Kakao Comprehensive Terms and Conditions has expired as of Oct 1, 2022 due to the termination of a connection between a Daum ID and a Kakao Account.

CHAPTER 1. Welcome!

ARTICLE 1. Purpose

Thank you for using services provided by Kakao Corp. (the "Company"). The Kakao Comprehensive Terms and Conditions ("Terms and Conditions") are applied to both Kakao and Daum services ("Services") and are meant to help you get used to a wide range of Internet and mobile services the Company has to offer. These Terms and Conditions outline general provisions including the rights, duties and responsibilities, terms of use and procedures necessary in your use of Services. We hope you will take time to read them carefully.

  • Kakao Service refers to the services 1)provided under the brand of Kakao (ex. KakaoTalk) or 2)associated with Kakao Account (ex. Brunch), and shall not include any service that uses the Daum or Melon brand.
  • “Daum Services” mean any service provided by the Company under the brand name of Daum.
ARTICLE 2. Contents, Effect and Changes of the Terms and Conditions
  • 1.The Company will post these Terms and Conditions in an applicable Service or on the front page of Services or send notifications thereof in other methods. The Terms and Conditions will have effect on anyone who agrees to them.
  • 2.Our Terms and Conditions may change, if necessary, to the extent that they do not violate relevant laws and regulations. In case of any changes, the Company, in principle, will notify or inform you about the changes through the Notices page on Daum or Kakao Services at least 15 days prior to the effective date. If the changes inevitably affect you adversely, the Company will send an email to the email address you use as a Kakao Account or Daum ID, send a KakaoTalk message or an SMS to the phone number you have registered, leave electronic messages within the relevant service, post an alarm message, or use any other reasonable means to notify or inform you about such changes at least 30 days prior to the effective date.
  • 3.You are deemed to agree to the revised Terms and Conditions unless you express yourself after the Company clearly notifies or informs you as described above that you are deemed to be agreeing to any changes made if you do not give refusal no later than seven (7) days after the effective date of the revised version. If you do not agree to the revised terms for a Service, you may terminate your use of that Service in accordance with Paragraph 1, Article 14.
ARTICLE 3. Additional Terms

Any matters not specified in these Terms and Conditions will be subject to relevant laws or individual terms and services of a relevant Service, policies and rules that the Company may adopt from time to time ("Guiding Principles"). If there is a conflict between these Terms and Conditions and the Guiding Principles, the Guiding Principles will control for that conflict.

