New Bern Bear Hunt — Terms of Service

Effective date: July 12, 2026

Operator: Matt (operator of New Bern Bear Hunt)

Contact: mattsapps321@gmail.com

Plain-English summary (read this first)

• New Bern Bear Hunt is a free game. You get clues, walk around New Bern, and find the painted bear statues around town. There's no charge, no ads, and nothing to buy.

• You play at your own risk. You'll be walking real sidewalks near real streets. Watch your surroundings, obey traffic, and use common sense. We don't own the statues or the property they sit on.

• Kids are welcome — but accounts are for ages 13+ (or a parent). Younger kids should play in guest mode with a parent.

• Your photos are yours. If you snap a picture with a bear, you own it. You just let us store it and show it back to you.

• We provide the app "as is." Bear locations change, statues get moved or removed, and we can't promise everything is perfect or always available.

• North Carolina law governs these terms.

The full terms are below. Using the app means you agree to them.

1. What this app is

New Bern Bear Hunt ("the app," "we," "us," "our") is a free mobile web app. It's a self-guided scavenger hunt for the roughly 98 public painted bear statues around New Bern, North Carolina. You get clues, walk around town, mark which bears you've found, optionally take photos, and can earn a completion certificate with a display name you choose.

The app is operated by New Bern Bear Hunt (an individual, not a company), based in New Bern, North Carolina.

By using the app, you agree to these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you don't agree, please don't use the app.

2. Who can use it (age rules)

• Accounts are for ages 13 and up. To create an account (email + password), you must be at least 13 years old. If you're under 13, a parent or guardian must create and control the account for you.

• Younger kids: use guest mode with a grown-up. Children under 13 are welcome to play, but they should play in guest mode (no account, no game data sent to us — see the Privacy Policy) under the supervision of a parent or guardian.

• Why the 13+ rule: A U.S. law called COPPA (the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act — it limits collecting personal info from kids under 13) is the reason we don't create online accounts for children under 13. Guest mode keeps kids' game data entirely on their own device.

• If you're a parent: you're responsible for supervising your child's use of the app, including whether they walk safely.

3. Physical activity, walking, and property you'll visit

Playing this game means walking around a real city. That comes with real-world risks, and you accept them.

• You are responsible for your own safety. Watch for traffic, cross at crosswalks, obey signals, mind uneven sidewalks, weather, and your surroundings. Don't stare at your phone while crossing a street.

• We don't control where the bears are. The painted bear statues sit on property owned by third parties (private businesses, other property owners, or public spaces) — not New Bern Bear Hunt. New Bern Bear Hunt does not own, operate, control, or maintain any of the statue locations or the premises around them.

• Respect private property. Only view statues from places you're allowed to be. Don't trespass, don't enter closed businesses, and follow the rules of whatever property you're on.

• Injury disclaimer. To the fullest extent North Carolina law allows, New Bern Bear Hunt is not liable for any injury, accident, or loss you (or anyone with you) suffer while using the app, walking to or between statues, or being on or near any property where a statue is located. You use the app and walk the route at your own risk.

4. Your photos and other content you add

You may optionally take photos with the statues and add a display name to your certificate. This is "your content."

• You own your content. Your photos are yours. We claim no ownership of them.

• You grant us a limited license. "License" here just means permission. You give us a limited permission to store your photos and show them back to you inside the app. That's the whole scope — we use your photos to run the feature for you, nothing else. Your photos are kept in private storage that only you can access (see the Privacy Policy).

• We don't publish, sell, or share your photos. We don't post them publicly, hand them to anyone else, or use them to promote the app.

• You're responsible for what you capture. Don't upload anything illegal, or photos of other people who haven't agreed to be photographed where they'd expect privacy. Don't upload content that infringes someone else's rights.

• Your display name: keep it clean and don't impersonate anyone. We can remove content or a name that breaks these rules.

5. Bear locations and game information ("as-is" information)

• The list of bears, clues, and locations comes from third-party information about public art that changes over time. Statues get added, moved, repainted, or removed, and businesses open and close.

• We don't warrant that any location or clue is accurate, current, or complete. "Warrant" means promise or guarantee — we're not promising it. Treat the app as a helpful guide, not a guarantee.

• If a bear isn't where the app says, that's the nature of public art in the wild — not something we can control.

6. The app is provided "as is"

• The app is provided "as is" and "as available," with no warranties of any kind. "As is" means we're giving it to you in its current form, without promises that it's perfect, error-free, or always working.

• To the fullest extent North Carolina law allows, we disclaim all warranties — express or implied — including any implied promises that the app is fit for a particular purpose or will meet your expectations.

• We don't promise the app will always be available, uninterrupted, secure, or bug-free. It's a free hobby app and may go offline, change, or stop at any time.

7. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent North Carolina law allows:

• New Bern Bear Hunt is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages — meaning knock-on losses like lost time, missed opportunities, or similar — arising from your use of (or inability to use) the app.

• Because the app is free, New Bern Bear Hunt's total liability to you for any and all claims is limited to the amount you paid to use the app — which is $0.00.

• Some of the risks above (walking, third-party property) carry their own disclaimers in Sections 3 and 5. This section applies on top of those.

8. Acceptable use

Don't:

• Break the law while using the app.

• Interfere with, hack, overload, or reverse-engineer the app.

• Use the app to harass, harm, or endanger anyone (including yourself).

• Trespass or ignore posted rules at any statue location.

We can suspend or end your access if you misuse the app.

9. Termination

• You can stop using the app anytime. You can also delete your account and data yourself, instantly, from the app's Account screen — or by emailing us (see the Privacy Policy).

• We can suspend, limit, or end the app — or your access to it — at any time, for any reason, including if you break these Terms. Since it's a free hobby app, we may also discontinue it entirely.

10. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as the app changes. If we do, we'll update the effective date at the top. If the changes are significant, we'll try to make them noticeable in the app. Continuing to use the app after an update means you accept the new Terms.

11. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute relating to the app or these Terms will be handled in the state or federal courts located in North Carolina, and you agree to that.

12. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email mattsapps321@gmail.com.