Privacy Policy
KOCHAT (“KoChat” “we,” and “us”)
respects the privacy of its users (“you”) and has developed this Privacy Policy
to demonstrate its commitment to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy
describes the information we collect, how that information may be used, with
whom it may be shared, and your choices about such uses and disclosures. We
encourage you to read this Privacy Policy carefully when using our application
or services or transacting business with us. By using our website, application or other online services (our “Service”), you
are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
If you have any questions about
our privacy practices, please refer to the end of this Privacy Policy for
information on how to contact us. Please read this Privacy Policy in
conjunction with our Terms of Service.
Information we
collect about you
In General.
We may collect Personal
Information, including Sensitive Data, and other information. “Personal
Information” means individually identifiable information that would allow us to
determine the actual identity of, and contact, a specific living person.
Sensitive Data includes information, comments or content (e.g.
photographs, video, profile, lifestyle) that you optionally provide that may
reveal your ethnic origin, nationality, religion and/or sexual orientation. By
providing Sensitive Data to us, you consent to the collection, use and
disclosure of Sensitive Data as permitted by applicable privacy laws. We may
also collect your geolocation information with your consent. We may collect
this information through a website, mobile application, or other online
services. By using the Service, you are authorizing us to gather, parse and
retain data related to the provision of the Service. When you provide personal
information through our Service, the information may be sent to servers located
in the United States and countries around the world where data protection laws
may differ.
Information you
provide.
In order to register as a user with KoChat,
you will be asked to sign in using your Facebook, Instagram, Google, Apple,
Cell phone login or email address. Ex. If you sign in using Facebook, you authorize
us to access certain Facebook account information, such as your public Facebook
profile (consistent with your privacy settings in Facebook), your email
address, interests, likes, gender, birthday, education history, relationship
interests, current city, photos, personal description, friend list, and
information about and photos of your Facebook friends who might be common
Facebook friends with other KoChat users. You will also be asked to allow KoChat
to collect your location information from your device when you download or use
the Service. In addition, we may collect and store any personal information you
provide while using our Service or in some other manner. This may include
identifying information, such as your name, address, email address and
telephone number, and, if you transact business with us, financial information.
You may also provide us photos, a personal description and information about
your gender and preferences for recommendations, such as search distance, age range
and gender. If you chat with other KoChat users, you provide us the content of
your chats, and if you contact us with a customer service or other inquiry, you
provide us with the content of that communication.
Fair collection of personal data
– type of data
·
Data related to your identity: The registration
form must be completed in order to access the
Services. You are required to provide some personal data when registering.
·
You may also provide The Company with a mobile
phone number in order to receive text alerts as well
as a step within our profile verification. In all cases, your e-mail address,
and phone number shall not be visible or available to the public.
·
Location Data (geolocation): The Company’s primary
function and goal is to enable users to find the people nearby, in order to facilitate virtual or real life meet ups. You
will be asked for permission to collect and process your geolocation in order to allow The Company to identify other users who agreed
to geolocation.
·
Transaction Data: The Company does not collect or
process any bank data. The Apple App Store and Google Play Store have opted to
refrain from sending certain data to mobile applications, which includes any
banking and financial information. Such data is collected and processed solely
by the above platforms, and The Company does not have the option of changing
this payment method.
·
Mobile Data: When you use the Application, The
Company collects server logs which may include information such as IP
addresses, operating systems or application crashes.
·
Selfie: We estimate your liveness based on your
facial image to prevent fraudulent signups and fake account creation. To do
this we collect a selfie from you as part of our signup process. We only share
your selfie with our partner Amazon who conduct the liveness checks. Amazon
will have no way of linking your selfie to any other data about you and no
other data of yours is shared with them. Amazon processes this data in its own
based servers to check liveness, and then returns an estimated liveness result
to us. Amazon deletes your selfie immediately once the liveness detection is
completed and does not use your selfie for any other purpose at all.
Use of technologies
to collect information.
We use various technologies to
collect information from your device and about your activities on our Service.
Information collected
automatically.
We automatically collect
information from your browser or device when you visit our Service. This
information could include your IP address, device ID and type, your browser
type and language, the operating system used by your device, access times, your
mobile device’s geographic location while our application is actively running,
and the referring website address.
Cookies and use of cookie and
similar data.
When you visit our Service, we
may assign your device one or more cookies or other technologies that
facilitate personalization to facilitate access to our Service and to personalize
your experience. Through the use of a cookie, we also
may automatically collect information about your activity on our Service, such
as the pages you visit, the time and date of your visits and the links you
click. If we advertise, we (or third parties) may use certain data collected on
our Service to show you KoChat advertisements on other sites or applications.
