Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how AffiniChat ("we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, shares, and protects information when you use our website, applications, and chat services (the "Service"). By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information as described here.

1. Information We Collect

Account information. When you sign up using Google or Microsoft sign-in, we receive your name, email address, and profile image from that provider.

Profile information. Information you provide during onboarding, such as your display name, username, age/birth date, country and city, languages, interests, likes/dislikes, and chat preferences.

Chat content. Messages you send through the Service, which are processed for delivery and automated content moderation.

Usage and device information. Information about how you use the Service, including pages visited, actions taken, approximate location (derived from IP address), browser/device type, and timestamps, typically collected via analytics tools such as Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity.

Payment information. If you subscribe to a paid plan, payments are processed by Stripe. We do not receive or store your full card number — Stripe provides us only with limited billing details (e.g., subscription status, plan, last 4 digits of card).

Cookies. We use cookies and similar technologies for authentication (keeping you signed in), remembering preferences, referral attribution, and analytics.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To create and manage your account and provide the core matching and chat features.
• To compute affinity scores and suggest matches based on your profile, preferences, and interests.
• To operate AI-based content moderation and keep the Service safe.
• To process payments and manage subscriptions.
• To attribute referrals and award referral program benefits (e.g., the Founder badge).
• To analyze usage and improve the Service, using tools like Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity.
• To communicate with you about your account, security, and updates to our policies.
• To detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, and violations of our Terms of Service.

3. Sharing of Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share information with:

• Other users — your profile information (display name, avatar, languages, interests, location at the level you've set) is visible to other users as part of the matching feature.
• Service providers — including hosting (Vercel, Railway), database (Supabase), authentication (Google, Microsoft), payments (Stripe), and analytics (Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity), each of which processes data on our behalf under their own privacy terms.
• Legal authorities — where required by law, legal process, or to protect the rights, safety, and security of AffiniChat, our users, or the public.

4. Cookies and Analytics

We use Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity to understand how visitors use our site (e.g., page views, click and scroll behavior, session recordings) so we can improve the Service. These tools may set cookies and collect device/browser information. You can control cookies through your browser settings, though disabling them may affect parts of the Service (such as staying signed in).

5. Data Retention

We retain your account and profile information for as long as your account is active. Chat messages and related data are retained according to your subscription plan's history limits. If you delete your account, we will delete or anonymize your personal information within a reasonable period, except where retention is required for legal, security, or fraud-prevention purposes.

6. Data Security

We use industry-standard measures (such as encrypted connections, hashed credentials via OAuth providers, and access controls) to protect your information. However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Your Rights and Choices

• You can review and update most of your profile information from your account settings.
• You can request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal data by contacting us.
• Depending on your location, you may have additional rights under laws such as the GDPR or CCPA, including the right to data portability and to object to certain processing.

8. Children's Privacy

AffiniChat is intended for users aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If we become aware that we have collected such information, we will take steps to delete it.

9. International Users

AffiniChat may be hosted and processed in countries other than your own. By using the Service, you consent to the transfer of your information to those countries, which may have different data protection laws than your jurisdiction.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, notify you.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, contact us at support@affinichat.com.