The Matchmaker Promise

Draft v0.2 — 13 July 2026

Being a matchmaker on Known means a friend has trusted you with something personal: their dating life, their boundaries, and their information. This page is the promise you make when you take that on. It forms part of the Terms of Service.

1. You have their permission

You are creating a profile and sharing personal information about someone else. Under South African privacy law (POPIA) that is only okay because they appointed you and consented. So:

Only share what they would be comfortable with. Their profile, their photo, and your endorsement will be seen by other matchmakers — and nothing you write is visible to anyone until they've reviewed and approved it. When you materially change their profile, it hides again until they re-approve, and you confirm afresh that you have their permission.
When you upload their photo, it must be a photo they'd approve — recent, honest, and theirs.
If they ask you to change or remove something, do it. If they remove you as a matchmaker, your access ends — don't keep or share what you learned.

2. You tell the truth

Your endorsement is your honest opinion of someone you actually know. Don't state anything you know to be false, and don't conceal that they are not actually single.
Never impersonate your single — no messaging anyone as if you are them.

3. You respect the mandate

The Dating Mandate is not a suggestion. It is the permission your single gave, and its edges are the edges of your authority:

Only arrange dates inside their stated boundaries, availability, formats, and frequency limits. The app enforces this — don't look for ways around it.
Their dealbreakers and private notes are confidential. They exist so you can matchmake well, not so you can share them in chats.
If they pause, everything pauses. No pressure, no "just this one".

4. You take safety seriously

You are often the first person to sense something is off — a matchmaker on the other side being evasive, a story that doesn't add up, feedback that worries you. Report it at /report, even if it feels like overreacting. Reports are confidential.
Encourage first dates that follow our Safety Guidelines — public venue, own transport.
If your single tells you something went wrong on a date, your first job is their wellbeing; your second is helping them report it.

5. Matchmaking as a couple

If you link accounts with your partner, you matchmake as one unit: your singles, chats, and vouches are shared, and everything either of you does is visible to the other and shown to everyone else under both your names. Two things follow from that:

Your singles' information is now handled by two people. Everything in this promise binds both of you, and each of you answers for what the couple account does.
Tell your singles. They trusted you with their search; if your partner is now part of it, they should hear that from you, not discover it.

Either of you can unlink at any time in Settings — you each keep the singles who appointed you, and the sharing ends going forward.

6. What you are — and aren't

You are acting as a trusted friend, not as an employee or agent of Known, and not as a professional matchmaking service. You don't owe anyone a successful match. You do owe your single honesty, discretion, and care with their information — which is exactly why they picked you.

And so it's said plainly: if you act honestly and within these rules, a bad outcome on a date is not your fault, and Known will say so. *[Attorney: confirm this reassurance can stand without creating an indemnity or warranty by Known.]*