CHAPTER 2. Linking and Managing Kakao Account and Daum ID

ARTICLE 4. Creating and Linking Kakao Account and Daum ID
  • 1.A Kakao Account is a combination of characters, special characters and numbers you registered before to personally identify yourself in Services. You may create your own Kakao Account once you agree to the Terms and Conditions, register your Kakao Account and password, and if needed, the Company may approve your account after verifying your email address or telephone number. Of course, if you want, you may also create a Kakao nickname.
  • 2.A Daum ID is a combination of characters, special characters and numbers you registered before to personally identify yourself in Services. You may create your own Daum ID once you agree to the Daum Terms of Service or these Terms and Conditions, fill in requirements and register yourself as a member, and then, the Company approves your ID. If you are using Daum Services with your Kakao Account, a Daum ID may automatically be assigned to you.
  • 3.You do not necessarily need a Kakao Account to use Kakao Services, but you may need a Kakao Account for certain Kakao Services. You may only use Daum Services with a Daum ID that agreed to Daum Terms of Service. If you want to use features connected to Kakao Services among Daum Services, you should use Daum Services with your Kakao Account or link your Kakao Account with your Daum ID.If you use Daum Services with your Kakao Account or link your Daum ID you registered before with your Kakao Account, you may use information you set up on Kakao and Daum Services, records of service use and others on both services.
  • 4.If you agree to these Terms and Conditions to use Daum Services with your Kakao Account or link your Kakao Account with your Daum ID, only these Terms and Conditions will apply and both Kakao Terms of Service and Daum Terms of Service will no longer apply.
ARTICLE 5. Rejecting or Withholding Approval of Creating Kakao Account or Daum ID
  • 1.The Company may not approve of your creation of Kakao Account and/or Daum ID if any of the following applies. Especially, if you are under 14 years old, you can create a Kakao Account or Daum ID only if you have consent from your parents or legal guardian.
    • If the Company had deleted your Kakao Account or Daum ID
    • If you have attempted to create a Kakao Account or Daum ID by using a third party’s name, email address or personal information
    • If you did not enter required information or entered false information in the process of creating a Kakao Account or Daum ID
    • If you violate any applicable law or regulation, or additional terms or standards set by the Company
  • 2.If it is found that you have created a Kakao Account and/or Daum ID in violation of the above conditions, the Company may immediately stop providing Services to you, delete your Kakao Account and Daum ID, or place other appropriate restrictions.
  • 3.On the following occasions, the Company may withhold consent to creating your Kakao Account and/or Daum ID.
    • If there is no practical space in the installed capacity to provide Services
    • If a technical issue is found, at our discretion, in providing Services
    • If the Company finds it necessary for financial or technological causes
ARTICLE 6. Managing Kakao Account or Daum ID
  • 1.You should be the only person who signs in with your Kakao   Account and Daum ID and should never let others use them. You should manage your password by yourself so that others may not have unauthorized access to your Kakao Account or Daum ID. The Company may require you to enter a password and go through an additional user identification process to prevent others from accessing your Kakao Account or Daum ID without authorization. If you learn of any unauthorized use, please contact the Customer Service and let us know. The Company will provide you with instructions to protect your account or ID from unauthorized access by others.
  • 2.You may view and change your information using the Settings menu in Services. However, you may not be able to change some information like your Kakao Account, Daum ID, phone number, unique device identifiers and other user identification information required for us to provide and manage Services, and in case such information is changed, an additional user identification process may be required. If you want to update the information you provided us at the time of signing up for Services, you may change it directly on the Services or contact us via email or Customer Service.
  • 3.The Company is not responsible for any losses resulting from your failure to update information in Services.

