What we collect, what we don't.

What we collect

• Your email address. Used to sign you in and send the one-time code. We don't share it or send marketing email.
• Your first name, age, gender and the gender(s) you're interested in. Used to show your profile to other people checked in at the same venue, and to filter who you see there.
• Your photo and short status line. Shown to other people checked in at the same venue as you. Photos pass a face- detection check before they upload.
• Your location, only while you're using the app. We use your GPS to confirm you're at the venue you check into, and to auto-check you out if you walk away. We never store a location history.
• Check-ins, handkerchiefs you drop and receive, and matches. Stored so the app can function. Visible only to the people involved.

What we don't collect

• Background location. We only read your GPS while the app is open.
• Your phone's contacts, photo library outside the photo you choose to upload, or any other on-device data.
• Ad-tracking identifiers. Handkerchief has no ads.
• Anything we don't need.

Who can see what

• Other people checked into the same venue as you can see your first name, age, photo and status line — only while you're both there.
• When you drop a handkerchief on someone, they see a generic signal, not your name or photo. The same applies in reverse. Only a mutual drop reveals you both to each other.
• We never share your data with advertisers, data brokers, or any third party that isn't strictly required to run the service (our database provider, our email provider, our hosting provider).

Your rights

• See your data. Email handkerchief.dating@proton.me and we'll send you a copy.
• Delete your account. Go to Profile and tap Delete account. Your profile, photos, check-ins and handkerchiefs are removed immediately. Anonymised match counts may persist in aggregated stats.
• Correct anything. Edit your profile any time, or email us if something needs fixing we can't fix ourselves.

How long we keep things

We keep your profile and account data while your account is open. We delete everything when you delete your account, except where we have a legal duty to keep it (e.g. records of abuse reports for safety audit purposes).

Cookies

We use a single cookie to keep you signed in. No analytics cookies, no advertising cookies, no third-party trackers.

Contact

Questions about anything on this page, write to us at handkerchief.dating@proton.me.