Privacy Policy

Data We Collect

We process only the data needed to provide the service. The information we collect falls into three groups: information you provide to us, information collected automatically as you use the app, and information from the sign-in providers you use.

• Information you provide: your username, your birthday (used to derive your zodiac sign and determine your age; you must declare you are 18 or older), your gender (chosen during registration and not changeable once set), your profile photo if you choose to add one, the posts and images you share, post captions, the text and image content you send in messaging, and your help/support requests.
• AI-derived data: tags, categories, and semantic-search vector representations derived from your posts by AI (Google Gemini).
• Phone number and verification code: when you sign in or register by phone, we process your phone number and send a one-time verification code (OTP) to it by SMS. The code is retained only briefly (a few minutes) and is invalidated after verification. We may also process your phone number in the "connect phone number" flow within account settings.
• Information collected automatically: device information (device model, OS version, brand, system name, app version), a stable per-install device identifier, information used for app-bootstrap checks at launch (maintenance, force-update, and blocked-device checks), and a Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) push token for notifications.
• Information from providers: when you sign in with Google or Apple, we read your provider identity (provider and provider_id), your name, and—where provided—your email address. Apple shares your name and email only on the first sign-in and, depending on your choice, may provide a private relay address instead of your real email.
• Digest kept after deletion: once permanent deletion is complete, an irreversible SHA-256 digest derived from the phone number registered to your account and/or your Google or Apple account identifier stays in our records. What it is for and how long it is kept are set out under 'Retention and Account Deletion'.
• Other data tied to your account: your follow relationships (followers/following), block relationships, account status, language preference, and recent search terms stored locally on your device only for Discover.
• No face or biometric data: Suffle does not collect, detect, recognize, map, or store faces or any biometric identifiers. Your post and profile photos are processed only as ordinary images; the server-side AI (Google Gemini) tags images by scene, object, and topic only and performs no face recognition. The app does not use Face ID or device biometrics for authentication either.

How We Use Your Data

We process your personal data only for clear and limited purposes:

• Operate and secure the service: create your account, display your profile, publish your posts and content, and manage messaging and follow relationships.
• Authentication and session management: secure sign-in with Google or Apple, or with your phone number and a one-time SMS verification code (OTP), and session security (sessions may be ended when you sign in on another device).
• Discover and content organization: post images are auto-tagged and categorized server-side using AI (Google Gemini) so that semantic search and the Discover feed can work.
• Notifications: when you grant permission, send push notifications for events such as new messages, and let you manage your notification preferences.
• Moderation and safety: enforce our community guidelines, prevent abuse, handle block/unblock actions, and run app-bootstrap checks such as maintenance, force-update, and blocked-device checks.
• Support: respond to your help requests and contact you about matters related to your account.

Lounge (Live Audio Rooms)

Lounge is an optional feature where members come together in live audio rooms. When you use Lounge, we process your data as described below.

• Microphone and live audio: microphone permission is requested only when you choose to speak (when you take a slot on the stage, raise your hand, or accept a stage invite); your microphone is not used while you only listen. While you hold a slot on the stage with your microphone on, your voice is relayed in real time to the people in the Lounge through media servers operated by Suffle or by infrastructure providers on its behalf. Lounge audio is not recorded or stored. You can turn off your microphone or step off the stage at any time.
• Only while the app is open: Lounge works as long as the app is open on your screen, and you can keep listening while you browse other parts of the app. When you send the app to the background, the Lounge audio and your microphone stop; if you do not return to the app within a short time, you leave the Lounge and your slot on the stage, if you hold one, is released.
• Lounge chat: text messages in a Lounge are seen by everyone in the Lounge at the time, and people who enter later can see the most recent messages. On our servers the Lounge chat is kept only while someone is in the Lounge, in a short buffer limited to the latest messages, and it is deleted when the last person leaves; the Lounge's host and co-hosts, and the Suffle team, can clear it at any time. The Lounge chat is not added to your direct-message history. Messages containing links, phone numbers, or prohibited words are blocked by automated filters.
• What others can see: when you enter a Lounge, the people inside can see your username, your profile photo, details shown on your profile such as your age, country, and level, your role in the Lounge, whether you are on the stage, and whether your microphone is on or off; your arrival may be shown in the chat as a 'joined' line. When you become a member of a Lounge, your profile details (such as your username and profile photo) and your role appear on that Lounge's member list, visible to anyone who views the Lounge; following a Lounge only counts toward its follower count. While you hold a slot on a stage, people who see you in the app's chat lists or member cards see a live mark around your profile photo and can tap it to enter the Lounge you are in.
• Gifts and transactions: the gifts you send and receive in Lounge (sender, recipient, gift, Coin value, Lounge, and time) are kept in our wallet and transaction records. Each gift sent is shown to everyone in the Lounge as a line in the chat. For lucky gifts, the draw results (sender, Lounge, gift, Suffle Coin won, and time) are kept in these records too.
• Level and ranking: a Lounge's level is visible to anyone who views the Lounge. The Lounge ranking shows each Lounge's title, cover image, its host's profile details, and the total Coin value of the gifts sent in the Lounge during the period. How much any individual sent is not shown in the ranking.
• Lounge records: when you create a Lounge, we store its title, description, topic, cover image, settings, and greetings, as well as its members and their roles, followers, bans, and pending membership requests. Cover images are checked for inappropriate content automatically on the server (using Google Gemini).
• Moderation: to review reports and enforce our rules, the Suffle moderation team can view Lounge records and the live state of an open Lounge (who is inside, the stage, raised hands, and the latest chat messages in the buffer). Actions the team takes on Lounges are logged.
• Reports: when you report a Lounge or a person in a Lounge, your report includes the Lounge's identifier and title in addition to the category you choose and any description you write.
• Retention: Lounge audio is never stored, and the Lounge chat is deleted when the last person leaves the Lounge. Lounge records are kept until you delete the Lounge; a deleted Lounge is removed from the app, but its record may be kept for safety, the review of reports, and legal obligations. When you ask to delete your account, the Lounges you host are hidden from everyone during the 30-day waiting period; when your account is permanently deleted, those Lounges and their cover images are deleted, and your memberships, follows, and pending membership requests are removed. A record that you were banned from a Lounge may be kept for that Lounge's safety, and gift and transaction records may be kept to meet legal and financial obligations.

Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We share your data only in the following cases and with contractually bound service providers (data processors):

With trusted infrastructure providers (such as Firebase/Google) that process data solely on our instructions to deliver the service. We may also share data with competent authorities where necessary to comply with a legal obligation, protect our rights, or ensure the safety of our users.

Third-Party Services

Suffle relies on the following third-party services to provide the service:

• Firebase Authentication and Google Sign-In: authentication and session creation.
• Firebase Cloud Messaging and notifee: delivery and on-device display of push notifications.
• Firebase Storage: server-side storage of uploaded profile photos and post/chat media.
• Google Gemini: server-side AI tagging and categorization of post images, and automated checks of Lounge cover images for inappropriate content.
• SMS provider: delivery of the one-time verification code (OTP) to your phone number by SMS during phone sign-in/registration.
• Sign in with Apple: authentication and session creation on iOS.
• Apple App Store and Google Play: distribution of the app.
• These providers' processing of your data is also subject to their own privacy policies.

Security

We apply reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data. Data is encrypted in transit, and sensitive information stored on your device is kept encrypted. Access is limited through authenticated sessions and authorization controls. While no method is completely secure, we continuously work to protect your data.

Retention and Account Deletion

We retain your personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy. You can delete your account from within the app via Account Settings; a deletion request is handled as follows.

• 30-day hold: after your request, your account is held for deletion for 30 days. During that time your profile, your posts, and the Lounges you host are hidden from everyone, you are signed out on every device, and no push notifications are sent to you; your content and profile details are not deleted at this stage. If you sign in again within the 30 days, your deletion request is cancelled and your account is just as you left it.
• Permanent deletion: once the 30 days have passed, your account is permanently deleted; this stage is irreversible, and a deleted account cannot be reopened. At this stage we delete your name, username, email address, gender, birthday, bio, language preference, and profile photo; your posts (together with their photos and videos) and your likes, comments (together with the replies under them), and saved posts; the Lounges you host, and your Lounge memberships, Lounge follows, and membership requests; your follow and block relationships and your online reminders; your session and device details; notifications sent to you or about you; your daily usage records; your chats and messages (including the media you sent); profile-view records; and your referral code. Your phone number and your Google or Apple sign-in identity are removed from the account record, and the one-way digest described below is kept in their place.
• Records that are kept: your wallet with its Coin and gift history; purchase, payment, and subscription records; voice and video call records; reports made about you or by you and the moderation records about them; the bank account details you gave for publisher payouts; Lounge bans; publisher and agency program records; support conversations; device bans; and your device identifier are not deleted. These records stay linked to the account's internal number in our systems, so they are not anonymous. We keep them for as long as these purposes require: to meet our legal, financial, and accounting obligations, to review disputes and reports, and to prevent abuse (for example, to enforce the limit on how many accounts can be opened on one device and device-level restrictions).
• Sign-in details of deleted accounts: to stop the same person from repeatedly deleting an account and opening a new one with the same details, during permanent deletion we derive a SHA-256 digest from the phone number registered to your account and/or your Google or Apple account identifier, and keep it; your email address is not part of this. The digest does not show your number or identifier in readable form, but because it can be recomputed from the same details and compared, it is not anonymous and we protect it as pseudonymized personal data. It is compared only when someone tries to create an account with that phone number, Google account or Apple account, or to link that number to another account, and it is used for nothing else. The digest itself is kept without a time limit. The sign-up block is also permanent by default; if Suffle sets a period for the block, the digest no longer stops new sign-ups once that period has passed. You can ask for the digest to be deleted and the block lifted by emailing contact@sufflesocial.com.
• Email requests and early deletion: if you cannot access the app, you can send your deletion request to contact@sufflesocial.com; it goes through the same 30-day process. If you want a deletion you started in the app or by email to be completed without waiting the 30 days, you can ask for that at the same address.

Your Rights (GDPR and KVKK)

Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Turkiye's Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data (KVKK), you have the following rights:

• The right to access your personal data and learn whether it is being processed.
• The right to request correction of incomplete or inaccurate data.
• The right to request erasure or destruction of your data.
• The right to object to the processing of your data and to withdraw consent you have given.
• The right to data portability where the relevant conditions apply.
• To exercise these rights, contact us at contact@sufflesocial.com. We will assess your request within the timeframes required by applicable law.

Children

Suffle is intended for users aged 18 and over and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If we learn that a child has provided us with data, we will delete the relevant account and data. If you have any concern about this, please contact us at contact@sufflesocial.com.

International Data Transfers

Suffle is operated by SUFFLE LLC, established in the United States. As a result, your personal data may be transferred to and processed on servers located outside your country of residence. We take reasonable measures to ensure that data transfers are carried out in compliance with applicable data protection law and under appropriate safeguards.

Cookies and Website

The sufflesocial.com website uses the minimum technical data necessary to provide the site's core functions. The mobile app does not use advertising cookies for tracking. We will update further detail on the site as needed.

Changes

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make significant changes, we will update the "last updated" date above and, where appropriate, notify you in the app. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Contact

If you have any questions or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us.