Pixel tags.
We embed pixel tags (also called
web beacons or clear GIFs) on web pages, ads, and emails. These tiny, invisible
graphics are used to access cookies and track user activities (such as how many
times a page is viewed). We use pixel tags to measure the popularity of our
features and services. Ad companies also use pixel tags to measure the number
of ads displayed and their performance (such as how many people clicked on an
ad).
Mobile device IDs.
If you're using our app, we use
mobile device IDs (the unique identifier assigned to a device by the
manufacturer), or Advertising IDs (for iOS 6 and later), instead of cookies, to
recognise you. We do this to store your preferences
and track your use of our app. Unlike cookies, device IDs cannot be deleted,
but Advertising IDs can be reset in “Settings” on your iPhone. Ad companies
also use device IDs or Advertising IDs to track your use of the app, track the
number of ads displayed, measure ad performance and display ads that are more
relevant to you. Analytics companies use device IDs to track information about
app usage.
Information collected by third-parties for advertising purposes.
We may allow service providers,
advertising companies and ad networks, and other third parties to display
advertisements on our Service and elsewhere. These companies may use tracking
technologies, such as cookies or web beacons, to collect information about
users who view or interact with their advertisements. We do not provide any
non-masked or non-obscured personal information to third parties.
How we use the
information we collect
In General. We may use
information that we collect about you to:
·
deliver and improve our products and services, and
manage our business;
·
manage your account and provide you with customer support;
·
perform research and analysis about your use of,
or interest in, our or others’ products, services, or content;
·
communicate with you by email, postal mail,
telephone and/or mobile devices about products or services that may be of
interest to you either from us or other third parties;
·
develop, display, and track content and
advertising tailored to your interests on our Service and other sites,
including providing our advertisements to you when you visit other sites;
·
website or mobile application analytics;
·
verify your eligibility and deliver prizes in
connection with contests and sweepstakes;
·
enforce or exercise any rights in our Terms of
Use; and
·
perform functions or services as otherwise
described to you at the time of collection.
·
pass on to businesses who we feel in our absolute
discretion provide that provide services that would services that would be of
interest to you
Job applicants.
If your Personal Information is
submitted when applying for a position with our company, the information will
be used solely in connection with considering and acting upon your application.
We may retain your Personal Information, but only for the purpose of
considering your application for current or future available positions. This
information, which may include your name and contact information, prior
education and experience, and other information you provide to us, may be
shared with third-party service providers retained by us to collect, maintain and analyze candidate submissions for job postings.
In all circumstances, we may
perform these functions directly or use a third-party vendor to perform these
functions on our behalf who will be obligated to use your personal information
only to perform services for us. Also, if you access our Service from a third-party
social platform, such as Facebook, etc., we may share non-personal information
with that platform to the extent permitted by your agreement with it and its
privacy settings.
With whom we share
your information
Information Shared
with Other Users.
When you register as a user of KoChat,
your KoChat profile will be viewable by other users of the Service. Other users
(and in the case of any sharing features available on KoChat, the individuals
or apps with whom a KoChat user may choose to share you with) will be able to
view information you have provided to us directly or through Facebook, such as
your Facebook photos, any additional photos you upload, your first name, your
age, approximate number of miles away, your personal description, and
information you have in common with the person viewing your profile, such as
common Facebook friends and likes. If you swipe right or use voting buttons to
say “yes” to a person, you will be able to chat with that person if they swipe
right or use voting buttons to say “yes” to you, e.g., when you have a “match.”
If you chat with your match, of course your match will see the content of your
chat.
Personal information.
We do not share your personal
information with others except as indicated in this Privacy Policy or when we
inform you and give you an opportunity to opt out of having your personal
information shared. We may share personal information with:
Service providers.
We may share information,
including personal and financial information, with third parties that perform
certain services on our behalf. These services may include fulfilling orders,
providing customer service and marketing assistance, performing business and
sales analysis, ad tracking and analytics, member screenings, supporting our
Service functionality, and supporting contests, sweepstakes, surveys, and other
features offered through our Service. These service providers may have access
to personal information needed to perform their functions but are not permitted
to share or use such information for any other purposes.
Other KoChat group
businesses.
We may share information we
collect, including your profile and personal information such as your name and
contact information, photos, interests, activities, and transactions on our
Service with other KoChat group companies.
Other Situations.
We may disclose your information,
including personal information:
·
In response to a subpoena or similar investigative
demand, a court order, or a request for cooperation from a law enforcement or
other government agency; to establish or exercise our legal rights; to defend
against legal claims; or as otherwise required by law. In such cases, we may
raise or waive any legal objection or right available to us.
