism: To activate safe harbor protection, the company commits to a rapid response mechanism. In the event any entity or individual claims an infringement of their intellectual property rights, they must submit an official notice via the company's email containing proof of ownership and the infringing link. The administration commits to technical verification, and removing or disabling access to the violating content within a reasonable timeframe, while notifying the user against whom the complaint is filed of the action taken and preserving their right to submit a Counter-Notice.

Article Five: Prohibited Content and Strict Acceptable Use Policy

The Cookster app is a digital community built on mutual benefit and respect for inherent values. To achieve a safe environment, and strictly based on the provisions of the Saudi Anti-Cyber Crime Law and the directives of the General Authority for Media Regulation, you are strictly prohibited from doing any of the following, or uploading any content that includes:

• Insults, Cursing, and Electronic Defamation: Publishing any content aimed at personal offense, slander, or defamation of any individual, restaurant, or commercial entity is prohibited. We emphasize that restaurant reviews must be based on an actual personal experience, and formulated within the framework of constructive and objective criticism of the service or product, without sliding into personal defamation which may subject its author to Article Three of the Anti-Cyber Crime Law (penalty of up to one year imprisonment and a fine of half a million riyals).
• Immoral Content and Nudity: Uploading or circulating any materials containing nudity, explicit sexual suggestions, or pornographic content, which represents a severe violation of Article Six of the Law.
• Hatred and Inciting Strife: Publishing content that promotes racism, ethnic or religious discrimination, or incites tribal and sectarian strife, or shows contempt for the Kingdom's cultural and religious constants.
• Violation of Privacy and Private Spaces: Filming restaurants from the inside in a way that violates the privacy of other customers, or filming workers and defaming them via video without obtaining explicit permission from them. This act is considered a blatant violation of private life criminalized by law.
• Violence and Threats: Using the platform to intimidate others, threaten, or digitally blackmail, or promote self-harm or violent crimes.
• Promoting Prohibitions: Exploiting platform accounts (whether through posts or private messages) to promote, sell, or trade any goods or services criminalized locally (such as intoxicants, drugs, weapons, etc.).
• Cyber and Technical Crimes: Publishing fraudulent links (Phishing), malware, and viruses is prohibited. It is also strictly forbidden to make any attempts to reverse engineer the app's software, unlawfully interfere with data encryption systems, or launch Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks to disrupt the platform's operation.
• Data Scraping: The use of any automated techniques, such as bots or digital spiders, for the purpose of systematic harvesting and extracting user data or restaurant review databases from the app without documented written permission from the company is prohibited.

Article Six: Violation Management, Reporting, and Administrative Penalties

• Community Reporting Tools: The platform provides an easy-to-use "Report" feature within the user interface to immediately report any content believed to violate the Terms of Use or Privacy Policy.
• Gradation in Applying Penalties: Cookster Advertising Agency retains the sovereign and absolute right to monitor incoming reports and take necessary disciplinary actions to protect the app's community. In the event a violation is proven, the administration has the right to apply the following measures (combined or separate and without stipulating gradation):
• Issuing an official warning and administrative alert to the user within the app or via email.
• Immediate deletion and removal of violating content (clips, photos, reviews) without the need for prior approval or notice.
• Temporary suspension of the account and preventing the ability to post and interact for a specified period.
• Permanent and final banning of the account, while reserving the company's right to blacklist the Device ID or email to prevent future registration.
• Cooperation with Authorities: The company acknowledges its full commitment to cooperate with law enforcement agencies and the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution, where we have the right to disclose the violating user's data and provide their digital records whenever requested pursuant to a judicial order or valid legal justification, to protect the public interest.
• Objection Mechanism: To ensure fairness in procedures, the platform allows the user against whom a decision to remove content or suspend an account was issued the right to submit an "official objection" by communicating with technical support or sending a designated email. The objection will be reviewed by the specialized team and responded to within a maximum period of one business week from the date of receipt.

