Age Verification and Child Protection Measures

1. Adults-Only Service

BITESCORE. accounts are available only to people who have reached their 18th birthday. The Law and Regulation prohibit service to children under 15 and require a differentiated service for children aged 15–18. Because BITESCORE. does not open accounts for that age group either, it provides no service to anyone under 15 or aged 15–18. Parental or legal-representative permission does not change this rule.

2. e-Devlet Age Verification Token

Age is verified with the e-Devlet age verification token before an account can use the social network features where members interact with each other (Regulation Article 6(2)). These features are direct messages, Explore posts and replies, Clash comments, member-created Clashes, friends, gifts, shared lists, Blend and appearing in people search. For accounts opened from 1 November 2026, these features stay closed until verification is complete.

The product catalogue, product ratings and reviews, personal lists, Clash voting and account functions are separate functions built around the provider's product content that allow no direct contact between members, and they do not require verification. Members cannot reply to product reviews. Other members cannot send an unverified account messages, friend requests, gifts or list invitations, and the account is not shown in people search. Asking for verification at the first social feature rather than at sign-up limits the processing to members who choose to use these features (proportionality, KVKK Article 4(2)(ç)).

A fixed, unique request code is generated for each account. The user enters it in the Cybersecurity Directorate's service on the e-Devlet Gateway and uploads the token signed by the Directorate to BITESCORE. BITESCORE. checks via the signature that the Directorate produced it, that it has not expired and that it was issued for the BITESCORE. platform code and that account's request code, and reads only the age group (Article 7(1)(ç)).

No identity check is performed; only the age threshold is determined (Article 5(3)). The token does not contain your name, Turkish ID number or date of birth and is not stored after verification. It is used for no purpose other than age verification.

Accounts opened before 1 November 2026 keep using the social network features until 31 March 2027 and are verified with a token at least once by that date (Provisional Article 1). After that date, the social network features of unverified accounts stay closed until verification is complete.

Users who are not resident in Türkiye and are temporarily present may use the exceptional token the Directorate issues using passport details (Article 7(1)(d)). BITESCORE.'s 18+ requirement and the user's 18+ declaration continue to apply.

3. Measures During the Service

Layered measures continue after verification (Article 6(3)):

• Accounts reported or found to belong to someone under 18 can be reported through the in-app tool and the legal@ address; reports are reviewed by a person.
• If there is a reasonable suspicion that a verified account is being used outside its age group, the account is suspended and verification with a new token is required before it can be used again.
• If a token shows the user is under 18, the account is closed for use; the account and data are not deleted until any objection is concluded, and are deleted without delay if there is no objection or it is rejected.
• Age declarations, token results and community rules are not used for profiling, personalised advertising or age estimation.

4. Parental Control Tools

Under Article 9 of the Regulation, parental control tools serve the management of child accounts aged 15–18. BITESCORE. opens no child accounts, so there is no child account for a parent to manage. No paid transactions, purchases or paid memberships are offered, and there is no location-sharing feature. If you believe your child is using BITESCORE., report the account through the in-app tool or the address below; it will be reviewed and closed if necessary.

5. Requests and Objections

You may object to an age verification result or to the suspension or closure of an account free of charge, in Turkish or English, at legal@bitescore.co. Objections are not reviewed solely by automated systems; they receive meaningful human review (Article 10(3)). Account content and personal data are not deleted until the objection is concluded (Article 10(4)).

You may complain to the Cybersecurity Directorate about the outcome of an objection and apply to the courts (Article 10(5)).

6. Annual Objection Statistics

The number of requests and objections, the acceptance rate and the average resolution time are reported to the Directorate annually and published on this page (Article 10(6)). The first reporting period is 1 November 2026 – 31 December 2026.

7. Personal Data

Data processed for age verification (request code, age-group result, verification time and signing-key reference) is processed to comply with a legal obligation (KVKK Article 5/2-ç) and is deleted with the account. See section 10 of the Privacy Notice.