Privacy Policy

How We Use Your Information

You keep ownership of what you write; we process your personal data to run Slower Dating. The contractual licence in our Terms & Conditions ("Your Content and Licence to Us") describes what you allow us to do with your content (hosting, display, moderation, improvement, etc.). This Privacy Policy explains the data-protection side: purposes, lawful bases, and your rights.

• Create and manage your account
• Show your directory profile to other users and run anonymous chat when you both request a chat
• Operate anonymous chat and voluntary contact exchange
• Process payments and manage subscriptions
• Keep the platform safe — including detecting policy violations, abuse, and fraud
• Moderate and review content where necessary to protect users and enforce our rules
• Analyse usage and product performance, including aggregated or de-identified analytics where possible, to understand how the Service is used and improve it
• Improve discovery, matching relevance, and recommendations using the information you provide and in-Service activity (we do not rely on "ownership" of your data for this; we rely on lawful processing as described below)
• Use automated systems and, where deployed, AI-assisted tools for safety checks, fraud prevention, support, and service improvement, consistent with this policy
• Send essential emails (verification, receipts, safety notices)
• Maintain performance, reliability, and security of the Service

We do not sell your personal data or your private messages.

Our Legal Bases (UK GDPR)

As data controller, we must have a lawful basis for each purpose. "Ownership" of content under the Terms does not replace these requirements.

• Contract: to provide the service you sign up for (account, profile, chat, payments, core features).
• Consent: for religion (special category) and any optional processing we offer only on consent; for marketing if you opt in.
• Legitimate interests: keeping users safe; preventing fraud and abuse; securing the platform; understanding how the Service is used; improving features, discovery, and matching quality; product development; and limited analytics, balanced against your rights (you may object to some processing — contact us). Where we use AI or automated tools for these purposes, they support the same legitimate interests and contract delivery, subject to this policy.
• Legal obligation: tax/financial record-keeping and regulatory requirements.
• Vital interests: very rarely, to act on serious safety reports.

Some dating-related information can be sensitive. Where data qualifies as special category under UK GDPR, we process it only when the law allows (for example explicit consent for religion). We aim to be transparent about what we collect and why.

Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We only share your data in the following limited circumstances:

• With people you chat with: Profiles are text-based (bio, tagline). Users voluntarily share any additional information in chat. The platform does not require users to share personal contact information. Contact details are only shared when both parties consent.
• With service providers: We use third-party services to operate the platform (see Sub-processors below). These providers only receive the minimum data necessary to perform their functions.
• Legal requirements: We may disclose data if required by law, court order, or to protect our rights, property, or safety, or that of our users.
• Safety reports: If you report a user for safety violations, we may share relevant information with law enforcement or safety organizations.

We do not share your data with advertisers, data brokers, or third parties for marketing purposes.

Sub-processors & International Transfers

We use trusted providers to run Slower Dating. Each only receives the minimum data needed to perform their role.

• Supabase (database, auth, storage; EU/UK region where configured). Stores user accounts, profile text, messages, and related service data.
• Railway (hosting/CDN; global). Serves the web app and APIs.
• Stripe (payments; EU/US). Processes subscriptions; we don't see your full card data.
• Resend (transactional email; EU/US). Sends verification, reminders, and receipts.
• Sentry (error monitoring; optional; EU/US). Application error logs without message contents.
• Plausible (privacy-friendly analytics; optional; EU). Aggregate usage with no cookies by default.

Where data moves outside the UK/EEA, we use approved safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) and/or EU Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), plus supplementary measures where appropriate.

You can request a list of our current sub-processors by contacting us at info@datebeyondborders.com.

How Long We Keep Your Data

• Account data & messages: until you delete your account or 24 months of inactivity.
• Payment records: Processed and stored by Stripe. Stripe may retain records per legal requirements. We do not store full card details.
• Abuse reports & safety logs: 24 months.
• System logs: up to 12 months.

Your Rights

You can request to:

• Access a copy of your data
• Correct inaccurate data
• Delete your account and data
• Restrict or object to certain processing
• Port data you provided
• Withdraw consent at any time (e.g., religion)

To exercise your rights, email info@datebeyondborders.com. We aim to respond within one month.

You can also complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/.

Security

We use encryption in transit, hashed passwords, private storage buckets, role-based access, and Row Level Security in our database. No method is perfect, but we actively monitor and improve our safeguards.

Cookies

We use essential cookies only for authentication and security purposes. These cookies are necessary for the website to function properly and cannot be disabled.

Types of cookies we use:

• Authentication cookies: To keep you logged in and maintain your session
• Security cookies: To protect against fraud and unauthorized access
• Preference cookies: To remember your cookie consent preference

We do not use third-party tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or analytics cookies that track your behaviour across websites. We respect your privacy and do not sell your data to advertisers.

You can manage cookies through your browser settings, but disabling essential cookies may prevent the website from functioning properly.

Profile and Message Processing; AI

We process profile text and in-app messages to deliver the Service and to keep it safe and useful. That may include human review, automated checks, and — where we use them — AI-assisted tools for moderation, fraud or abuse detection, support, analytics, and improving how discovery and matching work.

We prefer aggregated or de-identified insights for product analytics where we can, without identifying you individually.

Automated Processing, Profiling, and Significant Effects

We use automated systems to:

• Show directory profiles according to your preferences and eligibility (for example location, age, and gender compatibility). Ordering and filtering may amount to profiling in a GDPR sense (using your data to tailor what you see), but we do not make solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you without appropriate safeguards.
• Process chat requests and open a conversation when two users have requested each other
• Detect potential safety violations or policy breaches
• Calculate daily limits and reset times

You have rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling under UK GDPR where they apply. If you believe an automated outcome is wrong or unfair, contact us at info@datebeyondborders.com and we will review.

Children

Our service is for adults only (18+). We delete accounts believed to be under 18.

Changes to This Policy

We'll post updates here and adjust the "Last updated" date. Material changes may also be emailed to you.

Contact

Questions or requests? Email info@datebeyondborders.com. If you require our registered address for a rights request, we will provide it directly.