Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Dhadkan (“we,” “us,” “our”) operates the Dhadkan mobile application and the dhadkan.social website. If you have questions about this policy or how your data is handled, email us at service@dhadkan.social.

2. Information we collect

You give us

• Account info: name, email, phone (if you use phone sign-in), password, date of birth (used to confirm you are 18+), gender.
• Profile info: photos, bio, occupation, education, religion, ethnicity, languages, location, height, lifestyle details, what you’re looking for, and your partner preferences.
• Personality questionnaire: your answers to the optional in-app questionnaire that powers AI-assisted matching.
• Messages: the content of messages you send to other users through Dhadkan.
• Support requests: any information you send when you contact support or report another user.

We collect automatically

• Device & log data: device type, operating system, app version, IP address, crash reports, and basic usage events (e.g., which screens you view).
• Location: approximate location (derived from your device or zip code) is used to show nearby matches. We also derive your approximate country from your IP address when you sign in, and use it to help verify accounts and prevent fraud, impersonation, and abuse (for example, flagging a sign-in whose country does not match the country on the profile for manual review). Precise GPS location is only used when you explicitly enable “Use my current location.”
• Push tokens: a unique token from Apple or Google that lets us deliver push notifications to your device.

From other services

• If you sign up with Google or Apple, we receive your name and email from that provider.
• If you verify your phone, our phone-verification provider confirms the number is yours.

3. How we use your information

• To match you: we compare your preferences, profile, and (optionally) your questionnaire answers with other users to surface compatible people.
• To run the service: account creation, sign-in, messaging, profile photos, notifications.
• For safety: detecting fake or abusive accounts (including comparing the approximate country of a sign-in, derived from its IP address, against the country on the profile), moderating photos and reports, enforcing our Community Guidelines.
• For AI features: generating compatibility insights and the AI Coach. We send only a minimized, sanitized subset of your profile to our AI provider — never your raw email, phone number, exact address, or message history.
• To improve Dhadkan: aggregated, anonymized analytics about how the app is used so we can make it better.
• To communicate with you: account emails (welcome, password reset), match notifications, and important service updates.
• To bill subscriptions: through Apple App Store or Google Play (we do not see or store your payment card information).

4. Who sees what

Other users see

• Your profile fields you have chosen to display (photos, first name, last initial, age, bio, interests, occupation, education, etc.).
• Your approximate location (e.g., city, country) — never your exact address or coordinates.
• Messages you send to them.

Other users never see your email, phone number, exact location, payment information, or date of birth.

Service providers (data processors)

We share limited data with the following providers strictly to operate the service:

• Google Firebase (Authentication, Firestore, Cloud Functions): account data, profile data, messages.
• ImageKit and Cloudinary: profile photo storage and delivery.
• Hostinger: email delivery for service emails (welcome, password reset, match notifications).
• Expo (Push Notification Service): delivery of push notifications to your device.
• Apple, Google: in-app subscription billing.
• Google Gemini (AI): sanitized profile data for compatibility insights — we redact personal identifiers before sending.
• Twilio / MSG91 (if used): SMS-based phone verification.
• Railway: backend application hosting.

Each provider is contractually bound to handle your data only for the purposes listed above.

Legal and safety

We may disclose information when we believe in good faith it is necessary to (a) comply with a legal process (e.g., subpoena, court order); (b) enforce our Terms of Service; (c) protect the safety of Dhadkan users or the public; (d) investigate fraud or abuse.

Business transfers

If Dhadkan is acquired or merged, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

5. We do not sell your data

We do not sell your personal information to advertisers, data brokers, or any third party. We do not allow third-party advertising networks to track you inside Dhadkan.

6. Your choices and rights

In the app

• Edit your profile at any time from Profile settings.
• Turn off auto-location (premium feature) and enter location manually.
• Turn off push notifications in your device settings.
• Block any user from their profile — they can no longer contact you or see your profile.
• Delete your account from Profile → Delete Account. This permanently removes your data subject to limited retention noted below.

Email service-message preferences

Account-essential emails (welcome, password reset, security) cannot be turned off while your account is active. Match-notification emails can be disabled in your Profile settings.

Regional rights

• California (CCPA/CPRA): you have the right to know what we collect, request deletion, and opt out of any “sharing” of personal information. We do not “sell” personal information as defined under CCPA.
• European Economic Area, UK, Switzerland (GDPR/UK GDPR): you have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection. Our legal bases are: (i) performance of a contract — to provide you the service; (ii) legitimate interests — fraud prevention, product improvement; (iii) consent — for optional features such as location and marketing; (iv) legal obligation — when required by law.
• Email service@dhadkan.social to exercise any of these rights. We respond within 30 days.

7. How long we keep your data

• While your account is active: we keep your profile and messages so other users can see and chat with you.
• After account deletion: profile data, photos, messages, and questionnaire answers are deleted within 30 days. Anonymized analytics may be kept longer.
• Legal/safety holds: if we are required to retain certain records by law (e.g., for fraud investigation, financial records of paid subscriptions), we may keep them for the legally required period.
• Backups: data may persist in encrypted backup snapshots for up to 90 days before being overwritten.

8. Security

We protect your data using industry-standard practices: encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS) for all data in transit, encrypted storage at rest, hashed passwords (bcrypt with high cost factor), JWT-based authentication, and least-privilege access for our team. No service can guarantee absolute security, but we work hard to reduce risk.

9. Children

Dhadkan is strictly for adults. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has created an account, please contact us at service@dhadkan.social and we will remove the account immediately.

10. International data transfers

Dhadkan operates from the United States and uses service providers in several countries. By using the app you understand your data may be processed outside your country of residence, including in countries that may have different data protection rules.

11. Changes to this policy

When we change this policy in a meaningful way, we will notify you in the app and update the “Last updated” date above. Continued use of Dhadkan after a change indicates your acceptance of the revised policy.

12. Contact us

Privacy questions or requests:
Email: service@dhadkan.social