CHAPTER 3. Use of Service

ARTICLE 7. Providing and Changing Various Services, etc.
  • 1.The Company offers you various Services you can enjoy on the Internet or through your mobile devices, such as a social networking service, bulletin board, online content service, and location-based services. You may download Services from application stores and install them on your smartphone, install Services on your personal computer or visit our website to use Services we offer. We kindly ask for your understanding that we have to send separate notifications on the details of each Service, for this is to ensure immediate changes and improvements on our Services to meet your needs. Please feel free to view the detailed instructions for use of each Service that will be made available through the application store, the “Q&A” center for each Service, and the applicable guidelines and notifications.
  • 2.The Company grants you a personal, worldwide, non-assignable, non-exclusive and royalty-free license necessary for your use of the software provided to you by the Company as part of Services. Please do not forget, however, that this does not grant you the right to use our trademark or logo.
  • 3.The Company may provide you with updates of the software needed to use Services once a new feature is available or an unnecessary feature is removed. Please update the software regularly so that you may use and enjoy the benefit of Services.
  • 4.For quality services, the Company may send you service announcements, administrative messages, advertisements and other information related to your use of Services by email or post them on the Services.
  • 5.If you encounter problems like system errors while using Services, please contact the Customer Service at any time.
  • 6.If you choose to connect to a 4G/LTE network provided by your carrier when using Kakao Services, please note that you may be charged additional data fees by your carrier. You’ll be responsible for any additional data charges incurred when using Kakao Services. Please contact your carrier for further inquiries regarding your data plans.
ARTICLE 8. How to Use Services and Things to Be Careful of
  • 1.You may freely use our Services, but please do not forget that you may not misuse them as follows.
    • You are not allowed to impede the Kakao Service provision improperly or access the Service using a method other than what Kakao allows.
    • You shall be prohibited from collecting, using, or providing to others the information of other Kakao users; transmitting commercial information or taking advantage of the Service to generate profits against a recipient's explicit refusal or without his/her unambiguous consent; circulating pornographic information or infringing on third parties' copyright; sending or posting false facts about Kakao or third parties, or any such information violating public order, good morals, and relevant laws and regulations.
    • Don't copy, modify, distribute, sell, transfer, lease, or pledge any part of our Services or included software, or allow any third party to use them without the Company's consent. You should not reproduce, disassemble, duplicate or alter Services, nor may you reverse engineer or attempt to extract the source code of the software.
  • 2.You may not assign, transfer or pledge the rights to use Services or any contracts with us.
  • 3.If you do not have any record of signing in or accessing Services during the time period set by applicable laws, we may discard or store your information separately by sending email, SMS or KakaoTalk notifications to the email address or phone number you registered with or using other effective means. If there is not enough necessary information as a result, you may not be eligible to use Services. Also, if you do not sign in to Daum Services for three (3) months, receiving emails in Daum Mail Service may be limited. For more information on using Services, see our Operation Policy.
  • 4.If you have no record of signing in or accessing the Service during the period set by relevant laws and regulations, the Company can discard or separately store your information after sending notifications via email, SMS, KakaoTalk message, or other effective means to the registered email address or mobile phone number. If any mandatory information required for the service use lacks thereby, the service agreement may be terminated.
  • 5.The Company shall take preventive action against spam mails and adopt security measures for incoming/outgoing emails to protect users from spams (i.e., phishing, virus infringement, personal information theft, and other illegal and speculative junk mails, etc.). Additional spam operation policies and functions shall be provided if recommended by related organizations or deemed necessary for user protection.
  • 6.Please refer to the Service Operation Policy for more details on the matters set out in this article and the use of Services.
Article 9. Management of Postings
  • 1.Where the postings are in breach of the Act on the Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. (hereinafter "the Act on Information and Communications Network"), the Copyright Act, and any other governing laws and/or regulations, the legitimate holder of right may request suspension and deletion of such postings, and Kakao shall take necessary actions in accordance with applicable laws.
  • 2.Even without any request from the legitimate holder of right, Kakao may take any tentative measures against such posting pursuant to applicable laws if there exists anything that may be deemed to constitute infringement of a third party’s rights, and/or in breach of Kakao's policies and governing laws and/or regulations.
  • 3.Detailed processes related to the above shall follow the procedures specified by Kakao under "Report Rights Infringement" (Kakao Service, Daum Service) within the extent set forth by the Act on Information and Communications Network and the Copyright Act.
ARTICLE 10. Proprietary Rights and Use of Copyrighted Materials
  • 1.You may post content ("Posts") like photos, text, information, video, or comments or proposals on Kakao Services, Daum Services or the Company. Of course, the owner of the relevant Posts will continue to have ownership of copyrights and intellectual property rights.
  • 2.When you upload a post on the Kakao or Daum services, you are deemed to grant the Company a worldwide and permanent license to expose the post on both Services and use, store, modify, reproduce, publicly transmit, display, or distribute it to the extent necessary. The License continues to survive even if you stop using the Service or choose to withdraw from Kakao Account and/or Daum ID. For the record, the rights granted to the Company hereunder shall be used only to operate, improve and promote the Service, and to develop new services. Some Services may offer methods to access or remove the content that you have offered; provided, however, that some posts may be unable to delete due to service or content properties. Certain services may offer the settings limiting the content scope that the Company can use.
  • 3.Make sure you have the necessary rights to grant us this license for any content that you submit to our Services. The person who uploads the Posts is responsible for any issues arising out of not having such rights. Also, you may not submit or post offensive, obscene, violent or illegal content.
  • 4.The Company may remove or refuse to display content that we believe violates the law; is harmful to the minors; encourages discrimination or conflicts; includes plastering, advertisement, marketing and spam messages; intends to transfer or sell accounts; or is uploaded under someone else's name. However, that does not necessarily mean that the Company has an obligation to monitor all the content. If you think somebody is violating your rights, you can let us know through the Customer Service. You may check relevant standards and restriction procedures in Kakao's Operation Policy.
