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Privacy Policy

Last updated: December 2024

1. Introduction

Welcome to Bushwick ("we," "our," or "us"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring you understand how we collect, use, and share your personal information when you use our dating application and related services.

We do not sell your personal information. We have never sold personal information and have no plans to do so.

2. Information We Collect

Information You Provide

  • Account information: name, email, phone number, date of birth
  • Profile information: photos, bio, gender, sexual orientation, relationship preferences
  • Identity details: pronouns, ethnicity, religion, political views
  • Lifestyle information: drinking, smoking habits, substance use
  • Health information: COVID vaccination status
  • Location information: city, neighborhood, or zip code (we do not continuously track your location)
  • Communications: messages with other users (end-to-end encrypted), support requests

Sensitive Personal Information

To provide our dating services, we collect certain categories of sensitive personal information as defined under California law, including:

  • Sexual orientation and relationship preferences
  • Racial or ethnic origin
  • Religious or philosophical beliefs
  • Health information (vaccination status)

This sensitive information is used solely to provide you with compatible matches and is never sold or shared for advertising purposes. You control the visibility of this information on your profile.

Information Collected Automatically

  • Device information: device type, operating system, unique identifiers
  • Usage data: features used, interactions with other users
  • Location data: with your permission, precise location for matching
  • Log data: IP address, access times, app crashes

Information from Third Parties

  • Contact list: with your permission, to find friends on the platform
  • Payment providers: subscription and transaction information

3. How We Use Your Information

  • Provide and improve our matching services
  • Generate AI-powered insights and compatibility analysis
  • Enable communication between matched users
  • Process subscriptions and payments
  • Ensure safety and prevent fraud
  • Moderate content and enforce community guidelines
  • Send service-related notifications
  • Analyze usage to improve the app experience

4. How We Share Your Information

With Other Users

Your profile information (photos, name, bio, and other details you choose to share) is visible to other users based on your visibility settings.

With Service Providers

We share information with trusted third parties who help us operate our services, including cloud hosting, payment processing, analytics, and customer support.

For Legal Reasons

We may disclose information when required by law, to protect safety, or to enforce our terms.

Third-Party Service Providers

We work with the following service providers who process data on our behalf:

  • Firebase (Google): Authentication, database storage, cloud functions, push notifications, analytics
  • Sentry: Error tracking and performance monitoring (crash reports, app diagnostics)
  • AWS Rekognition: Photo moderation to detect prohibited content
  • OpenAI: AI-powered profile features and compatibility insights
  • Resend: Email delivery for account-related communications
  • Apple: Payment processing (App Store), location services (MapKit)

These providers are contractually obligated to protect your data and use it only as directed by us.

5. Photo Moderation

All photos uploaded to Bushwick are automatically scanned using AWS Rekognition to detect inappropriate content. Photos containing nudity, violence, or other prohibited content will be rejected. We are committed to maintaining a safe environment for all users.

6. Data Retention

We retain your information according to the following schedule:

  • Active accounts: Data retained while your account remains active
  • Inactive accounts: Data retained until you choose to delete your account
  • Deleted accounts: Profile data, photos, and messages are deleted immediately upon account deletion
  • Messages: End-to-end encrypted messages are deleted when either user deletes their account or unmatches
  • Interaction records: Anonymized records may be retained for fraud prevention and safety purposes
  • Analytics and logs: Retained for up to 24 months for service improvement, then deleted or anonymized

You can request deletion of your account and associated data at any time through the app settings or by contacting us. We will process deletion requests promptly.

7. Your Rights and Choices

  • Access and download your data
  • Correct inaccurate information
  • Delete your account and data
  • Control visibility of profile fields
  • Opt out of marketing communications
  • Manage location and notification permissions

California Privacy Rights (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):

  • Right to Know: You can request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the sources of that information, our purposes for collecting it, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it.
  • Right to Delete: You can request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
  • Right to Correct: You can request correction of inaccurate personal information.
  • Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information: You can direct us to limit the use of your sensitive personal information (such as sexual orientation, religion, and ethnicity) to purposes necessary to provide our services.
  • Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your privacy rights.

How to Exercise Your Rights: You can exercise these rights by:

  • Using the "Export My Data" or "Delete Account" options in the app settings
  • Emailing us at privacy@bushwick.app

Authorized Agents: You may designate an authorized agent to submit requests on your behalf. We will require verification of your identity and confirmation that you authorized the agent.

Verification: To protect your privacy, we will verify your identity before fulfilling requests by confirming information associated with your account.

8. Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information:

  • End-to-end encryption: Messages between matched users are encrypted using Curve25519 key exchange and AES-GCM encryption. Only you and your match can read your messages.
  • Encryption in transit: All data transmitted between your device and our servers uses TLS encryption
  • Encryption at rest: Data stored on our servers is encrypted
  • Secure authentication: Phone number verification with SMS codes
  • Photo verification: On-device facial recognition to verify profile authenticity (photos are not sent to external services for this purpose)

9. Children's Privacy

Bushwick is not intended for users under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 18. If we learn we have collected such information, we will delete it immediately.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes through the app or by email.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our practices, please contact us at:

Email: privacy@bushwick.app