Privacy Policy

Account information.

When you sign up, we collect your name, email address, password (encrypted) and date of birth.

Identity verification.

To confirm your eligibility to use the Service, we require identity verification through our verification partner, Didit. As part of this process, we (and Didit) collect:

• An image of your government-issued identification document (driver's license, passport or state ID)
• A real-time selfie photograph for biometric matching against your ID
• Information extracted from the ID document, including name, date of birth, gender marker, document number and document expiration

Profile information.

You may provide additional information for your profile, including profile photos, bio, vibes, interests, employment, education, location preferences and other details you choose to share.

User content.

Messages, posts, comments, event attendance and other content you create or share through the Service.

Communications.

Information you provide when you contact us, including support requests, feedback and other communications.

Device and technical information.

Device type, operating system version, mobile device identifier (such as Apple's IDFV), app version and language settings.

Location data.

With your permission, we collect approximate location at the city or neighborhood level. We use location data for two purposes:

• A "primary city" you select, which is sticky and used to surface relevant friends and events;
• Approximate travel location to power travel-mode features that show you friends and events near where you are.

We do not share your exact location or precise GPS coordinates with other users or third parties. Distance-based features rely on coarse, city-level location only.

You can revoke location permission at any time through your device's settings. Without location permission, certain features will not be available.

Analytics.

We use Firebase Analytics, a service provided by Google, to understand aggregate user engagement with the Service. Firebase Analytics collects information including app instance identifiers, app version, device type and event data (such as which features you use). This information is tied to a pseudonymous identifier and is used solely to improve the Service. Learn more in Google's privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy.

Verification partner.

Didit provides us with the results of identity verification, including a pass/fail signal and the underlying identity attributes from the verification process.

Authentication providers.

If you choose to sign in using Apple Sign In or Google Sign-In, we receive basic profile information (such as your name and email address) from those providers in accordance with their respective privacy policies.

Service providers.

Push notification services, analytics tools and other vendors may provide information related to your use of the Service.

As described in Section 3.1, our verification partner Didit collects:

• An image of your government ID
• A real-time selfie for biometric matching
• Identity attributes extracted from the ID

Verification data is used solely to:

• Confirm your identity and eligibility for the Service;
• Detect and prevent fraud, including duplicate accounts and impersonation;
• Comply with legal obligations.

Dear Bestie does not retain copies of your government ID image or your selfie. After Didit completes verification, Dear Bestie retains only:

• A pass/fail verification status;
• A hashed identifier linking your account to a successful verification event;
• The information necessary for fraud prevention, audit and legal compliance.

Didit, our verification partner, retains verification data in accordance with their own privacy policy and applicable data protection law. We encourage you to review Didit's privacy policy at didit.me/privacy to understand their independent data practices, including their retention periods.

Dear Bestie welcomes all women, including transgender and non-binary women. Our identity verification process exists to confirm membership in our women's community. If our automated verification doesn't reflect your identity, we offer a manual review process. Reach out to hello@dearbestie.app and we'll review additional documentation to confirm your account.

Documentation we may accept for manual review includes:

• A name change court order
• An updated state ID showing your gender marker
• A letter from a healthcare provider confirming your identity
• Other reasonable documentation

We treat all manual review information confidentially. Manual review information is used solely to confirm eligibility and is retained only as long as needed for verification, audit and legal purposes.

You may request access to, correction of or deletion of your verification data by contacting hello@dearbestie.app, subject to legal limitations and our retention obligations.

When you use the Service, certain profile information is visible to other users in our community, including your first name, age, profile photos, bio, vibes, interests and approximate city. You control much of this through your profile settings and visibility controls.

We never share your exact location or precise GPS coordinates with other users. Distance-based features use only approximate city or neighborhood-level information.

Messages you send to other users are visible to those users. Posts you make in circles or events are visible to other members of those groups.

We share information with third-party service providers who help us operate the Service, subject to confidentiality and data protection obligations:

• Didit (identity verification)
• Firebase / Google Cloud Platform (hosting, authentication, push notifications, analytics)
• Hostinger (transactional email delivery)
• Apple App Store / Google Play Store (app distribution and in-app purchases)

These providers process your information only as necessary to provide their services to us and are bound by privacy and security obligations consistent with this Privacy Policy.