  • 5.Our Services may display some content that is not ours. This content is the sole responsibility of the one that makes it available. Using our Services does not give you any rights on content of other users. You may not use the content unless you obtain permission from its owner.
ARTICLE 11. Using Paid Services
  • 1.Our Services are provided free of charge, but there may be a few paid Services. For example, you may send and receive KakaoTalk messages with your friends for free but should buy some emoticons to send them to friends. Similarly, you may use Daum Mail Service for free but should pay for Premium Mail.
  • 2.If you are using paid Services, you may use them after payments are made. We accept payment methods like mobile phone, credit card, phone call, bank transfer, deposit without a bankbook, prepaid electronic payment options, etc. Available payment methods may vary by paid Services. Payments will be automatically charged for Services billed every month unless you stop using the Service and send us a request to cancel automatic charges.
  • 3.The Company may ask for more personal information necessary to proceed with the payment, and you should provide the Company with accurate information.
  • 4.If you want to get a refund because you changed your mind or due to reasons attributable to you, check the relevant section below to see our refund policy.
    • If a single use after purchase constitutes a complete use or purchase of the paid Service the Company offers, refunds are not available once you use it. Refunds will be made on avatars, background music and wallpaper, or other Services that offer unlimited use after a single purchase within one (1) year from the date of purchase, and the amount of refund will be purchase price*(365 - days of use / 365).
    • If the paid Service is set to last for less than one (1) month from the date of purchase, refunds will be made after deducting the amount that corresponds to the days of use from the date of termination. This provision will also apply to Services on a monthly plan.
    • If the paid Service is set to last for more than one (1) month from the date of purchase, refunds will be made after deducting the amount equivalent to the days of use from the date of termination as well as ten (10) percent of the amount worth the remaining days. If you request to discontinue using the Service within seven (7) days from the date you began its use, however, refunds will be made after deducting only the amount equivalent to the days of use from the date of termination.
  • 5.Notwithstanding the provisions above, we will give you a full refund in the following cases, provided that refunds will be made on avatars, background music and wallpaper, or other Services that offer unlimited use after a single purchase only within one (1) year from the date of purchase.
    • If you have not used the Service since the payment was made.
    • If you could not use the Service due to service errors or the fault of the Company although you satisfied the minimum requirements for technical specifications suggested by the Company.
    • If the Services you purchased are unavailable.
    • If Services are significantly distinct or different from as stated or advertised.
    • If it is apparently impossible to normally use Services due to defect of Services provided.
  • 6.You may take exception to the prices. However, you should send complaints within one (1) month from the date you came to have knowledge about causes and within three (3) months from the date such causes have occurred.
  • 7.In case of a wrong payment amount or a full refund, the Company should send a refund to your original payment method. If it is impossible to refund to the original payment method or partial refunds are required for the termination of a Service, the Company will make refunds in a manner it chooses at its discretion. The Company should refund within three (3) business days from the date refund obligations incurred and interest rate for overdue refunds will be set at an annual rate of 11 per cent. Please note that we do not pay interest for arrears if we need your support for refund and you caused the delay. If the refund is attributable to you, you may bear the cost incurred in refunds. If the refund is attributable to the Company, the Company will cover the cost.
  • 8.If there is a conflict between Paid Service Policy in these Terms and Conditions and Paid Service Policy of each Service, the latter will control for that conflict.
Article 12. Commercial Transactions Using An Electronic Message Board
  • 1.If you operate a mail order service or a mail order brokerage service using Services, you shall comply with the obligations under laws related to consumer protection in electronic commerce, etc. (hereinafter referred to as the "Electronic Commerce Act").
  • 2.If any dispute arises between you and another user while you operate a mail order service or a mail order brokerage service, the Company shall operate a system for filing requests for relief of consumers by proxy.
  • 3.The Company shall verify your personal identify by providing a feature to enter the personal identity, etc. pursuant to the Electronic Commerce Act, and cooperate in the resolution of any dispute between you and another user by providing your personal identification information upon the request of a dispute resolution agency, the Fair Trade Commission, a mayor or a Do-governor, the head of a Si/Gun/Gu, etc.
ARTICLE 13. Using, Modifying and Terminating Services
  • 1.The Company does its best to provide Services 24/7 all year round. However, we may temporarily stop our Services for regular or temporary inspection for maintenance, repair or for other reasons, and we will make sure to give you advance notice within Services on such occasions. If Services are unexpectedly suspended, the Company will make its utmost efforts to figure out the possible causes and restore Services as soon as possible.
  • 2.We may modify functionalities or features of a Service, or suspend or stop a Service because the contract signed with a content provider for service provision is terminated or modified or a new service is launched. We will post notice of such modifications or terminations on the screen or the Notices page in the individual Service. We will make reasonable efforts to notify you individually of any modification or termination that materially affect your rights or obligations, by sending an email (other electronic means such as a notification within the service if you do not have an email) or SMS to your phone number.
ARTICLE 14. Terminating the Use of Service
  • 1.You may request for the termination of these Terms and Conditions at any time by using the menu provided in Services. The Company will take actions accordingly in a swift manner as required under the relevant laws and regulations.
  • 2.Upon the termination of the Terms and Conditions, unless we are required to preserve your information under the relevant laws and/or the Privacy Policy, all the data such as your information or Posts will be deleted. If your Posts are clipped or shared by a third party using another sharing function or if you have added comments to Posts of a third party, such data and comments will not be deleted. Therefore, you shall delete them before deactivating your account.
  • 3.Also, you may opt out of some of our various Services. In such a case, the data in relation to the discontinued Service will be deleted while your Kakao Account and Daum ID will be left intact for use of other Services.
  • 4.You may discontinue using paid Services after you ask for termination and the Company gives approval. Refunds will be made if there is remaining non-refunded amount. If there is a conflict between the provisions of each paid Service and these Terms and Conditions on ways and effects of discontinuing Services, the provisions of each Service will control for that conflict.
  • 5.You may apply for using Services again even after you terminated Services. There may be a delay before the new state is reflected on some Services. Please see the Guiding Principles for detailed information.
ARTICLE 15. Protecting Personal Information