·
When we believe disclosure is appropriate in
connection with efforts to investigate, prevent, or take other action regarding
illegal activity, suspected fraud or other wrongdoing;
to protect and defend the rights, property or safety of our company, our users,
our employees, or others; to comply with applicable law or cooperate with law
enforcement; or to enforce our Terms of Use or other agreements or policies.
·
In connection with a substantial corporate
transaction, such as the sale of our business, a divestiture, merger,
consolidation, or asset sale, or in the unlikely event of bankruptcy.
·
To our employees, consultants, contractors,
subcontractors, professional advisors, insurers or agents if we believe that
this would be beneficial for KoChat or its group
companies.
Aggregated and/or
non-personal information.
We may use and share non-personal
information we collect under any of the above circumstances. We may also share
it with third parties to develop and deliver targeted advertising on our
Service and on websites or applications of third parties, and to analyse and report on advertising you see. We may combine
non-personal information we collect with additional non-personal information
collected from other sources. We also may share aggregated, non-personal
information, or personal information in hashed, non-human readable form, with
third parties, including advisors, advertisers, and investors, for the purpose
of conducting general business analysis, advertising, marketing, or other
business purposes. For example, we may engage a data provider who may collect
web log data from you (including IP address and information about your browser
or operating system), or place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser to
enable you to receive customized ads or content. The cookies may reflect
de-identified demographic or other data linked to data you voluntarily have
submitted to us (such as your email address), that we may share with a data
provider solely in hashed, non-human readable form. We may also share your
geolocation information in de-identified form with KoChat companies and third
parties for the above purposes. To opt out of the sharing of your geolocation
information, please discontinue use of the KoChat application.
Do Not Track disclosure
Do Not Track (“DNT”) is a privacy preference that users can set in their web
browsers. DNT is a way for users to inform websites and services that they do
not want certain information about their webpage visits collected over time and
across websites or online services. We are committed to providing you with
meaningful choices about the information we collect and that is why we provide
the opt-out links above. However, we do not recognize or respond to any DNT
signals, as the Internet industry works toward defining exactly what DNT means,
what it means to comply with DNT, and a common approach to responding to DNT.
Third-party websites
There are a
number of places on our Service where you may click on a link to access
other websites that do not operate under this Privacy Policy. For example, if
you click on an advertisement on our Service, you may be taken to a website
that we do not control. These third- party websites may independently solicit
and collect information, including personal information, from you and, in some
instances, provide us with information about your activities on those websites.
We recommend that you consult the privacy statements of all third-party websites
you visit by clicking on the “privacy” link typically located at the bottom of
the webpage you are visiting.
How you can access and correct
your information If you have a KoChat account, you have the
ability to review and update your personal information within the
Service by opening your account and going to settings. Applicable privacy laws
may allow you the right to access and/or request the correction of errors or
omissions in your personal information that is in our custody or under our
control. Our Privacy Officer will assist you with the access request.
We will respond to requests
within the time allowed by all applicable privacy laws and will make every
effort to respond as accurately and completely as possible. Any corrections
made to personal information will be promptly sent to any organization to which
it was disclosed.
In certain exceptional
circumstances, we may not be able to provide access to certain personal
information we hold. For security purposes, not all personal information is
accessible and amendable by the Privacy Officer. If access or corrections
cannot be provided, we will notify the individual making the request within 30
days, in writing, of the reasons for the refusal.
Data retention
If you delete or disable your
account, we will retain your data for a period of 3 years for analytical
purposes and recordkeeping integrity, as well as to prevent fraud, collect any
fees owed, enforce our terms and conditions, take actions we deem necessary to
protect the integrity of our Services or our users, or take other actions
otherwise permitted by law. After this period personally identifiable
information associated with the account such as email address/phone
number/photos will be anonymized/masked. To preserve the integrity of the
platform the anonymized member data will continue to be stored. In addition, if
certain information has already been provided to third parties as described in
this Privacy Policy, retention of that information will be subject to those
third parties' policies.
Data deletion
We record the exact time you
request for your account to be deleted. You are able to create a brand new account using the your old email address/phone
number.
The moment you request deletion,
your account, profile, and photos are taken offline and are not shown to other KoChat
members.
Apart from a confirmation of this
request, no further emails will be sent to you from us.
Once up-to three years has
elapsed, we will then permanently delete your personally identifiable
information (such as photos/email address/phone number/profile).
Data deletion
reasoning
Unfortunately, we may have a
request for data from law enforcement with regards to conversations on a
particular members account many months after they have left our service. This
may be as a result of a new or ongoing investigation.
It is not satisfactory for us to immediately delete all information on request
by a user as this may prevent such evidence being supplied.