We may share information when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to:

1. Comply with applicable law, regulation, court order, subpoena or other legal process;
2. Protect the safety of any person, including users and third parties;
3. Protect the rights, property or safety of Dear Bestie LLC, our users or others;
4. Detect, prevent or address fraud, security or technical issues;
5. Cooperate with law enforcement when we believe such cooperation is required by law.

If Dear Bestie LLC is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, sale of assets, bankruptcy or similar transaction, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you of any change in ownership or control.

We may share information for any other purpose with your consent.

You can review and update much of your information directly in the app's profile settings.

You may opt out of marketing communications at any time by following the unsubscribe link in any marketing email or by contacting hello@dearbestie.app.

You may turn off push notifications through your device settings or in-app settings.

You may revoke location permission at any time through your device settings. Without location permission, certain features will not be available.

You may delete your account at any time through in-app settings or by contacting hello@dearbestie.app. Account deletion will:

• Remove your profile from the Service;
• Delete your messages, posts and content (subject to backup retention and content shared with other users that we cannot recall);
• Retain limited information as required for legal, audit, fraud prevention and backup purposes.

Depending on the U.S. state you live in, you may have specific rights over your personal information. Dear Bestie extends the core rights below to residents of every U.S. state that grants them, including California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Montana, Iowa, Delaware, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Minnesota, Maryland, Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, Rhode Island and others as their laws take effect.

Your rights may include:

• The right to know and access the personal information we hold about you;
• The right to correct inaccurate personal information;
• The right to delete personal information we collected from you;
• The right to data portability (a copy in a usable format);
• The right to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information and of targeted advertising. Note that Dear Bestie does not sell your personal information or use it for cross-context behavioral advertising;
• The right to opt out of profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects. Dear Bestie does not engage in this kind of profiling;
• The right to limit the use of sensitive personal information, including your verification and biometric data;
• The right to be free from discrimination for exercising any of these rights;
• The right to appeal a decision we make about your request.

Sensitive data. Some state laws treat verification/biometric data, precise location and similar categories as "sensitive." We process sensitive data only for the limited purposes described in this Policy and, where required, with your consent.

Global Privacy Control. Where required by law, we honor recognized universal opt-out signals, such as the Global Privacy Control (GPC), as a valid request to opt out of sale/sharing and targeted advertising for the browser or device sending the signal.

How to exercise your rights. Email hello@dearbestie.app or use the controls in the app. We will verify your identity before acting on a request and will respond within the time required by your state's law. You may use an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf where the law permits; we may require proof of the agent's authority.

Appeals. If we decline your request, you may appeal by replying to our decision or emailing hello@dearbestie.app with "Appeal" in the subject line. If we deny your appeal and you believe it was wrongly denied, you may contact your state Attorney General.

If you are in the EEA, UK or Switzerland, you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation:

• Right of access to your personal data;
• Right to rectification of inaccurate data;
• Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten");
• Right to restrict processing;
• Right to data portability;
• Right to object to processing based on legitimate interests;
• Right to withdraw consent at any time;
• Right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

The legal bases for our processing include: performance of a contract (Service), consent (marketing, location), legitimate interests (security, fraud prevention, analytics) and compliance with legal obligations.

To exercise these rights, contact hello@dearbestie.app.

If you are a Washington or Nevada resident, certain information we process may be treated as "consumer health data" under those states' laws, including your biometric verification data. We want to be clear about how we handle it:

• We collect this data only to verify identity and eligibility and to keep our community safe. Never to infer or market anything about your health.
• We do not sell consumer health data, and we will not share it except with our verification partner to perform verification, with your consent, or as required by law.
• With limited exceptions, we collect and share consumer health data only with your consent, which you provide during verification (see our Biometric Data Notice).
• You may request access to, or deletion of, your consumer health data, and you may withdraw consent, by emailing hello@dearbestie.app. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that already occurred and may mean you can no longer use the Service, which requires verification.