Keeping your personal information safe is one of our top priorities. We use your personal information we collect only within the purposes and scope for which your consent is given to us to provide better services. Unless we get your consent or are otherwise permitted by law, the Company will never share your personal information with a third party, so please do not worry. To learn more about the efforts we make to keep your personal information private and safe, see Daum Privacy Policy and Kakao’s Privacy Policy.

ARTICLE 16. Offering Location-based Services
  • 1.The Company may include location-based services (“LBS”) in its range of Services to provide you with useful services in everyday life.
  • 2.The Company offers LBS for free with location information it receives from a location information provider that collects such information from your terminals or other devices. Here are the details
    • Location Sharing Service - You can share your current location information or certain other location with other users or upload relevant Posts.
    • Information Service - You can receive daily life information or advertisements based on your current location
    • Content Sharing Service - You can share content with other users by using location information linked to content or stored in photos or other content you have.
  • 3.If you are under 14 years old and want to use LBS based on your personal location information, the Company should have consent from your parents or legal guardian to use or offer your location information. If it is found that you are using LBS without such consent, the Company may promptly suspend your use of LBS or impose other necessary restrictions.
  • 4.You, including legal guardians of users under 14 years old, may withhold your consent to any of LBS, the use of personal location information, and the purpose of providing such information, and the scope of those who receive it. You may also revoke any or all consent on use and provision and request temporary suspension. The Company may save personal location information and data confirming the use and provision of location information for six (6) months or longer in accordance with Act on the Protection, Use, etc. of Location Information. If you revoke any or all consent, the Company will discard without delay such personal location information and data confirming the use and provision of location information.
  • 5.You, including legal guardians of users under 14 years old, may request access to or for notification of the data confirming the use and provision of location information, or the reasons and details of provision of your personal location information to a third party pursuant to the relevant laws and regulations. Moreover, if the relevant data contains an error, you may demand correction thereof. If we directly provide your personal location information to a third party you designate, we will promptly notify you of the third party to whom your personal location information is provided, the date, time and the purpose of such provision through your smartphone or other devices we collected your personal location information pursuant to the relevant laws and regulations.
  • 6.If the custodian of minors of age 8 and under, person of incompetence or mentally disabled, among others, provides written consent for the use or provision of the personal location information, it will be deemed consent from such individual. In such case, the custodian may exercise all rights in regards to the personal location information.
  • 7.If your right has been infringed in relation to LBS or you need to exercise your rights, you can get assistance from our Customer Service. If a dispute arises between the Company and you in connection with the location information, and if such dispute is not amicably settled, you may submit a request for mediation to the Personal Information Dispute Mediation Committee in accordance with Paragraph 2, Article 28 of Act on the Protection, Use, etc. of Location Information and Article 43 of Act on the Protection of Personal Information.
ARTICLE 17. KakaoCon
  • 1.KakaoCon refers to loyalty programs rewarded by Kakao during your use of individual services (under Article 4. Definition in Kakao Account Terms and Conditions). If you fulfill the conditions proposed by Kakao while using particular services via your Kakao Account, Kakao may reward KakaoCon to your Kakao Account according to the established policy.
  • 2.You can enjoy Kakao services and benefits using KakaoCon based on conditions and procedures set by Kakao. However, Kakao shall not guarantee or assume liability for the safety and legitimacy of any service provided by partners or third parties other than Kakao. The burden of risk thereon shall be in principle carried by a user who has agreed to the use of such service.
  • 3.Kakao services and benefits usable via KakaoCon may be subject to frequent changes depending on Kakao's policy and partnership with third parties. Kakao shall not guarantee the permanent usability of KakaoCon.
  • 4.KakaoCon has no value of property; Kakao shall not provide an exchange or refund in cash for KakaoCon, and you shall be unable to perform any act of money exchanges or paid transactions.
  • 5.Kakao may, if necessary, take a certain measure according to its policy to operate individual services and support effective use of KakaoCon, such as adjustment, restriction or extinction of part or all of KakaoCon.
  • 6.Apart from the provisions set forth in this Article, any details on the provision and use of KakaoCon shall be governed by the Operation Policy separately set by Kakao, and Kakao shall guide you through the Customer Center Help page.