Article Seven: Geolocation Interactions and Marketing Advertisements

• Geolocation Use: The added value of the Cookster app is based on providing a customized spatial experience. This requires the app to access the user's accurate geolocation data (GPS Data). In compliance with the Personal Data Protection Law, this data is only collected after obtaining explicit and prior consent from you via your phone's operating system (Opt-in). This data is used instantaneously to suggest restaurants near you, display offers geographically surrounding you, and customize content. You have the right at any moment to withdraw this consent and stop tracking via your smartphone settings, noting that this will disable interactive spatial features, without preventing you from browsing the basic app.
• Advertising Display Dynamics: The platform's sustainability and its continued free availability for personal accounts is funded by providing advertising spaces. By agreeing to these terms, you accept and agree to the appearance of sponsored content and commercial advertisements while browsing the app.
• Nature of Advertising Targeting: We affirm that the advertisements displayed are largely random or rely on broad regional targeting based on your location, and we do not use precise and excessive behavioral tracking techniques to sell your direct personal data to external advertising networks.
• Ban on Annoying Marketing Messages: Cookster administration is committed to protecting your digital comfort, therefore, we do not send marketing and promotional messages or notifications (such as restaurant campaigns) to your email or as repetitive push notifications outside the context of your actual use of the app, unless you have voluntarily and independently subscribed to such mailing lists.

Article Eight: Data Privacy and Cross-Border Cloud Technology

• Comprehensive Compliance with the Privacy Policy: The collection, processing, and use of your data, and your related rights (such as requesting a copy of it, modifying it, or erasing it) are fully subject to the separate "Privacy Policy" appended to these terms. Please review it to understand the data protection measures we apply according to SDAIA requirements and the Personal Data Protection Law.
• International Data Storage and External Hosting: For optimal technical operation and to ensure service stability, Cookster relies on a cloud infrastructure. The user acknowledges and agrees that their personal and interactive data is stored in servers located outside the territorial scope of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Contractual Safeguards for Transfer: We assure that these transfer operations are carried out under the umbrella of Transfer Risk Assessments (TRAs) procedures, and are bound by signing the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the regulatory authority, to ensure the continued sovereignty of Saudi protection standards over your data wherever stored.
• Data Retention Period and Destruction: The lifecycle of your data is linked to your presence on the platform. Data of active accounts is retained to provide the service. Once you request "Account Deletion" (a feature available within the app), the company is obligated to destroy all your personal data and records permanently and irrecoverably, after the expiration of temporary storage periods for technical backup purposes or specific legislative exceptions that may be requested by competent authorities.

Article Nine: Limitation of Liability & Disclaimers

• Service Provision on an "As Is" Basis: The Cookster app, with all its features, software, and information, is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. Cookster Advertising Agency makes no representations or warranties, explicit or implied, regarding absolute reliability, accuracy, freedom from software errors and defects, uninterrupted continuity of service, or freedom from viruses and harmful components.
• Disclaimer Regarding Content and Third Parties: The app is an intermediary environment for community sharing and exploration; Cookster is not a restaurant, does not provide food preparation services, and does not supervise supply chains. Consequently, we bear no responsibility or obligation towards you or any party for:
• The quality of food, level of service, compliance with health requirements, or accuracy of prices for any restaurant reviewed or displayed in the app.
• Any health, physical, or financial damages resulting from your visit to restaurants discovered through us.
• The accuracy of published recipes and the effects of ingredients mentioned in them (such as food allergies).
• Links leading to external websites belonging to third parties (such as restaurants and advertisers), which are not subject to our control or policies.
• Limitation of Liability: To the maximum extent permitted by regulations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Cookster Advertising Agency, its directors, employees, or agents, bear no legal obligation to pay compensation for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages (which include, but are not limited to: loss of profits, loss of data, business interruption, or reputational damage) that may arise as a result of your use or inability to use the app, or as a result of your interaction with other users' content, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages occurring.

Article Ten: Legal and Financial Indemnification

By agreeing to use the Cookster app, you fully commit and pledge to indemnify, protect, defend, and hold harmless Cookster Advertising Agency, its affiliates, its officials, its employees, and its licensors from and against any and all claims, lawsuits, losses, damages, financial liabilities, costs, and fees (including reasonable attorney and legal consultation fees) that may be brought by any third party, which arise directly or indirectly as a result of:

• Your access to and use of the app in a manner that violates the provisions of this Agreement.
• Content you have filmed, written, or uploaded that has caused a violation of intellectual property rights (infringement of copyrights or trademarks), a violation of privacy rights, or defamation cases against others.
• Any breach of your regulatory obligations in accordance with the E-Commerce Law (for business accounts) or the Regulatory Framework for Advertising Content (for sponsor accounts).
• Any fraudulent or harmful practices you have carried out through your account.

