Terms of use

Last updated: 16 October 2026

These terms apply to Wine Circle: the app at app.winecircleapp.com (for the time being also at uncorkd.fly.dev), the iOS app and the website winecircleapp.com. By registering you agree to them.

How we handle your data is set out in our privacy policy. Who operates Wine Circle is set out in the legal notice. Buying and selling on the marketplace is additionally governed by the marketplace terms.

1. Who your contracting party is

Your contracting party for the use of Wine Circle is to be added, to be added. All details are in the legal notice.

2. Minimum age

Wine Circle is only for people aged 18 and over. Wine Circle is about wine; we do not want minors in an app that makes alcohol its subject.

On first launch the app asks whether you are 18 or older. You answer that on your device; the answer stays there and is not transmitted to us. We do not verify your age – we rely on what you tell us. If we learn that an account belongs to a minor, we block and delete it.

3. Your account

You need an account. For it you provide an email address and a display name; the address is confirmed with a code we send you. You keep one account, for yourself, with accurate details, and you do not pass on your credentials. You are responsible for everything that happens under your account unless you have reported it.

Wine Circle is free of charge and shows no advertising. Registration is open; we may close it temporarily, for instance when we admit people in batches.

You may not transfer or sell your account.

4. What you may do on Wine Circle – and what you may not

Wine Circle is a circle of friends: you manage your cellar and share which bottles you open. In doing so:

• No unlawful, insulting, discriminatory, violent or youth-endangering content.
• No third-party content without the right to use it – do not upload photos, texts or label images that are not yours.
• No photos of other people without their consent.
• No advertising, no spam, no bulk requests, no reselling of access.
• No automated access, no scraping of the database, no circumventing security or rate limits, no attempt to reach other members' data.
• No false identity and no accounts for other people.

What you put in your cellar is your business. What you publish, others see – exactly who depends on your privacy settings and is set out in the privacy policy.

5. Your content stays yours

These terms change nothing about your posts, photos, captions, comments and notes: they stay yours. So that we can display them in the app, you grant us a simple, non-exclusive right, unlimited in territory and time, to store them, process them technically (resize, crop, generate previews, strip metadata) and show them to exactly those members you release them to. The right goes no further: we do not sell your content, do not pass it to third parties for their use, and do not advertise anything with it.

If you delete a post or your account, that right ends. Two exceptions are set out below: scanner label photos and wine photos we have prepared for everyone.

Label photos from the scanner

When you scan a wine label, we store the photo together with the wine you then select. The two form an example pair that improves recognition: a label we have once had matched for us, we recognise next time without outside help. Along with the photo we store what the recognition service read on the label – a short summary of the label text, from which we can see where recognition fails. The photo is stored downscaled, is not publicly visible within Wine Circle, and is passed to no one except the recognition service you commission with the scan anyway. Images we do not need as an example are deleted after 30 days at the latest.

If you delete your account, the image file is deleted, and the text read from it with it. What remains is the image fingerprint derived from it, with no personal reference, and which wine it belongs to – a fact about the wine, from which your photo cannot be reconstructed.

Wine photos everyone sees

With “Suggest wine photo” in a wine's view, or with the photo for “Suggest a new wine”, you send us a photo of a bottle so that it can stand as the picture of that wine in the app. For that we need more than the above: we cut out the bottle using an AI image tool (background, light, perspective – the label stays as it is) and show the result to all members as the picture of that wine. By uploading it you grant us that right and confirm the photo is yours.

We do not publish the photo you submitted and delete it after processing. The finished picture is the team's work and stays as the picture of the wine, even if you delete your account – it belongs to the wine, not to your account.

6. Moderation, reports and blocking

We are not required to review content in advance and do not do so. You can report anything to us that breaches these terms; from a threshold of three reports the app hides an item for the time being automatically, and the team takes a look.

If you breach these terms, we may hide or delete individual content, warn you, or block your account. We choose the mildest means that works, and tell you the reason as far as we are allowed. For a serious breach – unlawful content, attacks on the app, endangering other members – we block immediately.

A blocked account can no longer sign in, but can still delete itself. If you think a block is wrong, write to us; we will look into it.

7. Marketplace

On the marketplace, members can buy and sell bottles. The contract of sale is formed between buyer and seller, not with Wine Circle; we provide the platform and hold the payment until receipt is confirmed. The details are set out in the marketplace terms.

The marketplace is a beta and not yet enabled for everyone.

8. Paid features

Today Wine Circle is entirely free. Should we offer paid features later, the following applies: the price, the term and what is included will be stated before you buy, on the page where you buy it. What you use today stays free in its present scope – we do not move an existing feature behind a paywall after the fact. You can cancel a subscription at any time with effect from the end of the current period; your account and your data remain afterwards, only the paid features end.

The marketplace fee is not a subscription – it arises per purchase and is set out in the marketplace terms.

9. Availability

We do our best to keep Wine Circle running, but we do not promise any particular availability. Maintenance, outages and changes are part of an app that is still growing: we may change, add or discontinue features. If a feature you genuinely use is dropped, we will say so beforehand as far as we can.

Wine Circle is no substitute for your own backup. You can download your cellar at any time under Profile → Account & data → Export my data.

10. Liability

For intent and gross negligence we are liable under the statutory provisions, likewise for injury to life, body or health and under the Product Liability Act. For slight negligence we are liable only for breach of material contractual duties and limited to the foreseeable, typical loss.

We are not responsible for content that members post, nor for transactions members conclude with one another on the marketplace. The price, drinking-window and value figures in the app are estimates derived from catalogue and market data, not a valuation and not investment advice – do not rely on them for insurance, sale or tax.

Your statutory rights as a consumer remain unaffected; limitations of liability apply only as far as the law permits.

11. Ending your use

You can leave at any time. You delete your account yourself under Profile → Account & data → Delete account. Deletion happens immediately and cannot be undone. It is not possible while a marketplace transaction with an open payment is running – that has to be settled first. What is deleted and what remains pseudonymised is set out in the privacy policy.

We may end your use on 30 days' notice, for instance if we discontinue Wine Circle. For a serious breach of these terms, also immediately (see point 6). Before a discontinuation we will say so in good time and leave you time to export your data.

12. Changes to these terms

We may change these terms when the app changes or the law requires it. We will announce a change that is to your detriment at least 30 days in advance, in the app or by email. If you do not agree, you can delete your account before it takes effect. If you continue to use Wine Circle afterwards, the new version applies. The “as of” date above tells you which version you are reading.

13. Governing law and jurisdiction

Austrian law applies. Mandatory consumer protection provisions of your country of residence in the EU remain unaffected. As a consumer you can sue us at your place of residence and will be sued by us there.

14. Contact

Questions, complaints and notices of unlawful content: to be added. From the app, Profile → Settings → Report a problem and Give feedback reach the same team.