CHAPTER 4. Miscellaneous

ARTICLE 18. Limitation of Liability, etc9
  • 1.To the extent permitted by law, other than as expressly set out in these Terms and Conditions, the Company does not make any specific promises or give warranties. Also, the Company excludes all warranties regarding the credibility and accuracy of information, data and facts in Services provided by a content provider or posted by a user and is not liable for any loss or damage incurred to you without the Company's fault.
  • 2.The Company will indemnify you for any loss which has occurred as a result of our fault in compliance with these Terms and Conditions and relevant laws. However, the Company will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by any of the following without the Company's fault, and to the extent permitted by law, the Company will not be responsible for indirect, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages.
    • Losses due to natural disasters or acts of God
    • Service errors due to reasons attributable to you
    • Personal losses arising from the access to or use of Services
    • Losses due to an illegal access to or use of our server by a third party
    • Losses due to interference in transmission to or from our Server
    • Losses due to transmission or spread of malware by a third party
    • Damages arising from the use of Services by a third party including omissions, loss or destruction of transmitted data, or defamation, etc
    • Other losses arising from acts of the Company that are not intentional or negligent
ARTICLE 19. Juvenile Protection

In order to protect adolescents from harmful content and support their safe use of Internet as a space where people of all ages can freely engage in, the Korean government enforces Juvenile Protection Policy under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. Please refer to the front page of Services for more information.

ARTICLE 20. Notices and Announcements

Your opinion matters to us. You may visit our Customer Service and express your opinions at any time. The Company may send an email to the email address you use as a Kakao Account or Daum ID, leave electronic messages within the relevant Service, post an alarm message, or use any other reasonable means to notify or inform you. Notices to all users will become effective no sooner than seven (7) days after they are posted on the front page of Services or on notice page.

ARTICLE 21. Dispute Resolution

These Terms and Conditions or Services will be governed and implemented by the laws of the Republic of Korea. The Company will consult with you in good faith to resolve any disputes arising out of or relating to the use of Services. If unsettled, the case may be taken to the court to be determined pursuant to the Korean civil procedure law.

  • Date of Notice: Oct 19, 2020
  • Date of Implementation: Nov 3, 2020
If you have any inquiries on Services (including location-based services), please feel free to visit or contact our Customer Service.
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