Article Eleven: Updates, Modifications, and Termination

• Right of Continuous Modification: Given the continuous technical development of digital services and the rapid legislative updates in the Kingdom (such as directives issued by SDAIA or CST), Cookster Advertising Agency retains the sole and absolute right to review, modify, update, or replace any part of these "Terms of Use" at any time it deems appropriate.
• Notice of Effectiveness Mechanism: In the event material modifications are made affecting your fundamental rights or obligations, you will be notified of this via an in-app alert or by updating the "Last Updated" date at the beginning of this document. Your continued login or browsing of the app after the effective date of the mentioned modifications constitutes an explicit declaration and unequivocal acceptance of those modified terms.
• Modification or Operational Suspension of the App: The company grants you the right to access the app and continuously develops it. We have the right at any time and without an obligation to provide prior notice, to add new functions, remove existing features, impose fees on services that were free (after notifying you and requesting your consent), or even temporarily suspend or completely or partially shut down the operation of the app, without the company bearing any compensatory or legal consequences towards users as a result of this suspension.
• Voluntary Termination: You can terminate this contractual relationship whenever you wish by immediately ceasing to use the app and proceeding to permanently delete your account through the settings panel, which will trigger your data destruction protocols.

Article Twelve: General Provisions and Principles of Severability and Waiver

• Organizational Communication (PLO): In compliance with the regulations of the Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST), the company has appointed a "Platform Liaison Officer" to undertake official coordination tasks and meet the requirements of regulatory bodies in the Kingdom.
• Severability of Texts: If a ruling is issued by a competent court or arbitration tribunal in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia judging the invalidity, illegality, or unenforceability of any article or paragraph of these terms, that clause is considered severed from this document, and this invalidity does not affect at all the validity, enforceability, and force of the rest of the articles and clauses which remain valid and fully effective.
• No Waiver of Rights: The leniency, delay, or failure of Cookster administration to exercise any right, or take strict actions against any user who violates the provisions of these terms, shall not be interpreted in any way as a waiver by the company of its right to exercise that right or take those actions in the future, or as a dropping of its rights against any similar or subsequent violations.
• Entire Agreement: This "Terms of Use" document, along with the "Privacy Policy" integrated with it and referenced in it, constitutes the entire legal agreement and understanding concluded between you and Cookster Advertising Agency regarding the use of the app, and supersedes and cancels any previous arrangements, promises, drafts, or agreements (whether oral or written) in this regard.

Article Thirteen: Governing Law and Dispute Resolution Jurisdiction (Arbitration and Courts)

• Applicable Law: The provisions of this "Terms of Use" document are governed, interpreted, and applied exclusively in accordance with the provisions of Islamic Sharia and the regulations and legislations in force in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Principle of Amicable Settlement: Based on the principle of good faith in dealing, in the event of any dispute, disagreement, or claim arising from this Agreement or relating to the use of the app, both parties commit to attempting to settle the dispute amicably through direct negotiation by corresponding with the company's legal department and waiting for a response within (30) days from the date of filing the complaint.
• Detailed Determination of Jurisdiction: If an amicable settlement cannot be reached, disputes shall be adjudicated in accordance with the following jurisdictions based on the nature of the account:
• Commercial Disputes (Business Accounts and Sponsored Accounts): Any dispute, controversy, or claim arising out of or relating to this contract, or the breach, termination, or invalidity thereof, shall be settled by binding institutional arbitration, administered by the "Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration" (SCCA) in accordance with its Arbitration Rules. The arbitral tribunal shall consist of a sole arbitrator (or three arbitrators depending on the size of the claim), the seat of arbitration shall be in the city of Riyadh or the Eastern Province in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the language of the arbitration proceedings shall be Arabic.
• Civil Disputes (Personal Accounts): Disputes arising with individual users are subject to the spatial and exclusive jurisdiction of the general and competent courts in the city of Dhahran / Eastern Province in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, unless the mandatory texts of the Consumer Protection Law in the Kingdom require granting the consumer the right to litigate in their place of residence.

Article Fourteen: Communication Mechanisms and Official Notices

To ensure the provision of technical support and the receipt of reports and complaints effectively and reliably, we have provided approved communication channels to respond to your inquiries and claims, including inquiries related to intellectual property and privacy:

• Built-in Support: By going to the "Profile" section and choosing the support and messaging field from within the app.
• Legal and Administrative Correspondence: You can direct written notices, including intellectual property notices, to the official email of Cookster Advertising Agency.
• Physical and Postal Headquarters: Cookster Advertising Agency, Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

You acknowledge under this clause the valid receipt of official notices, warnings, or legal updates from us, whenever they are sent as an in-app push notification, or via a text/email message to the contact addresses you have registered and verified in your profile.