Block history is maintained for
this period to prevent users repeatedly harassing other members after being
blocked. This is in order to protect all members.
Should this be immediately deleted it would allow a blocked member to rematch
with a member in order to message/harass them again.
Phone number/email address/login
credentials are retained during this period to prevent users creating multiple
duplicate accounts and hence prevent harassment of other members.
Duplicate accounts
Having multiple accounts is
against our Terms Of Service. Retaining the email
address and phone number during this period allows us to prevent such abuse of
our services.
Privacy Policy
consent and agreement
Please note that the above policy
is defined herein our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. We record the exact
time when each member consents to these policies.
Your choices about
collection and use of your information
You can choose not to provide us
with certain information, but that may result in you being unable to use
certain features of our Service because such information may be required in order for you to register as user; purchase products or
services; participate in a contest, promotion, survey, or sweepstakes; ask a
question; or initiate other transactions.
Our Service may also deliver
notifications to your phone or mobile device. You can disable these
notifications by going into “App Settings” on the app or by changing the
settings on your mobile device.
You can also control information
collected by cookies. You can delete or decline cookies by changing your
browser settings. Click “help” in the toolbar of most browsers for
instructions.
How we protect your
personal information
We take security measures to help
safeguard your personal information from unauthorized access and disclosure.
However, no system can be completely secure. Therefore, although we take steps
to secure your information, we do not promise, and you should not expect, that
your personal information, chats, or other communications will always remain
secure. Users should also take care with how they handle and disclose their
personal information and should avoid sending personal information through
insecure email.
You agree that we may communicate
with you electronically regarding security, privacy, and administrative issues,
such as security breaches. We may post a notice on our Service if a security
breach occurs. We may also send an email to you at the email address you have
provided to us.
Information you
provide about yourself while using our Service
We provide areas on our Service
where you can post information about yourself and others and communicate with
others. Such postings are governed by our Terms of Service. Also, whenever you
voluntarily disclose personal information on publicly-viewable
pages, that information will be publicly available and can be collected and
used by others. For example, if you post your email address, you may receive
unsolicited messages. We cannot control who reads your posting or what other
users may do with the information you voluntarily post, so we encourage you to
exercise discretion and caution with respect to your personal information. The
Company cannot be held liable for data published on its platform and disclosed
by a Member.
Children's privacy
Although our Service is a general
audience Service, we restrict the use of our service to individuals age 18 and above. We do not knowingly collect, maintain, or
use personal information from children under the age of 18.
Onward transfer and
consent to international processing
We are a growing corporation with
users and operations in multiple countries, including the European Union. We
have developed data practices designed to assure information is appropriately
protected but we cannot always know where personal information may be accessed
or processed. While our primary data centers are in the United States, we may
transfer personal information or other information to our offices outside of
the United States. In addition, we may employ other companies and individuals
to perform functions on our behalf. If we disclose personal information to a
third party or to our employees outside of the United States, we will seek
assurances that any information we may provide to them is safeguarded
adequately and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the requirements of
applicable privacy laws and obtain confirmation that such information is safe
guarded in accordance with the requirements of applicable privacy laws.
If you are visiting from the
European Union or other regions with laws governing data collection and use,
please note that you are agreeing to the transfer of your personal data,
including sensitive data, by KoChat from your region to countries which do not
have data protection laws that provide the same level of protection that exists
in countries in the European Economic Area, including the United States. By
providing your personal information, you consent to any transfer and processing
in accordance with this Policy.
No Rights of Third
Parties
This Privacy Policy does not
create rights enforceable by third parties or require disclosure of any
personal information relating to users of the website.
Changes to this
Privacy Policy
We will occasionally update this
Privacy Policy to reflect changes in the law, our data collection and use
practices, the features of our Service, or advances in technology. When we post
changes to this Privacy Policy, we will revise the “last updated” date at the
top of this Privacy Policy, which will be posted on the Services under
“Settings” and also on KoChat.app,
and you should regularly check for the most recent version, which is the
version that applies. If we make any material changes to this Privacy Policy,
we will notify you of the changes by reasonable means, which could include
notifications through the Services or via email. Please review the changes
carefully. Your continued use of the Services following the posting of changes
to this policy will mean you consent to and accept those changes. If you do not
consent to such changes you can delete your account by
following the instructions under Settings.
How to delete your account
We understand that there may come a time when you might want to delete your KoChat account. Whether you’re taking a break from social media or simply moving on, we want to make the process as straightforward as possible for you. This Link guide outlines the steps to delete your account and provides information about what happens to your data after deletion.
How to contact us
If you have any questions about
this Privacy Policy, please contact us by email or postal mail as follows:
support@kochat.app