Privacy Policy

This policy describes what Matchachat ("we") collects, why, and what we do with it. It is written to match how the service actually works.

What we collect

• Account details. A username you choose, your gender, and either a hashed password (we never store the password itself) or, if you use Google, your Google account identifier and email address. If you add interest tags, we save them to your account so they are still there the next time you visit.
• Moderation records. Any reports, suspensions applied to your account, and any appeal you submit.
• Safety snapshots. While you are in a chat session we take still images from your camera, at the start and periodically after, and keep them so we can check the service is being used within our guidelines. They are stored privately and are not shown to other users.
• Chat records. For each match we keep a record that it happened: who was paired, when, how long each of you waited, how long it lasted, how many text messages were sent, and how it ended. We keep the number of messages, never the messages themselves. We use this to see whether matching is working and to spot abuse.
• Technical data. Standard connection information such as your IP address, which is inherently visible to our servers.
• How you found us, and how you use the site. If you arrive through a link in an advert or another website, we record which one, and we keep that against your account so we can tell which adverts are worth paying for. We also record the steps people take through the site, such as opening the home page, starting to sign up, and whether the browser allowed camera access. This is a record of steps taken and pages visited, never of anything you type or say.

What other people can see

• Your country. We work out an approximate country from your IP address and show it, as a name and a flag, to the person you are currently matched with. Nobody sees your IP address itself, and nobody sees anything more precise than the country. The lookup is a best guess: if you use a VPN or proxy it will show wherever that service connects from, and it can be wrong for other reasons too.

What we do not store

• Your video and audio streams are not recorded. Calls go directly between you and the other person, and we do not keep a recording of them. The safety snapshots described above are still images, not a recording of your call.
• Your real name and profile photo are never shown. If you sign in with Google, we replace the stored name with your chosen username and do not expose the provider's name or avatar.

Cookies

We use a cookie to keep you signed in. We also use two small cookies of our own for the measurement described above: one that remembers which link brought you here, and one containing a random identifier so we can count visitors without knowing who they are. Neither can be read by any other website.

Analytics and advertising services

Alongside our own measurement we may use third-party analytics services, currently PostHog and Google Analytics, to understand how the site is used. Where an advertising service is enabled, such as Google Ads or the Meta pixel, it is told when an account is created so it can measure and improve its own adverts. These services may set their own cookies and receive your IP address and details of the pages you visit.

On the pages outside the chat itself, such as the home and sign-up pages, our analytics provider may also record a playback of your visit, covering the pages, clicks and scrolling. Text you type into forms is hidden from these recordings, and no recording is made once you are in a chat.

Retention

Account details are kept while your account exists.

Your rights

You can request a copy of your data or ask us to delete your account by reaching out to us. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under laws such as the GDPR or CCPA.

Age requirement

Matchachat is strictly for adults aged 18 or over. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone younger.

Contact

Reach out to us through the app for any privacy-related questions.