Privacy Policy
PrivateMatch is designed to help people connect while giving them meaningful control over what they share. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use and protect it, and the choices available to you.
Privacy at a glance
- You decide what information appears on your profile.
- Your displayed location is chosen manually — GPS isn't required.
- You control important visibility and safety settings.
- We don't sell personal information or use advertising trackers.
- You can delete your account from Settings at any time.
Your information
This policy applies to the PrivateMatch website and service. To provide it, we keep the following kinds of information.
Account information
Your email address, a password (protected with hashing rather than stored in plain text), your email-verification status, and preferences such as notification choices.
Profile information and photos
What you add to your profile — display name, age, gender, who you're interested in, intents, bio, interests, and photos you choose to upload. Your email address isn't shown to members who view your profile.
Location you choose
The country, region, and city you select for your profile — chosen manually, never derived from your device.
Messages, safety, and support
Messages you send and receive; reports, blocks, and related moderation records; and support inquiries you send us.
Technical and usage information
Limited technical information needed to run and protect the service — such as a hashed form of your IP address when you sign up, to rate-limit abuse — and basic usage events that show which features are used.
How we use it
- To operate the service: accounts, profiles, discovery, and messaging.
- To keep members safe: reviewing reports, applying blocks, and preventing spam and abuse.
- To respond to support requests and process subscriptions, where enabled.
- To meet legal obligations where they apply to us.
Health & visibility
Health-related information
PrivateMatch helps people connect around shared health experiences. When you create a profile, you select the condition or conditions that apply to you, so discovery and matching can be relevant.
We treat this information as sensitive, and your privacy settings control how it is shown to other members:
- Public — shown on your profile and included in condition-based search.
- Visible once a conversation starts — hidden from your profile, and from condition-based search, until you and another member start a conversation. A conversation begins when the first message is sent.
- Private— only you see it. Other members can't see it, and it can't be inferred from condition-based search.
You can update your condition details and their visibility at any time in your settings. We don't use condition information for advertising or send it to payment processors.
PrivateMatch is a community, not a medical service. We don't diagnose, treat, or verify health conditions, and information on the platform isn't medical advice.
Profile visibility
In your settings you can hide your profile entirely, choose whether your country and region appear on it, and choose who can start a conversation with you.
Location
Your displayed location is selected by you. PrivateMatch doesn't require GPS access to determine the location shown on your profile. Like other online services, limited technical information such as IP addresses may be processed to operate and protect the service — we don't use it to determine your displayed location.
Messages & safety
Messages are stored so conversations remain available across sessions and devices. They travel over encrypted HTTPS connections, but PrivateMatch messaging is not end-to-end encrypted. Message content is visible to the sender and the recipient.
When content is reported, relevant information may also be reviewed for safety and moderation. Automated limits also slow spam and abuse — for example, by restricting how quickly new accounts can message.
Safety tools — blocking and reporting — are available to every member. If you delete your account, messages you've already sent may remain visible to their recipients under a “Deleted account” label.
Your choices
How long we keep information
We keep account information while your account is active and for as long as reasonably needed to provide the service. Some information may remain for limited periods in routine backups, or where necessary for safety, fraud prevention, billing, or legal obligations.
Deleting your account
You can delete your account from Settings — we confirm with your password so nobody else can do it for you. Deleting removes your profile and photos, signs you out everywhere, and de-identifies your account details. Messages you've already sent may remain visible to their recipients under a “Deleted account” label, and limited safety, billing, or legal records may be kept where necessary.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, or delete your personal information, receive it in a portable form, object to or restrict certain processing, withdraw consent, or complain to your local regulator. To exercise them, contact us.
About this policy
Security
PrivateMatch uses reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect information, including encrypted connections and safeguards around account credentials and access. No online service can guarantee absolute security.
Age requirement
PrivateMatch is for adults. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the service evolves, and the “Last updated” date above will reflect material changes.
Contact
Questions about privacy or want to exercise your rights? Contact us →